In 1840 William H. Elliott owned a plantation and 25 slaves in the Upper District of Chowan County. Jeff Elliott was probably one of three men between the ages of 36 and 54 listed on the Elliott plantation in the federal census of that year. The plantation was growing. By 1850 there were 47 enslaved people and 700 improved acres, and it was one of the few plantations that had begun growing cotton in the area. Sixth Census of the United States (1840) Chowan County, North Carolina, Population schedule, National Archives (microfilm, Joyner Library, East Carolina University); Seventh Census of the United States (1850) Chowan County, North Carolina, Agricultural and Slave schedules, National Archives (microfilm, Joyner Library, East Carolina University).