Finding the Family Link to Slave Holders

I'm wrestling with how I feel about finding the evidence that some of my ancestors were slave holders. I have long assumed it was a distinct possibility since some, on both sides of my family tree, lived in the mid-Atlantic states. On July 30 Family Search sent me a notice: "A new document was added to your 7th great-grandmother's page!" Elizabeth Sollers 1693-1769 Naturally I had to view how we were related which is back on the Lynam side to Great-grandma Barney Lynam's wife, Nancy Emma Gravett.

She is pictured here, on the left it the back row. Her mother, Malinda Jane Cecil, the wife of G.W. Gravett, is seated second from the right. I have written a little bit about the Cecil's before - 'A Perfectly Serendipitous Day' June 6, 2012 - but did not go back so far as I could now - but won't in this post. 

Elizabeth Sollers was the wife of John Cecil, 1691-1758, born in Queen Anne Parrish, Prince George's, Maryland, British America. John was the son of William Cecil, 1665-1749, and it is in an inventory subsequent to his death that is listed: "1 negro boy, 1 negro woman, 1 horse, 1 gun, 1 saddle, 1 bridle, 2 axes, wearing apparel, beds, bedding, and furniture, etc."

If you are interested in wading through the document you can find it here: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/175864482 You may also note the many different spellings of the Cecil name.

As I first stated, I am still thinking about this. It doesn't really affect me, being so long in the past, but it is still significant. I have always found the idea of one person 'owning' another abhorrent. When I  learned about the Civil War I was definitely a Yankee. I've always thought of myself as a 'northerner'. 

While I pondered over this new family information, I could here my mother saying: "It's neither here nor there", which means it doesn't matter because it is not a relevant point or unimportant. But is it? Uninportant?