This is the third in a series of posts (see previous posts here and here) where I am asking us all to consider reevaluating some of our beliefs surrounding slavery. People everywhere like to make the point that: “Only one in three southerners held slaves.” Why do people say that? It’s often a part of […]
You are browsing archives for
Category: Posts 2014-2019
Most Slaves Lived on Large Plantations
I’m tackling some of the biggest myths around slavery in this recent series of posts (see the first one here). Today I’m discussing what I call the paradox of slavery: “Most slaveholders only owned a few slaves.” That is a true statement. However, many people have a hard time understanding that even though this statement […]
Africans Enslaved Other Africans: NOT
“Africans enslaved other Africans” has become a common refrain these days in discussions about the African Slave Trade. People usually invoke this phrase to make an argument that Africans themselves bear responsibility for selling their own people. I also hear this a lot from the descendants of slaveholders, which of course comes across as a […]
Slaves in Pre-Marital Agreements
In our search for ancestors who were once slaves, let’s not forget that they were often named in pre-marital agreements. This is one record that is often neglected in our research. I have mentioned before the need to research the slaveholder’s wife, since we know that this was often how men gained ownership of slaves. […]
The Community Reveals the Family
The power of researching our ancestors in the communities where they lived cannot be overstated. Above is a portion of a census table I created showing dwelling and family number, name, age and a few other notations. John and Abigail Waters John and Abigail Waters lived with their immediate African-American neighbors in the community of […]
A Rare Census Find
Census records form much of the foundation of our research. I have written many posts trying to emphasize that we have to go back and read the census. Its critical we learn about the communities where our ancestors lived. We have to know the typical pitfalls of census research. We have to learn how to […]
The Invention of Race
Race is an idea that was invented in the 17th century in the American colonies. (It’s roots were really in Europe during the Enlightenment era, but I am bounding this discussion to the United States, so I start in the colonies). Because race is a social construct and not a biological fact, let’s look at […]
Postcards Provide Clues to Family
I am fortunate to have copies of postcards that some of my ancestors sent. They are a wonderful artifact to have for genealogy, as are handwritten letters. They can also be used effectively to solve research problems. The Harbour Family: A Stubborn Problem Hannah Harbour had two children, Doss and Odie, with her first husband […]
Murder in the Family
Violence is certainly not something our generation invented. Murder is not new. There have been many surprises for me over the years of my genealogy research. One is how many instances I discovered that involved murder. Strange, odd and sad, but true. I’m going to try my best not to read anything too deep into […]
Fooled Again: The Green Barnes Family
The family of my ancestor Green Barnes recently proved to me again that we all need to be diligent when trying to reconstruct our families. It also illustrates how original sources, assumptions and human nature sometimes conspire to confuse us. This recent odyssey started when I was reviewing the obituary for a collateral ancestor, Cora […]