-
Who Were My Enslaved Ancestor’s Parents?
How do I go about finding the parents of my maternal second great-grandfather Spencer Mott, born about 1820 in Georgia? He was listed in the 1880 census as mulatto, living in Brandywine Claiborne, Miss. I’m guessing he was probably a slave. —Tammy Robinson Tracking enslaved people before the end of the Civil War is tricky…
-
Was My Black Ancestor Named After a Confederate General?
I visited Charleston, S.C., last week and walked past a statue of Wade Hampton III and stopped dead in my tracks. You see, my great-grandfather’s name was Wade Hampton Shields. Wade Hampton III was a Confederate general, U.S. senator and governor of South Carolina. He was one of the largest enslavers of people in the South…
-
Was My Ancestor a Free Afro-Hispanic of Color?
I am wondering if you can give me any advice on how to research one of my family lines: the Driggerses. I have learned that the Driggers family was one of a few free African-American families in the South during slavery. I didn’t know that was even “a thing” until I read about it. My…
-
How Do I Connect With Kin of My Ancestor’s Slave Owners?
I have uncovered an interesting and tragic family story. I was able to trace my family to a couple of former slaves: my great-great-grandfather Joseph Hoosier and his uncle Timothy Hoosier (Hauser). Both were former slaves in Yadkinville, N.C. A front-page newspaper article on Dec. 26, 1913, tells of the death of Timothy Hoosier, who died…
-
The Brick Wall: Where Was My Black Ancestor Before 1880?
My maternal second great-grandmother was named Sarah Riddick, born around 1862 in Washington County, N.C. Records show that she worked as a servant for L.B. Davis and his wife, Annie E. Davis. I would like to know if Riddick was a slave and where she came from. The 1880 U.S. census shows she had three…
-
Am I Related to Free People of Color in NC?
On the 1850 and 1860 censuses in Cypress Creek, Jones County, N.C., my ancestor William Dove/Duff appears in the household of the Brocks, who were wealthy slave owners before the Civil War. In 1850 he was about 20-25; in 1860 he was 30-35 years of age. He shows up on the census in 1870 with…
-
Tell Me More About My Runaway Slave Ancestor
In my father’s family, there is a story about three brothers: Nash, Kush and Hardy. Our surname is Graham. The brothers were slaves who escaped by setting a cotton gin afire in the middle of the night, and during the commotion, they scat. We don’t know where they escaped from, but my family is strongly…
-
The Lynching of My Husband’s Ancestor Shocked a Nation
Dear Professor Gates: I am seeking help with finding the parents of my husband’s four-times-great-grandmother Leanna Donegan Knox (born in 1794 in Hopkinsville, Ky.). She was mulatto and, according to an Illinois Servitude and Emancipation record, the daughter of a white woman. She owned land in Todd, Ky., until 1847, when she was “removed” to Illinois. I found…
-
Am I Related to Black Nationalist Martin R. Delany?
According to my family’s oral history, the abolitionist Major Martin R. Delany is my great-great-great-grandfather, father to my great-great-grandfather Dennis Dollary DeLaney, who was born in South Carolina in 1836. According to the daughter of my second great-uncle, the Rev. William Y.D. DeLaney (Dennis Dollary’s grandson), an original lithograph of Martin R. Delany has hung…
-
Was My Black Texan Ancestor Fathered by a White Judge?
My maternal grandmother was very secretive about her family past. Her name was Lucy Laverne Alexander Lee and she was born to Bessie Baker Alexander and Jeffrey Alexander on April 7, 1918, in Richmond, Texas. She was their last child and only daughter (her brothers were Jeffrey Jr., Nolan and Charles). My great-grandfather Jeffrey died…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
