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Any Tips for Tracing an Ancestor With a Common Name?
I would like to know if you have any advice on how to trace one’s family with a common surname such as Smith or Jones. Any help is greatly appreciated. —T. Jones It can be challenging to trace a family with a common name. It often requires putting time and effort into researching individuals who…
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A Cheat Sheet for Researching African-American Ancestors
Over the past few years that we’ve been writing this column, we’ve encountered numerous people who have reached the “brick wall” of emancipation when researching their African-American ancestors. They are stymied by the fact that before the end of the Civil War, enslaved African Americans were rarely recorded by name in documents of any kind,…
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Am I Related to Slave-Revolt Leader Nat Turner?
My father, who will be 83 next month, has been doing family research for many years. On his maternal side, the rumor has been that we are related to the famous slave Nat Turner. Could you help us find out? My father’s memory is fading, and so time is running out to solve the mystery…
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Is a University Founder Linked to My Enslaved Ancestor?
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to know more about my ancestors. All I know is that my great-grandfather Alex McMillan was born a slave in 1860 and came from Robeson County, N.C. While this is vague, it is precious to me to even know that tidbit of my family history.…
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My Ancestor Died in the Leflore County Massacre
I have learned that my great-grandfather Peyton Locke (1840-1889) and his eldest son, Ben Locke, were both killed in Mississippi in the Leflore County Massacre. The September 1889 massacre, in which dozens of black people were killed for organizing a Colored Farmers Alliance, was not a part of my family lore. In fact, I only…
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Did This Son of Former Slaves Really Escape Hanging in the 1880s?
Dear Professor Gates: I have been helping my co-worker Quemardo Castilla research his family history, which centers around Madison, Mo. His maternal great-great-great-grandmother’s name was Moriah Castilla, born in 1842. Her exact place of birth is unknown. She had a son named Spencer (spelled Spence in a census record), who was born in 1865. Moriah…
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How Do I Find Slaves Living on a Plantation During the Revolutionary War?
I am working on a research project for the Spartanburg County Historical Association. The directors at Walnut Grove Plantation in Moore, S.C., have never researched the descendants of the slaves who lived at Walnut Grove Plantation during the American Revolutionary War. They know plenty about the Moore and Barry families, but not about the slaves. We…
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Help! I Can’t Fill Out My Family Tree Because of Family Secrets
I am a sophomore at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. My older sister and I are currently taking a sociology class here at Clarion and we have a project due in March where we have to create a family tree. The only problem is that we do not know our family’s history. My father comes from…
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Why Did My Black Ancestors Trek From Mexico to Mississippi During Slavery?
I wonder if my ancestors went the wrong way in their search for land sometime between the mid-1840s and early 1850s. They were black, and they went from Mexico to Natchez, Miss., during slavery. Why? My great-great-great-grandfather Thomas Hinyard/Henyard was born about 1833. His sister Milly (Hinyard) McFarland was born in 1837, and his brother…
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How Did My Free Black Ancestor Live Under the Confederacy?
My third-great-grandfather Jacob Sampson (1786-1870) of Goochland County, Va., owned a 500-acre plantation in Goochland before, during and after the Civil War. I know he was a slave until 1821, and the land is listed on an 1863 Confederate map of the county. It seems odd that there is so little information about a former…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
