genealogy
-
Tracing Your Roots: Our Family Matriarch Was a White Indentured Servant
Untangling the origins of Virginian ancestors whose lives crossed boundaries of race, freedom and the law. Dear Professor Gates: I am a descendant of Catherine Donathan, who was a white servant to Robert Bristow of Virginia. She had a relationship with a black slave from another plantation. She had a child, William. She has been…
-
Tracing Your Roots: How Safe Is It to Date a Cousin?
A woman seeks to know the risks of dating—and the risk of having offspring with—a relative. Dear Professor Gates: I want to date a fourth cousin of mine. Is that wrong? I’m curious to know how related we actually are. We do not plan to have any children together, but if we did, would there…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Help Me Separate Fact From Family Fiction!
An upcoming family reunion motivates a young woman to prepare an accurate presentation about the storied family matriarch. Dear Professor Gates: Since the late 1970s, my family has come together every two years for a reunion. For the upcoming one in 2018, I would like to present my family with information on the origins of…
-
Tracing Your Roots: What Is the Secret of My Grandma’s Past?
A record search uncovers clues to why a Georgia family fractured eight decades ago, leaving painful memories. Dear Professor Gates: My grandmother Frances Walker of Edison, Calhoun, Ga., was born on Dec. 22, 1938, and died Dec. 2, 2002. Her mother was Ella M. King, who was born in 1913 and died in 1981 under…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Was My Ancestor Kidnapped From Freedom to Slavery?
A book claims that a man’s great-grandfather was abducted as a boy and sold into bondage. Official records back up at least part of the heartbreaking story. Dear Professor Gates: I am trying to find the names of the parents of my great-grandfather Lucius Kidd. All I have to go on is a book written…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Were My Married Slave Ancestors Forced to Live Apart?
A historical document that appears to legalize a marriage formed under bondage in 1858 suggests a heartbreaking scenario for one woman’s ancestors. Professor Gates and his team of genealogy researchers address the answers she seeks. Dear Professor Gates: I am trying to learn more about my enslaved ancestors Sandy Butner and Mary Jane Powe in…
-
Tracing Your Roots: I Want to Find a Slave’s Descendants and Apologize
I’m Australian, and hoping to trace living relatives of a slave owned by a relative of my uncle in Trinidad. I want to apologize for my ancestor’s actions. What I know is as follows: William Preston Galloway (born May 30, 1798, in Edinburgh, Scotland) landed in Trinidad in 1821 and by 1825 was the owner…