Researching Slave Ancestry

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Permalink Reply by Donna Atkinson on July 10, 2009 at 12:54pm

We had a Cherokee story that per dna turned out to be African on two levels of testing. The dna is L01a and comes primarily out of Kenya, Mosambiqee (sp), Brazil, and the West Indies. We think we have a slave somewhere but are lost so far. The dna is not the Gold Coast dna so common in the US. FamilyTree thinks we might be looking at dna around 1400 to 1500 here in the US. Our ancestor lived in Tn but others lived in Ga, Il, Texas. Would love to have connections or know of others searching this dna. Our line ends at 1800.

Thanks for starting a forum to talk about slavery and its very mixedup past.

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Permalink Reply by CHASTITY on July 10, 2009 at 6:11pm

I just wanted to say after reading the forum and topic for his discussion group the thing that bothers me still to this day: ok, my grandmother told me stories of my great grandmother and they were fine stories....But when I would ask about my grea-great grandmother she could only tell me she was too young to remember much but the young woman never had a name , or my granny just didn't remember for her being a child herself, but the lady's name was simply Mamie. Why? My granny said all she knew was that Mamie was a slave. I guess I will probably never find info on her, huh? Anyhow that's what's bugging me!

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Permalink Reply by Angela Walton-Raji on July 13, 2009 at 10:44pm

Actually, Chastity, you should be able to get back pretty far. What was your granny's name? You can start by trying to find HER in the census and then by going back. With some tenacity you might be able to find Mamie in the census. BUT you need some facts. Start with what you know----what was HER name? Where did SHE live? (city/town, and state?) Was your granny living in 1930? If so, then you might be able to document her in the records and work your way back. That is what many of us do, and many can assist you.
-Angela-

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Permalink Reply by Rhonda A Reid on July 17, 2009 at 5:39pm

I was able to locate two generations of slaves using Ancestry.com, my great great grandparents and my great great great grandparents. I have been researching my family history since 2002 and this year I was the most successful. The two documents that were very helpful were the Death Certifcates and the Freedman Bank Records. On some of the death certificates the deceased parents are listed, this source was extremely helpful. On the Freedman Bank Records the parents, spouse and siblings are listed. Also when you are searching try different spellings of the first and last names.

I wish you much luck, because I do understand your frustration but don't give up........................................

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Permalink Reply by Lowcountry Africana on July 10, 2009 at 6:45pm

Great new forum- looking forward to contributing!

Lowcountry Africana

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Permalink Reply by Renate Sanders on July 10, 2009 at 6:52pm

I read this comment earlier today and it stayed on my mind, so I just wanted to come back and say something. It is so enlightening to me! Usually, it's the other way around. So many of us (African-Americans) know, or find out that we have white ancestors or, as has happened in my case, we find out that segments of our families lived as white, and therefore were lost to our families. However, this is the first time I've run across a Caucasion person openly acknowledging that they've found out that they have black blood. I find this very interesting, and I applaud you, Donna, for trying to dig deeper into this, rather than hiding it away, as you very well could have done. Good luck to you in your research. :)

Donna Atkinson said:

We had a Cherokee story that per dna turned out to be African on two levels of testing. The dna is L01a and comes primarily out of Kenya, Mosambiqee (sp), Brazil, and the West Indies. We think we have a slave somewhere but are lost so far. The dna is not the Gold Coast dna so common in the US. FamilyTree thinks we might be looking at dna around 1400 to 1500 here in the US. Our ancestor lived in Tn but others lived in Ga, Il, Texas. Would love to have connections or know of others searching this dna. Our line ends at 1800.

Thanks for starting a forum to talk about slavery and its very mixedup past.

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Permalink Reply by Toni Feeney on July 15, 2009 at 5:01pm

Hi Renate,

I am also Caucasion and have been actively researching my black blood that I found out about several years ago. I have traced back to the Revolutionary War but can't seem to get back any further. My Stephen Pellom/Pelham, who is my 5th great Grandfather joined the Rev. War in NH. He lived in Vermont and have documentations for his children in census, court, marriage, birth, death records and probably other records that I can't think of right off hand, but it has become a driving obsession for me to find out who my Stephen and his wife were? I believe he may have come from Connecticut or someplace else in the South, but haven't been able to prove as yet.

Time permitting I will be adding more info on this Pellom/Pelham name and collateral families in the near future.......

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Permalink Reply by Donna Atkinson on July 31, 2009 at 9:34am

Thanks for your comments. I figure we always talked about our Cherokee History so what is different? I would love to find the common connection. The L01a dna is from Kenya, Mosambique, Brazile and West Indies primarily. How in the world did I get an ancestor in Tn with this DNA? We THINK she was in the US about 1400-1500 or later. Her daugher was born about 1820 so the next lady back would have been born about 1790 or 1800. I lose another one reportedly Cherokee (doubtful) about the same time in Tn. There may be a connection.

If you have suggestions, we are open to listening.

Oh yes, I have a Carlock story of a young boy from Memphis Tn I would like to tell. He came from Tn to Missouri in a Barrell according to family and lived in Greenfield, Missouri. If you know him or his family, I would like to hear their side of the story and tell what my family said.

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Permalink Reply by Luckie Daniels on July 10, 2009 at 8:17pm

I too applaud Donna's transparency and willingness to share.

One thing I have come to know over the course of 12 years of very challenging research is that the only way to heal the ugliness and hurt of slavery, is to be open - on both sides of the dynamic.

I have maintained a family website (www.OurGeorgiaRoots.com) since beginning my research in 1997 and am the first to admit that I would have never made any significant progress without the support of the living [white] descendants of those who owned my WINGFIELD ancestors from Wilkes County.

The way forward requires collaboration and openness on both sides.

Thank you for supporting this discussion thread - a sticky subject indeed, but we'll see it through!

:-)

Luckie.

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Permalink Reply by Vera Moore on August 6, 2009 at 9:42am

I agree Luckie :)

Had it not been for communication and openness with a descendant of the last slave owner then my gggg-grandmother Lucinda Grant would still be another brick wall!!
I had posted on the Henry County, Ga board at Genforum and it was she who immediately emailed me with an offer of help and information. It was she who still lived in the same county and pulled the records and made physical copies to send me of estate records (William Brown, Henry Co., GA) which named my ancestor Lucinda.
She and I corresponded for well over 2 years and by her suspicion is under the belief that the father of Lucinda's children may indeed have been the owners son-in-law Benjamin Grant. That though, I'm afraid may never really be known.

A few years prior to this I made contact with another descendant of the last slave owner of another 4th great grandmother Caroline Odom of Putnam County, Ga. She contacted me with questions regarding her own ancestors in which I had the answers for her. I had down extensive research on the slave owning family back to 1780 and was able to send her documents. Also her mother (in her 90's) shared stories regarding some of the descendants of her Odom ancestor's slaves and how when she was a child (early 1900's) that she played with these children, ect. Very enlightening indeed :)

I applaud you too Donna! I am mixed race (tri-racial) and want to know the details on all of my ancestors. The difference is my ancestry is no surprise since I've always been fully aware. You were basically surprised with the knowledge yet have fully embraced it. I wish you the best in your continued efforts in finding your ancestors :)

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Permalink Reply by Bill Drayton on July 11, 2009 at 4:34pm

Hi, everyone! Let me introduce myself! Toni has known me since we met in September 2006 at a special event at both Drayton Hall and Magnolia Gardens called "Share The History: Tell The Story. I have a personal interest in this, because my great-grandfather, Theodore Drayton Grimke, was the younger brother of Rev John who developed Magnolia plantation into the famous gardens after the civil war. Theodore is listed in the 1860 Slave Schedule as being a slave-owner with 45 slaves in St Andrews parish - along with Rev John and John Drayton at Drayton Hall. I think that Theodore may very well have shared the running of Magnolia Plantation up to the time he emigrated to England shortly before the civil war with his English wife. Theodore and John's uncle, Henry Grimke was left a widower in 1843 with at least two sons. He developed a love relationship with his children's nurse, Nancy Weston. They lived at Cane Acre until his untimely death in 1852. Life then became harsh for Nancy and her sons by Henry. It seems amazing from that Archibald and Francis, two eldest, were ultimately involved in the civil rights movement in DC up to the 1920s. Have a look at my website - www.grimke.co.uk - and you will see that I have discovered African American cousins through the Weston family!

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Permalink Reply by Angela Walton-Raji on July 13, 2009 at 10:46pm

Hello Bill, I agree that it is wonderful that you are in this forum. In fact, I spoke about the efforts to document the slaves from the Drayton planataion in one of my recent podcasts. Please keep up what you are doing on the efforts to bring this history forth so that it can be accessed by the descendants!

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