APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2009-05 > 1241452458


From: Jeanette Daniels <>
Subject: Re: [APG] African-American Research
Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 08:54:18 -0700 (PDT)
References: <20090504153541145.VRIT7394@hrndva-omta01.mail.rr.com>
In-Reply-To: <20090504153541145.VRIT7394@hrndva-omta01.mail.rr.com>


Alvie,

Thank you very much.  I am familar with the book.  Are you willing to publish the index online?  Just a thought to make it easier for descendants of those slaves.   

Jeanette



----- Original Message ----
From: Alvie L. Davidson CG <>
To: Craig Kilby <>; Jeanette Daniels <>
Cc:
Sent: Monday, May 4, 2009 9:35:35 AM
Subject: [APG] African-American Research

I have a book (actually two copies) on my library shelf about white persons
and African American persons from the days of slaves. The book was indexed
by the publisher but they failed to include the slaves in the index.
I now have a full name index including the slaves.  Did the index myself.
The book is entitled "Isaac Franklin - Slave Trader and Planter of the Old
South" published in 1938 by Louisiana State Univ.


Alvie L. Davidson CG
Lakeland, Florida
http://alviesgenealogyspot.blogspot.com

CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists used under license after periodic evaluations
by the Board.



-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:] On Behalf
Of Craig Kilby
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 11:22 AM
To: Jeanette Daniels
Cc:
Subject: Re: [APG] African-American Research

Jeanette,

One thing we quickly learned is that even the cases where slaves were
mentioned in a will, that was by no means all of the slaves owned.

We just gave a presentation on this project to the Virginia Forum at
Longwood University, and the feedback from the audience was incredible.  As
they say in politics, this has legs.  It really is an untapped fountain of
information.  Not just about slaves, but about life in general--I would
guess about 65% of the estates involved at least one slave.  This is a
period of time about which very little is written.

What comes rolling out of these records is how both slaves and owners were
really all just one family.  It was a rare case when slaves were sold out of
the estate, or had run away, or families broken up.  It was suggested to us
at the Forum that the Northern Neck was, and is, a rather isolated place.
At this time, there were no huge cotton plantations that we are accustomed
to reading about.  The estate records are replete with accounts for caring
for slaves, from clothing to sickness and burial expenses.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect was the one case of 44 slaves being
emancipated and sent to Liberia in 1856.  I recently published an article on
this in The Bulletin of Northumberland County Historical Society journal.

Our ultimate objective is to link this database to the Freedmans' 
Bureau list and the 1870 census.  I think it will become evident just how
much upheaval the Civil War caused.  In those years (the records become more
scarce during this time frame) we begin to read about 
"slave so-and-so ran away to the enemy."  We ended with 3,000 slave 
records and I doubt the Freedmen's list has 500 former slaves named in it.

This will hopefully be an excellent tool for African-Americans who descend
from these families to link back in time.  In addition to those studying
African-American history, this will also be a great tool for anybody doing
genealogy in general, and also those studying socio-economic conditions
during that time frame.

When this is launched, you can be sure I will notify this list about it.  I
am happy to discuss this further if there is interest on this list about it.

Craig Kilby



On May 4, 2009, at 11:05 AM, Jeanette Daniels wrote:

>
> Craig,
>
> This is wonderful!  I wish that more genealogists and counties would
> create these types of projects.  Yes, anything that promotes
> African-American ancestry is greatly needed.  Many African- Americans
> were left out of printed indexes. Your indexing project is invaluable. 
> I appreciate knowing about this project.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeanette
>





.

-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in
the subject and the body of the message




This thread: