TURNER-L Archives

From: "Dorothy Gray" <>
Subject: [TURNER] Fw: [TNSUMNER] MULATTO
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 23:02:55 -0700

Forwarding this for your info. Subject was: What is a mulatto?
White/black or Indian?
Dot

----------
>

> Subject: Re: MULATTO
> Date: Monday, April 10, 2000 9:56 PM
>
> >From Family Tree maker:
>
> "A mulatto is legally considered to be an individual with mixed black and

> white heritage. However, some individuals who were designated mulattos
may
> have a slightly more mixed parentage, perhaps including Native American
> blood.
> The 1850 and 1860 censuses only allowed an individual to describe himself
as
> white, black, or mulatto. In 1870, these categories were expanded to
include
> Chinese and Native American as well. The ethnicity selected for your
ancestor
> in one of the censuses may not be completely reliable, however, because
often
> the census takers did not ask about an individual's ethnic heritage.
Instead,
> they put down an ethnicity based on what the person looked like."
>
> In a nutshell: Don't take everything at face value. My wife is
Portuguese,
> so I can relate to what many of the Melungeon people describe. My wife's

> mother is from the Azores Island of Sao Jorge - she is very pale due to
> Danish influence. My father-in-law is from Pico in the Azores, he looks
like
> a Spanish Conquistador - mildly dark. My wife's cousin's wife is from
> Madiera, she looks Native American, Asian American, or Arabic - very dark

> with long black braided hair. Many Portuguese from Madeira could easily
pass
> for Mulatto or Native American. Looking at her, I can see how the census

> takers of that day could be very confused, especially if some of these
people
> were left in the mountains when the Spanish and Portuguese retreated.
> Have fun!
> Rick Tidwell

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• [TURNER] Fw: [TNSUMNER] MULATTO by "Dorothy Gray" <>