The Missing Migration of Our People & Why They Can't be Found

My ancestor Amanda Young was a young girl when in 1833 she witnessed the "Night the Stars Fell" , a spectacular meteor shower seen all over North America. I have written about this and told the story many times.

Years later, I learned that Amanda's parents were John and Martha Young, who were actually born in Virginia, who in their later years, ended up in Mississippi. They were first taken to Tennessee from Virginia, but, the exact location of their Virginia origin remains unknown, after 30 years of research.

On another line, I have an ancestor who was Lydia Walters Talkington. She was brought to Crawford County, Arkansas while a small girl, right around the time of Arkansas statehood, around 1836. She was born in North Carolina, when she arrived with the Walters and Harrells. Her parents names are not known to me, and have never appeared in any record. The only knowledge of her origin is found in census records stating that she was born in North Carolina. Her years after arrival were in Dripping Springs, Arkansas, and later the town of  Van Buren.

Was she brought with her parents, or was she, like thousands of others brought west and south during the domestic slave trade? Was she among other children, and separated from her mother and sold like horses or cows, to someone and then brought west? I have never been found her parents, and most likely never will.

And there are my ancestors from Indian Territory in the Choctaw Nation. My great grandmother Sallie Walton was the daughter of Amanda Perry Anchatubbee. Amanda's mother was Amanda whose mother Kitty Perry who was a slave of the Perry family of Skullyville in Indian Territory. Kitty was taken from Mississippi, and survived the removal of Choctaws from Mississippi to Indian Territory in 1831. I ask the question, "How did the Perry's obtain their slaves"? And of course I was to know, "who were Kitty's parents"? That paper trail has also come to an end.

I cannot help but wonder if she or her parents were also marched from another state to Mississippi. The Perry's, I know came from Yalobusha County Mississippi. Did they purchase slaves before they relocated to the west? And was this a purchase of one of the slaves brought to Mississippi on Slavery's Trail of Tears? That will most likely never have an answer.

An article from November 2015 of the Smithsonian Magazine, illustrates a long forgotten march that occurred almost 200 years ago. That was the movement of thousands of enslaved people, from the east coast to the deep south. The countless stories of origin of those hapless souls now forever lost to time, all chained together with no hope of release until their destination was reached--Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and other places never to be known. This was Slavery's Trail of Tears.

Fast forward to the 21st century, where millions of people, curious about their own history seek information. They pursue census records, military records, and much more hoping the find evidence of their past. And they, like many others hit the wall of 1865.

After finding ancestors in the 1870 census, they seek the stories of the early days of freedom. They look to the Freedmen's Bureau, the Freedman's Bank, and other records showing them in the first years after slavery ended. If they are fortunate, some will find ancestors in a probate record, listed among other enslaved people on a white slave holder's will or estate inventory. And then---all paper evidence comes to an end. There are exceptions, if one has free people among their ancestors. And a small few are fortunate to follow wills and records into the 1700s. But the vast majority will encounter the heartbreak of slavery era research

Like many, their ancestors were among the hundreds of thousands who were gathered, separated and then marched from Virginia and other coastal states, westward and southward, never to see their point of origin again. The untold stories of the domestic sale and trading of slaves, was an integral part of the nation's past.  Yet, it is not spoken about, and is basically unknown. This forced march--this forced separation of families--this forced treatment of human beings is the one sole reason that most searches will end in the early 1800s. That is the painful and sad reality of slavery in America. As the article note, they were marched on foot from the "tobacco south to the cotton south". This is the heartbreaking story of our ancestors.

Because of this march---many of us, will never find any paper trail beyond this point.

One of the only images reflecting the domestic "Slavery Trail of Tears"

(Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia)

The Smithsonian described this march as the largest known in our history:

"This forced resettlement was 20 times larger than Andrew Jackson’s “Indian removal” campaigns of the 1830s, which gave rise to the original Trail of Tears as it drove tribes of Native Americans out of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama. It was bigger than the immigration of Jews into the United States during the 19th century, when some 500,000 arrived from Russia and Eastern Europe. It was bigger than the wagon-train migration to the West, beloved of American lore. This movement lasted longer and grabbed up more people than any other migration in North America before 1900."

The possibility is that many of the largest slaveholders, including those in Indian Territory may have acquired slaves who had been already marched from this forced relocation of slaves. and clearly the slave traders from whom they purchased slaves were participants in this horror. As much as we want to know---we cannot scale that wall of thorns, keeping us from our past. 

(Illustrated map by Laszlo Kubinyi. Map sources: Digital Scholarship Lab, 

University of Richmond; Edward Ball; Guilbert Gates; Dacus Thompson; Sonya Maynard)

However, the critical role that we must play is to become the caretaker of our recent history.

Our task, is to find the methods of how they survived, and how they thrived and to tell their stories. It is the resilience of the survivors that provided the platform from which many of our own families emerged. They endured unimaginable hardships but their suffering has lead us to whom and to where we are today.

May their souls rest and may they guide us from places beyond, and may we be filled by their strength, for they are the source of our strength.

I Shall Not Forget My Ancestors' Past

Earlier today, in a recent thread on social media, a statement was made in reference to America's "peculiar institution" that we know as slavery, and it was suggested that as a nation we should simply "get over it" and move on.

Now, I normally ignore such statements that trivialize the history of people of color, and I usually ignore those who cry "get over it" their blatant dismissal of my history. They usually come from individuals whose opinions are not important to me,  I "get over" them and their dismissal of my history and move on.

However, the one I saw today came from someone whom I know, and I was compelled to respond and to share why I shall never "get over it", I responded with an explanation of how I am honored to remember what happened to those whose history I study every day. And in addition, I am obligated to teach future generations also to never "get over it" because that term suggests, that the history of an entire people should never be mentioned, and their lives should never be consider as worth remembering.

I shall never subscribe to anyone forgetting their history and definitely not a critical institution in America, such as the enslavement of Africans upon this soil. Now that does not mean walking around with a grudge, but to ask anyone to dismiss and forget and get over it trivializes something that was vital to this country. If we cannot get over it that a war was fought then end slavery then those who descend from the enslaved dare not "get over" what happened! Remembering the painful past instills even deeper respect for the ancestors and their survival for they lived within the confines of a terrible system. I then gave some thought about what that statement to just "get over it" means to me, and so, I replied.

I have since been asked to post my reply so that it can be shared. It follows below:

I shall always honor my ancestors who went through so much! No discomfort of those who are "tired of hearing it" can ever impede my honoring them, nor mentioning it. I work with records from the slavery era every day. Every single day from slave schedules to probate records, to old newspapers, to Freedmen's Bureau. That does not mean that every where I go I bring up history. But---my history lives with me, and every person carries pieces of their history with them.

Every day, when I see the post Civil War records of people begging the Bureau to retrieve their children still held in bondage, years after the war ended, I know that freedom did not come easily and Lincoln did not "fix it". I research every day.

When I see the peonage records that reflected forced labor of men and women into the 20th century---no----I shall not forget it, and it SHALL be mentioned. I would never tell anyone to "forget" their history, simply because someone unaffected by an evil system is tired of hearing about it.

You know me enough to know that I don't "wear it on my sleeve." But clearly it shall not be forgotten and as one who sees it in records every day--as a researcher---the impact of what I research and see and learn is humbling and I am honored to call the names of my enslaved ancestors. I am also not ashamed to say that they were enslaved, for their fate in life was the result of an evil system, and their ability to live in spite of it, speaks to their resilience. 

Their strength makes me stronger when life challenges me. So yes, I shall call their names, and I shall point out that these courageous people were once enslaved.

To "get over them" is the ultimate insult to those who were legislated into "nothing-ness". By my continuous remembrance of them--I become a better person, because I must still live a good life as I move through life and interact with the sons and daughters or the descendants of those who enslaved others.

I have met the descendants of those who enslaved my ancestors. I remember, and they remember and we now work together.

I stand upon the shoulders of many people---among those were enslaved men, women and children, who survived. 

And I shall always remember.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
And so----today I shall call their names:
-Irving and Nancy Bass, enslaved by John Bass of Giles County Tennessee
-Patrick Drennen, enslaved by John Drennen of Van Buren Arkansas
-Kitty Perry, enslaved y Nail Perry, Choctaw Nation
-Amanda Perry Anchatubbe enslaved by Emeline Perry, Choctaw Nation
-Jackson Perry Crow enslaved by Nail Perry, Choctaw Nation
-Sallie Perry Walton enslaved by Emeline Perry
-Mitchell Bass, enslaved by Henry C. Pride, Horatio Arkansas
-Minerva Houston, enslaved by Elizabeth Houston Millwee, Horatio Arkansas
-Georgia Ann Houston enslaved by Elizabeth Houston Millwee, Horatio Arkansas
-Martha Campbell, enslaved by Robert Campbell, Maury County Tennessee
-Amanda Campbell Young enslaved by William Tandy Young, Ripley Mississippi
-Harriet Young Martin, enslaved by William Tandy Young, Ripley Mississippi
-Berry Kirk, enslaved by William Tandy Young
-Lydia Walters Talkington, enslaved by Mary Walters, Dripping Springs Arkansas
-Samuel Walton, enslaved by Josiah Harrell, Dripping Springs Arkansas & Jim Davis Choctaw Nation

           .......and I honor those whose names are yet to be discovered as I continue my genealogical journey.

Gems From the Black Press: La Quasima Club of Columbus & the Social Event of the Season

Gems from The Black Press: This article is part of a series  of articles whose purpose is to share each week an interesting article from early black publications of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As previously noted,the articles found inside of these long forgotten publications contain rich history that reflect  the early years of African America life in the first decades of freedom. Some are publications of fraternal or benevolent societies, and some were more community based. All  pieces shared in this series provide a close up to history and culture of times long past.

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Today's focus:

The Reception Given by the LaQuasima Club

from: The Columbus Standard

In 1901 the Columbus Standard was said to be the leading newspaper for Afro-Americans in the state of Ohio. An online article from July 1901 describes an interesting social event that was said to the the social event of the season for the Black community, in Columbus Ohio.

Source:Ancestry.com. U.S., African American Newspapers, 1829-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This
collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Negro Newspapers for the American Council of Learned Studies. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.

Apparently the event was honoring men who had been serving in the US military and had been involved actively in the conflict in the Philippines. The reference to "Our Boys" is reflecting the men returning from conflict.  Little is seen in the press of how returning service men of color were received upon return from service, especially after the Spanish American conflict. These returning soldiers were returning from time served in the Spanish American War and specifically from the Philippine Islands.

The event unfolded at the Odd Fellows Hall in Columbus, and a list of attendees was included in the article. It was clearly described as a major society event, for the article pointed out that seventy-five couples of young people from "the prominent colored families in the city were present." (1) I was quite surprised to note that among the guests whose names were published was a resident of my own hometown, of Ft. Smith Arkansas as well.

The article described the event where the ladies were "attired in airy evening gowns, the gentlemen wearing the up-to-date shirt waist, all responded gracefully to the music of the people's orchestra, presented a scene which stirred the pride of those who looked upon it."

Beyond this being a simple description of a social event, such an article is quite useful in terms of providing today's reader with an interesting glimpse into the social life of an African American community at the turn of the 20th century. Clearly there was an "elite" portion of the population with the reference to the "prominent" families in attendance. At the same time there was an orchestra more than likely a black orchestra in Columbus at that time as well.  The article is also full of names of many who were in attendance, and this can be an interesting way of looking at a portion of the population almost as a Who's Who list of the Black Columbus at that time, and it provided a wonderful glimpse about he ways in which the Columbus Black community socialized. 

The very existence of the La Quasima club is something for those with ancestral ties to Columbus to explore.
What was the origin of this club?
How long did it last?
Did it evolve into something that still exists today?

And there is also the Odd Fellows Hall. Was this a G.U.O. O. F. building? (Grand United Order of Odd Fellows?) Does the building still stand today?

Articles such as this one from the Columbus Standard provide that opportunity to give readers even 100 years later a flavor of life in the community at that time.

Gems From the Black Press: St. Louis Celebrated Garrison Day

Welcome to Gems from the Press!

This is a new feature that I am starting on my blog. My goal is to share each week an interesting articles from early black publications of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The articles found inside of these long forgotten publications contain rich history that reflect  the early years of African America life in the first decades of freedom. Some are publications of fraternal or benevolent societies, and some were more community based. All provide close ups to history and culture of times long past.

Today's focus: 

Garrison Day Celebrations in St. Louis

from The American Eagle, of St. Louis Missouri.

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Source:Ancestry.com. U.S., African American Newspapers, 1829-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Negro Newspapers for the American Council of Learned Studies. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.

This newspaper was "the official organ of the Knights of Pythias and Order of Calanthe of Missouri. From what I understand, the Order of Calanthe is a local chapter of the larger Grand Order of Calanthe, also another historically black fraternal organization.

Only one issue of this publication was presented online and it is not known if others survived, nor how long this publication may have run. However, still from this one publication from Missouri, one can still glean some interesting information about the impact that the benevolent societies had on the social fabric of the black community.

In 1905, one interesting event was celebrated in St. Louis and this was the celebration of Garrison Day. This was a celebration honoring William Lloyd Garrison, a well known abolitionist. Although this abolitionist and social reformer died in 1879, his legacy was still being honored in St. Louis as late as 1905. The day's events took place on Sunday December 10th 1905 in the city.

Source: (Same a above.)

Events were held in several places throughout the black community. Among the churches holding events to honor Garrison, were Central Baptist Church, and Metropolitan AME Zion, where noted attorney J. Milton Turner preached. A detachment of Buffalo Soldiers (9th Cavalry) were in attendance at the Metropolitan event, and St. Louis educator J.B. Vashon read historic letters written by Garrison decades earlier. Other events were held at Douglass Hall, U.B.F. Hall, and Pythian Temple. The same edition of the American Eagle, also included the text of one of the major speeches delivered on that day.

It is not known how long the Garrison Day celebrations took place in the city of St. Louis in the African American community, but it is clear from this small article that the legacy of this abolitionist was appreciated for many decades and well into the 20th century and well into the early decades of freedom.

I hope that those with elders still living in the greater St. Louis area will be encouraged to interview them, to see if Garrison Day celebrations were part of their lives many decades ago.

(A follow up article will examine more closely the activities of the Knights of Pythias and how it impacted the St. Louis Black community in 1905.)

A Cemetery Visit: Honoring Dred Scott

He was a simple man, who had many odds against him. Born a slave, his name gained the attention of the world when he sued for his freedom. I had always heard of Dred Scott and I had the chance to visit his gravesite on Monday July 6th.

I arrived St. Louis, on an early flight on Monday, when I arrived to attend and to teach at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, (MAAGI). This early arrival allowed time for a pleasant lunch with genealogy friends. Upon leaving, it was suggested that we visit the gravesite of Dred Scott. I had never known where he was buried, and finally I got to stand over the final resting place of this man whose name will be forever known.

After a brief stop at the office of Cavalry cemetery, we were given a map that would direct us to his gravesite. Driving through this massive cemetery was amazing, with rolling hills and magnificent monuments to those long gone. After turning onto a nearby road, a glance to the left revealed a small yet neat stone bearing the name, Dred Scott. The stone is simple yet elegant.

Additional words about his life describe the significance of Scott's struggle for freedom and the impact of the Dred Scott decision. It is eloquently stated, "In memory of a simple man who wanted to be free."

Another small memorial stone next to  Dred Scott's stone is dedicated to his wife Harriet. That memorial marker was dedicated in 1999. Harriet Scott is believed to be buried at Greenwood Cemetery in St. Louis County.

Over the years visitors to the Dred Scott grave have started a tradition of leaving evidence of their visit to his gravesite by leaving a coin. The typical momento is to leave a copper penny at his grave. In respect for the tradition, my colleague Noreen Goodson and I, both left our pennies on the headstone, as well. A thank you for his struggle for freedom and a prayer that he and Harriet continue to rest in peace was said while standing there.

 To mark the occasion of this visit to the gravesite of Dred Scott, my colleague Noreen, and I posed for a photo next to the stone.

Few facts about the early life of this man are really known. He lived as a free man very briefly and facts about the lives of his wife and daughters in the years before the freedom suits are few. However, some poignant facts were collected a few years ago in a book about the lives of Dred and Harriet Scott, when genealogist and author Ruth Hager wrote a book that provided some insights into the life of the Scott family. The book is entitled, Dred and Harriet Scott: Their Family Story. 

In 2012 while attending a conference of the St. Louis African American Genealogy Society, I had the pleasure of meeting Dred Scott's direct descendant, Lynn Johnson, his gr. gr. granddaughter. She is now the director of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation and works to keep the legacy of her ancestor alive.

Angela Walton-Raji and Lynn Jackson, standing near portrait of Dred Scott.

There are many notable names in history who struggled against the yoke of slavery. Some fought for themselves and their loved ones such as Dred Scott. Others fought for the freedom of others, like Harriet Tubman. We read about them, and remember their names, but the chance to visit their gravesite is rare. I am grateful that I was able to visit the gravesite of this man, whose struggle, and landmark case deferred a mighty dream. 

He was an ordinary man, a simple man who only wanted to be free. I am humbled by the chance to say that his battle mattered.

Continuing the Legacy

Harper's Weekly, November 16, 1867

After 150 years of freedom I, a descendant of people once enslaved was able to exercise my right to vote, again.

This mid term election is significant as it occurs on the eve of the 150th anniversary of freedom, and yet, there are son and daughters of those who were once oppressors who have worked hard to keep me, keep my family and many others who simply look like me from that privilege. And many of them will take office, for the climate has changed into one in which code words dominate but they all are signals that say so much.

Such times and social climates remind us that sadly we cannot rest and take things for granted. The forces are there to accuse people who ask for change as being not worthy of citizenship. In recent  years we have seen acts of violence go unchallenged and dismissed with a shrug, and possibly many with such shrugs will take office soon.

Days like today mean that one small gesture can possibly make a difference. Yes, things come and go, and as society progresses, occasionally the winds blow, and bring in negative forces as well. But one things is constant and that is time. How we choose to spend that time is important, so, I made to sure take some time today, to try to slow down the destructive winds, so that they will turn into nothing more than a passing thunderstorm with the rainbow at the end. 

But to get to that rainbow, I had to take some time to do one small thing, that my ancestors did long ago, and it planted them firmly on the soil as people who could make a difference.  

I voted today.

Is The Genealogical Community Closed or Inclusive?

There has been much dialogue in the past week about the inclusiveness of the genealogical community from many perspectives. Good discussions and much to consider, especially when looking at one's own position in the community.

I have to thank George Geder, James Tanner, Robin Foster and others for joining the discussion and for bringing out the issue that many have felt for some time. There are indeed communities and circles of influence from which many have been locked out. There are the elite groups that have been a small circle and who have occasionally opened their doors to a handful of new initiates, who will take their seat in the same small circle.

But there have also been changes--thanks to a new medium and new entities shaped by the internet. Yet in spite of those new platforms, from Facebook to Twitter, many others especially in minority communities, still operate in a real-time arena. So as a result the question must be asked, are many talented people being bypassed in spite of their talents and gifts, since new rules have been made that do not include them?

If one is not blogging, tweeting, forming circles and "friending" strangers, is there a new shut-out? 

There might just be. And add to that, many are coming online hanging up shingles, setting up businesses, and becoming successful and being lauded as the new "authorities". With a strong online presence, the new authorities realize that they will be seen, and those in the real world, real time arena, who occasionally browse online for speakers---they see the new "authorities" and thus launch them into a higher realm, or at least push them closer into the inner circle.

But--there are others who are also part of the genealogy community, who are not following the new rules. They are not singing the praises only of the elite 50 nor are they working hard to join them. But what they are doing is sharing, teaching, giving and mentoring. And those mentors and teachers are the the critical people who give to all. The emerging stars and the unknown alike benefit from what they do. I have come to appreciate so many people with all of their talents. 

But I truly admire most those treasured teachers among us, who have only the desire to share, to help and to nurture. Because of them, many of us have found a comfortable place where we can grow, and learn and feel connected. 

Yes there is a vibrant genealogy community and some have made it a good place for the rest of us to find "a place called home."

Remembering Dorie Miller--A Pearl Harbor Hero

Video About the Actions of Dorie Miller

On this day in 1941, an ordinary man became a hero. Dorie Miller was a Navy cook. He was a man untrained in military weapons because of his color, and it was policy to have black men serve as cooks only in the US Navy. But in the early morning on that December day, Miller was forced to train himself on weaponry.  The ship he served on was the USS West Virginia, and it, like others at Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Miller ran to the deck, helped one of his officers who was gravely wounded. Then he went on deck, took a weapon into his hands and shot at several Japanese planes and actually prevented one from striking the ship.  He was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery, the first African American to be so honored.

Click for Image Source

Today few people know his name---although there is a Dorie Miller park in Hawaii that bears his name and he was a true American Hero. He would never live to see the freedoms he fought for, but shall not be forgotten.

He was honored on a US postage stamp in 2010 on a series honoring heroes from the American Navy.

Rest in Peace Dorie Miller. We honor you, on this day!