common last names for slaves in the 1800s

Hi Jann, A great and timely article. 42. In fact, it's not even past. -Unknown, "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you might as well make it dance!" It was after emancipation on that I went back to work for Col. Morrow and where I got the name "Lottie," as already explained. Many Welsh surnames follow this pattern, with Jones (from 'John's son) being the most common. I first wrote about this in this 2009 post: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, And,then, more recently in 2013, here: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html. No superior alternative has yet been found. 2019 (cited under the Anglophone Caribbean) includes a good general introduction to slave naming. Thanks for your comment, In 1911, Barnett and Frys widow, Mollie, both applied for pensions from the government. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. In 1801, the British government took the first census for Great Britain and Ireland. A Wessyngton slave named Bill who was the plantation's blacksmith was known as Billy the Smith during slavery. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Finding Aids for the National Archives at Atlanta, National Archives Catalog (National Archives Identifier 2767350). Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". The fifty most common Victorian surnames in England and Wales for 1853 are listed in alphabetical order below. After emancipation, he became William Smith. Chapter 4 gives a brief and introductory outline of naming in the United States during slavery and its consequences in African American culture. Youll often see the word degraded used in the academic references; these were all attempts at degradation. I have found only one very rare example of a slaveholders inventory, that lists the slaves along with their surnames. Drawing on extensive archival records, this digital memorial allows analysis of the ships, traders, and captives in the Atlantic slave trade. Ive taken back reclaimed some of that lost memory, especially that of my enslaved ancestors. I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Index to "Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865" (NARA Microfilm Publication M1894 - 6 rolls) For more information about the records covered in this index, please contact the History and Genealogy Department. On the 30 rolls of NARA Microfilm Publication M1895, Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860 (30 rolls), are reproduced manifests filed with the collector of customs at New Orleans, Louisiana, of slaves transported in coastwise trade to or from New Orleans during the period 1807-1860. Smith.). -George Burns, "Where does the family start? The slave schedules of 1860 Arkansas do not give the names of the slaves. I presume no death certificate for her survives? Nonetheless, this is a situation where two brothers selected different surnames. This mini-lesson helps students define the term, learn what forms reparations can take, and consider what reparations should be offered for slavery and other racist policies. Letter to Armistead Burt of September 1, 1831, sfn error: no target: CITEREFCalhoun1837 (. Names of prominent slaveholderse.g. Best of luck to you in your research, However the frequent rebellions by . Unique Surnames to Grenada. FamilySearch Centers. Brutus) and a private name (e.g. Explore the most common surnames in England. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Familys Journey to Freedom, A Thank You Letter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Plantation Records Key Link to African American Past . Questions about slave naming intersect with some of the major debates in slavery studies (especially regarding Creolization and the formation of Atlantic Creoles) and can illuminate issues about the ethnicity of African slaves, the personhood and agency of those enslaved, the nature of kinship structures among the enslaved, and the survival of African cultural practices in the diaspora. My great grandfather Wilson Percival was born in South Carolina and I believe he took his surname from last slave owners family. 30 January 2022, [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Join special guest genealogist Taneya Y. Koonce and I as we present our joint Zoom webinar, Organize Your Genealogy! They cut it off from OCTAVIA. 40. by John C. Inscoe, 2006; Revised May 2022 by NC Government & Heritage Library. Wonderful to have first hand account that help shine light on the attitudes of our ancestors. Edited by Gabriele vom Bruck and Barbara Bodenhorn, 178199. My father once told me his grandfather ran away from the Carrington place and changed his name to Williams. Feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions or need some assistance. I would still recommend all of these books, except the first one listed for obvious reasons. On all subsequent census records, he is listed as John Lewis. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough about African and Caribbean research in the areas you name. A. Your insight is always welcome and I am glad you shared these posts for other readers to see. how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. While enslaved almost all had just one Christian name. Most did not want to use their former owners surname, even through about 20% did use the slave owners name. In the. . College, Advanced AA Gen Class, September 2011, AAHGS Annual Genealogy Conference, November 2008, Howard Comm. . . common last names in the 1800s Patronymic surnames such as Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common names in the far north (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein). There are many factors to consider in determining what surnames African Americans used. One frequently occurring name is Rolle. Students consider what it means to be free by learning about the choices and aspirations of freedpeople immediately after Emancipation. Eliza Moore (1843 - January 21, 1948) Source = Pinimg. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Post Author: Post published: 18 avril 2022; Post Category: . Enslaved people often transferred such names to later generations in modified form or relied on African naming traditions, such as "day names" or names reflecting the order of birth among siblings. Students learn about the violent responses to the transformation of US democracy that occurred as a result of Radical Reconstruction. Join me as I present this NEW webinar that covers why we miss our ancestors in these records and presents numerous strategies to assist in finding every clue in census records. In 1911, Barnett and Fry's widow, Mollie, both applied for pensions from the government. Dear Robyn, Fernsby, (Old English Origin) Derived from the old English words meaning "fern farmstead". I was called mostly Lewis Smith till after the war, although I was named Dick Lewis SmithDick was the brother of John Barnett whom I learned was my father . Wide-ranging survey of naming practices in the (mainly Anglophone) Atlantic world both during and after slavery. The following is a list of historical people who were enslaved at some point during their lives, in alphabetical order by first name. Robyn, Unraveling the origins of FPOC and slaves in Francophone Louisiana takes some thinking outside the fact, meticulous research ,familiarity with the local culture, history and a bit of serendipity on your side. . This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. Also, the government seemed to be in a almighty hurry to have us get names. All of them are alive in this moment. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin. Thank you for posing your question. Because I like to let formerly enslaved people speak for themselves, here are several examples of freedmen and women discussing their surnames. Picked by several celebrities (a couple of times even for a girl), adding up to an enthusiastically recommended choice. Each is present in your body. 44. The campaign in Britain to abolish slavery began in the 1760s, supported by both black and white abolitionists. There are so many examples of every kind of scenario, and I think it just speaks to the variety of experiences our ancestors had. . However, the common practice by slaveholders was to only use the given names of enslaved people in documents such as estate papers, court and deed records. i did a simple search of the 1860 slave schedule using the name Culbert and came up with slaveholders in MS,VA,NC,AL,GA and SC holding 17 enslaved people. Nat Turner's Rebellion One of the most famous slave revolts in American history came in 1831 when Nat Turner led a bloody uprising in Southampton County, Virginia. Gradually, to show contempt for Slaves, the captors used Buck and Wench for naming the genders till they became trade terms, like Filly and Shoat.Contempt for the male was removing his honorific attachment to fatherhood and manhood by being addressed as Boy. Once the vigorous years of his prime were passed, he was allowed to assume the title of Uncle. Females were called Gal, girl, or the name of some animal. An 's' at the end of a personal name also meant 'son of', for example Richards, Stevens, Williams and so on. In his pension file, my great great grandmother his widow expressed that he chose his former enslaver surname because his father had been enslaved by them, too. St. Louis County Library. 19. Who called you by that name and where was it done? Delva Abebe: The genesis of this Ethiopian name is Amharic, and it means 'flower' or 'blossom'. This event is $12. The, For descendants, I would add the substantial emotional impact of seeing an ancestor's name attached to a dollar value, or being valued in a list with silverware and cattle. Thanks for commenting and continued luck in your research, See flier here. Leo (M) (Russian origin) means "lion". Here, three different former slaves discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. Karen Halttunen, Murder Most Foul, p. 175. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Prior to the emancipation of the American slaves in 1863, those African-Americans held in bondage had usually just one or two given names. Rounding out the Top 40, here are the next 30 most common names among African-Americans and Caribbean people: Taylor (Jayceon Terrel Taylor "The Game") Wilson (Charlie Wilson) Moore (Shemar Moore) White (Barry White) Lewis (Carl Lewis) Walker (Jimmie J. J. Walker) Green (Al Green) Thompson (Kenan Thompson) Washington (Denzel Washington) ", "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts. A. Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as 'Lincoln', 'Grant', and 'Washington' was very popular. Finding State Laws About Slaves and Free Blacks, More Suggestions for White Slaveholder Descendants, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html, https://www.historicpathways.com/articles.html, http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html. Edited by Gabriele vom Bruck and Barbara Bodenhorn, 178-199. Ref. Register now! In freedom, Jean-Louis was known as Louis SEM or Louis FUSELIER until finally using SAM. Use the form below to get in touch with me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. 43. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, more biblical names were given to enslavedchildren, a reflection of the widespread attempts to Christianize enslaved communities. And this example from another pension file shows how even the given name of this enslaved woman was held under little regard: Testimony of Mollie Russell (widow of Phillip Fry), September 19, 1911: Q. In Greek mythology, Athena is the name of the daughter of Zeus who was the goddess of wisdom, warfare, handicrafts, mathematics, and courage, among others. Both are excellent researchers and historians. When slave owners married, they often received slaves as wedding gifts and inheritances from their wifes family. You can read about this in the following two posts on my blog. Women tended to have two names, and slaves often just had one. Q. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. I dont know what became of his parents. The quote below, from a Southern Claims Commission file, is one of the most powerful and one of my favorites to use in lectures: I enlisted under Ross because that was my fathers name. Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. Rather than being derived from the supernatural world, European given names were a mere handle or tag. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. They ran away, fought back, feigned illness, destroyed tools, and clung to their families. Isaac evolved from the name Yitzchaq, derived from the Hebrew word, Lysander is a distinctive Greek name that could be thought of as a more creative cousin of Alexander. slave rebellions, in the history of the Americas, periodic acts of violent resistance by Black slaves during nearly three centuries of chattel slavery. In my research so far, I have found very little evidence of white Culbert slaveholders only three cases so far. The practice was common until its abolition in 1865 with the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. Through a video-based activity, students explore how Radical Reconstruction changed the nature of voting rights and democracy in the South. I focused on surnames but many of these books also discuss first names. That is why you will find a lot of families in Louisiana with surnames like Baptiste, Narcisse, Jean-Louis, Nanette-Louise, Rene, Jacques etc Ive come across very few former slaves and fpoc using the surnames of their former owner. Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. Thus, the patronymic surname can be effectively regarded as "keeper of the peace." This phenomenon is not unheard of with African American surnames. That alone can make if difficult to research an African- American family during those years. . If searching for a slave owner with the same surname of your ancestor fails, check marriage records for the slave owners. Finding the Slave Who Bore Philomene Daurat. There is also another historian, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall who did work on African ethnicities in Louisiana, you can read more of that here if you havent seen that yet: http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html, Again, I applaud you for doing the research on the history of the areas where your ancestors livedmany researchers dont realize how crucial that understanding is.

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