African-Americans: Early European Roots!

This by far has been the most challenging & frustrating part of researching my family's history. Many if not most African American families in the United States, particularly those of us in the south, while researching often locate several persons of european descent in our ancestry.
European ancestry is distinguishable in our outer appearance.

I've traced many of my free black ancestral lines to "white female" indentured servants who arrived from Scotland, England & Ireland!! We as people of color naturally assume that acts of miscegenation were solely perpetrated by white males on enslaved females, however I've found that although there were forced acts of rape against "enslaved" females, there were also consentual relationships between whites & blacks of both "free" & "enslaved" statuses.

Two of my early free black lines, the Goins & the Cornish arrived in Virginia prior to 1625. (source: 1624/1625 Muster of Jamestown). In the commonwealth of Virginia, blacks and whites were allowed to legally marry one another up until the year 1662. Although the punishment was severe for those who chose to break this law; racial miscegenation continued between the two groups on into the present day.

One of the reasons for this grand scale of race mixing was the fact that several of the europeans who entered the early colonies died off quickly from disease, hot climate & harsh living conditions. The African arrivals and the few Indian laborers forced into indenture contracts found themselves living and working in close proximity with europeans of all social classes.
This was fertile ground for racial miscegenation and they took full advantage of it!

A detailed account of these events in early american history are chronicled in Paul Heinegg's, "Free African Americans" which traces the orgins of most Free African American families in colonial America. (Nickens, Bowmans, Pinns, Redmans, Craigs, etc. ) The source information is included.

The task of locating a white ancestor through an "enslaved" line is far more difficult. Usually we depend on oral history for those answers however if you're diligent and patient enough your search may yield all sorts of juicy tidbits of information.

African American elders hate the idea of reliving the past, "Let sleeping dogs lie" or "Ain't no need in diggin' up the past" are among the few phrases I've heard over the years when researching. Don't let their attitudes distract you!

After interviewing countless relatives I was able to piece bits of information together and validate it all by using US Federal Census data, Court records such as Wills, Deeds, Chancery case info to name a few... With that I was able to naildown my white ancestor in question. My gg-grandparents had a consentual relationship during slavery that continued well after that time; and although my family took little pride in their white father, I found evidence that he at least ensured they were well provided for in their early years.

Another story about the complexities of black & white relationships in American history was that of my great-grand aunt Henrietta who "married" the son of Jacob Haight, owner of Sully Plantation in Chantilly, Virginia. Though they were denied the right to marry in Virginia & Maryland, the two were able to successfully marry in the District of Columbia. The couple's marriage was a huge scandal; there were death threats against them & their children, their names were slandered in the papers and warrants were issued in Virginia for their arrest.

Revealing such relationships were very, very dangerous. That is often the reason folks, both white & black passed their children off as having "native american" ancestry. How else can you explain away a very dark, kinky haired person having a child with high to yellow-brown skin tone and wavy or curly hair?

My Personal Journey Through Hallowed Ground

Every family has a "Griot" or "Storyteller", one who lovingly maintains their family's genealogy; be it through oral history, antique photographs or other recordkeeping. My grandfather Stanley was our griot. He and I always had pleasant visits with one another over the years. He often threw out "old sayings" & recounted stories of his life and those passed down to him.

"What was the purpose of sharing those stories with me?"
I'd never really taken much interest in genealogy prior to that, and other than knowing a few of his siblings, my aunts, my uncles & cousins; I knew absolutely nothing about the extended lines. Yet he made a point of retelling the same stories over & over again.

It wasn't until several months after his death in 2003 that I found myself unemployed and questioning my purpose. One day I decided to take a break from the online job search; I'm still not sure why I chose to buy a subscription to http://www.ancestry.com/ that day, but I'm glad I did. I started an online tree using the records from their enormous database. I logged on that morning and didn't log off until 1 a.m. the next morning!

My research evolved from there into soliciting interviews with family members, making visits to genealogy libraries & court archive rooms throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, I visited historical landmarks, churches and graveyards as well as interviewed professional historians/researchers & local historians familiar with the histories of entire communities.

In the years following my grandfather's death, I was able to validate many of his stories and in the process uncovered many secrets & unknown facts about our existence, much to the chagrin of family members.

I not only found my passion but I now have a renewed purpose in my outlook on life, & in my career as a writer & self-published author of historical works. It has truly been a blessing in so many ways.

I now understand why "Daddy" kept repeating those stories; he realized out of all of his children and grandchildren, that I was the only one willing to "LISTEN" for extended periods of time. He also knew that I inherited many of his traits: his love of family & community, his patience & fierce activism.. just to name a few. Daddy knew based on my character that I would eventually pick up the baton and carry the family legacy forward for later generations; and I'm thankful to God I did.

My question is "Will you do the same?"