common last names for slaves in the 1800s

Others who wanted no connection to their former owners used surnames like Freeman or Freedman. I also have a Slavery and Freedom Collection available for $20. Newly emancipated slaves also frequently chose new first names, discarding those associated with slavery. Forenames. This is true in some cases but not all. 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 . By examining periods of violence during the Reconstruction era, students learn about the potential backlash to political and social change. CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT! Are you thinking this woman Eliza Ellis was married to Wash Ellis? Email:genealogy@slcl.org Turner was deeply religious,. Both comments and pings are currently closed. Most Common English Surnames & Meanings - Forebears In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. In 1850, Ward. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on Rather than being derived from the supernatural world, European given names were a mere handle or tag. These require Microsoft Word and a Windows platform. I found in the Civil War registry, an enslaved man who enrolled in the infantry under the name of Wash Ellis. The Missouri Compromisealso referred to as the Compromise of 1820was an agreement between the pro- and anti-slavery factions regulating slavery in the western territories. Genealogy becomes so much more than just names and dates, it really feels like a true passion indeed. 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. Thank you as always, your posts are so helpful. Join my mailing list below to learn about upcoming webinars. Is this the same woman Eliza I see living with Thomas Crenshaw in 1880 and 1900? I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. Post Author: Post published: 18 avril 2022; Post Category: . Major types on which most would agree are European place and literary names, European personal names in hypocoristic (pet or diminutive) form, biblical and classical names, and names of African origin. My maternal grandmother was an Auber. The private name served as a form of Selfhood Armor (you cant take all of me, White man!); gave them a sense of power over their captors; and provided their children with a sense of heritage and pride. On the U.S. Federal census that year, Wesley's birthplace was recorded as Alabama, the same as his father, and his mother's birthplace was South Carolina . Trinidad and Tobago Slavery FamilySearch When they were sold away they remembered their loved ones and they created extended kinship networks. Archambeau. However, many African Americans faced a problem when they applied for their pensions. [15] Alice Clifton (c. 1772-unknown), as an enslaved teenager, she was a defendant in an infanticide trial in 1787. Slavery is a social-economic system under which people are enslaved: deprived of personal freedom and forced to perform labor or services without compensation. Robyn. 1. Im jealous;) The common names there (Marie, Louise, etc) would test anyones genealogical skills, so I take my hat off to you. Numerous historical sources confirm that enslaved people had surnames that they used among themselves and in many cases were known by their slaveholder. Is this the work of the evil spirits or from my bad karma? Is this my fate!To worsen matters, a given new European label applied only to one aspect of the nature (whereas his/her original name referred to a total identity) of the enslaved and this was an effective way to try to fragment a victims mindset. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974). Cheryll Cody, "'There Was No Absalom on the Ball Plantation': Slave-Naming Practices in the South Carolina Low Country, 1720-1865," American Historical Review 92 (June 1987). Seating is limited. I think mostly about family separationas a mother now myself, the very idea that my dear child could be sold to who knows where, never to be seen again..just reduces me to tears anytime. -Unknown, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city;)" This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Both are excellent researchers and historians. An accessible introduction to the field. Lori Wilson Picks Up Baton to Remove Slavery Language From Californias Constitution, New Assembly Bill Would Ban Use of Police Canines for Arrests, Crowd Control, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Middle Tennessee, where tobacco, cattle, and grain became the favored crops, held the . One of my grandfathers in Africa was called Jeaceo, and so I decided to be Jackson. Also, the government seemed to be in a almighty hurry to have us get names. Osprey Publishing 2008. They identified 21 distinctly Black male names, among them biblical classics such as Abraham and Moses, and word names including Freeman and Prince. Because I like to let formerly enslaved people speak for themselves, here are several examples of freedmen and women discussing their surnames. ", "The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never ever introduce yourself to had life not done it for you. It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl. This event is $12. Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884), 10th President of Liberia. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. Slavery. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts South Atlantic Creole Archipelagos My maiden surname is Williams. I communicate with them on Facebook. This page is currently showing names ranked from 1 to 1000. 1754 Excerpts from the Courant for June 22 to 29, 1754 at Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library - contain the names of some "runaway slaves" or indentured servants, and information about them. 42. Slave Names In The Americas - Black Voice News A. Surely the hundreds of black Culbert people living today cannot all be connected to those three cases. slave rebellions, in the history of the Americas, periodic acts of violent resistance by Black slaves during nearly three centuries of chattel slavery. On another branch, members of the Griffin family from around Campbell County VA all stuck together and are believed to have kept family bonds & name of their father after Emancipation. What are the most popular last names in the UK? PDF Slave Names in Colonial South Carolina - Latin American Studies CAs Push to Restore Voting Rights to System-Impacted Individuals Still in Custody, Eli Lilly to Cap Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs, Asm. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. Harriet Tubman and some of the slaves she helped free. One thing we should keep in mind is that the practice of referring to enslaved people by a given name only was a part of the attempt of the system of slavery to dehumanize them..to other them. "Albumen print of enslaved women and their children near Alexandria, Virginia." No, I dont know to whom she belonged before she was brought from Virginia to Kentucky. Tell me the name you were called before you met Phillip Fry? Each is present in your body. -Winston Churchill, "The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never ever introduce yourself to had life not done it for you." Who called you by that name and where was it done? In the early years, especially between the 1860 and 1880s, families even changed a surname several times until they settled on a certain one. Florence, Fiorella, Fleur, and Flower are translations, but we like Flora best of all. Enslaved people suffered constant sale, where children were frequently torn away from parents at young ages and spouses were often separated. You can read the introductory maps for a high-level guided explanation, view the timeline and chronology of . I belonged to him until emancipation. 2023 The Voice of the Black Community in California. The difficulties include using records that provide no surnames, the constant sale and breakup of families, and the lack of identification of fathers. this page. In these cases, unless the name change had been passed down in the family by oral history, it would be impossible to trace the family back any further. Rank. Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". Louisiana, U.S., Slave Manumission Records, 1719-1820. State of residence is Missouri unless otherwise noted. I did not even check the 1850 slave schedule. 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. The campaign in Britain to abolish slavery began in the 1760s, supported by both black and white abolitionists. Enslaved peoplethemselves sometimes chose names denoting weather conditions at the time of their child's birth or some distinctive feature of his or her appearance. People of the Atlantic Slave Trade - Database Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans. No superior alternative has yet been found." Garcia (The Spanish form of Gerald, Garcia would be the son of Gerald. It means 'clerk' or 'secretary'. Spanish areas had male Slave names as Francisco, Pedro, and Antonio; and for females: Maria, Isabella, and Juana. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. Former slaves often used surnames names of historical figures such as Washington, Jefferson or Jackson. Q. Remember me. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin. 20 August 2022, 1-3:30 pm [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Join me for a two-hour lecture and workshop on Using Deed Records. The most common of 603 names of female Slaves were Bet, Mary, Jane, Hanna, Betty, Sarah, Phillis, Nan, Peg, and Sary. Ethereal and delicate, Cassandra was in the Top 70 throughout the 1990s but is now descending in popularity. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. I worked for him as nurse for his children, and my full and correct name was OCTAVIA, but the family could not catch on to that long name and called me LOTTIE for short. British Surnames of the 1800s - Synonym . David Nicolle, Graham Turner: Poitiers AD 732: Charles Martel Turns the Islamic Tide. Letter to Armistead Burt of September 1, 1831, sfn error: no target: CITEREFCalhoun1837 (. The idea was for the children to enter the inhumane system of slavery protected by a sense of Selfhood and history. Slaves are identified by given name under their masters. The most common origin for surnames is that enslaved people initially used the surname of either their mother or their father, if they knew what those names were. Now, that parent's surname could very well be the surname of the most recent slaveholder or an earlier slaveholder. Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the. In 1800, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman were able to escape their terrible life of enslavement and were able to help other slaves trapped in a world of forced labour and grant them freedom once again due to the Underground Railroads that helped him, his partner Anna Murray Douglas and many other fugitives sneak away from the horrible Robyn. Analyzing Creole names, especially those of African origin, demands a combination of historical and linguistic expertise that has not yet been systematically applied to slave names. Slave Ship Manifests filed at New Orleans, 1807-1860 | National Archives I focused on surnames but many of these books also discuss first names. In the 1760s Anglo-American frontiersmen, determined to settle the land, planted slavery firmly within the borders of what would become Tennessee. How lucky you were to find that Freedmans Bank document! Thomas: Thomas is a common surname of biblical origin meaning twin. They called me "OCK". Slave Names and Naming in the Anglophone Atlantic Thanks LaBrenda! Thank you so much for your kind words. The given name Athena was derived from the city name Athens, which is of uncertain origins. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Along with records from churches,manumission societies, enslavers, and estate settlements, these documents provide a vast pool of data from which to trace patterns and trends from the colonial period through emancipation. A great and timely article. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names | National Archives Harris: A patronymic meaning son of Harry. European, Javanese and African and Indentured Servitude in First Contact and Early Colonization of Brazil, France and its Empire in the Indian Ocean, France and the British Isles from 1640 to 1789, George Montagu Dunk, Second Earl of Halifax, Green Atlantic: the Irish in the Atlantic World, Histories and Historiographies of the Atlantic World, Impact of the French Revolution on the Caribbean, The, Indentured Servitude in the Atlantic World, Indian, Internal Slave Migrations in the Americas, Interracial Marriage in the Atlantic World, Liverpool in The Atlantic World 1500-1833, Maritime Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions, The, Marriage and Family in the Atlantic World, Material Culture of Slavery in the British Atlantic, Money and Banking in the Atlantic Economy, Napolon Bonaparte and the Atlantic World, Nation and Empire in Northern Atlantic History, Native American Histories in North America, Native Americans and the American Revolution, People of African Descent in Early Modern Europe, Pets and Domesticated Animals in the Atlantic World.