If your family owned slaves are you comfortable sharing that information?

Question

I'm asking because I'm an African American researcher. One of the things that furthered my research the most was when a white researcher answered my query and told me that her ancesters had owned my ancestors in the 1800's. I was thrilled to get this information. But she was reluctant to share it with me because she thought I might be upset with her. Do other's feel the same way?

Note to Louis: By definition, geneologists can't stay in the present because the point is to trace your history. This woman was able to give me documents to help do that.

I just want to encourage everyone to please share if you have this kind of information in your family. All of the African American genealogists I know, (and I know 100's of them), would be thankful to have it and none of them would be upset or look down on you. If it helps us trace our history we will forever be in your debt. If you go to www.afrigeneas.com there is a place to give that information. I've had Native American ancestors who owned my black ancestors, so all of us have stuff like this in our history. It was a sign of the times.

Answer 1

I'm not exactly comfortable with it, but I share what data I have with anyone who asks. I write to one of my fourth cousins, who is African-American. My GGGG Uncle had children by four of his slave women. I suspect my GGGG grandfather did too; he used the phrase "treat with considerable kindness" in his will when he laid out which of his slaves went to which of his children.

I have seen that phrase so often I suspect it is code for "He's your half-brother, stupid; don't sell him down the river". If your roots go back to slave owners, you soon run into that dirty little secret; most of them trifled with the help, so to speak. Exactly what to call it is a question; it ranged from what was probably love, in Thomas Jefferson's case, through what would be first degree sexual harassment today, to flat-out rape.

One of the most heart-breaking documents I ever read was a distribution of slaves. One of my ancestors died. They totaled up how much each slave was worth and divvied them up among his (adult) children. The children who got the more valuable slaves paid into a pot and the ones who got the less valuable ones took the cash, so everyone got a fair share.

One of his daughters got a 5-year old boy and a 14-year old girl. As I read it, I realized that if that she and her husband decided to move west, that 14-year old would be the only family the 5-year old would ever have. I'm pretty sure the Pack ancestor who dug it out of the archives in Richmond knew we'd all come to that conclusion, and that's why she sent it out on the mailing list; one more example of the cruelty of the system.

Answer 2

It was a fact of life. I had some that did and some that didn't.

I'm glad to see you have an attitude of understanding. Some people can unfortunately be very self righteous toward others regarding the family history of others.

We had a man to come to our town in Southeast Texas about 35 years ago to manage an insurance agency. He was very
self righteous and smug about the slavery history in the south and could be very insulting. In recent years, he has found and others know it that his Mayflower ancestors of whom he was so proud were involved in the slave trade. The slave trader was a particularly nasty lot. Frequenty, men of feeling would buy an African from the slave trader as he was being so mistreated by the slave trader. As a result that man has really had to take it on the chin.

Slavery is an ugly blot on our nation's history, north and south. However, we are not the only nation that was guilty.

Normally, slavery is viewed as part of agriculture. However, at the dawn of the Industrial Age, there was a slavery common in Europe. It was the period written about in Dickens novels. Penniless orphans were put in workhouses to live the rest of their lives.

It was something that deeply angered Pope Leo XIII. He wrote an encyclical Rerum Novarum that was way ahead of his time in defending the rights of the working man and his right to organize. He did oppose the Knights of Labor in the U.S., but it was because it became a secret society. Since there was a secret society in the Sicily that came into being many centuries ago to protect the people from wrongdoings, he knew secret societies frequently become crime organizaitons.

Answer 3

Well, no black American has ever been a slave either. My family, for the most part, comes from the South, but they were never rich enough to own slaves. Really, the blacks who keep trying to use the race-card and slavery to try and justify their hatred of whites, disgust me, for they have had every opportunity to become successful in life, and even more of an opportunity, than whites. Ever heard of Affirmative Action? I have, and so have many white people, who earned their way into college with hard work by studying, but didn't get in, because some person who's skin color was darker than their's, and got less of a score on their SAT's, DID! I don't like the truth, either, but there it is.

Answer 4

None of my ancestors owned slaves, but one was arrested repeatedly for ferrying runaway slaves across Lake Huron into Canada on the last leg of the Underground Railroad. He went into hiding on a secluded island in Lake Huron for over 10 years because he didn't know it was safe to come out after the last attempt on his life. By the time he came out, the Civil War was almost over and he was good to roam the streets of the US...he just wasn't welcomed back into Canada because he stole a horse in his attempt to leave in a hurry. I'd be more upset to find someone bashing the people of conscience who helped end slavery than I would be to find someone held an ancestor in slavery.

Is there any reason to be upset with someone because of the realities of history? Usually not. There are people afraid of being sued for most anything, but expecially with all the talk of slave reparations floating around. But if everyone involved is reasonable, there's nothing to fear..

Answer 5

Nothing beats the truth even when it is personally unpleasant. My paternal grandfather's mother's family--the Keesees and the Chappells--were planters who immigrated from Virginia to Texas and established the only tobacco plantation in the Lone Star State in Washington County. Several US Censuses also indicate that they also owned a lot of slaves. My paternal grandmother's paternal grandfather, Dr. Robert B. Dickerson, was one of the signers of the Georgia declaration of separation from the Union. All of the above were members in good standing of their local Methodist Churches.

Yes, the fact that some of my ancestors owned other people bothers me, but I also know that my dad and his parents were some of the most fair-minded, decent individuals anyone could ever hope to meet. I'd also like to think that all Americans can learn from the past.

Answer 6

If I had ancesters who owned slaves, I would be more than glad to share my information with any of their descendents.

However, while doing genealogy on my family I was delighted to find out that even though my family owned huge farms they never owned slaves because it was against their beliefs and moral values. They also all fought for the Union Army during the Civil War.

Answer 7

Yes, I am sure the whole concept of slavery is upsetting to the African American because of their ancestors. However, that was the way things were back then. We have progressed. You can't change history, just learn from it and not repeat it.

Answer 8

Probably everyone who is alive today is descended from at least one person who owned slaves at some time. If you mean ancestors who owned slaves during the American colonial period and up to the War for States Rights, yes I had ancestors who were slaves. I had at least one ancestor who was an indentured servant; ie, slave.

Answer 9

I can see where she would be apprehensive in sharing that information. Society today is so touchy about stuff like that. But its obvious that you are a professional and handle things differently than say some kid in the hood who has that mentality that all white people owe him something b/c he comes from ancestry that was enslaved. So, if I were dealing with you......yes I would share that information b/c I would find it just as exciting to discover more information as you!

Great question--good luck in your research.

Answer 10

Well they didn't but if they did, I would say so because it's not like it was somehow my fault, or I would have thought it was okay for them to own slaves. It's like saying that my great, great grandfather was a bigamist. What am I supposed to do, go back in a time machine and tell him to cut that out? So I would tell people the truth and hope we can put the mistakes of the past behind us.