In the context of The Bahamas, the surname appears to originate with Denys Rolle, an American Loyalist who re-settled on Exuma, one of the so-called Out Islands of The Bahamas, sometime in the mid-1780s. Genealogy becomes so much more than just names and dates, it really feels like a true passion indeed. Some of them developed a long-term relationship with one of the female slaves. Practices undoubtedly varied, and different archival sources may yield different conclusions. My surname of SAM originated from Sem or Sam FUSELIER, a free man of color who freed my ancestor,Jean-Louis, out of slavery in 1811. Benson 2006 is one of the few general discussions of slave names. CLARKE - The name comes from 'clerk, a clergyman, a scholar, one who can read and write' and is most prevalent in England, where some 89,337 people are recorded with this surname. Garcia is the Spanish variation of the word Gerald that means a pointed weapon, like a spear. Eliza Moore (1843 - January 21, 1948) Source = Pinimg. And again, as a white Southerner whose ancesters were NOT slaveowners, your blog is helping me to understand the real and horrible legacy of the peculiar institution. Hi Susan, Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. . Places; Login. She was a Murphy.. In the late 1830s, Nathaniel Terry of Todd County, Kentucky died leaving a plantation of fifty slaves. Also included here are common names among slaves, many of which were classical and had ties to the Bible or mythology, such as Keziah and Venus. There has been much debate among scholars, historians and genealogists whether enslaved African Americans used the surnames of their last owners, previous owners, or a surname that had no connection to slavery. She served that family for a long time, perhaps more clues to her past lie in his family roots. African Americans were known by these surnames in the slave community and often recorded by slave owners on plantation documents. 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. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. My hat goes off to you and your passionate efforts. Numerous historical sources confirm that enslaved people had surnames that they used among themselves and in many cases were known by their slaveholder. Peneus saved Daphne from Apollos romantic obsessions by transforming her into a laurel tree. Allard. So far Ive found no one who can give me any information about how these people assumed the Culbert surname. An accessible introduction to the field. St. Louis County Library. 1412 S. Spoede Rd., St. Louis, MO 63131-2557. please contact the History and Genealogy Department. Last updated: November 1, 2003 "Dwelling No." They are recorded with the Ashby surname on subsequent documents. You can find many more examples of the above in my post, The Mind of the Slaveowner. I have done quite a bit of genealogy for my own family, and it was difficult enough, but what you are doing, is incredible work. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. 3. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. The first published African-American poet & author Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa. I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. Political Participation in the Nineteenth Century Atlantic Portugal and Brazile in the Age of Revolutions, Poverty in the Early Modern English Atlantic, Reconstruction, Democracy, and United States Imperialism, Settlement and Region in British America, 1607-1763, Slavery in British and American Literature, Slavery in Dutch America and the West Indies, Slavery in North America, The Growth and Decline of. Seating is limited. However, research byLisa D. Cook and colleagueshas revealed evidence of racialized names from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second hour is hands-on, and I want you to bring the deeds you've found along with your questions. 18. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. I was called mostly Lewis Smith till after the war, although I was named Dick Lewis Smith After the War, I was wearing the name Lewis Smith, but I found the negroes were taking the names of their fathers, like the white folks. A. There are certainly methods you can used to try to verify some of the storyyou can look for Carrington and Williams slaveholders in the area in which your ancestor lived in the 1870 census. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. The naming of slaves has not been treated in dedicated monographs, but it often figures in general accounts of plantation culture and the practices of enslavement. Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. Have you visited the Whitney Plantation yet? Wesley is one of a group of W-starting surname names reminiscent of the Old West that are making a comeback -- though it's not as well used as it was in the 1970s, when he ranked as high as Number 66. Through DNA matches, I believe I have recently found a brother of my mothers great grandfather. I would appreciate any constructive comments on this question, which can be posted to me via my website address above. Q. 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. Although it is not widely known, some African Americans used surnames before they were emancipated. But the meanings of names certainly evolved over time, and some have argued that the principles according to which an individual name was given (e.g., after a relative or ancestor) are at least as important as its apparent meaning and type. Label vector designed by Ibrandify - Freepik.com, https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.174.8?destination=/explore/collection/search%3Fedan_q%3Denslaved%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dobject_type%253A%2522Photographs%2522. Hi Donna, This lively Old Testament nature name (belonging to one of the three beautiful daughters of Job) may be missing from the current US Top 1000 list, but it ranks highly here on Nameberry making it one to watch! Robyn. Trinidad and Tobago. They were all sold to different owners: Connell, Rose, Johnson, and Hughes respectively. 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. If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. 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). The Language of Names. No, I dont know to whom she belonged before she was brought from Virginia to Kentucky. Even worse, during this period, many African Americanssome using surnames for the very first timechanged their surnames once or even several times. See flier here. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. I liked the name better than Octavia, and so I took it with me to Danville, and was never called anything else there than that name. Whereas names withAfrican, classical, or other unique origins were popular during enslavement, --- often continuingfrom one generation to the next and creating a distinctive nomenclature unlike that of southern whites -- free black peopleoften used more traditionally Anglicized versions of their first names. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, more biblical names were given to enslavedchildren, a reflection of the widespread attempts to Christianize enslaved communities. . 782 Lists of Slave owners with names of slaves Tamme, 766 Tom, 766 West, 766 Will, 766 Barker, Nathaniel Harry, 591, 700, 746, 767 Barkley, Barbary Grace, 651 There are so many examples of every kind of scenario, and I think it just speaks to the variety of experiences our ancestors had. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974). Jackson: This name is a patronymic of Jack. You can read about this in the following two posts on my blog. Use the form below to get in touch with me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I have been unable to trace several of his siblings and now wonder if it might be because others did not take that name. Relish, (Old French Origin) Derived from relaisse meaning "flavor or taste". 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 . In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. The result was the birth of mulatto, quadroon, or mustee (mestee) children. He decided that he didnt want to be known as Cap Sherrod and that he would vote and marry under his choice of names. See footnotes for source information. In 2001, I began a process of transcribing names of some of the largest slaveholders and matching the surnames with numbers of African Americans on the 1870 . You should give a TED talk! I also see that in 1900 she is listed as widow with 1 child living, so you may have luck trying to find out who her child was. Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. And my goodness, how kind of you to suggest a TED talk, maybe one of these days;) Genealogys pull is what initially pulled me into studying slavery, and also introduced me to the new understanding that historians are uncovering. In doing slave research in Barbados, I have found one group of enslaved Chase ancestors who were manumitted (freed) and given the last name of the former slave owner. These people are referred to as slaves, or as enslaved people. This had a profound impact on the Selfhood of each of the enslaveddisrupting ones presumed Mission in life, as indicated by ones name; shattering the sharing of personal and historical experiences, attitudes, and spirits towards life; and putting in disarray the philosophy of life framework and common sense values by which all Africans lived. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. Each is present in your body. Thank you for your comment, They called me "OCK". Who called you by that name and where was it done? 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. Newly emancipated slaves also frequently chose new first names, discarding those associated with slavery. In 1836, William Turbeville died leaving an estate with several slaves who were brothers: Turner, Nelson, Simon, Jordan, and Jacob. . One thing I envy about the Catholic church is the baptisms available for even the enslaved people there. I dont know what became of his parents. Injurious Names: Naming, Disavowal, and Recuperation in Contexts of Slavery and Emancipation. In The Anthropology of Names and Naming. Another interesting fact is that Creole surname use also evolved over time and varied from record to record with the same person. This is due in part to officials imposing surnames on them based on their last owners. Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally, Titus, once seen as a slightly forbidding Roman, New Testament, and Shakespearean name, was brought back to contemporary life in the USA by the TV series, French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge, Latin, meaning unknown, possibly "title of honour".