Lassetter

[Earline]

I am descended from the Lassetters(There are several spellings) who were in North hampton county. My line ended up in Carroll County, Ga. They are suppose to be descended from the Nottoway Indians, but they applied to the Miller roll of the Cherokees and were rejected. Some of the names of my direct line ancestors who married in the Lassetter family were: Roundtree, Northern, Hill, Brown, Boatright, etc.

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[itconani]

have you looked at the link on the home page from "swantons"indian listings?
there is a group that appears on the south carolina border who are also named Nottoway. While I dont know much about this group, it does bear some interest. read that section on nottoway. Additionally, have you taken a peek at the special census from the 1808(3?) nottoway reservation in southhampton county va? Glad to see you made it to this forum.

[Forest]

Altho none of the family names you mention ring any bells as far as the Nottoway of Southampton Co., Va. go, I will mention something regarding the Browns. An old professor of mine was from Southampton Co., and was himself African American. He related to me an anecdote about several families named Brown who lived in the county when he was young, and whose children attended school with him. He said they were light skinned and resembled Indians. One day he was out riding around with one of the Brown girls, and stopped at her farm. The girl's father came out on the porch and told her quite firmly to "Get that n----r out of my yard". He(the professor) realized at that point that perhaps those families did not see themselves as African American. There is also an obscure reference in Allen Co., Indiana, to a James Brown from Virginia who was brought to court around 1850 for refusing to register as a Free Negro, and who proved in court that he was not (a Free Negro), at least under the meaning of the law. I was not able to actually locate the case however, when I looked for it. )The courthouse in Ft. Wayne was not exactly user friendly at that time)
The Brown name pops up in mid-1800's mixed race communities in Greene Co., Ohio, and Rush Co., Indiana, but there is no documentation for them being of Indian ancestry. (altho it is quite possible)

[Linda]

He (the professor) realized at that point that perhaps those families did not see themselves as African American.

Very humorously put.