SURNAMES

[GWOLF]

I'M LOOKING FOR HELP RESEARCHING MY BLACKFOOT SIDE. HERE'S ALL OF MY MOST RECENT INFORMATION.

GGRANDFATHER: DUNCAN VESON BLEDSOE, BORN
NOV 28, 1901, CUMBERLAND NC
GGRANDMOTHER: VERA E. LUCAS(BLEDSOE), BORN
OCT 24, 1903, LINDEN NC (HIS
WIFE)
GRANDMOTHER: EUNICE MILDRED JERRY BLEDSOE
(DAMATA), BORN AUG 11, 1926
DURHAM NC
(GGG) OR GGRANDFATHER:
EVANDER BLEDSOE (OR BLEDSO-BLOODSOE)
(GGG) OR GGRANDMOTHER:
WEALTHY MARROW WIGGINS (BLEDSOE)

IF ANYONE CAN BE OF ANY HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKS A LOT.
JOHN

[Linda]

What's the oral tradition in your family about the Blackfoot identification? It's been carried through the Bledsoe line? Do you know any earlier names in the family? It seems I've heard that name in connection with Saponi families before, but I can't remember where.

[GWOLF]

I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT THE ORAL TRADITION JUST YET. BUT THE ELDER SIDE OF MY FAMILY HAS BEEN TELLING ME TO "LOOK AT MY ROOTS AND I WILL FIND BLACKFOOT". IT'S CARRIED THROUGHOUT THE BLEDSOE LINE AND THE WIGGINS LINE. ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THAT I'M RUNNING INTO IS FINDING DOCUMENTATION. NO ONE IN THE FAMILY CAN FIND ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE LITTLE INFO I WAS GIVEN. THE EARLIEST NAME THAT I CAN FIND, SO FAR, IS

EVANDER BLEDSOE (OR BLEDSO-BLOODSOE)

(GGG) OR GGRANDMOTHER:
WEALTHY MARROW WIGGINS (BLEDSOE)

BUT NO ONE IN THE FAMILY CAN REMEMBER DATES OF BIRTH, DEATH, OR EVEN MARRIAGE. MY AUNT THINKS SHE HAS A "FAMILY BIBLE" FROM THE MID 1800'S. BUT SHE'S TRYING TO FIND IT.

[Brenda Collins Dillon]

Gwolf,

I have the same sisuation with MOST of my lines on both sides of my family. Anything into the 1700's poses the problem as most of my lines were mixed and came from Colonial NC and Virginia. Virginia had laws forbidding mixed to marry so most of them "took up with". Children of mixed relationships were taken away from parents and bound out. They were not allowed to own land, although, some light skinned mixed got by with it and many took extended members of their family onto their land and let them live and farm. They found in Colonial Virginia and NC they had no rights to vote, educate their children, or fair justice so they began to move into unsettled territory.
In this new territory they took on a new beginning and hide their true heritage. I do understand why they felt the need to do this. Back in those days they didn't need a piece of paper to prove you were born. If a couple were living together they were supposely married. If a man took off one day on a hunting trip and didn't return they assumed he was dead.....miles away he could have another family and nobody could be the wiser.
What I am trying to say is if our people could not marry there is no documentation.
If they could not own land there is no deeds.
If they could not vote or hold an office then their names do not appear in any history books. If their children could not be educated then their names will not appear on any school roll. Also most of them didn't have a pot to _____in or a window to throw it out of so they didn't have anything worth leaving a Will.
If anybody has any answers I am all ears.

Brenda

[This message has been edited by Brenda Collins Dillon (edited 01-25-2002).]

[Forest]

The idea that non-whites in Virginia and North Carolina in general could not vote, own land, or marry is common, and often repeated. It is also provably erroneous. Land records are one of the most common and useful tools we have for doing fpc research in the South. Marriage records, while certainly scarce in some areas for some periods, are no more so for fpc than for whites. Binding children out as apprentices happened to poor children of all races, particularly orphans or illegitimate children. The fact that Indian/FPC communities tended to locate along state/county lines sometimes makes it difficult to determine where records may be found, (the present-day Occaneechi community, for example, is located at the juncture of three counties; Caswell, Alamance, and Orange), but there are records availible in most cases. The fact that some of the Collins family for example, owned land on Flat River in the mid-1700's, and that the deeds specifically identify them as mulattos,clearly show that land ownership was not limited to whites.
After the abortive Southampton Slave revolt in 1831, it IS clear that many non-white families began moving to Ohio and Indiana, and points further west, in response to laws enacted in the 1830's which began make life more difficult for non-whites. However, in researching family history, it is also important to note that many, many, many white families followed the exact same routes. In fact, it is clear from turn of the century documents that many non-white families followed the routes they did at the encouragement of Quaker families who had already taken those routes.
Even the absence of wills is not always indicative of poverty; I could cite numerous examples of fairly well off fpc who died without leaving a will of any sort, no doubt out of a desire to confuse future historians and genealogists. Very likely their idea of a joke.
I am not speaking of persons who only became free after the Civil War here; that's a different kettle of fish. I am referring to those Indian/fpc families who had been free prior to that.

[Coharie Roy]

GWOLF,

I don't have any Bedsoles in my line (that I know of), however, Bedsole IS a Coharie surname. Additionally, two of the places you name (Cumberland [County ?], NC, and the town of Linden, NC are very near Sampson & Harnett Counties; the homelands of Coharie Indian people.

According to Mr. Enoch Emanuel's circa 1916 "SKETCH OF THE CLASSIFIED INDIANS OF SAMPSON COUNTY," the Coharie Bedsoles descend from William James Bedsole, born about 1848, and his wife, Nancy Ann Emanuel. (William James Bedsole was the son of an unknown Indian father, and a white woman named Polly Bedsole, b. 1825.)

William James Bedsole and Nancy Ann Emanuel had the following children:

(1) Docia (the wife of Enoch Emanuel, Jr.)
(2) Rutha (the wife of Ollin Brewington).
(3) Molsey (the wife of Matthew Burnette, Jr.).
(4) Isabella (the wife of Erias Brewington).
(5) Lou Berta (the wife of Jonah Emanuel).
(6) W. L. [ Luther ] (the husband of Amandy Warrick).
(7) James Henry (the husband of Hanna Warrick).

Have you mailed away for death certificates for Duncan and Vera? NC has death certificates after 1913. NC death certificates shows the name of the father as well as the maiden name of the mother of the deceased person. That should give you a good start. I'd also look at the Cumberland County and Harnett County marriage records. I've personally looked at the Cumberland County and the Harnett County marriage record books and they're easily accessible. Of course, you have to go there in person. :-(

======================

Forest Hazel,

I agree with you. In my research on my Indian/Free-Persons-Of-Color (FPC) ancestors, I've found a great deal of historical and genealogical documentation. Not as much as I'd like, but quite a bit nevertheless.

My Indian/FPC ancestors voted, owned land, owned firearms, left wills, and married (seemingly, whomever they pleased). It wasn't until after the Nat Turner slave rebellion circa 1831, that my ancestors were denied the right to vote, as well as the right to keep firearms.

I have a complete set of Sampson County Court Minutes, from 1784 to 1830, and they're filled with numerous land/deed transfers/sales wherein my ancestors are a party to those transfers/sales. Additionally, by and large, they're in control of their own children. It's seems as if that it's only when there's no custodian to provide for the child that the court bounds the child out to a court appointed guardian. In most cases, the court seems to leave even illegtimate children with their mothers so long as she tells the court who the father is, so that the court can charge the father with the financial upkeep and maintainence of the child.

Also, prior to 1831, my ancestors served in the military; the Revolutionary War, as well as the War Of 1812. During the Civil War, they were denied entry into regular confederate army (not that they would have wanted to fight for a system that oppressed them), but were drafted as cooks and officer's servants, as well as they were conscripted for the manuel labor to build the fortifications at Wilmington, NC.

One thing that annoyed me as I began to read the court minutes is that my ancestors were always assigned to build the roads and to clear the waterways, but were never assigned jury duty. Apparently, jury duty was verboten - the special province of white men only. They could, and did however, sue and were sued. They sometimes fell afoul of the crimminal law as well.

As to wills, there were precious few. Like you, I think they were intentionally trying to confuse us current day genealogists and historians.

Overall, legally, up and until 1831, in NC, Indians and FPC seemed to have been treated as "almost-full-class-citizens" with some few exceptions regarding jury duty and inter-racial marriage (although often-times, even inter-racial marriages were ignored by the powers that be, so long as the couple didn't didn't provoke trouble).

[Linda]

Hey Roy, good to see you. Thanks for the good information. Do you think Bedsole and Bledsoe are variations on the same family name?

[Coharie Roy]

Hi Linda,

Yes. Bedsole and Bledsole are probably one and the same. Anymore, if (regarding surnames) it sounds the same, I pretty much assume it IS the same. Persoanlly, I've tracked about 36 ways to spell Maynor; one of my surnames.

p.s.- Just got back from seeing a movie, "IN THE BEDROOM," with Sissy Spacek. Wow! My choice for best picture of the year! (Guess I ought to post that in "Shoot The Breeze" but what the heck.)

[Forest]

Hi Roy,
Came accross this the other day, and figured it would be of interest to you. Prior to the Civil War, many families from SE NC traveled to the Midwest in search of better opportunies. Many of these Indian/FPC families registered in Indiana as required by law, and the following were found in the Vigo County Register:
Ephraim Manuel, 64 years old, mulatto, bn. Sampson CO., NC
Christopher Manuel, 62, mu.,Sampson Co
Wyatt Manuel, 53, mu. Sampson Co.
They and their families register between Feb and March, 1863. A total of 14 individuals, all frm Sampson, except a couple born in Richmond co., NC. I can send you the complete list if you want it. Many ancestors of the Lumbee also went to south central Indiana. Revels, Blanks,Locklear, Kersey, Oxendine are all families that made the trip, but their story is all but unknown to most Lumbee researchers.

[Coharie Roy]

Forest,

Yes, send me the complete list. Why were they required to register? And what were they required to register in? I'm very interested in this "register." I knew of course, that many of our ancestors migrated west, and I knew that Indiana seemed to have been a favorite stopping point along the way. Mostly, I've been interested in the Tennessee and Melungeon connection/migration, but the northwestward migration into Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, etc. interests me as well.

I'm 99% sure that Ephraim, Christopher, and Wyatt must have been kin to my gggg grandfather, Shaderack ("Shade") Manuel; probably Shade's brothers... or perhaps his first cousins. In the 1850 Sampson County census, I have an Ephraim Manuel, age 54 and wife (?) Bythiney, age 47. Living next door is a Christopher Manuel, age 54. And living nearby is Wiatt Manuel, age 40, and wife (?)Charlotte, age 33.

Are there any Maynors, Brewingtons, or Jacobs on that list?

[troislangues]

Free Persons of Color
Les gens de couleur libres
(great new website including surname search)


Free People of Color
> http://www.geocities.com/fpc_free_gen/
> To join list
> FPC-OTHER-FREE-GEN-L-request@r...
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> FPC-OTHER-FREE-GEN-D-request@r...
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[Forest]

Hi Roy (and everyone else)
The register was for "Free Negros and Mulattos", and was required by Indiana law. The complete list, alphabetically (which is how it was given to me, sorry) is as follows:
Ephraim Manuel 64
John Robets Manuel 14
Thanie Manuel 56
Alman Manuel 24
Charlotte Manuel 48
Christopher Manuel 62
Efferson Manuel 14
Kilba Manuel 17
Mary A. Manuel 22
Matilda Manuel 60
Sarah Manuel 23
Thomas A. Manuel 26
Wyatt Manuel 53
Zapoah Manuel 19
All are listed as mulatto.
Sarah and Matilda gave their place of birth as Richmond Co., NC, all the rest are from Sampson. Your Bythiney is almost certainly the Thanie Manuel listed above. All were living in Linton Township of Vigo County, Indiana (west central)at the time they registered. I have never run accross these folks after that time, but then, I wasn't looking for them when I was researching in Indiana. Might be worth looking at to see if there are any subsequent records (court cases etc.) that show them as Indian.

[Linda]

I wonder if Keasey could be a variant of Kersey?

[CoheeLady]

Keasey could be Cayce?
CoheeLady

[tasheaka]

HEY FOLKS,
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE NAME LETT? I FOUND A SITE FOR JAMES E. LETT. HIS PEOPLE SEEM TO ORIGINATE FROM NOWATA, INDIAN TERRITORY, OKLAHOMA. THERE ARE ALOT OF OTHER FAMILY NAMES THAT I HAVE HEARD MENTIONED ON THIS SITE AS WELL.

TASHEAKA

[tasheaka]

HEY FOLKS,
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE NAME LETT? I FOUND A SITE FOR JAMES E. LETT. HIS PEOPLE SEEM TO ORIGINATE FROM NOWATA, INDIAN TERRITORY, OKLAHOMA. THERE ARE ALOT OF OTHER FAMILY NAMES THAT I HAVE HEARD MENTIONED ON THIS SITE AS WELL.

TASHEAKA

[Sharmin]

Hello everyone! While doing Native American Genealogy Research, I have come across several "census" from different states in which Native Americans are listed. It seems to me that this was a way of keeping an "EYE" on anyone who was not of a "pure" blood line.It is on some of these "census" that I have seen some of the surnames listed on this sight. I wasn't sure how to go about seeking my Native acestry,so I just typed in Native American Genealogy in the address bar and started clicking options.

[Linda]

Welcome, hope you can find some leads.