Tracing family history is more popular than ever. But it is not easy for everyone, especially for many of the descendants of enslaved and free Black people in Virginia, according to historians.
Tracing family history is more popular than ever. But it is not easy for everyone, especially for many of the descendants of enslaved and free Black people in Virginia, according to historians.
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A new tool hopes to uncover the lost ancestry of enslaved African Americans
Prior to 1870, records rarely noted names of enslaved and formerly-enslaved people this database is pooling resources to render a more complete picture.
Isaac Granger Jefferson of Petersburg, Virginia (c. 1845) was an enslaved tinsmith and blacksmith at Monticello for his family s enslaver, Thomas Jefferson. By 1822, Granger Jefferson, who lived from 1775 to about 1850, gained his freedom, according to his memoirs.Photograph by John Plumbe, Jr.,. Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia / Alamy
ByRachel Jones
I would give everything I own for the chance to interview Mary Jen Burton Jessie.
A new tool hopes to uncover the lost ancestry of enslaved African Americans msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.