I came upon this wonderful news story on DallasNews.com about Pellham, Texas, a small Freedman community that's fighting hard to preserve its legacy for future generations.
Too small to be seen with the naked eye, the dna serves as the database of our cells. Information on all living beings around them is hidden within this miniature database within every cell of every organism.
The Genealogy Box - Genealogy Network - member of the American History and Genealogy Project, utilizing PhpGedView and Surname Search in Genealogy Groups for registered members. Genealogy books, software and reviews from Genealogy Network - Amazon Store on Facebook.
This column has previously focused on African-American genealogy blogs, in the articles Shout-outs to African-American Genealogy Blogs and More shout-outs to African-American genealogy blogs. A third edition soon forthcoming will spotlight several new genealogy blogs. The responsible genealogist, however, would be advised to learn more about United States history, including how it affected African-Americans. History blogs are a vital source for keeping up with current perspectives as well as newly available historical resources, many of which may provide genealogically useful information.
When the 1860 federal census was collected and enumerated, slavery was still legal within most of the states south of the Mason-Dixon line. The 1860 federal census enumerated only free people of color in its population schedule; slaves were enumerated namelessly on a separate schedule, identified only by slave owner, age, gender, and color.
This article is part of a continuing series looking at each federal census individually. Please read the others in the archives of this column.
The 1870 U. S. Census was the Ninth Decennial Census. This census is probably the single most important census for genealogists conducting research on African-American families
Over the last six months, this column has discussed the "Anatomy" of the federal census for the years from 1870-1930, not including the mostly-destroyed 1890 census. In this series of articles, each column of the census questionnaire was examined, and clues that will aid your research were discussed. If you have missed any of these articles, you can read them again using the links below:
Anatomy of the 1930 federal census
Anatomy of the 1920 federal census
Anatomy of the 1910 federal census
Anatomy of the 1900 federal census
Anatomy of the 1880 federal census
Anatomy of the 1870 federal census
In a discussion concerning the federal census as evidence for genealogical research, however, one must also consider the question: are census records reliable sources?
On 20 October 2009, this column addressed the topic of Y-DNA testing for genealogical purposes. This relatively new development in science holds revolutionary potential for genealogy, especially African-American research. The most recent issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (Sep 2009) contains the case study of an African-American family where Y-DNA testing revealed direct male line European ancestry.[1]
In honor of the many U. S. veterans that have served in our armed forces throughout the history of this great nation, the African American Genealogy Examiner column today will provide instructions on accessing several free records databases available online at the website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Robyn Smith, of the "Reclaiming Kin" blog, has awarded the African-American Genealogy Examiner with the "Kreativ Blogger" award. This award was created by Hulda Husfrue, a Norwegian arts & crafts blogger on 5 May 2008. [Please note that her site is in Norwegian but you can translate the page using Google Translate.] From these humble beginnings the award has spread like wildfire, and the Geneablogger community regularly recognizes their favorite peers with this award.
