Mulatto?
Okay... I missed my deadline for today (yesterday) I did not post on Feb 26. Though... I'm still awake, and I'm posting now, so does that count?
I have spent the day engrossed. After all of my talk about not knowing what my genealogy is and where my family is from, I decided to do something about it. I remembered that years ago after my grandmother's death my Uncle had given me what he knew about her side of the family. (I guess I've been talking about this for a long time.) So I went through my old papers yesterday until I found it. I spent a big chunk of today transferring that info into a tree at a genealogy website, as well as a program on my own computer, and trying to research connections. In just the few hours that I have been researching I've turned up lots of information from references in census records, and other public places. I have the WW1 draft cards for both great grandfathers and I have already been able to push my father's family back two generations further than what my uncle had given me. That research connected me to this branch of the family which has already brought some drama into my research. Two unmarried women who may have been mother/daughter, but may have also been aunt/niece, both of whom gave birth out of wedlock? Shocking!
I need to stop digging through the past and get to bed, but the last record I found tonight may be the most interesting of all I've seen today. My great great grandfather, on my father's side was listed as mulatto in the 1920 census. I'm fairly certain it's a transcription error though... what they are reading as an "m" just looks like a plain ol' "w" to me. Though wouldn't that be fun?
I have spent the day engrossed. After all of my talk about not knowing what my genealogy is and where my family is from, I decided to do something about it. I remembered that years ago after my grandmother's death my Uncle had given me what he knew about her side of the family. (I guess I've been talking about this for a long time.) So I went through my old papers yesterday until I found it. I spent a big chunk of today transferring that info into a tree at a genealogy website, as well as a program on my own computer, and trying to research connections. In just the few hours that I have been researching I've turned up lots of information from references in census records, and other public places. I have the WW1 draft cards for both great grandfathers and I have already been able to push my father's family back two generations further than what my uncle had given me. That research connected me to this branch of the family which has already brought some drama into my research. Two unmarried women who may have been mother/daughter, but may have also been aunt/niece, both of whom gave birth out of wedlock? Shocking!
I need to stop digging through the past and get to bed, but the last record I found tonight may be the most interesting of all I've seen today. My great great grandfather, on my father's side was listed as mulatto in the 1920 census. I'm fairly certain it's a transcription error though... what they are reading as an "m" just looks like a plain ol' "w" to me. Though wouldn't that be fun?
Welcome to the wonderful world of genealogical research! I've been working on our family tree for many years, and the "shocking" stories are the most fun. I found where some great great great aunts ran the town's most popular bawdy house... and all kinds of children seem to have been born out of wedlock, although it could just be the Cherokee tradition of passing the mother's surname, rather than the father's. Who knows! And then there's the famous highwayman ... You're going to have a blast and will find similar stories, I'm sure. And I just realized -- I've got some Longs (long ago) in my family, too. You just never know who you might be related to...
:-D