Just want to chime in on this discussion as a descendant of the folks you are discussing. It is difficult for me as a person whose ancestors were Free Black, Native, and European when I am sharing my findings. The surnames of my ancestors in Delaware were Davis, Johnson, and Green. I have done extensive work on proving these lines, and yes they were Natives who intermixed with Free Blacks, and Europeans. Some became white while others were identified as colored, Mulatto, and even Negro. The problem is that the census workers decided what race you were, by, 'Eyeballing" you. The other issue is that Natives who identified themselves as Indian after a certain time were shipped to Reservations. I know through DNA that my ancestry includes Native Heritage (and European), besides being African American. I also know through my families own history which was taught at a young age, that was the case. My brother had a DNA test taken which proved native ancestry on our fathers side of the family. We had no idea since our paternal ancestors were slaves in South Carolina. I have written a third book about my Delaware and Pennsylvania Ancestors titled, Black Minqua The Life and Times of Henry Green. There is a Chapter called, Along the Great Minqua Trail, which details the Native Tribe that exist to this day. My Davis Ancestors were a part of that Tribe who are Delaware Indians. The title Black Minqua was actually given by Europeans on contact with the Susquehanna Indians. So I respectfully disagree with Paul's conclusions at least on this matter. For more information check out my Minqua site; http://minqua.ning.com
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From: Paul Heinegg <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Fwd: [VA-HIST] Bunch Family (Free African Americans...)
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Ray Terry said,
>I thank you for your dedication and excellent research dedicated to publicizing these overlooked groups of Americans.
>I know many of the members of the Nanticoke Indian organization of Millsboro, DE. They all acknowledge blended heritage and would agree that they are not entirely of Native American descent. Their desire to create a community based on one facet of their
ancestry is to be commended, especially for up and coming generations.
>You have chosen to call them 'Free Afican Americans', which is problematical because it assigns them to a continent of origin, uncertain at best. Except for the few persons identified in early records as 'negro' or 'freed slave' (which in itself is a dicey term vis-a-vis origins) there is in reality no way to separate African from Native American or Mediterrean or from any other source of color: too many instances of changes of color descriptors in any one family over time operate against such a notion.
>I wish you had named your web site 'Free Persons of Color of...' which I believe would be more accurate, but, of course, that is your call.
>Overall, nice work!
Thanks for your kind words.
My only problem with the name Free African Americans is that most mixed-race families that were free during the colonial period in the Southeast were culturally white. They spread from Virginia as far as South Carolina and Delaware before a distinct African American culture had developed among slaves. And a culture developed among slaves was irrelevant to mixed-race families who owned land among generally welcoming white neighbors. Many modern-day descendants are considered white, Portuguese, Melungeon, or are named after some Indian tribe.
I found very little evidence of Indian ancestry among the families that settled in Delaware and no evidence to back up the stories of shipwrecked Moorish sailors. (I don't know when the stories about Moors originated--perhaps the twentieth century).
One family named Sparksman descended from a white woman who had a child by an Indian--perhaps a Nanticoke--in Somerset County, Maryland, in 1712. She lived on the plantation of her master in Somerset County and her grandson Stephen Sparksman was head of a Little Creek Hundred, Kent County, Delaware household of 5 "other free" persons in 1800. There is certainly no evidence that any member of the mixed-race community of Little Creek Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware, ever lived as a Nanticoke Indian.
Families that descended from people of African ancestry made up nearly all of the mixed-race community in 1800. The communities in Delaware were little different from mixed-race settlements throughout the Southeast and included the Becketts (4 households), Driggers (2 households), Hansors (12 households), Harmons (10 households), and Johnsons--all families from Virginia.
Paul
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