Last week's message about "Priscilla's Homecoming" included a typo.
The correct URL is www.AfricanaHeritage.com -- not www.AfricanHeritage.com

LAM

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There is at least one case of  "an unbroken paper trail" from Africa to 
Charleston, South Carolina.

Thomalind Martin Polite is a direct descendant of a 10 year old girl who 
was kidnapped from Africa in 1756, placed aboard the slave ship Hare in 
Sierra Leone, and sold in the Charleston market to rice planter Elias 
Ball.  This series of events was brought to light by Edward Ball, author 
of Slaves in the Family, and anthropologist Joseph Opala, who has spent 
more than thirty years researching the Gullah/Sierra Leone connection. 

In May 2005, Mrs. Polite and her husband traveled to Sierra Leone at the 
invitation of President Kabbah.  (In the interest of disclosure:  I 
traveled with the Polites and a selected group of scholars, writers, and 
community activists).

To learn more, visit Yale University's "Priscilla's Homecoming" website 
at www.yale.edu/glc/priscilla.  Documents and images tell the full story 
of Priscilla's capture, the voyage to Charleston on a slave ship that 
originated in Rhode Island, and her purchase by Elias Ball.   To view a 
travelogue and photo diary, visit www.AfricanaHeritage.com and click on 
"Priscilla's Homecoming." 

The events leading up to and including the Homecoming have also been 
described in magazines -- "Building a Bridge to Africa," American Legacy 
(Winter 2007) and "Long Journey Home." Charleston Magazine (February 
2005) -- and serialized in newspapers by Herb Frazier (Charleston Post 
and Courier) and Paul Davis (Providence Journal).


Leslie Anderson Morales
Reference Librarian
Local History/Special Collections
Alexandria Library
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA  22314
(703) 838-4577 x213
http://www.alexandria.lib.va.us/branches/lhsc.html




Henry Wiencek wrote:

>Through searching plantation and court records it is possible to identify
>the ancestor who was brought from Africa, though I am not aware of any
>examples. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done it. Ed Ball and the
>people working with him may have done this. Newly arrived young slaves were
>taken into court to have their ages established for tax purposes, and their
>names were recorded. 
>
>Henry Wiencek
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