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Subject:
Re: Language in 1808 Va Will
From:
Jean Duke <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:19:27 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
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Although I haven't heard the term used in years (I'm 80 years old), when 
I was younger it was not uncommon for a  light-skinned African American 
to be referred to as  a "high-yellow."

Maurice Duke

VCU.







On 2/17/2015 6:22 PM, Martha Katz-Hyman wrote:
> Douglas,
>
> In fact, because the writer of the will owned two boys named Henry,
> describing the skin color was the way to distinguish between the two and
> make sure that the correct individual went with the intended heir.
>
> Martha Katz-Hyman
> Curator
> Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
> Williamsburg, Virginia
>
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Douglas Burnett <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> I am catching up on transcribing some wills and have run across this
>> language for the first time:
>>
>> "3rdly I give to my son *Thomas *one negro boy by the name of
>>
>> *Henry* (a black boy) to him and his heirs or assigns forever
>>
>> 4thly I give to my son *Charles Washington *one negro boy by the
>>
>> name of *Henry * (a yellow boy) to him and his heirs or assigns
>>
>> forever"
>>
>> Does anyone understand the differentiation between the "black boy" and the
>> "yellow boy"?
>>
>> Am I trying to read to much into this and it is in fact just a physical
>> description of the coloring?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Douglas Burnett
>> Satellite Beach
>> FL
>> As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the
>> National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Florida State Genealogical
>> Society(FSGS) and the Virginia Genealogical  Society(VGS), I support and
>> adhere to the APG's Code of Ethics.
>>
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