Thanks for your suggestions, Aurelia.
Yes, I’ve head about Mr. Plecker ! And, when I’m searching through
death certificates, his name pops up very, very often ! However, he can’t be
blamed for whatever was going on in or about 1850, etc. That’s my main
interest. Policies and practices befo’ de wa’ !
Thanks, again.
Carole
In a message dated 11/17/2011 3:38:38 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Carole,
You might want to look at www.eugenics.org . There are numerous articles
dealing with race, race mixing, etc.. Look at the articles by W.A. Plecker,
whom I'm sure you have heard about.
Aurelia
________________________________
From: Carole D. Bryant <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Virginia personal property taxes and Indians
Thank you very, very much, Dr. Ragan !
What you sent is very, very helpful ! My questions seem to have been so
“
vexing,” that few offered to tackle them. No, you did NOT muddy the water.
It seems to me that some of the folks doing the record-keeping in the
1800s
may have been the cause of much confusion, by not being completely honest
about race. To me, that’s evident upon reading the 1850 census-taker’s
options: white, black, or mulatto. Guess he really scratched his head
when he
had to enter the info about an Indian !
As you indicated, different counties may have had different practices,
but
you’ve zoomed in on Virginia and that’s what I needed.
If I may add another question … What were the marriage possibilities for
Indians in Virginia in the 1800's? Could an Indian marry a white person,
for
example? I’ve seen a number of examples of (apparently) mixed couples who
were living in a married relationship and who stated (in the long ago
past)
that they were married, yet no records have been found, not in the
Halifax-Pittsylvania area that I’m dealing with, nor in near-by North
Carolina
counties.
Gratefully, Carole
In a message dated 11/17/2011 10:12:25 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Carole,
You have asked important and often vexing questions. I'll answer them in
order where I can. I'll also add a caveat that most of my research has
been
focused on the Eastern Algonquian people who lived in the Virginia's
Lower
and Middle Peninsulas and the Northern Neck, so circumstances on the
Eastern Shore, South of the James, and for the Piedmont and West may
differ
according to local whites' attitudes about their Indian neighbors.
> Were Indians ever included in Virginia's personal property tax-payers
lists ? If so, in what year did they begin to be included ?
Based on a number of factors, I would assume that inclusion varied from
county to county, but I have not made an exhaustive comparison. In King
William County's Personal Property Records, the first time "Indians" are
classified as such is 1787, when an assessment was made on people living
at the
Pamunkey "Indian Town." There were eight heads of household, two of which
were taxed. They were likely white men who lived on the Pamunkey
Reservation.
After 1787, the assessments appear to be intermittent. So if you're
looking
for reservation Indians, then start with the County that contains the
reservation. That said, while the Pamunkey are listed, there is no
mention in
the King William County Personal Property Tax Records of the Mattaponi
Reservation, just a few miles away.
> I'm also wondering about part-Indians. Were they included ?
By the 1830s, Virginia Indians, whether of mixed parentage or not, were
quickly being consumed into an amorphous group labeled "free persons of
color," which also included free "negroes" and free "mulattos." But the
color
line was very fluid, and some Indians as well as some mulattos could
sometimes pass for white. I have a sense that Indians jumped color lines
more
easily than mixed-blood blacks, but I say that because I am no longer
surprised
to find Indians listed on different records with different racial
markers.
In general, if Indians held a protected reservation, there was a greater
chance that the Commonwealth considered them as Indian. However, the vast
majority of Virginia Indians lived without protected reservations and
their
racial classification was determined by their white neighbors, which
meant
that Indians frequently appear in the records as "free colored" or
"mulatto"
or "black."
> On the same general subject, I'm also wondering if Indians (and/or
> part-Indians) were at all considered in the 1850 Census. If so, how
were they
> designated as to race ? The column for "color" only shows options for
> white, black, and mulatto (1850 definition = ??).
Virginia had long been frustrated about how to define the racial makeup
of
its citizens, and the racial designations on the 1850 Census reflected
how
arbitrary identity could be. Indians were identified variously as white,
black, or mulatto. It was not until 1866 that the Virginia Assembly
defined
Indians for the first time in Virginia’s history! “Every person having
one-fourth or more of negro blood shall be deemed a colored person, and
every
person not a colored person having one-fourth or more of Indian blood
shall be deemed an Indian.” (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1865-1866, pp.
84-85) This
is also the first time the Virginia Code uses the term "colored person."
> And, did it make a difference whether one's mother was an Indian or if
one's father was an Indian ?
Paternity only mattered some times, and it never mattered outside the
community.
Hope this is helpful but it probably only muddies the water for you.
Good luck with your research,
Edward
Edward DuBois Ragan, Ph.D.
[log in to unmask]
318.426.9303
On Nov 14, 2011, at 7:17 AM, Carole D. Bryant wrote:
> Greetings, fellow-researchers !
>
> Were Indians ever included in Virginia's personal property
tax-payers
> lists ? If so, in what year did they begin to be included ? I'm also
> wondering about part-Indians. Were they included ?
>
> On the same general subject, I'm also wondering if Indians (and/or
> part-Indians) were at all considered in the 1850 Census. If so, how
were they
> designated as to race ? The column for "color" only shows options for
> white, black, and mulatto (1850 definition = ??). And, did it make a
> difference whether one's mother was an Indian or if one's father was
an
Indian ?
>
> Thank you very much for your help !
> Carole
>
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