Do you suppose his name was African? Reading the accounts of runaway slaves and servants in the colonial Virginia Gazette, I was struck by the slaves who seemed to have tribal markings, scars on their faces, front teeth missing [I believe I read that in some tribes that was also a mark of manhood]. Has anyone ever looked into this, to identify what tribes or areas in Africa they may have come from? Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 15, 2007, at 8:42 PM, Douglas Deal wrote: > Harold Forsythe wrote: >> Save for >> the fact I would have probably been a slave, I think I would have >> preferred >> 17th century VA over MA. (smile) >> >> > Harold: > > As it happens, there was at least one free black in early Boston > (1640s-50s) who decided, for reasons we'll never know (unless more > records turn up), to move down to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He > lived there for the rest of his life (he died in 1670). In Boston, > he'd > been a sailor, and we do have one record of a voyage he made to > Virginia > years before he moved. His name in Boston was Bastian Ken (with many > variations). His life there is described in the old Robert Twombly and > Robert Moore piece on the Black Puritan." On the Shore, he was > known as > Sebastian Kane. I have written a few pages about him in my /Race and > Class in Colonial Virginia. / > > Doug Deal > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html