Quan wrote: >Finding proof in court records or journals on the relationship of a slave owner and his female slaves is near to impossible. Very few owners acknowledge the children of slave mothers in writing. Quan, your statement is supported by many generations of conventional thought. However, in the past 30 years, a growing body of scholarly literature (much of it published in the NGS Quarterly and included in the annual calendars of recent scholarship published by academic journals of history) seriously challenges that traditional assumption. While it is true that written paternal acknowledgements are not easy to find via standard searches in standard records, those who dig deeply enough using more-creative research strategies are often able to find the sound evidence that is needed. If you or any others on the list are interested, contact me offline and I would be happy to supply a copy of the bibliography of scholarly case studies that I am maintaining. Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG (A fellow Southerner--Mississippi born)