my absence

Hi folks! I'm sorry I've been away from the blog (and sister website) for so long. I'm still pretty involved in my research of the Pettifords, trying to find some untapped resources. Be sure to keep your eye on the database (http://freeaainnc.tribalpages.com/) as I am constantly updating information there, mostly for Pettiford, but any other free blacks in antebellum NC are added there as I find new information. For instance, today in the database, I added information on Judy Artis who married Reuben Pettiford and resided in Washington County and also her son Alfred Artis Pettiford, both of which filed claims with the Southern Claims Commission (SCC).

Actually, this is one of the untapped resources I've recently discovered! The records for the SCC have been indexed and the records available on ancestry.com (click the link to go directly to the database - you need to be a paying member to access the information though) and also in book format (Gary B. Mills. Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004.) If you don't have a subscription to Ancestry, then check your local public library to see if you can get this through Interlibrary Loan and a plug for the State Library of North Carolina, if you are someone who visits the State Library of North Carolina, this book is available in the Genealogical reading room.

What is the SCC? From my understanding, The Southern Claims Commission was created for pro-Union Southerners could apply for reimbursement to any damage and losses to their property as a result of the Civil War. The one potential problem with this source is that it does not identify anyone by race. It may take a bit of research to figure out if a person who filed a claim was African-American or white (from what I saw today, most of the claims took place after the Civil War was over, so I say "African-American" instead of "free Black" because at that time they most likely were all free - there could be some that were dated earlier that I did not see today, so that is why I say "could have been", sorry for any confusion)

My Pettiford Research and the FreeAAinNC database is online!

Hi Folks,

It's been a long time since I last posted anything to this blog and I apologize for that. I have not posted much to the website, but there are a few new things.

I apologize to everyone for all the spam in the comments sections of the blog. Last thing I posted in September had 33 comments, 20 of which were spam that I deleted, and a few that are left I'm not sure if they are legitimate or not. I may change the way folks can leave comments so they have to be approved by me first in order to keep spammers off.

Well, I'm sure some of you are wondering what I've been doing with the research. I have spent the past year doing indepth research specifically on the Pettiford family in NC. The Pettiford family is a prolific group! I have traced over 500 Pettifords who all descend from 3 Pettifords (George, Lawrence, and Lewis) who were first recorded in Granville County in the 1740s and 1750s. George, Lawrence, and Lewis are all likely brothers, but so far I have found nothing that ties the three of them together. The descendants of these 3 men are found primarily in NC before the Civil War, but many began to move out of the state in the 1800s. Other states Pettifords moved to in the antebellum period are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. There is also a line of Pettifords in Kentucky that I have not yet been able to tie them into the North Carolina lines, but I believe they are a branch. They seem to be descended from a Fanny Pettiford who was listed in the 1790 census in Kentucky, a free black woman, and I have not been able to connect her to anyone yet, but then again my focus is on North Carolina and I have not spent much time on Fanny and her descendants.

One of the things I have been doing with the Pettiford group is tracking them in the census records. I have pulled all Pettifords (and variant spellings) from the census for 1790-1900 and I plan to do 1910-1930 still. One of the things I discovered while pulling the census information is that many of the Pettifords born in the antebellum period were still alive in the 1900s. That is why I'm pulling census information post-Civil War.

For all you Pettiford researchers out there, be sure to check the surname index of the website out as there are 11 Pettifords listed. I have a whole lot more at home, just haven't had the time to transcribe them. Hopefully this summer I can get to that.

I will continue to work on the Pettiford family through the end of 2010, but beginning 2011, i need to move on and plan to start working on the Mayo family. Why Mayo? It's actually the first family I started working on all those years ago in the fall of 2000!

Finally, I have my database online! The address to my database is http://freeaainnc.tribalpages.com According to the statistics for that site, there are 1640 names in the database with the top surnames being Pettiford, Carter, and Chavis. I actually have more people to add in the future. Some of the people listed in the database are listed only because of marriage bonds I found for them and nothing else.

Website revised and index by surname up

Hi folks!

I've been playing around with the website lately and have made some changes. Almost all the information on the main page has been removed and used to create an "About Us" type of page, divided into sections "About the Project", "About the Website", and "About the Transcriptions", and I'll probably add and "About Me" and "Announcements" section later. Please feel free to take a look at the new main page and leave comments here if you think it's good or how it can be improved for functionality. I like the top part of the page the best, links to the blog, dictionary of terms, surname index, and "about us" right at top so you don't have to go searching for that. I really detest websites that make you search for information like that which should be right at your fingertips.

The other news is that I now have a surname index up! The index includes ALL names (white and black) that are mentioned in all transcribed documents. The index is alphabetical by surname, then given name, and then county. I've been trying to figure out the best way to do the index and the way it is now seems to work. Let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement. I'll take all suggestions into consideration, but if it's more work than the way it is now to enter new names, I'll probably pass because the index is very time consuming.

Website is up!

Hi folks,

I've been working on a website for the past 6 months or so. It's been very slow going due to a somewhat hectic life, but I finally have it up and running and the first 18 documents ready. The address is http://www.freeaainnc.com/. What this site is, is transcriptions of documents I've come across during my research of FPOC in antebellum N.C. I started transcribing these about 5 years ago, so they all appear a little bit different (source info located at the top or bottom of the page, etc.), but they all include the source information so you can request copies from the State Archives of North Carolina (which is where these all come from).

So far, I have over 100 documents to transcribe (and more keep coming), but it's slow progress and I hope to get at least 1 document a week added to the website. Right now, the first page you go to has information about the website and at the bottom, you can click to enter a temporary index. As I work on the site, eventually all of the information on the main page will be used for an "About this site" page and the information of the temporary index will be moved to the main page in a more user friendly format (please feel free to give feedback on how I can make it more user friendly). Soon, I hope to create a surname index that will include all names mentioned in the records, whether the record is concerning them or not. I will also be adding a dictionary of terms to help explain different terms used throughout the records. **note, be sure to bookmark the main page, not the temporary index because once I move the data, that page will be gone**

Initially, I planned to add all the transcriptions to this blog, but I decided I would create a separate website. My plan is put the transcriptions on the website and now use the blog to talk about the history of FPOC in antebellum NC and possibly highlight transcriptions that I think are valuable to understanding the life and times of FPOC in antebellum NC.

request, a new chart, and an announcement

Hi folks,

I have 3 things for this entry.

First of all, I just discovered I had a bunch of replies that I did not realize were there. Some of the requests were for personal assistance, but not email address was left. Please, if you would like me to repond, leave your email address if the following format (so you don't get increased spam) userid (at) whatever.huh such as freeaainnc (at) ncalhn.org (which is my email address. This will hopefully help keep you from getting more spam and also make it so I can respond to you 1 on 1 and work with you that way. You can also email me directly if you still don't feel comfortable with posting your email address.

Now for my news!
I recently got into a debate with a person about the south having more free blacks from the 1790-1860 census. I created a chart to help prove my point and you all are available to use this, just be aware that it is copyrighted (the format, not the actual content because the data itself is not copyrightable for anyone). It is available online at: http://www.ncalhn.org/fpoccensusstats1790-1860.pdf. It turns out that the main problem the person has with this is that the research is done using census data, which is admittedly not very reliable, at least when it comes to names and age, but I also believe it to be the best source we have on population data for the entire country during the time given. The census is not perfect, but until a time machine is invented and we can go back and count every single person for ourselves, it's the best source we have for population statistical data.

Finally, I am WAAAAAYYYYYYY behind on the new website. I'm pushing back the date to September 2nd, 2008 when it will be available (day after labor day). Hopefully I can meet that at least. My goal is to have 50 transcribe documents on the site before I open it up.

Announcements

Hi Folks!

I know I haven't posted anything in a LONG time, I apologize, I've just been so stressed out with school. I have 2 announcements concerning this blog:

First off, I don't plan to post anything new here until I graduate in May. I apologize for that, but with school, I'm just spread too thin.

Secondly, I made a decision to start a new website (and not just blog) that will tie into this blog. I'll post the website address once I get it up, but look for it Summer 2008 (probably July). My plan is to use the website itself for transcribed documents and the blog for insights into the research project itself (insights into specific documents, historical events, etc.).

That's it for now. Thanks all for checking out my blog and your support!

Mariages Bonds of Free Persons of Color

Hi folks, here are some marriage bonds I copied from books of marriage bonds at the State Archives of North Carolina. This are arranged by County. I do not have all the counties, only a few, and these are only for marriages before 1866. For the last one in Orange County, they were not marked as (col.) as the others, but they are included because I know they were free persons of color. I've kept the text of the actual entry as it was listed in the books, but the format is off because of the limitations of blogspot. Page number refers to the page number in that particular county's book. The name of the book is in italics and the archives do no use call number for their books.

Caswell County Marriage Bonds

Groom	Bride	Date	Bondsman and Witnesses	page
Stevens, William x (col.)	Rosetta Hughes (col.)	11 June 1859	Johns (x) Freeman md. 11 June 1859 by N. M. Lewis, J.P.	295

Nash County Marriage Bonds

Groom	Bride	Date	Bondsman and Witnesses	page
Boon, Nathan	Frances Scott	31 Jan. 1859	Ira W. Futrell (w) Isaac Peele C.C.C.	19
Boon, William	Eliza Francis Boon	22 Dec. 1852	Shadrach -x- Boon (w) Wm. H. Hughes D.O.	20

Orange County Marriage Bonds

Groom	Bride	Date	Bondsman and Witnesses	page
Stewart, Ruffin	Elizabeth Bibby	30 Aug. 1838	Robert x Mitchell (w) J. Taylor	379