Post-Civil War, when slaves were supposed to be free, there were ways that were used to return Black people to the slave labor pool. Rules of conduct were set in place that were very strict. Infractions of those rules was easy to fabricate. Fines were imposed and if they were not paid, the accused was vulnerable to being hired out to planters again as slave labor.
Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:
Take a look at your family records. What went on in 1835? Did your family live in Alabama back then? How about Tennessee or Georgia? North Carolina? It was from these states that the government gathered up sixteen-thousand American Indians and drove them to Oklahoma, on what’s known as the Trail of Tears.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:
Black Lives Matter is a phrase we hear, and for good reason. I found some old research notes that I’d jogged down, stating that 1870 was supposedly the first year that African Americans were listed on the census by name.
Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:
The Trail of Tears moved Natives to Oklahoma. Oklahoma was the new Indian Country. But where had these Natives come from? At the time of the “treaty,” they had been living in: North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The lands that they were forced to give up were their native lands. The 1835 registry lists 16,000 Cherokees. If you’re having trouble finding your ancestral trails, and they were from North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, or Alabama, maybe they were Natives who were able to avoid being removed.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:
Some folks are ambitious. Some more than others. Being enslaved at the advent of the Revolutionary War was an impossible situation. Yet somehow a slave named Prince was able to “buy himself.” He paid forty-five pounds. I do not know what kind of conflicting pride a man who had to buy his own freedom, must have felt. Freedom is something that we’re born with. But here we have another unusual story from American history that ended with Prince a free man. One has to admire his fortitude.
Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:
My initial reason for writing a book about Native ancestry was to help sort things out and provide a bridge for those seeking clues. All the collective work of genealogists is what’s needed. As any good genealogist knows, EVERY CLUE IS IMPORTANT. I’m sorry that information is difficult to come by and that American history and Indian treaties are complex and overwhelming. But the good news is… we’re guided by the magic, beauty and imagery of our forefathers and mothers and a connection to others who are seeking.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:
If you were a Black man recently freed and you were convicted of the crime of committing an “insulting gesture,” you would have received thirty days in jail and a fine, maybe as high as a hundred dollars. A lot of money back then. Anything could be confused with an innocent wave of the hand. No doubt, these accusations occurred regularly in post-Civil War days.
Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy:
The role that the French played in Native American history should be highly considered while you research your family. The French frequently intermarried with the Natives. Those beautiful French surnames could easily be your Native ancestry. After the English overran Acadia and renamed it Nova Scotia, descendants of the Natives settled in Illinois as well as Louisiana. To name but two immigration sites.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Secret Genealogy IV – Native Americans Hidden in Our Family Trees:
Ancestry&History 