E.S.C. “Aortas the Newsletter of W.I.S.E
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
E.S.C. “aortas The Newsletter of W.I.S.E. Family History Society lAte'S IRE IAI)D - SIZOCIAT)t) - cot:AA-TV Volume 11, Number 3 Denver, Colorado July, August, September 2010 Welsh As Major American Slaveholders? -- Richard Savage Careful study fails to bear it out. In February 1807, in the midst of Britain's war with Napoleon, Parliament passed the In doing some research recently, I ran across a act to end the transatlantic slave trade, to provocative comment on a Welsh website be enforced by the British navy. In the United suggesting that Welsh names appear dispro- States, Pennsylvania and Ohio Welsh portionately among African-Americans, were active in the Underground Railroad, and that this could indicate that Welsh assisting fugitive slaves escaping across Americans were more involved in slavehold- the Ohio River to find refuge in free ing than expected. The remarks are as territory. Many Pennsylvania Welsh were follows: Quakers, opposed to slavery on religious "Some time ago Mr. David Evans of grounds. Australia drew our attention to this topic Mr. Evans' with the following e-mail: comments do not offer an imme- diately obvious testable hypothesis. A " 'As an aside to your interesting website: naive question might be: Did the Welsh I have been trying to track down the reason preferentially settle in the South, where for what I consider to be a preponderance slavery was accepted — indeed, necessary — for of "Welsh" surnames among black Americans. the maintenance of the plantation system? I find it curious that again and again among The answer is clearly no, based on 1870 various subjects of interest to me, e.g. jazz and census data. Most of the Welsh, with a tennis, the names Williams, Evans, Jones, background as miners, went to the northern Thomas come up again and again ...' " (The states, where there were coal mines (Pennsyl- website is http://www.data-wales.com.uk/ vania, Ohio, Indiana) and the industries plantations.htm) that used coal. Some went to Wisconsin, Mr. Evans thus raised several interesting where there were lead (mineral) mines; a issues. if we accept the widely held notion well-preserved historical site at Mineral that slaves tended to adopt the surnames Point in southwest Wisconsin features the of their masters, a high modern incidence homes and culture of Welsh miners. of Welsh surnames would indicate that Since the census did not record ethnic Welsh immigrants formed a large proportion origin, I have picked out two representative of the slaveholder class. Welsh names, Morgan and Evans, as samples Hmmmm. Provocative indeed, especially of the location of the Welsh. Here are the since the Welsh in Britain, under the leader- numbers of white, male Morgans, ship of William Wilberforce, were leaders numerically prioritized, North and South, in the effort to stop the Atlantic slave trade. in 1870: -- continued on page 39 www.wise-fhs.org W.I.S.E. Words - 36 - July, August, September 2010 be stated too often. Here are some of her down-to-earth research tips. Notice that she President's still uses the U.S. Mail. Message • Make contacts wherever you can, and keep in touch. Seize the moment, take advantage of any opportunity to learn about your ancestors. No detail Marylee Hagen's wonderful presentation to is too small. W.I.S.E. in March, "Tracing Your Ancestors' Footsteps," took us from their European • Contact local historical societies, which may homelands — notably Ireland — across the have old newspapers, local history books and even ocean, then across America, showing us how file folders for individual families. (I'll add this: Local historians love to help.) her forebears got from point to point. But it taught us more than that. It was a lesson • Obituaries have endless pertinent information. in how much genealogical information is out Reread them for clues and details; follow the leads. A survivor you've never heard of before could be a there, and how vital it is that family historians link to vital information. keep on plugging. • Don't look at just the index of Marylee — the Republic of Ireland representa- a book. Skim through it for names, pictures and stories about tive / editor on the W.I.S.E board of directors your ancestors. You might be surprised. — has assembled an enormous amount of ma- terial, and she exhibited photos, books, maps • When online researching yields a valuable bit of and other items on display boards for her pres- information, print it, bookmark it or copy and paste it into to entation. As she told us, she started with very your document files — including your ge- nealogy software program — for it might not be little in 1995, but parlayed that into rich histo- there the next time you go looking. ries of her families. She is not a professional genealogist (she's a teacher), nor did she have • Be willing to share, and hope it won't be one- mysterious sources unavailable to the rest of sided. (I'll add this advice for beginners: If a more us. Granted, she has researched in Ireland, but experienced researcher sends you material — obits, a descendancy chart, a biography from an online not until she had done the groundwork re- source, for instance — you're expected to return the quired for a successful trip. favor. Even the smallest detail can mean a great Mainly, she is an indefatigable, savvy re- deal to a genealogist who is more advanced than searcher. Her advice and strategies would be you are.) valuable to all W.I.S.E. members, especially • Use all available resources in your community those whose research is just beginning. and online. Genealogy research takes hours, dollars We all start at a different point — I was en- and most of all, patience. Never give up — be per- tranced by the lovely old photos I inherited sistent and keep on trying to solve your problems, from my mother and in 1981 decided to try to even if it takes years. Don't hesitate to write letters find pictures of as many direct-line ancestors and send them by regular mail. as possible. Marylee began in the spring of I'll add one final suggestion: Don't expect to 1995 with a tour of the British Isles. She knew learn all about your family in one fell swoop. her mother was from Ireland, but that was There's no such thing as one website or book about all. A cousin in Arizona then showed or fellow researcher that will answer all your her a centennial book from Elkton, South Da- questions, but there are many that will help kota, which contained information about their you move a few steps forward. You must do family, and that was the beginning. the work. Although Marylee's strategies are well-known It's obvious that the secret to Marylee's suc- to researchers, they offer wisdom that cannot cess lies in her persistence. She's never www.wise-fhs.org W.I.S.E. Words - 37 - July, August, September 2010 accepted even the remotest possibility that her dar year, the society has budgeted $1,100 for barricades were insurmountable. She's never newsletter publication and distribution. There let her enthusiasm lag. She knows only too are no plans to post it on our website.❑ well that treasures lie just over the next hil- lock. All genealogists could use her motto: Where there's a will, there's a way.❑ We Need a Wales Editor The W.I.S.E. board of directors has a vacancy Membership Report in the position of Wales representative and editor with the resignation of Sam Kuntz from Welcome to new W.I.S.E. members who the position. The main requirement is an inter- joined recently. Chris Hansen, Carol Lamb, est in Welsh culture and genealogy, not neces- John Manion, Janice Solomon, and Cheryl sarily expertise. The duties are writing original Young-Beumer joined in March 2010. Judy items about Wales for the quarterly W.I.S.E. Kriss, Shelley Montoya, and Silence & Nat Words and attending board meetings. These Weeks joined in April 2010. generally occur eight times a year on Saturday The W.I.S.E. board approved two long-time mornings preceding the program meetings, members for lifetime membership: Elizabeth and are held at the Denver Public Library. (Betty) Brown, former Wales representative Sam held the position for about a year, and we and editor, and Donna J. Porter, an original thank him for his input, his articles and his founder of W.I.S.E. and teacher and mentor to devotion. Interested persons may contact Pres- many. Congratulations to both of these dedi- ident Zoe Lappin at ZLappiii4hotmail.com or cated ladies.❑ 303-322-2544, or any board member.❑ W.I.S.E. Is Going Electronic In This Issue Welsh as Major American Slaveholders? 35 W.I.S.E. Family History Society next year will President's Message 36 join the ranks of many genealogy and family Membership Report 37 history societies by distributing our quarterly W.I.S.E. Is Going Electronic 37 newsletter, W.I.S.E. Words, via e-mail to We Need a Wales Editor 37 members. It then can be printed or saved to Banner Day at W.I.S.E. 38 your hard drive. It will continue to be availa- W.I.S.E. Program Schedule 39 ble in paper form via U.S. Mail for an extra $5 per year per membership, raising dues to $17 Festival Volunteers Needed 41 for one person and $20 for two or more people Joscelyn Parish Churches -- Essex and Suffolk—Part I1 42 at the same address who choose to receive the Ethnic Diversity in Scotland 45 paper version.