Back to the Beginning

When I first started my research, I built it on oral legends and previous research. My aunt was told that Solomon was sold to Isaac Koonce when he was 19 years old. Some places say he was born in 1822 and others say he was born in 1826. According to the 1870 census, his birth year was around 1828. The following census, however, claim 1826. This is important because I'm trying to find him and Amy on the slave census.

I know that he was sold to Isaac Koonce in 1839. On the 1840 slave census for Haywood County, Tennessee, Isaac owns 6 slaves - one male between 10 and 24, one male between 25 and 35, two females under 10, one female between 10 and 25 and one between 25 and 35.

On the 1850 census slave schedule for Haywood County, Isaac Koonce owned eight slaves. One was a male, 23 years old. Is that Solomon? There was also a 38 year old male, a 40 year old female, a 28 year old female, and an 18 year old female. I'm not sure if Amy is the older or younger of the females. There were also a twelve, a nine and two year old female slaves.

On the 1860 slave schedule Isaac owned 12 slaves. There were five adults and seven children. One was designated as a mulatto while the others were listed as black. The ages don’t match the 1850 schedule. There is now a 48 year old female, a 35 year old male, who I believe is Solomon, a 32 year old female who I believe is Amy, a 22 year old female mulatto, and an 18 year old female. The children range in age from one to 12. Three of the children correspond with the ages of Solomon’s oldest children.

I have to remind myself that back in those days, people weren't so concerned with accuracy. It's just another hindrance in finding ancestors.

Back to Work

It's been a while. My computer crashed making it difficult for me to write and research at home. So I took one of those breaks that I need from time to time. But I'm ready to get back to work now.
This has been the perfect week. School has been out for a week due to flooding. No, I don't live in Texas. Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area got more rain than Texas from Hurricane Ike.
So I finally sat down and started searching. Maybe it's because I'm coming back to the research cold but some data popped out at me that hadn't before. I'm still on this search for my great-great-great-great grandmother. We were told her name was Amy and that she was Cherokee. We were also told she birthed Solomon Kooonce's first children.

I have already written about an Amy Nunn living on one side of Mosella Koonce Dodson while Solomon lived on the other side. This is on the 1870 census. Amy is married to Mose Nunn who is 61 on that census. She is 47 making her birth year around 1823.

On the 1880 census, she and her husband have only aged five years making the true birth year questionable. Now it would put her birth year around 1828.

There is an "Ammie" Nunn living with Mosella's family in 1900. Mosella has now passed away. Ammie's status is that of grandmother not mother to Joe Dodson, Mosella's widower. Her birth year is 1819. However, it is stated that Ammie was born in North Carolina just like Amy Nunn of 1823, 1828.

So is this a stretch? What keeps popping out at me is that Amy's first child with Solomon is named Mosella and her last is named Mose. Amy is married to Mose Nunn. It was not uncommon for slaves to be forced to reproduce for the slaveowners regardless of their affections or the lack of them. Could this be the case with Amy and Solomon and why she disappears after emancipation? That she went back to her first love-Mose Nunn?

I wanted so bad to travel this summer to find out more about these theories but lack of money and time hindered me. It's times like these that I miss talking to Adrene about the "what if's" and wish that I had some relative who was just as interested as me in these dusty trails.

Cotton/Cotten DNA

I also posted this on my web page at freewebs.

Today I received an email from a Michael Cotten. He is involved in a Cotton/Cotten DNA project. The purpose of the project is to create a database to help identify the various families bearing the Cotton or Cotten surname.

I have been sitting on the fence about DNA projects. On the negative side, the results cannot prove a paper trail. It costs. And it depends on the amount of people in the database. But on the positive side,in the future when the database is more extensive, it may be more conclusive. And of course, if few participate, the database can't grow. Plus, as it states on the Cotten webpage, it can help to back up research, and a negative result can disprove many incorrect assumptions.

According to Michael, the information I have on the origin of the Cotten name is false. He wrote, "You mentioned a Cotten family who was descended from a John de Cotentin. Unfortunately there was no such person. The "De Cotentin" descent was invented by a man named Matlock who drew up an extended fake genealogy."

So it seems like it's back to the drawing board. I found a pedigree for Joseph R. Cotten on familysearch.org but the url for the source is xtremechat.org. Very suspicious! The person who submitted the source went to a lot of trouble posting information that goes back to the 9th century but of course that doesn't mean he is correct or legit.

Although I don't believe we are related by blood to the Cottens, I am certain that they are the reason my grandfather chose that name. That is the reason why I am interested in the origin and the genealogy of the Joseph R. Cotten family.

Square Pegs in the Family

It's been a while. The weather is warm so I have no excuse except for lack of funds and an abundance of laziness. However, next month I plan to make my pilgrimage to archives and courts and distant relatives.

During my hiatus, I almost lost my focus. Often genealogy is a lonely quest. My nest just became completely empty, so I was wallowing in my aloneness. I assailed myself with how I don't seem to fit in with my family or even my community.

During my wallowing, I remembered something. Many, many years ago I visited my late aunt Pauline Cotten and was surprised to find out that she collected dolls and Lladros figurines. I collected dolls and love Lladros, too. When my cousin Kenny Williams passed away four years ago, I found out she had an extensive collection of dolls. That affinity for collecting dolls and figurines must run in the family.

That is one of the incentives for me to research my family-- to discover how I do fit in. I am not the square peg. Or if I am, I believe there are few of us in this family and we do fit. So this is me, snapping out of it and getting back to work.

Meeting David Wilson

"Meeting David Wilson" is a documentary that follows David Wilson on his mission to discover to find more about his family roots in Caswell, North Carolina. That mission includes David Wilson, the descendant of slaves, meeting David Wilson, the descendant of the owner of those slaves.

I missed the airing on MSNBC last Friday. I surf the television schedule hoping there would be a rerun. Unfortunately, they did not air the show again but luckily they did post it online. However, when I went back to the MSNBC page to find a link for the video, I discovered it was no longer there. Instead they are promoting the DVD.

I am glad I watched it. It was an amazing story that inspired me to visit my ancestor's homes sooner rather than later. It brought out points I hadn't considered in my own research such as trying to envision the hardships of the life they led. David Wilson was able to work in a tobacco field, a feat I will not try to recreate in the cotton fields of Mississippi or Tennessee. I am not that dedicated. But I was impressed with Wilson's dedication. He was also able to find an abandoned slave quarter that could have been lived in by his ancestors. That scene was haunting. He also made the trip to Africa and visited the slave fort that housed two million Africans destined for slavery.

After watching the video, one impression was engraved into my spirit. It wasn't anger as some expressed during the video. It was gratitude that I have "choice." That sentence sounds so inane but the emotion it evokes in me is monumental. I can choose where I live, what I eat, who I marry, where I work. I can keep my children close. No one can come and separate me from them. Tears comes to my eyes even as I write this. This is what the USA was supposed to mean for everyone born on its soil. Now it actually does. Yes, I know America is not perfect and there are still lots of inequities. But think about it. A man is running for president who just happens to be black and he has a good chance of winning especially if we as Americans judge him not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. It makes me so very proud to be an American right now.

Conversations I wish I could have with dead people

This is not an original thought. I saw this on a blog some weeks ago. And I'm sure every one into genealogy wishes they could sit down with a few dead people and ask some questions.

I wish I could ask my great grandmother Katie Featherston why she named my uncle "Ester." I met my uncle Ester. I remember him as a round, pleasant man with a bright complexion. I was just a child and I never thought anything about him having a girl's name. But I do now. What was Katie thinking? All her other children had nice common names like my grandfather Freddie so I'm thinking there was a purpose to it. Did she want a girl and got my uncle instead?

I wish I could talk to Charles Featherston and find out if he loved Matilda and her children. Did the rest of the family know about them? Was he ostracized because of he was white and she was a former slave or was it accepted?

And of course great-great-great-Amy and Solomon Koonce would be special guests of my interrogation. I would finally find out who she was and what happened to her. And while I had them, I would ask about their parents too and if they were born in America or Africa.

Wouldn't it be great if the television execs could produce "Ghost Whisperers--the Genealogy Edition." It would be a hit. People would be clamoring to be on the show to solve all their genealogy mysteries.

Race, Color, and Nationality

When it comes to certain labels in America, I am confused and I don't think I'm alone. It is not as simple as black and white, pun definitely intended.

The issue came up during our monthly genealogy meeting. I think it started because one of the members was displaying her DNA results. She was happy that her African roots had been identified but she was mystified that there was no trace of Native American DNA. She always believed she was part Indian. It forced her to accept her European ancestry. This led to a lively discussion about our collective identities.

I consider myself a Black American. Others see themselves as African-Americans. My confusion comes because I believe that anyone with ancestry from Africa and citizenship in America can be called African-American. Charlize Theron can be called African-American. And what about African slave descendants that live in the other Americas like Canada or Brazil? To compound my confusion, some people including some of my club members believe that Barack Obama can't be called an African-American or Black because he isn't descended from African slaves. But his father was African and he even knows what part of Africa from where he came unlike the majority of Black Americans. Crazy

When you add Native Americans into the mix it gets even more confusing. There are Black people with Native American genes and Whites who married Indians that are being denied their Indian heritage by the ruling tribal councils. Even though these individuals are descended from people on the Dawes Rolls (the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes) and have documented proof of their ancestry, they aren't recognized as citizens of their tribes. Those that are disenfranchised are accusing the Indian tribal councils of racism.

There are other divisions in our society and within the sub-cultures. It was pointed out at the meeting that someone knew a lady who was American but whose parents were from Japan so she considered herself Japanese not American. Puerto Ricans consider themselves Puerto Rican, not Black or African-American even if they have ancestors from Africa.

I guess it comes with our melting pot culture. And it is a testament to our democratic society that we all sort of kind of get along even with all the labels and hyphens. But it sure would be less confusing without them.