As I wrote in an earlier post, my research into the Gibson family, even from the beginning, has directed me into areas that discuss blurred racial lines. Some of the first material I found that mentioned the Gibson family of South Carolina was contained in a PBS Frontline special that profiled "blurred racial lines of famous families."
The Gibson family was included in this PBS Frontline material, because a number of genealogists have attempted to trace the ancestry of two recent U. S. presidents to the South Carolina Gibson family. Another source of information, included in the Frontline special background materials, was a reference to Winthrop Jordan's book, "White Over Black." In this book, a published doctoral thesis, Jordan mentions Jacob and Joseph Gibson, who are identified as a son and a grandson, respectively, of Randal Gibson. According to Jordan's book, as well as other sources of information I have reviewed and written about, Randal Gibson was a descendant of the South Carolina Gibson family, a family of colour that migrated from South Carolina to Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
Another source of material that discusses the likely ethnicity of the Gibson family is the work of Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware." This work lists surnames by area or location, and can be found at http://www.freeafricanamericansofcolor.com/.
According to Heinegg's book, which was also mentioned in the PBS Frontline special, the Gibson family likely descended from Gibson Gibson, born in the mid-1600's to Elizabeth Chavis. Gibson and Chavis are both surnames that can be found among "core surnames" of a controversial and widely-researched "tri-racial isolate" group, known as Melungeons, that lived in the Southeastern portion of the United States. More can be read about the this group at http://www.melungeons.com.
In June 1977, Erique Eugene Gildemeister drafted the results of his research about the racially mixed people of South Carolina, entitled “Local Complexities of Race in the Rural South: Racially Mixed People in South Carolina.” (B. A. thesis, Board of Study in Anthropology, State University of New York, College at Purchase, Purchase, New York, 1977.) Gildemeister's thesis discusses the various groups of people who lived in South Carolina, including those who were of African and Indian descent.
One conclusion drawn by Gildemeister seems to be that blurring of racial lines between whites and other people who have varying degrees of darker skin, or "mixed-blood", regardless of the specific type of ethnic ancestry, may have enabled the latter over time to be accepted as "white."
Still, I have no pictures of any relative who bore the surname Gibson, so I don't know that I will ever know the true ethnicity of my Gibson ancestors. But at this point, the case for their mixed-racial heritage seems to be a fairly strong one.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
New Blog at ClarionLedger
Effective yesterday, this blog will be posted at http://www.clarionledger.com/, under the name Mississippi Memories.
From the ClarionLedger front page, just go to the "Blogs" list, about half-way down the page and to the far right. Look for the picture of the magnolia and click on the link. I hope to see you there.
From the ClarionLedger front page, just go to the "Blogs" list, about half-way down the page and to the far right. Look for the picture of the magnolia and click on the link. I hope to see you there.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
A Genealogist's Prayer
So far on this blog, I have posted information about my paternal lines, the Branch, Porter, Baldridge, Meriwether, and Gibson connections. I have posted very little yet about the Netherland family, my mother's family, nor the Williams family of Alabama and Mississippi, from which my paternal great-great-great-grandmother Margarett J. Williams descended. I still have much research to do and even more writing to document what I already have and what I hope to find.
Today, while reviewing my files and planning out how to present the rest of the family information I already have, I ran across this poem, written by N. Curtis Woods. I thought it expresses the sentiment of so many family researchers, including me, in their efforts to piece together centuries of information about their ancestors.
A Genealogist's Prayer
Lord, help me dig into the past
And sift the sands of time,
That I might find the roots that made
This family tree of mine.
Lord, help me trace the ancient roads
On which my fathers trod,
And led them through so many lands
To find our present sod.
Lord, help me find an ancient book
Or dusty manuscript,
That's safely hidden now away,
In some forgotten crypt;
Lord, let it bridge the gap
That haunts my soul when I can't find
The missing link between some name
That ends the same as mine.
Where Is the Baldridge Family Now?
According to documents reviewed and information found during my research into the Baldrige/Baldridge family history, very few family members remained in Mississippi after the late 1800's. Since the Baldridge family migrated through North Carolina and continued into Tennessee, Alabama, and the Mississippi Territory, it is very likely that some of the Baldridge men took Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, or Choctaw women as their wives as they traveled along the way. It is also quite possible that some of the Baldridge daughters married men who had Native American ancestry.
When one reviews the people who were enumerated on the Dawes, Chapman, or Siler rolls, many different ethnic backgrounds are represented. It is apparent that intermarriage of people who lived in close proximity to each other, regardless of the area where they were located, was something that occurred frequently during the early 1800's.
Surprisingly, during my early research, I found that Baldridge is currently a more common surname in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky than in North Carolina, Tennessee, or Mississippi, where so many of my early ancestors lived during the 1800's. Some of these states have significant populations that include Native American ancestry that resulted from the relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes to what became the Oklahoma Territory.
Perhaps Baldridge family members who remained in Mississippi left over time to join relatives in Oklahoma and other states north and west. It appears to be so.
When one reviews the people who were enumerated on the Dawes, Chapman, or Siler rolls, many different ethnic backgrounds are represented. It is apparent that intermarriage of people who lived in close proximity to each other, regardless of the area where they were located, was something that occurred frequently during the early 1800's.
Surprisingly, during my early research, I found that Baldridge is currently a more common surname in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky than in North Carolina, Tennessee, or Mississippi, where so many of my early ancestors lived during the 1800's. Some of these states have significant populations that include Native American ancestry that resulted from the relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes to what became the Oklahoma Territory.
Perhaps Baldridge family members who remained in Mississippi left over time to join relatives in Oklahoma and other states north and west. It appears to be so.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Baldridge Family in Mississippi
Francis Baldridge was born circa 1751 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the son of John and Rebecca Clark Baldridge. He married Elizabeth Turrentine, born circa 1759 in western Pennsylvania, the daughter of Alexander Turrentine. The Turrentine family, like the Baldridge family and numerous other Scotch-Irish families, immigrated to Pennsylvania in the early-mid 1700's and later migrated to North Carolina, as land opened up for settlement there.
Many of the Scotch-Irish families living in Orange County, NC belonged to the Little River Presbyterian Church, and it is likely the Turrentine and Baldridge families attended church there, as well. Francis served as a private in the North Carolina Continental Army and fought in the Revolutionary War. According to records available, Francis earned 24 specie, plus interest, for his service in the war.
Francis and Elizabeth, according to "Methodism in Mississippi," had ten children, five boys and five girls, between 1777 and 1801, with several children being born after they migrated to the Mississippi Territory. Other accounts indicate they may have had eleven or twelve children, with possibly one who remained behind in North Carolina or one or more dying during early childhood. The actual number of children remains somewhat unclear, but the names below are documented in North Carolina and early Mississippi Territory records:
John, b. February 8, 1780, Orange County, NC
Alexander, b. circa 1782, Orange County, NC
Mary, b. circa 1784, Orange County, NC
Deborah Spence, b. circa 1788, Orange County, NC
James, b. circa 1791, Orange County, NC
Francis, b. 1793, Orange Co., NC
Daniel, b. 1797, place of birth is uncertain
Sarah Jane, b. 1799, Jefferson County, MS
Samuel, b. circa 1800
Alexander and Samuel are believed to have served in the War of 1812, possibly in the Mississippi Territory Militia.
Available records indicate that Sarah Jane, Deborah Spence, and James all died in Jefferson County, Mississippi. John Baldridge died in Carroll County, Mississippi and is buried in Enon Chruch Cemetery, near Carrollton, Mississippi.
Daniel Baldridge was married, first, to Sibbell Forman, on December 19, 1822, in Jefferson County, Mississippi. She was born circa 1800. It is possible that Sibbell died early in the marriage. On March 15, 1832, in Madison County, Mississippi, Daniel married his second wife, Harriett Atwood, born circa 1815. Daniel Baldridge and Harriett Atwood Baldridge had six children. One of their children, Martin Van Buren Baldridge, married Huldy Catherine Smith, born in North Carolina. Martin and Catherine had several children, one of them a daughter named Claudia Mae Baldridge. She married Ed Branch on December 21, 1896, and their only son, Clark Commander Branch, was born on August 9, 1899. Clark Commander Branch was my paternal grandfather. "Granny Claudie," as we called my great-grandmother Branch, died in Goodman, Mississippi and is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery.
More than two hundred years had gone by since the Baldrige/Baldridge family first emigrated from Ireland to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Many of the Scotch-Irish families living in Orange County, NC belonged to the Little River Presbyterian Church, and it is likely the Turrentine and Baldridge families attended church there, as well. Francis served as a private in the North Carolina Continental Army and fought in the Revolutionary War. According to records available, Francis earned 24 specie, plus interest, for his service in the war.
Francis and Elizabeth, according to "Methodism in Mississippi," had ten children, five boys and five girls, between 1777 and 1801, with several children being born after they migrated to the Mississippi Territory. Other accounts indicate they may have had eleven or twelve children, with possibly one who remained behind in North Carolina or one or more dying during early childhood. The actual number of children remains somewhat unclear, but the names below are documented in North Carolina and early Mississippi Territory records:
John, b. February 8, 1780, Orange County, NC
Alexander, b. circa 1782, Orange County, NC
Mary, b. circa 1784, Orange County, NC
Deborah Spence, b. circa 1788, Orange County, NC
James, b. circa 1791, Orange County, NC
Francis, b. 1793, Orange Co., NC
Daniel, b. 1797, place of birth is uncertain
Sarah Jane, b. 1799, Jefferson County, MS
Samuel, b. circa 1800
Alexander and Samuel are believed to have served in the War of 1812, possibly in the Mississippi Territory Militia.
Available records indicate that Sarah Jane, Deborah Spence, and James all died in Jefferson County, Mississippi. John Baldridge died in Carroll County, Mississippi and is buried in Enon Chruch Cemetery, near Carrollton, Mississippi.
Daniel Baldridge was married, first, to Sibbell Forman, on December 19, 1822, in Jefferson County, Mississippi. She was born circa 1800. It is possible that Sibbell died early in the marriage. On March 15, 1832, in Madison County, Mississippi, Daniel married his second wife, Harriett Atwood, born circa 1815. Daniel Baldridge and Harriett Atwood Baldridge had six children. One of their children, Martin Van Buren Baldridge, married Huldy Catherine Smith, born in North Carolina. Martin and Catherine had several children, one of them a daughter named Claudia Mae Baldridge. She married Ed Branch on December 21, 1896, and their only son, Clark Commander Branch, was born on August 9, 1899. Clark Commander Branch was my paternal grandfather. "Granny Claudie," as we called my great-grandmother Branch, died in Goodman, Mississippi and is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery.
More than two hundred years had gone by since the Baldrige/Baldridge family first emigrated from Ireland to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Baldrige/Baldridge Family Moves to NC
Some of the children of William and Janette Holmes Baldridge, when they reached adulthood, moved to western Pennsylvania. One of the sons, Daniel, married someone from the Lancaster area and moved with his wife from Lancaster County to Orange County, North Carolina, about 1770. Daniel later served in the Revolutionary War and was listed in the First Census of the United States in 1790. After John Baldridge died, Rebecca Clark Baldridge, left the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania area with several children who were still considered minors, and joined the Baldridge relatives in Orange County, NC. She later re-married and died about 1823 when she was said to have been been 103 years old, perhaps the mother of 21 children.
Several books have been written that chronicle the Scotch-Irish Baldrige/Baldridge family and their descendants. One particular book, "Our Baldridge Forbears" written by Dr. Chester C. Kennedy, himself a Baldridge descendant, specifically traces the entire ancestry of William Baldridge and Janette Holmes and their descendants from Ireland to Pennsylvania, and their migration into the Carolinas, and on to Tennessee and beyond.
Another of Dr. Kennedy's books is entitled "Francis Baldridge, His Wife, Turrentine In-Laws and Their Families." This book details the lives of Daniel Baldridge and Francis, one of his brothers, and their migration from North Carolina to Nashville, and on to the Mississippi Territory.
Francis Baldridge is shown on original land grand records in the Mississippi Territory dated 1799. The location of the land was near Cole's Creek, near the Natchez Trace, north of what is now part of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Francis Baldridge would become the ancestor of many Baldridge family members who would be born later in the State of Mississippi.
Several books have been written that chronicle the Scotch-Irish Baldrige/Baldridge family and their descendants. One particular book, "Our Baldridge Forbears" written by Dr. Chester C. Kennedy, himself a Baldridge descendant, specifically traces the entire ancestry of William Baldridge and Janette Holmes and their descendants from Ireland to Pennsylvania, and their migration into the Carolinas, and on to Tennessee and beyond.
Another of Dr. Kennedy's books is entitled "Francis Baldridge, His Wife, Turrentine In-Laws and Their Families." This book details the lives of Daniel Baldridge and Francis, one of his brothers, and their migration from North Carolina to Nashville, and on to the Mississippi Territory.
Francis Baldridge is shown on original land grand records in the Mississippi Territory dated 1799. The location of the land was near Cole's Creek, near the Natchez Trace, north of what is now part of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Francis Baldridge would become the ancestor of many Baldridge family members who would be born later in the State of Mississippi.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Balridge/Baldridge Family of Ulster, Ireland
The Baldridge family settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania around 1726 and owned land there until the early 1800's. William Baldrige was born circa 1689 in Ulster, Ireland, the son of Richard Baldrige of Wales. There is no known record of his birth. He married Janette Holmes, the daughter of James Holmes and allegedly Margaret Jane Jennings, on June 16, 1714. They became parents of six children, all born in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ulster Province, Ireland. Names and possible dates of birth of the children were, John, 1715; Alexander, 1717; Margaret, 1719; Janette, 1721; Elizabeth, 1723; and Michael, May 1726.
Available records vary as to the date, but sometime between 1726 and 1745, the Baldrige family, except for their oldest son, John, emigrated to Little Britain Township in southern Lancaster County. Reportedly, the family arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania aboard the "Queen Margaret."
William and Janette Holmes Baldrige settled between the Octorara Creek and the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River and worked. William was a farmer, and it is believed that Janette was a weaver. Some research conducted by other Baldrige descendants indiccate they may have been members of the Little Britain Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Lancaster County and the Muddy Run Society.
Available records vary as to the date, but sometime between 1726 and 1745, the Baldrige family, except for their oldest son, John, emigrated to Little Britain Township in southern Lancaster County. Reportedly, the family arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania aboard the "Queen Margaret."
William and Janette Holmes Baldrige settled between the Octorara Creek and the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River and worked. William was a farmer, and it is believed that Janette was a weaver. Some research conducted by other Baldrige descendants indiccate they may have been members of the Little Britain Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Lancaster County and the Muddy Run Society.
At some point, Rebekah's parents, William and Margaret Clark, also emigrated from Ulster Ireland, also to Lancaster County, PA. William Clark's Last Will and Testament was executed on May 10, 1763 and filed for probate 11 days later. It is recorded in Will Book "A", Page 219, Official Records of Lancaster County. In his will, William Clark recognizes John Baldrige, his son-in-law.
William Baldrige died on November 25, 1772, in Little Britain Township, and Janette died there reportedly between 1767 and 1773. It is believed they are buried in the church's cemetery, but there are no records to prove this.
John Baldrige, who had remained in far north Ireland when his parents emigrated to America, married Rebekah Clark in 1733, in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland, near where she had been born circa 1720. With three young children, John and Rebekah reportedly sailed to Pennsylvania aboard the "Village Belle," arriving there about 1737. They settled on land located in Martic township in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from John's parents.
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