Family Tree: Books trace ancestry to Colonial period
Published 6:30 am, Saturday, February 7, 2004
Paul Heinegg has published two landmark books that question the stereotypical myth of the white slave owner fathering mixed-race children by a slave woman. His books delve into various court records and documents such as deed, tax and probate records to show many Colonial mixed-race children were the progeny of white women servants and free or slave African-American men.
Heinegg's books, Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina From the Colonial Period to About 1820 ($75) and Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware From the Colonial Period to About 1810 ($45) may be purchased from the Genealogical Publishing Co. through its Web site, www.genealogical.com.
Heinegg has a Web site, www.freeafricanamericans.com, where his two books can be viewed online. Another Web site, www.genealogy.com/genealogy/12_heing.html?Welcome1075703492, contains the introduction to Heinegg's North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina book where readers interested in African-American genealogy can read a summary of his intriguing research findings.
Heinegg's research reveals a lot about the roots and historical evolution of racial discrimination in Colonial America. He traces hundreds of mixed-race families from their earliest Colonial origins into the early 19th century and discusses many of the early discriminatory laws enacted against them. According to Heinegg, white and black servants were on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder. They ate, slept, worked and socialized together. Due to their social class and physical proximity to one another, it was natural for them to intermarry and reproduce.
Many current white, African-American and mixed-race families may trace their ancestry back to one or more of the families researched in Heinegg's two books.
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Texas land records
Jerry Drake, director of archives for the Texas General Land Office, will address the Clayton Library Friends general meeting at 10 a.m. Feb. 14. The meeting will be at the Bayland Community Center, 6400 Bissonnet.
Drake will describe the historical and genealogical importance of Republic of Texas donation vouchers and Confederate scrip vouchers, which are being microfilmed by the land office with funds raised by the Library Friends. He also will discuss other records maintained by the land office, such as Republic of Texas military records, Spanish and Mexican land grants and the land office's Adopt-a-Map program.
Admittance to the meeting is free, and everyone is invited to attend. To learn more about the meeting or the Clayton Library Friends, contact Dick Warren at 281-461-1472 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Houston professional genealogist, lecturer and instructor Trevia Wooster Beverly will hold a one-day class, The Bathtub Count: Special Censuses and Schedules. The class will be at Leisure Learning's campus, 2990 Richmond Ave., 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 28.
The class will discuss helpful personal and genealogical information commonly found in population and nonpopulation special and supplemental censuses.
Tuition for the class is $40, and preregistration is required. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.
The course, Unpuzzling Your Past: An Introduction to Genealogy, will be 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 28. The class will discuss both traditional and online sources for learning about one's family history. Included will be techniques in using newspapers, census records and other genealogically fruitful resources.
Preregistration is required. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 713-718-5303.