In 1860, three years before the Emancipation Proclamation, The United States Federal Census Schedule reported 488,070 free black Americans. True, many might say quasi-free, since these African Americans could not vote. But free they still were — almost half a million of them — roughly 12.5% of the entire African-American population at that time.
She was a free black/ woman, who lived many years with the family of John Stewart
Birth About 1730– DEATH Unknown:!
My 6th great-grandmother!
This lady was from the Gullah culture if living on that island
Well done! It’s so exciting to see someone trace their ancestry back. LOVE genealogy!
If I wasn’t so deep in finding my own ancestors I would try to find out if that John Stewart was my South Carolina ancestor. I have two John’s in my line before they migrated to TN. When I was a small child we lived on my grandfather’s land in an old shanty. There was a family of blacks who also lived on the land as share croppers until the great Depression took all the males to Detroit to work and left the grandmother alone. My parents brought her to live with us. Not as a servant (she was old) but as part of the family. She was the love of my youth. She shaped my life in so many ways. She was the one who told me about Jesus. I was devastated when WWII took our family to Ala. I don’t know what happened to her after we left. She was loved and I have so many precious memories of her. It breaks my heart that so many have taken away the truth of my love for that adopted grandmother. It’s not virtue signaling.
Thanks for posting that Dave.