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To: doc1019

After Emancipation the freed slaves were also able to take a new name if they wished. Generally that of a famous person. Just a little more FYI. ;)


49 posted on 02/25/2013 6:34:43 PM PST by MotorCityBuck ( Keep the change, you filthy animal! ,)
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To: MotorCityBuck
A boy named Booker Taliaferro (pronounced "Tolliver") decided to adopt the surname Washington. He wasn't alone in doing that.

In one of the WPA oral histories of ex-slaves, a man who had not had a surname as a slave explained how he chose his. He had always heard the white folks talking about Jeff Davis, so he figured Davis was a good name and picked that.

Some of the freedmen kept their existing surnames (not always that of their most recent owner) but many chose a different surname.

51 posted on 02/25/2013 6:43:25 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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