African American Mayflower Descendants?

Mayflower, Library of Congress Photograph Collection

It Could Happen

What happens when you combine a heritage of English Pilgrim and an African slave? Well common sense tells you that you get a few of those 30-35 million Mayflower descendants to be mixed with African American blood. So how many Mayflower descendants have actually been accepted as members to the Mayflower society? Now that is a million dollar question. We posed our question to the General Society Mayflower Descendants, Lea Sinclair Filson, Assistant Governor General. Although no exact number is provided, here is the answer given to a3Genealogy: 

You ask an interesting question which we have been asked many times. The short answer is yes, we have members from many different races.  Their ancestors had biracial marriages in later generations, but there were no biracial couples on the Mayflower itself.  Lea Sinclair Filson

Mayflower African American Research

It is no easy task for anyone to prove eligibility for The Society of Mayflower Descendants, but  theoretically, in spite of slavery, it is possible for African Americans to do so. Through the tightly woven tapestry of African and pilgrim bloodlines, some will find that a branch of the family tree is indeed eligible for the Society of Mayflower Descendants.

Mayflower Ethnic and Religious Diversity

In a Los Angeles Times article, Mayflower Society Guards Door: For Some It’s An Ego Trip; for Others, Pride in Heritage, Charles Hillinger, author, reports the status as of 28 Nov 1985. This 1985 article implies that there are African American members:

Descendants include Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Mormons and members of other faiths. They come from all walks of life, rich, middle class and poor, teachers, preachers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, postmen, businessmen and women, secretaries, police officers, pilots, librarians… There are black members, an airline stewardess whose mother is Japanese, Indians who trace their ancestry to both the Pilgrims and the Indians who greeted the Pilgrims on arrival in this country. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne best speaks of early Puritan and African relationships  in 1862:

There is an historical circumstance, known to few, that connects the children of the Puritans with these Africans of Virginia, in a very singular way. They are our brethren, as being lineal descendants from the Mayflower, the fated womb of which, in her first voyage, sent forth a brood of Pilgrims upon Plymouth Rock, and, in a subsequent one, spawned slaves upon the Southern soil…” Nathaniel Hawthorne by Harold Bloom; page 55.

African Americans Before the Mayflower

Keep in mind that I am only speaking of the Mayflower that landed in 1620, MA. Let’s not confuse this part of history with the March 1619 enumeration of Jamestown  that predated the Mayflower. There, thirty-two (32) African indentured servants were enumerated in Jamestown.  But back to the Mayflower….

Were There Any African Americans on the Mayflower?
According to Caleb Johnson, “there were no blacks on the Mayflower."

The first black person known to have visited Plymouth was 30-year old John Pedro, presumably a servant or slave, who stopped at Plymouth in 1622 before heading on to Jamestown, Virginia. There are no records of any blacks living in Plymouth Colony until 1643, when an individual referred to simply as "the blackamore" is listed as one of the men between the ages of 16 and 60 who was capable of carrying arms in the defense of Plymouth (think of it as the first Selective Service list in America). The next mention of a black in Plymouth records seems to be a 1653 court record mentioning a "neager maide servant of John Barnes" who testified on her master's behalf in a lawsuit against John Smith. During the King Philip's War of 1676, a black named Jethro was captured by the Indians, but taken back by the colonists a few days later. In a subsequent court action, he was ordered to be a servant for two more years and then he was to be freed. Plymouth, for the most part, had servants [indentured servants] and not slaves, meaning that they usually got their freedom after turning 25 years of age. (Information from Caleb Johnson’s MayflowerHistory.com) 

Were Black People the Only Indentured Servants?

Be sure to understand that indentured servants and slaves are not synonymous. Slaves were bound indefinitely, indentured servants served for a pre-determined amount of time. In these earlier years, it was not uncommon to see whites and black indentured servants working alongside of one another.

In exchange for passage to America, the service of  poorer white people was sold to the “planter class” for a predetermined number of years. Upon arriving on the shores, the ship captain (or agent in charge) sold these passengers to the highest bidder based on household and planter’s needs. 

For More Information
Thanks to Heather Wilkinson Rojo, Secretary of New Hampshire Society of Mayflower Descendants, links have been added below. (See comments).

• Visit the Americans All “Of Plymouth Rock and Jamestown and Ellis Island” by Werner Sollors. 
• Secret Daughter by June Cross 
• Pilgrims Village Family Sketch: Abraham Pierce 

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy.com

Accurate, Accessible Answers

(Original 23 Nov 2011 article updated with Mayflower Society response)

DNA and Researching Children of War

Jewish Museum, Berlin

Unknown Father - WWI to Vietnam

Perhaps your ancestor was a “war child”; a descendant of a WWI or WWII soldier. Or maybe you are the war-child of a Korean War of Vietnam War soldier who disappeared once the war ended.  many are dedicating their family search on US military men who fathered children overseas.  Some are seeking living relatives; others would like to know a bit more about their American family having no interest in meeting them. 

The opportunity for a serviceman to become involved with a local woman was great. Sure, some married, but many more left behind their DNA either not knowingly or not acknowledging. It was war after-all. The local women were left in men-less towns. Take Germany for example, most of the men were at war. The American soldier, likewise, was without wife or girlfriend in a war tense foreign country.  

In  recent a3Genealogy cases a WWII paramour still living, recounted the story of her West Samoan lover. This led  to locating the Ohio veteran’s family. In another tear jerker, a French war child found out her birth father died less than 6 months of commissioning a researcher. But she did connect with her new family. (Enough romanticizing for now).

Looking for Your War-Child Father

Locating the father of a war-child may be difficult but not impossible. Two parallel researches must be completed. Family folklore may provide a soldier’s name, a military base, maybe even a job position that will lead the researcher to a regiment/company. But the unsuspecting family will need a lot more proof. Expect, at minimum, a DNA test. Matter fact, we usually have DNA test results in hand, as it is often the key tool to locating family. Coupled with proper genealogical research, a DNA test may help uncover siblings, cousins, and extended family.

Research the Child. Begin with the birth and place of the child. Are there any salvaged photos of the mother and soldier? This is a case where a picture speaks louder than words. A photo will bring a relationship to life.  Know that matching photos on both sides of the water help.

Were any gifts or mementos left behind? What happened to the mother after the father left? Was the father of the child given to any authority? This occurred often in Germany providing further proof closer to the event. Can others vouch for the family story? In one case a younger cousin was able to identify the WWII soldier in the photo since she too often went to the military base and knew him.

Research the Veteran. Define the veteran’s military timeline. Through these details, you may also ascertain the probability of him fathering a child. Was he in the right place at the right time? It may be important to follow his company movement. Through analysis of this detailed timeline it may be possible to determine if the father even had knowledge of the child. When did the father leave the post?

Cultural Ramifications

The exact number of war children left behind is unknown. It is important to understand that there was enough shame to pass around. The women often were tormented, disowned by family, and even officially stripped of their country’s citizenship when a relationship was known. To avoid such ridicule, the father of the child was kept a secret. Visit The Human Problem: The High Cost of War Paid by Women http://www.exulanten.com/humanloot.html for more information.

Europe

Maria Hohn tells us in GIs and Fräuleins, that 66,000 German children were born to soldiers of Allied forces in the period 1945–55.  Over half, 36,334, had American fathers. The number of war children continued to rise 10 years after the war.

Asia

Asian war children born of American soldiers garnered a new word of classification. Amerasian are persons born in Asia, to a U.S. military father. Several Asian countries - Japan, Thailand and So Korea, as well as islands in the Pacific Ocean - have significant populations of Amerasians.

Of course Western Samoa and the Philippines have notable populations of Amerasians.  In the Philippines the Pearl S. Buck International foundation estimates 52,000 Amerasians.  In the small region of Upolu , Western Samoa, it is suggested that over 1200 children were fathered by American soldiers (Stanner 1953, pg. 327).

Kathleen Brandt
Genealogist and Licensed Private Investigator

a3genealogy@gmail.com

(Revsed/Updated: first published 30 April 2012)

5 to Follow: Getting Giddy Over the X Chromosome

My X Chromosome Contributors

DNA, The X Chromosome, and Genealogists
If you have attended a recent DNA class - Spit or Swab: DNA for Genealogists, you probably know the a3Genealogy team has incorporated analyzing the X Chromosome to successfully connect cousins. Like many, our genealogists are giddy over the X Chromosome. If you didn't know any better, you would think this gender chromosome was new (but you know better!). The X and Y chromosome is as old as male and female!

But how genealogists analyze it to unscramble relations, is new.  I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here, but I am going to offer five great reading resources.

1. Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD  author of The Genetic Genealogist has several MUST follow posts. For the visual learner, you will love his fan charts and easy to follow explanations. Using his charts, I did a mock up of my own above. 
2. Roberta Estes' of DNAeXplained post X Marks the Spot patiently leads the reader to using the X chromosome as a genealogical tool. 
3. Emily Aulicino of DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy, has done the work for us if you prefer to use an ahnentafel numbers table to specify the X-Chromosome contributors. Our genealogy database generates both the ahnentafel numbers and the fan charts. 
4. Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, CGL(sm) offers the X-DNA inheritance chart in a Microsoft Word table. We like this one. As Debbie suggests, it's easy to enter the data.
5. Judy G Russell, The Legal Genealogist extends a lemding hand to unscrambling the confusion that comes with analyzing the X chromosome for genealogists. Whence the X walks the reader through an easy to follow case filled with graphics. 

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy.com

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Tips to Researching WWI War Brides

Did Your WWI Veteran Marry Overseas?

There are plenty of WWII sources for researching war brides, but a WWI search can be challenging in the USA.Over ten thousand American soldiers married overseas during WWI. So how can you find your ancestors' records?

History

“War bride” is the common term used to define foreign marriages of soldiers. These marriages took place overseas, and since the law stated “women could be American citizens by marriage,” these newlyweds were protected and transported to America by the American Government. Reference Female Ancestor Citizenship Confusion? Part II.

What to expect? 

Passport Application by Wife

An Application by the Wife of a Member of the Naval, or Military Forces of the US for a Certificate to Depart for the United States gives in-depth genealogical information of your ancestor. Ancestry.com has digitized a collection of "Applications of Wives of Members of the AEF in Europe, 1919 - 1920. This collection is part of the US Consular Posts.

Emergency Passport Applications issued to brides for US Transport may also assist in learning more. And may even hold a photo of the bride. For more information read Passport Applications.

Emergency Passport Application

Ship Manifests 
You may locate the ship manifests that recorded the bride and even children born overseas. Begin your search with the Ellis Island ship manifests.

Overseas Marriage Licenses

Researchers often bypass the task of looking for an overseas marriage license. But this license holds a wealth of genealogical data on both your veteran and the bride. Be sure to scour your veteran's service record; but it may also be attached to the brides passport or naturalization record. 

For More Information
Be sure to read 12 Resources for Researching WWI Overseas Marriages for more information and a comprehensive list of research tips.

Kathleen Brandt
a3genealogy.com
Accurate, Accessible Answers
a3genealogy@gmail.com

6 Places To Look for WWII Veteran Photos

WWII, 464^th Bomb Group

Marines and Air Force Crews

What researcher doesn’t want a photo of their veteran ancestor in uniform surrounded by their crew-mates? It’s even better when the faces in the photo are officially identified. Few researchers dig deep enough to locate military photos of their ancestors. But we may find a photo for our veteran?

Resources for Marines and Air Force Crews

(Resources for other branches will be in a subsequent blog).

On Line Research

1. Fold3.com a subscription base website opens our world to digitized military records. If you want to  just test it out, try your local genealogy center, a regional National Archives branch (NARA), or your local Family History Center. Fold3.com is chocked full of photos. But patience and perseverance is needed. In the WWII US Air Force Personnel Photos by country: Italy, England, Northern Africa, West Pacific, etc., there are about 240 photos. (If you have access to the Fold3 account, just click on the link provided.  More photos can be found in the NARA Textural Records (see #5, below).  
2. University libraries: Although I’d love to give researchers a guideline of which library to contact for your needs, I’ve found there’s no true rhyme or reason to how a collection ends up at any particular library. Ball State University of has Oral History for the 376^th Heavy Bombardment Group, 1939 - 1945 that was recorded in Albuquerque, NM.  Whereas, the University of Houston Digital Library can boast to housing a collection of VMB-613 Marine Bombing Squad Photos. 



Tuskegee Airmen

3. Websites and Organizations dedicated to Company, Crew, or Group histories.  If you like to sit in front of the TV and Google, you can definitely come across some great finds in Veteran reunion websites. Families who post about their soldier, may also be sharing a photo of yours. We found a great collection for the WWII, 464^th Bomb Group for one of our clients.
4. The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. With tragedy cam a lot of paperwork and sometimes photos were attached in Incident reports. The Individual Deceased Personnel File (also called a 293 file) contains information directly related to the circumstances of someone's death.
   
   Repository Research 
   
    
5. NARA Collections Textural and Still Pics, College Park, MD. Tackling the NARA can be daunting. But the treasures seem to be never ending. Merchant Marine Casualty files can be found in RG 26, Deceased and War Casualty Seaman's Records, 1937-50.  US Air Force Photo Collection, WWII, can be found in RG345.  There are additional photos of US Air Force  in RG342.  The researcher will leave thinking, so many boxes, so little time. But the visit is worth it as long as you work with the Archivist on duty and not try to tackle this job on your own.
6. Presidential Libraries, Right when we think we have exhausted all possibilities of finding a photo for our WWII veteran, we learn that additional photos are scattered between the Presidential libraries. Harry S. Truman Library is the most likely starting point, but don’t forget the Dwight D Eisenhower  Presidential Library in Abilene, KS. Its World War 2 Participants and Contemporaries Collection is the home of over 80,000 pages of personal papers, diaries, printed material, and photographs of veterans who served overseas or on the home front.

WWII crew photos are not guaranteed to jump in your line of sight immediately. But, researchers need to know not to overlook this opportunity of finding that one photo of their veteran.

Kathleen Brandt

a3genealogy.com

Accurate, accessible answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Newspapers for Ancestor Naturalization Research

Kansas City Star, 10 Oct 1927

5 Tips - Checklist

We are always looking for our immigrant ancestors records. Naturalization records are the key to reaching across the pond to continue our family research. And, they hold so much genealogical information: passenger arrival dates,  homeplace, parents’ names, children if applicable, etc.

Let’s Celebrate the New Citizens

Rarely do researchers look for their ancestors’ oath-taking event in newspapers. But, the names were commonly printed across the nation to welcome the new citizens.

Checklist to Naturalization Search

Before going to the NARA, Court Records, or USCIS for your ancestors’ you will need a bit of ancestral information, to include approximate naturalization date, parent’s names, place of birth, etc.  Begin with your online search (i.e. ancestry.com, fold3.com), but the persistent researcher will reach out to local and Federal repositories. Here is a quick checklist of collections that may hold this needed information: 

☐  Immigration / Passenger Ship Records - The Ellis Island Foundation database (free) is a great place to start. And, don’t forget the Castle of Gardens passenger records.
☐  Social Security Applications may verify parents’ names, birth places (a big key), and even a birthplace of your immigrant.
☐  Voters Registration Application: Know that if your ancestor was a registered voter, he was also a citizen of the USA. Voter’s registration applications may hold immigration and naturalization information embedded in the application.
☐  Passport Applications may hold your ancestor’s naturalization number. Of course other genealogical information including their arrival date to USA can also be found attached to these applications.
☐  Newspapers make five great resources. 

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy.com

Accurate, accessible answers 

DNA to the Rescue, II

Marion N. Williams

Identifying the Unknown Soldier

In April 2009 we were presented The Man in the Photo with his assumed name of William Williams. The client had already been searching for her biological family for two years: "Mine is a hard case Kathleen, I've researched myself for two years, my cousin who has a Dr. Degree and is a genealogist bug has helped me.  We've hit many brick walls….The biggest issue is that the name my mother gave me could have been false!”

As often happens, WWII was full of secrets, only to be revealed right before death. This was no different for Ruth. Presented with a photo, and the name William Williams, she spent hours staring into her father’s eyes, believing he died in Alaska.

Armed with Ruth’s information we started searching: “My mother also told me he came from the Reno Kansas area.  He was in the Army Corp. of Engineers during 1944.  He was with my mother at Mt. Gretna Campground Sept. 30th and Oct. 1st l944.”

a3Genelaogy researchers chased down military records of possible candidates, matching vital records and family members of William Williams. The man in the photo could not be identified. We closed the case suggesting a DNA. So Ruth took a 23andMe DNA test August of 2011 and waited. I’d like to say patiently, but it was more on pins and needles.

And she waited….

Then, two years later, Dec 2013, “Voila!!” A 23andMe match had identified a first and second cousin match, both leading to the Williams family. Quick to connect, Ruth forwarded the photo. She received an instant response:  "this is my grandpa, who are you?” Yes Ruth had a nephew…his grandpa, was her dad.

Who was William Williams?

Well, this soldier’s nickname was Bill, but his real name was Marion Williams. He was in Mt. Greta in 1944 - Great! We needed him there, at that time, for conception. And, the newly found nephew presented a train pass for the direct line to Mt. Greta on the Cornwall & Lebanon train that matched our timing.  Williams retired as a Major in 1945, and was in Alaska with the 770 Engineers, but he died in Colorado years later.

With DNA

As Paul Harvey would say…"And, now you know the rest of the story."

Visit DNA to the Rescue, I: Connecting Daughter to Military Father

Kathleen Brandt

a3genelogy@gmail.com

Accurate, accessible answers

p.s. Client’s name has been altered but quotes and events are exact.