Descendants of Slaves - Finding Your Ancestors
If there is a satisfactory resolution to this, please point me in that direction.
I am currently researching for a gentleman in a Georgia County. To find his family I must follow his surname trail which leads to a prominent slave-owner just prior to the Civil War. I attached the 1860 Slave Schedule enumeration to his Source list, which I expect to be removed by one of his descendants. I, personally, feel this list of ages and genders (sexes) of slaves needs to be attached to the owner in some way like his children are, so that those researching their family have the same access as the rest of the world.
I have seen it proposed that the list be attached under "Memories" or "Notes." I don't feel that African Americans should have to dig through individuals' Notes and Memories to see whether a list of slaves is attached to determine whether a possible ancestor is listed. Those advocating for this are saying descendants of the slaves will be offended having their family attached to the owner. CAN I PLEASE GET YOUR INPUT ON THIS? My feeling is that this is the only way to locate your family. I do not want to offend anyone, but I do wish for a reasonable and workable way for descendants of slaves to find their ancestors without extreme research skills. Right now that does not exist.
The man I am working for has a strong desire to find his family and he should be able to do that. Any white American can type in their ancestor's name and get census returns with the entire family back to 1850 - the head of household to 1790. African Americans should have the same opportunity to search by surname in location.
I appreciate any assistance you can offer.