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White Folk in the Colonial Food Chain

27 Jun By Dwight

The English Colonial records of North America and the Caribbean have unfamiliar terms referencing the European population. Confusion arises because we have no context for the lives of the population in the 1600s and 1700s.

This was a world where people were graded economically. Racism was based on social status, not skin color. The economy of colony and wealth building was graded from the few at the top to those in bondage at the bottom. Under this system, slaves (servants, apprentices) could be African, European, Native American or from the Indian Sub-Continent (called East India Indians).

Four Categories of Whites in Colonial North America

There were four main categories for the incoming Europeans, and will be found in court, land, and church registers. However, it is not always clear what is inferred. Just be aware that terminology changes by locality and time period.

  • White Freeman Who Owned Property: Is defined as a white male over 21 who owned real or personal property of a particular value. He was endorsed by a majority of other Freemen in the community. He had the right to vote and pay taxes.
  • White Freeman: A free male over 21, not bound, was considered a White Freeman. In the Southern colonies it was freed slaves or anyone who voted or paid taxes.
  • White Apprentices: A broad term applied to bondage, such as indentured servant, redemptioner, free-willer, and apprentices. Terms such as apprentice and servant, obscured what the terms of bondage may have really meant.
  • White Slave: This is a person who was bound to a master. Chattel slavery, which was for a lifetime, grew out of the indentured servant system. Slaves could be prisoners, religious or political dissidents, orphans or social outcasts. In the English colonies, African slavery would replace European slavery.

Whites could move up from one grade to the next one. For example, an indentured servant or slave can become a freeman and eventually a landed freeman owning slaves.

This was their world and their values. If you judge them by our standards, you may miss what a particular record is trying to convey.

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Caribbean Islands, Colonial America, Colonial Research, Immigration and Emigration, Slavery and Bondage

Who were the Loyalists?

6 Aug By Dwight Leave a Comment

 

Flag for the Little Forks Branch

Part of Revolutionary War (1775-83) genealogy is the Loyalists. They were those who did not side with the Americans during the war but with Great Britain. They either left en mass during the war or were rooted out of their communities fleeing as exiles to Canada and the Caribbean.

It’s sometimes surprising to hear people talk about how the Irish and Scots-Irish all sided with the Americans. However, as with all history, it’s more complex. It’s more common than you think for families to be split during the 1770s and 1780s.

Loyalists are the subject of much documentation which is helpful from a genealogical perspective. Most Loyalists resettled in what is today Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This marked the beginning of a predominantly English speaking population in the future Canada. The honorific title given to these individuals and families is United Empire Loyalist.

It is estimated that an estimated 70,000 left the thirteen newly independent American states for British territory elsewhere. Of these about 62,000 were white (with 17,000 slaves) and 8,000 Blacks. Of these about 40,000 went to what is now Canada, 7,000 to Britain and 17,000 to the Caribbean. Some would later return to the United States from the Caribbean and Nova Scotia.

Badge for the United Empire Loyalists

If you cannot find out where your American branch of the family was from in Ireland during this period; then look for a Loyalist branch. An excellent place so start is the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada: www.uelac.orgTheir website has a “Directory of Loyalist” which lists name, rank, where resettled, status as Loyalist, and the source. To be descended from a Loyalists is as important in Canadian genealogy as being descended from an American Patriot is to Americans. Each has generated records which help us all in genealogy.

 

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Professional Links

Dwight Radford, visit me at: www.thejourneyhomegenealogy.com

Leland Meitzler Publisher of genealogy products and books: www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com

Irish Genealogical Society International: www.irishgenealogical.org  I write articles for their journal The Septs

Kelowna & District Genealogical Society located in beautiful British Columbia: www.kdgs.ca I will be speaking at their conference in September

Mike O’Laughlin author of Irish family history books: www.irishroots.com

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, MFA, CG professional book editing: www.nonfictionHelp.com  

Come enjoy the December research tour: www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com I am one of the consultant’s at this wonderful event

 

 

PICS: GO TO THE UELAC.ORG SITE AND FIND SOMETHING COOL.

Filed Under: Irish Ancestry Tagged With: Canada, Colonial Research, Military, Societies

Don’t Forget to Look in the Caribbean

8 May By Dwight Leave a Comment

Whenever someone comes to me with a tough 1600s and early 1700s research problem (both Catholic and Protestant), they always want to know about records in Ireland. Well, there aren’t that many, but people are usually shocked when I ask if they have looked at the Caribbean. The early colonial migrations were so often from Ireland to the Caribbean and then up the coast.

Irish went to the English Caribbean colonies as indentured servants, slaves, plantation workers, prisoners, exiles, merchants, and soldiers. Much of this was just prior to the full scale importation of African slaves. In fact, the island of Montserrat was an Irish Roman Catholic colony! Another little known fact is the original parishes of South Carolina were named after the Barbados parishes. This was because settlers from Barbados immigrated north to help develop South Carolina.
Main English islands where Irish immigrated or were brought include Bermuda (1609), Barbados (1627), Jamaica (1655), and the Leeward Islands: Antigua (1632), St. Kitts (St. Christopher) (1623), Nevis (1628) and Montserrat (1632).

It’s amazing that between hurricanes, volcanoes, rain, fungus, earthquakes, insects and humidity that anything survived. Much is available either in the Caribbean or from copies filed in England. Key records have been inventoried in Christiana K. Schaefer’s Genealogical Encyclopedia of the Colonial Americans (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998).

Many records have been published or are on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Others are at the National Archives in Kew, outside of London, and still others are at the archives on the islands. Regardless, access to these valuable and essential records is now easier than ever.

Filed Under: Irish Ancestry Tagged With: Caribbean Islands, Colonial America, Colonial Research, Immigration and Emigration, Indentured Servants, Slavery and Bondage, Strategies

Dwight A. Radford

Dwight A. Radford is a professional family history researcher. Along with his staff they specialize in Ireland, England, Canada, African American, Native American, and United States. Connecting families together through historical documents and then creating a cherished family heirloom published book for generations to enjoy. Full bio…

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