Historic slave project tries to heal old wounds
By Tony Bartelme
The Post and Courier
Toni Carrier, founding director of the Lowcountry Africana, address those gathered at Magnolia Plantation's carriage house Saturday for a commemoration ceremony and unveiling of the group's database.
On the Web
To search Lowcountry Africana's database, go to lowcountryafricana.com. Searches are free.
A brisk wind blew through the Spanish moss at Magnolia Plantation on Saturday as descendants of slaves and slave owners passed a flower-covered wreath to the banks of the Ashley River, then watched the wind carry it away.
The ritual marked the launch of Lowcountry Africana's database, a project that could help thousands of people across the country learn about their enslaved ancestors at Drayton Hall and Magnolia Plantation.
As the wreath drifted away, a dolphin's fin broke the surface nearby. Rosalee Bowens turned from the riverbank and said the project will help old wounds heal by giving people a chance to talk about their shared histories. Her great- grandfather was a slave at both plantations. "It's a blessing to be here, because you can't hold things in your heart forever."
The Magnolia Plantation Foundation helped fund the effort. "It's the first time a slave-owning family has made research available and funded a project like this," said Joyce McCollum, one of the project's investigators.
Using wills, oral histories, newspaper ads and other records, researchers uncovered 1,568 names of slaves and their family members and 10,000 pages of historical documents.
"We have distribution lists showing which slaves got shoes," McCollum said. "Even tools were accounted for, and that's how we found the names of some slaves."
Researchers then created a database that's now available for free searches on the group's Web site, www.lowcountryafricana.com.
One of the biggest challenges was matching first names of slaves with their surnames. That led to what Toni Carrier, founding director of Lowcountry Africana, described as the "biggest bombshell": Most slaves took last names that were different than those of their owners.
"Many people assumed that if an African-American's last name was Drayton," they came from a Drayton plantation, Carrier said. "The opposite turned out to be the case," she said. In fact, surnames turned out to be the least reliable indicator of a family's origins.
Carrier said the project's next focus will be on descendants of the Ball plantation.
Though just a handful of plantations are involved in the project, a huge number of people can trace their ancestries back the rice fields of the Lowcountry. Carrier said a 10-year-old slave girl at the Ball plantation in 1756 has 25,000 living descendants today.
Winslow Hastie, whose family owns Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, said he was amazed that a project like this hasn't been done. "Maybe it's just that time had to pass before people could look into this more objectively," he said, adding that as the descendant of a slave-owning family, helping slave descendants restore their family histories "was the least we can do."
For Deborah Grace and Frederica Ladson, Saturday's gathering was a reaffirmation of their family's deep roots. Grace said she was born on Magnolia Plantation, and that her great-grandfather was Adam Bennett, slave overseer of the gardens.
During the Civil War, Magnolia Plantation burned, and Bennett was nearly hung, she said. "He was so dedicated that he walked all the way to Flat Rock, North Carolina, to tell the Drayton family that the house had burned but the gardens had survived."
Through the Lowcountry Africana project, the family learned about a document that showed he was later baptized in a church in North Carolina. "We're holding onto that tight," Ladson said. "We have a rich legacy, and it's one we want to continue."
Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
Mon_Kie (anonymous) says...
Constantly talking about slaves and slave owners and plantations, etc...ain't gonna heal nobody's wounds.
Let's face the facts, there is no one alive today who was a plantation slave in the old south.
There is also no one alive today who had a plantation with slaves.
Exercises like this is just like picking the scab off an imaginary wound.
March 30, 2008 at 8:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
buff_o_rilla (anonymous) says...
Nice post Mon_Kie!!!
March 30, 2008 at 11:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Reader (anonymous) says...
I completely disagree. There is nothing about this story which suggests in any way that this is some effort to stir up discontent. This is about genealogy, plain and simple. This sounds like a great resource for people wanting to discover things about their families' histories, and I am glad that it is available.
I have to wonder if Mon_Kie would also propose tearing down all Civil War momuments (much less reenactments!), burning famiy Bibles (and other sources of information about people who were dead before we were born), and condemning Charles Towne Landing? After all, shouldn't we only be concerned about things that happened during our lifetimes?
March 30, 2008 at 11:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realman (anonymous) says...
Reader, you obviously didn't read the title of the article.
Studying genealogy is fine, but there are no folks that are alive today who have suffered because of slavery. They need to stop living in the past and stop blaming others for their current problems!
March 31, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
FindingMyself (anonymous) says...
To those of you who oppose efforts such as these, do you also oppose the Holocaust memorials and the memorabilia we have from that sad time in humanity's history? After all, in just a few decades, there will be nobody alive who actually experienced it. Even now, there are still those who deny it happened. But who cares, it wasn't in our lifetimes, right?
To me, it's like the previous posters said - genealogy, learning about family histories so that we can continue those stories for future generations - and more importantly, learn from the mistakes of our ancestors.
March 31, 2008 at 1:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realityhurts4real (anonymous) says...
It is interesting that when a group of people who have been and continues to be oppressed in this country, tries to reconcile in his/her own mind, the injustice that was and is levied upon them, we get a very negative opinion from others, and yet we are indeed constantly reminded and bombarded with memories of the Holocaust. To suggest that there is not anyone alive who was slaves or slave-owners is by in large the greatest cop out I have ever heard! Is this a way for people to totally absolve themselves, from the oppression of others? Is this how one group of people clear their conscious, while still enjoying the riches provided to them through this systematic suppression and oppression of others? I.e., Communities, Jobs, Political power and Economics! I will end with a quote. "A profound hatred for the African people is at the center of American civilization"
March 31, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LadyTarHeel (anonymous) says...
This is a very interesting project. I have always wondered about my ancestory and have not truly been able to go any farther back than my Great-Great-Grandfather. I don't think the purpose was to dredge up old feelings and to live in the past, the purpose was to provide people whose ancestors were slaves an avenue to trace their hertiage.
I think things would go so much better if we all respected the differences that make each culture special and unique.
March 31, 2008 at 10:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
greyrider (anonymous) says...
The key is in the title of the article. IF this is REALLY about healing old wounds, that's great. That's what we need. Too many "leaders" want to dredge up old wounds and reopen them because there is money in division. We need to look at slavery from a historical and TRUTHFUL standpoint. We need to learn from past mistakes and also throw guilt ONLY at the guilty. Most white people of those days had nothing to do with slavery and didn't approve of it. We need to learn from past mistakes and TRULY heal old wounds. It's time for everyone to get along.
March 31, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realman (anonymous) says...
"To those of you who oppose efforts such as these, do you also oppose the Holocaust memorials and the memorabilia we have from that sad time in humanity's history? After all, in just a few decades, there will be nobody alive who actually experienced it. Even now, there are still those who deny it happened. But who cares, it wasn't in our lifetimes, right?"
So do you also encourage other heritage groups, such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans?
March 31, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CHRISJIII (anonymous) says...
This is a great idea and should be encouraged. Ignoring the past won't make it go away, but studying it and learning from it is the best way to make for healing to occur.
March 31, 2008 at 3:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
prosperous_hb (anonymous) says...
There is nothing wrong with wanting to learn your family history. People like makinging things seem so darn negative. I guess the people saying negative things must be afraid of what their past has to show (Storm Thurmond, hmhhhhh)
March 31, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
walleyedwoman1215 (anonymous) says...
Blaming every American for the evil of slavery is like blaming every person in Germany for the Holocaust--unfair, and unbalanced. I am sorry for the black families who were torn apart, for the females who were raped and all the human beings who suffered under this cruel system, but I refuse to be culpable for something my ancestors had no part of. We were Irish immigrants who arrived in Andover, Mass. after year two of the potato blight. If you want to learn about blatant prejudice, google "Irish immigration." On "help wanted" signs, employers scrawled, "No dogs or Irish need apply."
Or, let's discuss the plight of Native Americans, who have the highest suicide, unemployment, alcoholism and domestic violence rates,the lowest college graduate rate and the worst life expectancy of any minority in this country.
Wake up, people. Pain knows no minority.
March 31, 2008 at 5:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Reader (anonymous) says...
Realman wrote, "Reader, you obviously didn't read the title of the article."
You, on the other hand, obviously didn't read BEYOND the title. There is nothing at all in this article about stirring up claims of victimization.
March 31, 2008 at 7 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
FindingMyself (anonymous) says...
Realman:
I have never heard of that heritage group. However, as long as it isn't encouraging a second Civil War and breaking away from the US, and isn't promoting racist or sexist views, why not? This is the South, most people here who have long heritage lines through this region of the country, will be a descendant of at least one Confederate soldier. Whether right or wrong, that is still a part of someone's heritage that deserves to be acknowledged.
April 1, 2008 at 2:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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