Databases For Family History Research of Enslaved People with Sasha Mitchell

You researched your family back to the county where they were living right after enslavement;  located white people in the community with the same surnames and found wills associated with their family.

In addition, you may also (or instead) utilize DNA information to lead you to a specific family that held enslaved people.

You have done the work of finding records of people and sometimes families linked to a place or maybe two places in time but there is no centralized or searchable place for us to leave those records for others.

This discussion will focus on:

    • Records that are kept at the County level

    • Why enslaved people may use the surnames of the seller, buyer, the grantors or the grantees or another name altogether

    • Finding enslaved people that may be sold across the county or state lines 

    • Searching for a family member that may have been split up

Sasha Mitchell is a family and community historian, former chair of African American Heritage for Asheville & Buncombe County, NC. Researching for over 30 years. A mother of 3 sons, age 22, 20 & 17, a former foster mom, a seamstress, miniaturist, and budding woodworker. She works as Operations Manager at Dogwood Alliance, a non-profit devoted to protecting the forests of the South. She loves genealogy research for its power to connect people to history, to places in time, and to communities. And at a time when DNA is exposing connections between white and black families that have long been hidden, family history is helping people to heal and build connections.

Opening Music: Sweet Mellow Spice by AK Alexander Productions