Andrew, definitely good luck trying to connect Christiana! I know I've tried. It's hard, and it's a great way to get some perspective on what it means when Black Americans mention history erasure and how many different things that means - it's not just that she wasn't named in the history books, it's not just that the 54th or Black Underground Railroad operators are rarely mentioned in American history books, and it's not even just that we hit walls of difficult-to-find or non-existent information when we're able on rare occasions to trace a Black American family back to either their voluntary arrival (i.e. not kidnapped by slave traders) or the first family members to either self-emancipate, be emancipated or manumitted.
So often, the public record stops at a list of aged Black and Brown people without names in the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules in the South or the first free person in the North or South. As a white person, it's emotional labor for me to dig through slave sales hoping for names, and it's likely tenfold for any Black genealogist. I do get upset - there's so much to get angry about! - but I try to remember that the emotional labor for me is nothing by comparison.
Thank you for your interest and keep up the great work with the 12th CT!
