G2G: How to handle Mexican slavery

Question

Working on a profile where 3 of the 8 slaves are listed in the census as Mexican.  Would you create a profile for them using the same standards as USBH? Is there another project they should be attached to?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I just looked at the source (slave schedule) and the image for the source and I don't see where it says they are Mexican. Could it be that in the Color column the letter B represents black and the M for mulatto and not Mexican?

Later edit:

It seems the slave schedule on FamilySearch was indexed incorrectly. According to the 1850 instructions to enumerators, the letter "M" represents "mulatto" and not Mexican.

See:
1 - 1850 Census Instructions to Enumerators (census.gov)
2 - 1850 Census Instructions (PDF)

"6. Under heading 6, entitled ‘‘Color,’’ in all cases where the person is white, leave the space blank; in all cases where the person is black, insert the letter B; if mulatto, insert M. It is very desirable that these particulars be carefully regarded."

Comments

That must be the case; the indexer put 'Mexican' and I didn't question it since it was Texas.  Thanks for your help in interpreting this!

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This is a great example of why it's so important not to rely on that indexed page, but to look at (and in my opinion, cite) the original image (On familysearch.org, there's a citation you can copy on the second tab at the bottom of the image)

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Yes!  I ran across this recently in Alaska, where "Mx" is used in the census to designate mixed European and Aleutian descent. In the 1910 census the Familysearch records transcribe this as "Mexican", which kind of stands out in Alaska.