Is there a group here that assists the decendants of slaves in finding their ancestors, and history?

Question

I started a tree for a gentleman who was listed as a servant in the home of my great-great grandfather. His name was listed as Jack Leigh, his age was 61, in 1900, and his birthplace was South Carolina. He listed his father as being born in Africa.

I'm not particularly interested in finding Mr. Leigh's descendants. I am interested in helping others who are actively searching for ancestors that may have been slaves.

Answer 1

There are a few of us working on locating slaves and former slaves in the U.S.  There is the African American Project:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:African-American_Project

It will lead you to work being done as we speak.  There's also Slavery, United States of America:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Slavery%2C_United_States_of_America

Genealogy for slaves and former slaves in the United States is difficult and we can use all the help we can get.  Thanks! 

Answer 2

I am also working on the African-American Project.  There is a lot of work to do!  I'm the project coordinator (I really like saying that!), but I skip around a lot.  Right now I happen to be concentrating on my daughter's ancestors who are in North and South Carolina.  Her grandmother's family is from Anson and Union County in North Carolina and her grandfather's family is from Horry County.

But that is besides the point.  Is there something specific you'd like to work on?  We have someone working on entering Civil War soldiers.  I'm entering people off census records.  The project has lists of people who need profiles and families.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Buffalo_Soldiers (has a list of Medal of Honor recipients, many of whom do not have profiles yet)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:54th_Regiment%2C_Massachusetts_Infantry_%28Colored%29%2C_United_States_Civil_War (these profiles have no families, yet)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:African-American_Project (under A are freespaces with list of people who need profiles; in fact, everyone on this page needs work because they don't belong linked to a high level category)

If you have a specific interest, I would be happy to help you get started.

Comments

I've also been working on creating African-American cemeteries.  I've been in Horry County with a list of African-American cemeteries, then I look for enough information about someone buried there, make a profile, stir in some family, then voila!  I can create the cemetery category!  I like working in a small community because I think eventually everyone will be connected.

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I have discovered that some of my ancestors owned slaves.  I just started using wiki tree and am having a bit of a struggle learning all the things to do.  I have an estate inventory from 1838 in Callaway County, Missouri that mentions the name of a woman Sealy aged about 31, and her sons Henry age 13 and Jeremiah age 11.  They were mentioned in the estate inventory because the widow said Sealy was her absolute property by virtue of a deed of gift from the father of the widow.  Since Henry and Jeremiah were the sons of Sealy, the widow claimed them too.  I would appreciate help in creating profiles for these three.  I am going to see if I can find them in census records.