Before the Indians were taken to Indian Territory there was a large
number of whites and Indians that fled to the mountain between Little Crow Creek
and Little Coon. They built Shavis Town, cleared up about 100 or more acres and
cultivated it, putting out an orchard. They raised winesap apples, peaches, corn
and dug ginseng besides hunting for a living.
The older men were very
religious.
They were mixed with Portuguese. Willis Shavis named his four sons after
the Apostles, Andrew, John, Peter and Nathaniel. The had two Preachers, John
Pressley and Brother Forsythe, an Indian. They would preach and convert the
young men and girls and bring them down to Little Crow Creek to Baptize them.
They believed rightly they were to be buried in baptism in water. They knew the
Bible. I don't know where
1832 - Madison Co. TN
Free man of color, Richard Matthews, seeks permission to marry a white woman. Matthews says he is "of the Portuguese Blood.
"The Roark's
are Portugese. They came from the Black Water country, Tennessee, so did
the Sizemores and Collets also"
Dickey Diary
~1898
LETTER FROM REV. J. G. JONES TO
McKINLEY
GIBSON, ESQ.
Port Gibson, Miss., May 17, 1878
Dear sir:
There
were three branches of the Gibson connexion which settled in Mississippi at an
early day: The parents of Rev. Randall Gibson near Natchez about where the old
town of Washington now stands; the family of Samuel Gibson - the founder of the
Town of Port Gibson, in this vicinity; and that of Rev. Tobias Gibson in what is
now Warren county in the vicinity of Warrenrtown. So far as I know these families all came from
the valley of the Great Pee Dee river in South Carolina. Some time in the
sixteenth century three ship loads of Portuguese Hugenots voluntarily exiled
themselves from Portugal rather than renounce their Protestant faith, and
settled in South Carolina, then the Colony of Carolina, in the very
region of county where our Gibsons are llrst found, and, from their elevated
intellectuality, morality, religion and enterprise, I have long believed that
they were the descendants of those refugee Huguenots, though I do not remember
ever to have heard but one of the connexion refer to this as a tradition of the
family. I wish we now had the means of demonstrating this
theory.
Excerpt From William Labach - Read
here
Reverend John G. Jones was Author of A Complete Hisotry of
Methodism - 1887
SHIPWRECKED PORTUGUESE
Title: Letters to the Secretary of State and
others from the Governors, Alexander Spotswood, William Gooch, Robert Dinwiddle
and Francis Fauquier, and Presidents Thomas Lee and Lewis Burwell, with
enclosures and replies. Depository: Public Record Office / Class: C.O. 5/1344 SR
Number: SR 00233 Reel Number: 48 Dates: 1726 - 1783 References: Lists &
Indexes, Vol. XXXVI, 29. Andrews Guide 183, List 493. ff. 86-87 Lords of Trade
to the Duke of Bedford,
10 Jan 1750/51. Spanish and Portuguese ships
driven into ports of Virginia by bad weather. Encloses the four (only adding
two) documents listed below: ff. 90-91 Enclosed in the above. Extract of a
letter from Thomas Lee to the Board of Trade, 6 Nov. 1750. The Spanish and Portuguese ships
driven into Virginia ports have proven irrepairable. The masters
have been given permission to hire other ships to carry their cargoes to
Europe.
PORTUGUESE INDIANS
The Expedition of Batts and Fallam:
A Journey from Virginia to beyond the
Appalachian Mountains, September, 1671.
From
Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800.
September 5th 1671
''The three gentlemen bore a commission from
Major-general Wood "for the finding out tile ebbing and flowing of the Waters on
the other side of the Mountains in order to the discovery of the South Sea."
They struck off due west along a trail that
was evidently already familiar, and having five horses made rapid progress. On
the fourth day 'they reached the Sapony villages, one of which Lederer had
visited the year before. They were "very joyfully and kindly received with
firing of guns and plenty of provisions." They picked up a Sapony guide to show
them to the Totero village by "a nearer way than usual," and were about to leave
when overtaken by a reinforcement of seven Appomattox Indians sent them by Wood.
They sent back Mr. Thomas Wood's worn out horse
by a Portuguese servant of General Wood's whom they had found in the village,
and pushed on to the Hanahaskie "town," some twenty-five miles west by north, on
an island in the Staunton River. Here Mr. Thomas Wood was left, dangerously
ill.''
GRIFFIN
On page 35 of the
Order Book, Volume I (April 24, 1855-January 30, 1869) of the Clay
County Records (Kentucky State Archives, Frankfort)
"John Griffin was released from being placed on the Negro list, and hereafter he
will be listed as a white man, proof
being made to the satisfaction of the court that he was of Portuguese
descent instead of African descent."
GILES LEITCH
Member of the Philanthropic Society
University of North Carolina -Graduate 1849
Senator from Robeson County 1862
Born
1827
New York Herald
Saturday, March 09, 1872
Wilmington, N.C.
February 29, 1872
THE KU KLUX REPORT ON THE LOWERYS
........."Giles Leitch the Judge
previously referred to in these letter, gave before
Pool's Ku Klux Committee these
figures:-
The
county of Robeson had about one thousand five hundred white voting
population before the close of the war; since
the colored population has been
enfranchised there are about three thousand
voters in the county; of that
1,5000 additional voting population about
half were formerly slaves, and the other
half
are composed of a population that existed there and were never slaves,
and
are not white, but who, since 1835 have had no right of suffrage; I
think
that about one-half of that additional 1,500
voters were this old free and
non white population: half the colored
population of Robeson county were never
slaves at all; in 1835 there was a State
Convention which disfranchised
them; up to that time they had exercised the
elective franchise; the free
negroes had exercised the elective franchise
up to 1835; but Robeson county
contained a larger number of them than most
of the other counties; but really I
do
not know what these mulattoes of Scuffletown are.
I think they
are a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, and Indian; about half
of
them have straight black hair, and many of the characteristics of the
Cherokee Indians in our State; then, as they
amalgamate and mix, the hair
becomes curly and kinky, and from that down
to real woollen hair; I think they are
mixed Portuguese, Spaniard and Indians; I
mean to class the Spaniards and
Portuguese as one class, and the Indians as
another class; I do not think that
in
class of population there is much negro blood at all; of that half of
the
colored population that I have attempted to
describe all have been always
free; I was born among them, and I reckon
that I know them perfectly well."
Excerpt from the 1871 North Carolina Joint
Senate and House Committee as they interviewed Robeson County Judge Giles Leitch
about the ‘free persons of color’ living within his county:
Senate: Half of the colored population?
Leitch: Yes Sir; half of the colored
population of Robeson County were never slaves at all…
Senate: What are they; are they Negroes?
Leitch: Well
sir, I desire to tell you the truth as near as I can; but I really do not know
what they are; I think they are a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and Indian…
Senate: You think they are mixed Negroes and
Indians?
Leitch: I do not think that in that class of
population there is much Negro blood at all; of that half of the colored
population that I have attempted to describe all have always been free…They are
called ‘mulattoes’ that is the name they are known by, as contradistinguished
from Negroes…I think they are of Indian origin.
Senate: I understand you to say that these
seven or eight hundred persons that you designate as mulattoes are not Negroes
but are a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish, white blood and Indian blood, you
think they are not generally Negroes?
Leitch: I do not think the Negro blood
predominates.
Senate: the word ‘mulatto’ means a cross
between the white and the Negro?
Leitch: Yes sir.
Senate: You do not mean the word to be
understood in that sense when applied to these people?
Leitch: I really do not know how to describe
those people.
MOONEY
Such, for example,
are the Pamunkeys of Virginia, the Croatan
Indians of the
Carolinas, the Malungeons of Tennessee,
and numerous other
peoples who in the
days of slavery were regarded as free negroes and were
frequently hunted
down and enslaved. Since the war they have tried hard by
act of legislature
and other wise to establish their Indian ancestry.
Wherever these
people are found there also will the traveler or investigator
passing through
their region encounter the tradition of
Portuguese blood or
descent.
Very interesting article -- Read here
''James Mooney main interest of study was of
the Cherokee people. Many say that Mooney wrote the most accurate accounts of
the Cherokee culture and history. James spent years living with the Cherokee
people in North Carolina. He was able to gain their acceptance and trust, which
allowed him to write more first hand accounts. This made his work more reliable
and very accurate. This was also very beneficial to others who have not and will
not ever experience tribal life.''
''Swimmer and, in time, the other shamans and
populace of the Eastern Band, concluded that the courteous white man who came to
visit and talk with them each year was “u-da-nu-ti;” that is he was “a man of
soul” who had the correct “emotional attitude.”
Mooney on the Cherokee;
"As a result of a great battle with the
Spanish, six soldiers were spared. Over a period of time they achieved a degree
of freedom, took Cherokee wives, and adapted their lifestyles as best they
could. When the Cherokee began alliances with other European visitors, including
the French and English, the descendants of the Latin soldiers were banished into
'the upper reaches of the Pellissippi' to an area known today as the Clinch
Mountains, along the Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia borders."
~James Mooney, **Myths of the
Cherokee**, originally published in the 19th Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, in 1900, & republished in 1995 by Dover Publications,
Inc, NY.
Mooney on Melungeons;
Charles James McDonald Furman papers,
1804-1903.
''The manuscripts record Furman's
investigations of common Redbone family names like Goins, Chavis, and Oxendine,
and his correspondence with authorities on similar and possibly related ethnic
groups. Hamilton McMillan of Red Springs, N.C., sent material concerning the
Croatan (Lumbee) Indians, and Dr. Swan Burnett (husband of the children's writer
Frances Hodgson Burnett) sent an article from American Anthropologist dealing
with the Melungeons of East Tennessee. One of
Furman's clippings recounted James Mooney's theory of possible Portuguese
ancestry for the Pamunkeys, Croatans, Melungeons, and other
groups.''
http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/cherokee/images/ayunini.htm
http://www.jgoins.com/James_Mooney_Portuguese.htm
''Let's consider the poor census-taker who
went out to Bull Run in 1910 (which is in Scottsboro, which I know we're
supposed to pretend is so far away from Bell's Bend, but for the sake of this
post, let's be honest about it all being right together there). Here he
found William and Mary Collins (with their daughter Hazel) and Thomas and Mary
Barnes (with their eight children), who he at first classified as "w" for white
and then we see the "w" traced over and replaced with a cursive "b" for
black.
Right below them is Sarah Thompson (and
forgive me here, because I can't read the handwriting very well), but she
appears to have at first been classified as "mul" (for mulatto) and that is
smeared away and replaced with "w" and her daughter, Vinia, is firmly a "w"
without seeming question. And who knows what to make of Curtis Pentecost's
wife Ida or daughter Molly? He is a "w," but they are both "d"s.
To help clarify the mess for whoever tried
after him to make sense of it all, written elegantly
in the margins by each of these families is
"Portuguese."
IVEY
Depositions in an 1812 court case strongly
suggest that, having disposed of his patent sometime before 1769, Thomas Ivey
moved south into what became Marion District, South Carolina and died there some
years later. Thomas Hagans, born about 1765 and identified as a grandson of
Thomas Ivey and his wife Elizabeth, refused to pay his assessed tax as a free
non-white in Marion District, South Carolina in 1809. At his trial in 1812, two
white men testified on his behalf. The testimony of John Regan, a longtime
neighbor of Thomas Ivey Jr., suggests that Thomas Ivey Sr. left Bladen County
sometime in the late 1760s and removed to South Carolina. The testimony of
Robert Coleman, a longtime resident of Marion District, suggests that Thomas and
Elizabeth Ivey lived in Marion District for several years before their
deaths. Both men testified that Thomas
Ivey was “understood” and “generally reputed” to be of Portuguese descent
and that his wife Elizabeth was a free white woman.
Note; Adam IVEY lived south of the
James River in the neck of land bounded by Upper Chippoakes Creek and Wards
Creek. This neck included what was later the parish of Martins Brandon, in which
Adam Ivey apparently lived at his death, in what would later become Prince
George County. It was quite close to Surry County, Upper Chippoakes Creek being
the later boundary between Prince George and Surry -- John Utie,
Jr. born about 1619 London repatented his fathers 1250 acres in 1638. In
1639 he assigned 100 acres of land to Thomas Gibson, land which Utie acquired in
1624 and named "Utopia" located at the head of Chippoakes Creek -
the Chavis family- George Gibson also lived on Chippoakes Creek...and the
Poythress family associtated with Hubbard Gibson lived not far from Wards
Creek.
More Here
Graham-Gilliland
Statesville, North Carolina
November 28, 1905
An Interesting and Important Case in Buncombe
Court
Ashville Dispatch
The mandamus proceeding instituted by Robert
Gilliland against the Buncombe county board of education to compel the
reinstatement of his children in the white schools of county was this afternoon
decided in behalf of the plaintiffs, the Gilliland girls.
The issue submitted by the court to the jury
was, "Are the infant plaintiffs entitled to admission into the white
schools of Buncombe county?" After fifteen minutes deliberation the jury
answered "yes"
Although the issue was not so stated it
necessarily results that the jury found that the plaintiff Gillilands and
Grahams, and their connections, numbering probably 500, are of untainted white
blood, and that the defendants failed to make out a case of negro ancestry to
the satisfaction of the jury.
The
children were forbidden the white shcools on the ground that a remote ancestor
on their mother's side was a negro, it being admitted that they were otherwise
entitled to admission into the white schools. the defense endeavored to show
that the Gillilands have in their neighborhood borne of the reputation of being
part negro and that the Grahams, Mrs. Gilliland's family, two or three
generations ago, had enough of the physical characteristics of the negro to
warrant this belief.
The
plaintiff on the other hand endeavored to show, and did show, to the
satisfaction of this jury, that hose reports are groundless and are based upon
the fact that Jeffrey Graham, the
great-grandfather of the plaintiff was a Portuguese.
It seems that for some reason these children
had never attended the public schools and when an effort was made to send them
they were refused on the ground of negro blood. Action was then brought to
force their admission. The case was very important because it affected a
large number of respectable and well-to-do-people.
GOINS
Randolph County, NC Deed Book 63 Page 227 as
follows: "Cumberland County, NC. Personally appeared before me, Archibald A.
Johnson, an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said county in the state
aforesaid, Flora McDonald and Catherine McBryde, both of whom are well-known to
me to be respectable and truth-telling women and after being duly sworn
according to law doth say that they are acquainted with DANIEL GOINS, late of
the county and state aforesaid, that they know his father, grandfather, and
great-grandfather, that his great-grandfather
(JOHN HARMON) was a native of Portugal, and was always called a Portugan,
and he was of the color of the natives of that place, and that he and his sons
and grandsons always exercised the right of and passed as white in every
respect." Signed Flora McDonald, aged 88 years and Catharine McBride, aged 83
years. Dated 16 July 1884.
CHAVIS/SHAVIS
HISTORY OF THE PIONEERS AND INDIANS OF CROW
CREEK
Beore the Indians were taken to Indian
Territory there was a large number of
whites and Indians that fled to the mountain
between Little Crow Creek and
Little Coon. They built Shavis Town, cleared
up about 100 or more acres and
cultivated it, putting out an orchard. They
raised winesap apples, peaches,
corn
and dug ginseng besides hunting for a living.
The older men were very religious. They were mixed with Portuguese. Willis
Shavis named his four sons after the
Apostles, Andrew, John, Peter and
Nathaniel. The had two Preachers, John
Pressley and Brother Forsythe, an
Indian. They would preach and convert the
young men and girls and bring them
down
to Little Crow Creek to Baptize them. They believed rightly they were to
be buried in baptism in water. They knew the
Bible. I don't know where they
knew
the Bible very few could read or write.
Note; Wilis Chavis/Shavis apparently
came from Marion Dist, SC., same settlement as Bolton, Perkins, and John
Shumake/Shumate who had an Indian Reservation not far from there. possibly from
the same settlement.
Thomas Hall
MAURY COUNTY, TN - COURT - Thomas Hall, Proof
of Race Affidavits
Contributor's Notes: I would like to
share these two Tennessee documents.
Document number one is a Proof of Race
affidavit document acquired by my Great
Great Grandfather Thomas Hall, on September
19, 1835, in Maury County,
Tennessee when he appeared before Justice of
the Peace, James L. Crawford.
The
second document seems to be a certification by William E. Erwin, Clerk of
the Court of Pleas and quarter session for
Maury County, that James L.
Crawford had full authority to issue the
Proof of Race document. This
document was dated October 13,
1835.
On
June 26, 1843, these documents were filed in Marion County at Yelleville,
Arkansas.
In 1850 he moved to Oregon County, Missouri
and they were recorded there and
filed on February 13, 1850, by J. R.
Woodside, Clerk of that county. The
documents were recorded again in Howell
County, Missouri on May 5, 1890. at
9:
o'clock A.M. by T.B. Carmical, Recorder.
This was recorded after Thomas Hall's death
on December 30, in 1888, in
Howell County, Missouri. This was filed
after his death because his
children's children were expelled from school
because they were dark and
caused of being Negroes. There were
several trials in Missouri and Oklahoma.
The trials
proved that they were of Portuguese descent and not Negroes.
1835
Proof of Race affidavits from MAURY County, Tennessee
Recorded in Oregon County, Missouri
1850
Recorded in Howell County, Missouri
1890
State of Tennessee Maury County
I
William E. Erwin Clerk of the Court of please and quarter sessions for
said County do hereby certify that
James L Crawford is an acting justice of
the
peace in and for said County of Murry in the State of Tennessee duly
commission and qualified according to law and
that all his official acts are
intitled to full faith and credit given
under my hand and the seal of my
office at office this 13 day of October
1835 and 60 th year of American
Independence
Wm E Erwin clk.
Filed February 13, 1850 J.
R. Woodside Typed exactly as written:
State of Tennessee Maury County this
day personally appeared before me James
L:
Crawford one of the Justices of the peace in and for said county THOMAS
HALL and made proff by private testomony that
the said THOMAS HALL is intitled
to
all of the privileges of a private citizen THOMAS HALL great grand father
on his fathers sid was a poutagee and his
great grand father on his mothers
sid
was a inglish - man, and THOMAS HALL grand on
his fathers sid was of the
poutagee
desent, and his grand father on Mothers sid was an Irishman and his
own father was of the poutugee decent
and his mother was a white american
born
woman. sworn to and executed before me this the 19th dayof september
1835.
James L. Crawford
J.P.
his
PRESCOTT X NUPANS (seal)
mark
his
LONNEY X HALLS (seal)
mark
HOWELL COUNTY
GAZETTE
Aug. 23, 1906 West Plains,
Missouri
Are
They Negroes?
Questions About Henderson Halls
Descendants.
In
the Indian Territory Wesley Hall -- His Children Were Excluded from the White
School..
In the taking of depositions here
Saturday all these facts were brought out.
In
addition it was shown that Jeff Hall has photographs and locks of hair of
a number of his ancestors and he even
introduced land titles which were given
members of his family in Tennessee before the
war showing conclusively that
they
were not negroes, for blacks could not own land in those days.
Wherever they have gone the Halls have
had difficulty with the school boards
for
refusing to permit their children to attend the white schools. In every
instance they have won
their case for they are able to prove that they are of
Portuguese
origin instead of having negro blood course through their veins,
as many might believe from their
appearances.
See Thomas Hall
The Bedford Connection -
Patricia Monroe
See Also A
Stranger And a Sojourner - Peter Caulder
David Collins and family is
also found in the West Plains, Howell County, Missiouri
PERKINS
Abstracts of Depostions for
Plaintiff
Joshua F. PERKINS vs John R.
WHITE
David R. KENNICK, age 77
Has known the PERKINS family 49 years. Knew
Johnson HAMPTON, Wm. LINDSY & Jacob
PERKINS on Roan Creek. I taught school at
Perkin’s school house. Johnson HAMPTON
said
they were
Portugese & he had seen Jacob’s father & his mother a scotch
woman. Jacob’s color and
features described of little darker than
Joshua. Jacob and his family asociated white peoples, clerked
at
elections & voted & had all privileges. I lived in 2 ½ miles, never
heard them called anything else
than
Portugeuse.
Thomas COOK, aged 75
I knew old Joshua PERKINS. He was a dark
skinned man, darker than Joshua. Tall and spare. He
resembled an Indian more than a negro. Was generally called a Portugese
Nancy YOUNG, aged 66
I knew George PERKINS. My father and mother
knew the PERKINS in South Carolina and
always said
they were Portuguese & the mother a white woman.
Mary WILSON
I was well acquainted with Joc PERKINS,
father of Joshua. A yellow man _ said to be
Portuguese.
They did not look like negros. I have been
about his house a great deal and nursed for his wife. She
was
a little yellow & called of the same race. Had blue eyes and black hair.
Samuel VANCE, age 54
Hannah PERKINS, a daughter of Joseph,
examined as a witness in the Circuit Superior Court at
Burnsmith (?), after a contest & the
examination of witnesses. Wm. DUGGER said he had seen old
Jock
& his hair curly not kinky like WOODFIN’s, & said they were Portuguese & Old Jac
had
been sworn before his father. My Father-in-Law Johnson Hampton said they were not
Negros,but
Portuguese.
Bedent BEARD, aged 88
I knew the paternal grandfather of plaintiff.
A little darker than Joshua. He was not a negro. Form
and
features different. Hair resembled Moran not negro. By common report Jacob was a
Portuguese. Lived not far above the mouth of
Roane's Creek. Have known them 40, and by
reputation, 60 years. Privileges. His wife a
white woman.
Sarah STOUT p.21,
aged 70--Lee County Va. I have seen old Jock,
the father of Joshua, who said they came from
Peedee S.C. He was a dark skinned man with
slim face, slim nose and dark colored hair. He was
dark
skinned as the blackest of the family. All the
PERKINS had white wives and were reputed
Portuguese. John GRAVES a white man and the
main school teacher.
These are just a few of the depositions from
this trial.
BOLTON
The Celebrated Melungeon Case
A.
B. Beeson
Page 174
Q. were you well acquainted with Solomon
Bolton, the grandfather of Martha, complainant in the Cross Bill, and, if so,
state what race of people he was or appeared to be. also give a description of
his person and complexion and appearance.
A. I was. He
was called a Malungeon. He was a small spare made man, with low, flat
head, had a dark complexion, rather a flat nose, turned up at the end. He wore
his hair short, and it was always inclined to curl or kink.
Q. In the neighborhood in which he lived did
he associate with white men or free negroes as his equals?
A. His general association was with the Malungeons-his own people. I never saw him
associate with whites except when he had business.
Q. How many different families in this County
or adjoining Counties did you know of the same race or character of people -name
them?
A. I don't now how many- several. but the
Perkins- the Goins, Mornings, Shumakes, Menleys
&others.
William McGill (Justice of the Peace,
Hamilton County TN)
Question:
Was
this character that of a white person or negro, or of what race did he have the
character of being?
A.
He was a mixed blooded man in
some way, that was his character. We generally called them
Malungeons when we talked
about the Goins and
them—the Goins that were mixed blooded.
Page
51 -55
June 9, 1874
Lucinda Bolton Davis [Daughter of Solomon
Bolton- Solomon son of Spencer Bolton born 1735 on the Pee Dee River]
Q. From what race or nationality of people
was your and Jemima Simmerman's father descended? What was the nationality and
race of your mother?
A. My father was
a Spaniard and his mother a blue eyed German.
Deposition of Arch Brown
Q.
State whether or not the father of Solomon Bolton was regared and treated as a
citizen of South Carolina, or as a colored man? You will also state his
church relations-to what church he belonged and how he was received by society,
so far as you were able to determine.
A.
They told me there that he was a very respectable citizen there. I asked
if he was not a colored man and they told me he was not, but was a Portagese
August 29th 1874
John
Boydston
Q. State how they were treated and recognized
by their neighbors and acquaintances as to their pedigree, and how they held
themselves out, as white people, or otherwise? Stat how that was?
A.
Solomon Bolton never claimed to be a white person. He claimed to be a Portugese himself, but his
neighbors considered him to be a part negro.
Jno E. Godsey
Page
128-132
April 10th 1875
Q.
Of what race of people did Solomon Bolton claim to be? How was he treated and recognized in the
community where he lived?
A.
Spanish. He was treated as any other
white man, when he was sober. He was always admitted to the table with white
families of people whenever he was as far as I know, and recognized as a white
man.
Jno
L. Divine
Page 133-137
Q.
Of what race of people was Solomon Bolton? What did he and his family
claim as to be his nationality? How was he treated and recognized in the
community where he lived?
A. I don't know of my own knowledge what race
of people he belonged to. I often heard Bolton
say that he was Portugese. I have often heard his wife say the same
thing. He was treated and recognized in the community in which he lived as
such.
For
more go here
ASHWORTH
T. J. Russell
Clark Ashworth
January 26, 1910
To
the Journal:
The Ashworth family had a peculiar history
that to a certain extent, militated against them. The grandfather of Clark Ashworth was a native of
South Carolina, and the family originally came from Portugal, and were of
the Moorish race. A very dark complexion, but had hair on their head, instead of
wool, like that of African negro; though, the complexion was about as dark. This
fact often caused them to be taken for negroes. An effort was made to
disfranchise the family at one time during the days of the Republic. And their
friends took the matter up in the Congress and had a law passed, declaring that
the law relating to free negroes in the Republic of Texas, did not apply to the
Ashworth family. See Act of Congress, date Dec. 12, 1840. H.D. Art.
2571.
TOM
J. RUSSELL
Clipping
Here
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