Not hard to do because the census takers didn't interview or people. Their job was to reclassify us so they wrote down most of us as "slaves" and the bureau has been caught more than once changing people's "classification." I personally know of people who found that not only were their people intentionally misclassified but their families owned the farms they were labeling as plantations. They had my grandmother from 1864 classified as slave AND Indian even though she was getting paid and Indian "slavery" ended in 1743. We need to start deciding whether we want to be slaves or the kind and queens they found here. Sincere genealogy will disclose all that.
We have an ancestor who lived in Tennessee in the 1840s, who some records said owned a Black male underage slave. Doing some more digging showed that this "slave" was really an orphan and being bonded every year to different males. So it was more of a guardianship/apprenticeship relationship. He grew up, got a job, and married before slavery federally ended.
I’m looking for my great grandfather birth certificate in Eutawville Orangeburg County SC James Green I found a death certificate on him DOB September 12,1887 but I have hit a brick wall
How frustrating. Thanks for reaching out. Have you tried a free, one-on-one virtual consultation with one of your genealogy experts? You can sign up here: www.familysearch.org/en/library/online-consultations
