Although I have ancestors from the American South, so far I have not been able to run into a direct ancestor that owned slaves. This has been a great comfort to me to know that my direct ancestors did not own another human being as property, although the reality is that they likely did not own slaves because they couldn’t afford to and not out of moral objection. However, in my quest to further document my Dugger family lines from Carter and Johnson counties in Tennessee (and parts of western North Carolina), I have come across some collateral ancestors that owned slaves.
To be honest, this isn’t an easy pill to swallow. And as much as I’d like to erase the fact that these ancestors owned other people as property and participated in the horrific act of slavery, I can’t. It hurts my heart to know that my ancestors participated in owning other human beings. It hurts my heart to know that they viewed those with color in their skin as less than. It hurts. But I imagine that it doesn’t compare to the heartbreak that many African-Americans experience today when they discover that their ancestor was owned by another. The truth is that my white ancestors owned slaves, as so many others in Tennessee did at the time. I cannot ignore my ancestral ties to the institution of slavery. So now what?
As the white descendant of those slave owners, it is my responsibility to document those slaves. Document every bit and piece of information about those slaves that I can in hopes that I can help the descendants of those slaves discover their ancestors.
And once you’ve documented it, share it. Share the wills and the bills of sale and the slave schedules and letters and diaries that may list slaves. Share those details on your blog, your website, forums, and shared family tree websites like WikiTree. Make sure that it is accessible to the descendants of those slaves.
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