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| Eleanor D. Bullock Shelton |
My Mother, Eleanor D. Bullock Shelton, has been digging up family bones for decades. And, I've been close enough to watch.
While I observed with casual interest, I thought her work had personal importance. You know … a labor of love that only applied to us kin.
Then, in recent years, she started down a research trail that, thus far, has taken us to America's origins. In most cases, the trail ends for African-Americans because records disappeared or were -poorly kept during slavery.
But, she didn't hit that "wall". That's when I paid attention.
So far, she's discovered:
• Colonial New England Origins. Our earliest known Cross ancestors
originated in colonial Rhode Island. They moved to Connecticut around
the time of the American Revolution.
• Black Freeman. As of the mid-1700s, none of the Cross' were born enslaved.
• Native American Ties. Some Native American Historians concentrating
on New England Tribes have encountered our family names in their research. Also, our ancestors' records – including census, birth and service records – list them as "Black," "Mulatto," and "Indian."
• Religious and Education Roots. Several family members are educators
and/or church leadership of one form or other. We come by it honestly.
One of our ancestors, Samuel G. Cross, worked for the American
Missionary Association after the Civil War as a teacher and minister.
• Mixed-Race Heritage. A large percentage of African Americans have at
least one White Grandpa in the closet. Turns out we have several.
African-American and European-American Marrows maintained close
contact until well after slavery.
Modern family history researchers – both amateur and academic -- have
helped revise African-American history beyond the prototype of
"Roots." The African-American story is not "one size fits all."
Rather, it's multi-layered … as is ours.
--SDSC
(Sharon D. Shelton Corpening)
