To her surprise, Eleanor Shelton (my
mother) discovered her entry to the Connecticut Society of Genealogists 2013
"Tell Your Family Story Essay Contest" was published in the December
2013 issue of the society's quarterly journal The Connecticut Nutmegger. Here's
that entry in its entirety.
Oral histories are an important facet
of producing family histories. The stories told provide clues which lead to
discovering people, places and events. In the case of the Cross family, tales
about Samuel Cross led to unveiling ten generations of descendants.
In my family it was an accepted fact
that Samuel Cross was from Connecticut and that Samuel married Rebecca marrow,
my great-grandmother. The family also said Samuel left North Carolina leaving
Grandma "Beck" and their four children behind, never to be heard of
again.
The oral accounts led me to research
the North Carolina State Archives for North Carolina marriage records. There I
found Samuel and Rebecca's marriage certificate. Listed on the certificate were
the names of Samuel's parents,, Amos and Eliza Cross; and Rebecca's parents,
Anderson and Lucy marrow. The date on the certificate is 1867.[1]
Three questions directed my research:
1)
Who were Amos and
Eliza?
2)
Who were Anderson and
Lucy
3)
Why was the marriage date
1867?
Following the Connecticut clue as the
place where Samuel was from, I engaged in extensive research to find Amos and
Eliza Cross. Investigation at the Family History Center turned up the marriage
record for Amos and Eliza. The record revealed that Amos Cross was from
Griswold, Connecticut and Eliza Gilbert was from Middletown, Connecticut, they
were married in 1832 and listed as “free colored persons.”[2]
Another set of questions needed
answers:
1)
Who were Amos’
parents?
2)
When was he born?
3)
Where was he born?
4)
Did they have other
children and, if so, what were their names
and where were they born?
Using the calculations of twenty years,
more or less, for Amos to be married, I estimated that Amos and Eliza were born
around 1809 and 1812. This speculation was substantiated by census records.[3]
According to the 1840 census, Amos was
among the free “colored persons” living in Middletown in the 15th
district and the 3rd ward. At the time, there were forty-seven
colored males and fifty-four colored females living in Middletown. This census
does not list others in the household. It does
list the number and ages of males and females, however. In the case of amos and
Eliza, there were two boys under the age of sixteen.[4]
The 1850 and 1860 censuses gave the
names of family members, their ages, race, occupation and if they had the
ability to read and write. The 1850 census for Hartford, Connecticut lists Amos
as a mulatto born about 1810. Other’s named in the household are Eliza, Samuel,
Joseph, Gilbert, William and Louisa. Under place of birth, Amos is listed as
(born in) Rhode Island and Eliza is listed as (born in) Connecticut.[5],[6]
In 1860 another girl, Bertha, was born.
After discovery of Amos’
birthplace as Rhode. Island, an exhaustive and intensive search was conducted to locate Amos’
father. Evidence suggests Amos is the son of Abraham Cross, a free black man
from Rhode Island, the son of West Cross.
While the census records are great for
critical information, it is not enough to produce a family history. Asw a
historian, I suggest there is far more to the story than names and dates. The
story must be told in a historical context.
First, the Cross family are free blacks
from colonial New England whose origins begin before the American Revolution
and extend into the Antebellum era, The Civil War and Reconstruction. By recapturing
the history of all the places ancestors lived and the events which molded their
lives, a true picture of who they were emerges.
A parallel area of research was opened
by following the clues of Samuel Cross and his marriage to Rebecca Marrow in
1867. My search of records for Rebecca Marrow revealed she and her parents,
Anderson and Lucy Marrow, were slaves on the Marrow plantation in Townsville,
North Carolina.
Discovering the Marrow family papers at
the North Carolina Archives exposed slave birth and marriage dates. Among the
dates are Anderson, Lucy, Rebecca and Callie.[8]
All marriage dates are 1867. This is
consistent with post-Civil War laws requiring all slave marriages in North
Carolina to be recorded -- thus the marriage date listed on the marriage
certificate of Rebecca and Samuel.[9]
By exploring the life of Samuel through
his letters and historical events, it is clear that his life was not simple. On
the contrary, he was a mariner, a Civil War veteran, a teacher of ex-slaves in
the South Carolina Port Royal Experiment, a minister, an editor and an American
Missionary Association teacher. He was committed to educating former slaves
and, in the process, he met and married an ex-slave.
Using stories told of ancestors unveils
more than names, dates and prodigy on a family tree. It permits us to step into
history and cross a threshold into their lives. Discovering my ancestors within
their social, economic and political context brings history to life.
[1] North
Carolina County marriages, 1762-1979, Samuel J. Cross and Rebecca Marrow, 1867
[FHLF 1758776, image 49].
[2] Barbour
Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, citing Hartford Marriages, 1:96.
[3]
1850 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., M432-41, p.338A, image 417.
[4]
1840 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., MF26, p. 348, [FHLF3020, image
270].
[5] 1850
U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., M432-41, p.338A, image 417.
[6]
1860 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford, Co., Conn., citing Amos Cross,
population, family 3242, NARA M653 [FHLF 803078, image 686].
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Marrow family papers at the North Carolina Archives.
[9]
North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979, Samuel J. Cross and Rebecca
Marrow, 1867 [FHLF 1758776, image 49].
