Carrie Washington of Highland Park has had some success tracing her family's history from slavery under plantation owner Robert Carter, but her research continues.
"It just isn't resolved," she says about a squiggle in the story that could become a straight line drawing her family to 1725.
She has learned a great deal in her 30-year effort and now shares it with the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society of Pittsburgh, which meets the last Saturday of every month at the Carnegie Library in Homewood.
"A lot of people want to trace their ancestry, and this is a way we can all help each other," says Washington, 59.
Marlene Bransom, president of the group, says that is the main purpose of the group of about 40 members. It was formed in 1991 as a local affiliate of a like-named group in Washington, D.C., she says. Besides exchanging information, the members also have taken trips to the Case Western Historical Society in Cleveland, which has a great deal of documents on African-American history.
"We want to help people in their research," she says. "We want to network our ideas and share our methods in an effort to enhance our heritage."
Washington was involved in her research for almost 20 years when the group was formed. But she says she is excited about being one of the teachers who help other members of the organization develop. She says the keys to good genealogical tracking are simple:
Bransom adds it is important to be aware of employment shifts as reasons for moving.
"It's all about jobs," Bransom says, admitting that some of that work was done in the bonds of slavery.
About four years ago, Washington was able to track her family to the mid-1700s and the ownership of Virginia planter Robert Carter.
He was the owner of 16 plantations and 70,000 acres, historian Burke says. He passed his 509 slaves on to his kin, and, in 1791, grandson Robert III "got religion," Washington says. He came to believe it was wrong for one human to own another.
The Virginia Historical Society says at that time he deserted politics, gave up life as a planter and left the Anglican Church, becoming a Baptist.
He left his home in Williamsburg and went to a plantation on the Potomac, ultimately settling in Baltimore, the historical society says.
He began emancipating his slaves, which led ultimately to grandmother of Washington's moving to Harrisburg and then, finally, to Pittsburgh around 1893.
Tracing the past can lead to mysteries, she admits. For instance, one section of the family now bears the name Gaskins. But that is an Americanized version of the original Gascoigne.
Washington, however, does not know the roots of that French name.
The most fascinating section of her work right now, she says, is trying to track down the history of her great-great-great-grandmother, a Carter slave. Some records she has list her as saying her mother was named Catherine, while others show the mother being named Winnie.
Information about Winnie shows her being married to a man named Baptist Billy -- and that would trace Washington's heritage back to 1725. That is what she is trying to ascertain right now.
Once you get started, it's hard to stop, she says.
"I've been doing this almost 30 years," she says. "I slowed down for a while, because life got in the way. But I'm back."
Author appearance
Marlene Bransom will present a talk on an award-winning book she wrote on black history, on Wednesday at a site from the Underground Railroad in Washington, Washington County.
She will speak on the book, "Early African-American Life in Waynesburg, Greene County," at Washington's LeMoyne House, a home that was a way station on the route to freedom for many slaves.
Branson, president of Pittsburgh's Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society who grew up in Greene County, wrote the book in 2002 with a resident of that county, Bill Davison. It won the history award from the Washington, D.C. group of the same name.
The free talk is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Details: (724) 225-6740. Additional Information:
