Finding West Indian & African Connections!
- Kelly Knight
- Jan 20, 2017
- 1 min read
I'd like to share some info about my 4th paternal great-grandmother, Sarah Dickson.
Her husband (my 4th great-grandfather) fought in the Civil War.
Her mother (my 5th great-grandmother) was born in the West Indies (St. Kitts to be exact). And her grandparents (my 6th great-grandparents) were born in Africa! This is the first time I've been able to officially link on paper my ancestral connection to Africa. I don't know their names but I have confirmation via the 1865 census that they were from Africa.
I have theories about my 5th great-grandmother who was born in the West Indies that center around the transatlantic slave trade even though I don't yet have documented evidence that she was a slave. Rhode Island had significant slave trade ties to the West Indies (sugar and rum) so I'm not very surprised my West Indian born great-grandmother ended up in Rhode Island.
Also from the comfort of my home in VA, I was able to digitally transport to Rhode Island to find not only the headstone of my 4th great-grandparents but I was also pleased to find pictures of the home she lived in in 1901 (which was built in 1790). It is still standing in Rhode Island! How cool!
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