Several years ago, I started composing an essay — They Were Sharp Bargainers: John Eaton, Jr.’s 63rd United States Colored Troops. I have not completed the article about the almost forgotten Civil War Superintendent of Freedmen and his black guard regiment because I have not felt satisfied that I had…

on President’s Island In the late spring of 1865, my great great grandfather Daniel W. Williams, a soldier in the 63rd United States Colored Troops (USCT), was detailed by the Commander-at-Memphis Gen. Cadwallader C. Washburn. …

I work for an organization that employs postdoctoral fellows, one of whom regularly invokes “student cosmologies.” From my first hearing of the term, I was intrigued and continue to be so. I have not yet spoken with the fellow about his use of the term. I do wonder if he…

This week, I learned that my most aged relative, ninety-eight years old, had her house “cleaned out” by her stepson. When I learned the news, my body went numb while my mind searched for answers to the question of how this man whom I had referred to as cousin out…

Perhaps the number one tool of genealogists is the Decennial Census, an official counting of the nation’s population every ten years. However, perhaps fewer family history researchers consult the U.S. Non-Population Schedule, a Select Census. I came across the Non-Population Schedule years ago while investigating former white, antebellum planters and…

I don’t know who watched “That ’70s Show.” I never did, not even once. I may have glanced at the characters while pressing the remote to change the channel. I’m not saying I didn’t like the show. I think it may have a cult following. …

Following is a transcription of an actual case of three fugitive slaves, all men, brought into Memphis’ Fort Pickering January 9, 1863 for allegedly stealing the property of their former owners. They were brought in my Col. Howe’s (Union) Cavalry. Confessions were obtained from them. Their case was forwarded by…

Rev. Africa Bailey, founder of Salem Baptist Church (now Salem Gilfield) in Memphis, Tenn., was born around 1815 in Southampton County, Virginia, the same country that gave birth to Nat Turner. …

Last Saturday was the first observance of Juneteenth as a national holiday commemorating news of emancipation to African Americans in Galveston, Texas June 1865. …