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Our ancestors who fought in the Civil War can be identified through Cindy Freed’s excellent advice in “Tracing the Blue and Gray,” in her May 15th article for The In-Depth Genealogist. For historical context about what these soldiers thought and felt and believed, numerous books and websites offer collections of Civil War letters. There is even a PBS tutorial in Civil War letters for high school students. http://to.pbs.org/fI5Ro3 Some families have their own cache. My cousin Diane keeps her letters from Fraser soldiers (our grandmother’s line) in her living room chest. As I read transcripts of these letters, I ask myself one question: What does each Confederate soldier believe he is fighting for? Read More »

From the Editors: The In-Depth Genealogist team would like to thank Mariann Regan for sharing her stories and research with our readers. Mariann Sanders Regan is Professor Emerita of English at Fairfield University in Connecticut. She grew up in North Carolina, graduated from Duke, and got her doctorate at Yale. She has written articles, fiction, a book of literary scholarship (Cornell University Press), and a novel about the health care system (Creative Arts Books). Her family memoir Into the Briar Patch (AuthorHouse 2011) explores the effects of slaveholding upon her South Carolina ancestors, and the psychological legacy for the family. She and her husband, who have two children, live in Connecticut. Her book blog is http://mariannregan.authorsxpress.com/. More about the memoir, with reviews, is at http://www.mariannregan.com/memoir_desc.html.   We are all attracted to stories. With our lives unfolding in time, we are always on the lookout for a narrative line.   The more genealogical data I gather about my South Carolina ancestors in slavery days, the more stories my mind generates.   These stories give life to my set of facts. In creating the stories, my mind is continually drawing upon my ideas about human nature and historical forces, my meditations upon old photos, even past experiences that I don’t consciously recall.   So my stories are working hypotheses about my ancestors. I use them to search for more data, in a natural feedback loop. In particular, I’m trying to find my living mixed-race relatives.   Here, then, are three stories—three working hypotheses—from our family’s past:   1. The Erasmus, Annie, Caroline, and Thomas Story   My great-grandfather Erasmus is in the June 30, 1849 minutes of the Black Creek Church in Darlington, South Carolina:   The committee appointed to investigate the charge of bastardy alleged against Brother E. G. Kirven, reported ... Read More »