African American genealogy may present several unique challenges for people who would like to know more about their family history, but resources are available. This post will explore two important resources near you. A good place to begin is with members of your own family. You may be surprised to learn that families may have oral histories, photos, and documents to share with younger generations. Next, the local public library may provide access to a wide range of resources in print and electronic formats. Portsmouth Public Library maintains the Esther Murdaugh Wilson Memorial Local History Room which offers materials pertinent to the city of Portsmouth and the former Norfolk County. Family contributions and library access were important in conducting genealogical research into my family’s history. The focus is on my maternal great-great grandfather, Lafayette George Blunt.
Much of what the family knew about him was passed down by oral history; that his father was also a free black North Carolinian, that he fought in the Union Army during the Civil War, and that he settled in Norfolk County, later divided into the cities of Portsmouth and Chesapeake. George was a free man of color who was born and raised in Pasquotank County, North Carolina in 1846. His father, Abraham Blunt, died around 1849 and left an insurance policy of $1000 to his son upon reaching his majority.[1] More information was provided by another Blunt descendant which affirmed the oral history and made available through Ancestry.com, specifically the military records accessible in Fold.3.[2] According to Ancestry, the database name refers to the third fold in some flag-folding ceremonies which pays tribute to veterans. Included on the page is his headstone, still legible in a cemetery for Black residents of the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries.
George mustered at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia when he was about seventeen or eighteen years old, assigned to the 2nd Regiment of the U.S. Colored Cavalry in February 1864 and would earn the rank of commissary sergeant when mustering out in February 1866. Details about his regiment can be found at the National Park Service website.[3] Two years following his return to civilian life saw him married to Fannie Riddick, a former slave from what is now Suffolk, Virgina and the couple settled in as farmers in the Western Branch area of Norfolk County. The 1880 census records George as a plasterer, 33 years of age, wife Fannie 32, and their children: Edward (12), Sarah (9), Emeline (4), and Abraham (2).[4] Emeline (later spelled Emmeline) was mother to my Nana who helped raise me, Thelma Elliott.
Bibliography
“Battle Unit Details: United States Colored Troops.” 2021. National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed August 15. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UUS0002RC00C.
Devonie. 2013. “George Blunt: Person, Pictures and Information.” Fold3. Ancestry.com. December 1. https://www.fold3.com/page/638097801/george-blunt.
Guardian Bonds, 1798-1867; Author: North Carolina. County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions (Pasquotank County); Probate Place: Pasquotank, North Carolina.Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Year: 1880; Census Place: Western Branch, Norfolk, Virginia; Roll: 1381; Page: 252D; Enumeration District: 067. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
[1] Guardian Bonds, 1798-1867; Author: North Carolina. County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions (Pasquotank County); Probate Place: Pasquotank, North Carolina. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
[2] Devonie. 2013. “George Blunt: Person, Pictures and Information.” Fold3. Ancestry.com. December 1. https://www.fold3.com/page/638097801/george-blunt.
[3] “Battle Unit Details: United States Colored Troops.” 2021. National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed August 15. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UUS0002RC00C.
[4] Year: 1880; Census Place: Western Branch, Norfolk, Virginia; Roll: 1381; Page: 252D; Enumeration District: 067. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
Todd Elliott, Writer 