Mystery Monday: Was John Still white or black?

John Still is my 3^rd great uncle and – like his grandmother Margaret Still – is a bit of a mystery.

He was the first child of George David Still and Sarah Bing. He was born 3 October 1832 and died on 6 May 1910. He married Edith Jane Naylor in 1864. They had a daughter named Clara.

I have traced him through the Census records, Civil War records and newspaper articles but still cannot confirm - without a doubt that is - if he is white or black or mixed!

Allow me to back peddle a moment. Margaret Still, my 4th great grandmother and John's grandmother, fathered my George - yes John's father - out of wedlock. There are many speculations: a passing soldier, a patron at her father's tavern, a family member, a slave, etc. So, imagine my surprise when I found John's Death Certificate and it said "colored."

Was he really colored? He died at the old Embreeville State Hospital. Did the informant not even look? Was he simply darker than one would expect? Was he actually black? If he was black, why did all the census records indicate he was white?

Today's Mystery Monday will be reviewed again - in more depth - during this Black History Month.

Mystery Monday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers.

Comments

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today. I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public! What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday! © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Genealogical Gems

Search This Blog