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Archiver > LEAVELL > 2011-02 > 1297990820
From: "" <>
Subject: Re: [LEAVELL] African-American Ancestors
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 01:00:20 -0000
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Author: LittleCalamity
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.leavell/209.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
1) This is the Leavell message board, not a board for African-American genealogy issues. Your question should be specifically detailed with Leavell data. The word "Leavell" is nowhere near enough.
2) Leavell is traditionally said to be a name of Huguenot French origins. However, I've found it in Irish American families, too. This needs a lot more research before we can say definitively.
3) Do you know whether the slaves with American president names were named by their masters, not by their parents' choices? That could make a difference.
4) African-Americans may have chosen the names of powerful people for the same reason that white Leavells often named their children after presidents and war heroes like the Swamp Fox--they admired those people and wanted their children to live up to those names and reputations. I have wondered why, once freed, they used the surnames of their masters. Was it out of habit, to identify them as coming from that community? Was it because they had common bloodlines with their masters, and felt entitled to the surname?
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