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Janice-Tracy blogJanice Tracy (192)    Janice Tracy    Ghosts of Our AncestorsPosted Monday, February 23, 2009 (274 days ago.) Viewed 1,126 times. This article was written to commemorate Black History Month in the United States and to remind us all of the contributions made by so many African Americans, as well as those with biracial and mutiracial heritage, to the history of our country. A few years ago, after I became aware that I had a Gibson great-great-great grandfather, I began my search for Gibson ancestors with virtually no facts at all. Little did I know, however, how much information I would discover about this family. My research found that much of what has been written about the Gibson family in America concerns this family's biracial roots, ones that began in Virginia and continued as the family migrated into North and South Carolina and on to Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisina and places beyond. Today, descendants of the early Gibson family of Virginia can be counted in the hundreds of thousands. My Gibson story began with one man, John P. Gibson. All I knew in the beginning was that he had been born around 1799 in South Carolina, and he first appeared on a U. S. Census record in Mississippi in 1860. I later found that he had married Margaret J. Williams, born around 1820, in Monroe County, Mississippi on January 3, 1843. Through U. S. Census records recorded in Mississippi in 1860 and 1870, I found that John and Margaret Gibson became parents of seven children. One of their daughters, Malverda Gibson, later became my paternal great-great-grandmother. But along the research road, I found not only information about my South Carolina Gibson family and its descendants, but a treasure trove of interesting books and published articles about the biracial and multiracial heritage of this country. One such book was " The Free State of Jones," written by Victoria E. Bynum and published by the University of North Carolina Press. This publication, a portion of which is available on Google Books , begins with an interesting quote by Sam Dabney, taken from James Street's " Tap Roots," published in 1943: "We can't boast of our ancestors, because when we get started talking about our families, out jumps the ghost of a pirate or a cousin of color." A reference to America's rich racial heritage, contained in Victoria Bynum's book, states that racial sentiments in the South " evolved over a period of three centuries." She states that " by the 1840's, claims of Indian, Iberian (Spanish), or Mediterranean (Moorish) ancestry, defended one's whiteness against race-based laws and social harassment." Gideon Gibson, a " light-skinned slaveholder of partially African ancestry" and a member of South Carolina's so-called Regulator Movement, is mentioned in Bynum's publication as a person who exemplified how racial identity was often " fluid" and " even negotiable in some cases." Bynum goes on to say that " many of Gideon Gibson's descendants, migrated west in search of whiteness as well as lands." We know this is true, since some of the descendants of South Carolinians, Gideon Gibson, Jacob Gibson, and Jordan Gibson, eventually settled in the state of Mississippi prior to the Civil War. Their lives and the lives of some of their descendants have been well-documented in historical publications about several southern states, including Mississippi and Louisiana. Often, these publications mention the ethnicity of Gibson family ancestors. One thing that is known for sure is that regardless of whether a person was labeled as a Mulatto, Mestizo, Mustee, Melungeon, Creole, Cajun, Redbone, or similar names denoting something other than an " all white" ancestry, racial " mixing" has occurred throughout American history. And it has not occurred only in the South Carolina backcountry and other states commonly known as " The South." Class consciousness was widespread and very real in the 1800s; it became common for those who had migrated from the colonies, including North and South Carolina, to portray their ancestors as aristocratic patriots and slaveholders. The facts, when known, often revealed that many of these " aristocratic" ancestors were actually Regulators, itinerant preachers, and even Tories. In my quest to find my own Gibson ancestors, I found that members of this South Carolina family were not only involved in the infamous Regulator movement in that state, but their descendants later became civic and governmental leaders in Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky. The involvement of Gibson family members in business and politics has been well-documented. One well-known Gibson descendant, Randall Gibson , was instrumental in the founding of Tulane University, while another descendant, Tobias Gibson , is credited with the spread of Methodism in the South. An interesting bit of history that I stumbled upon during this research that began with the Gibson family was the story of Dr. Walter Ashby Plecker, a small-town doctor who became the Registrar of Virginia's Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1912. Dr. Plecker's views about racial mixing became the impetus for the passage of the Racial Integrity Law of 1924, commonly referred to as " Plecker's Law." Details about this law can be read on the University of Virginia's website, in an article entitled " Battles in Red, White, and Black." This law became Virginia's infamous " one drop" statute, and its language created two racial categories, " pure" white and everybody else. The law's passage allowed Dr. Plecker to pursue his alliance with John Powell of the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America in waging an all-out war against the mixing of the races. One of his efforts entailed a push for " ancestral registration." Virginians were reluctant to comply with the idea of " ancestral registration," even though the state had already passed the first anti-miscegenation law in 1662. At that time, "passing" as white may have been rather commonplace, but proof of racial purity was difficult to obtain. Plecker's method involved identifying racial impurity by compiling a list of family surnames that were " known" to be " mixed." The list was arranged by Virginia counties and included the names of " racially mixed" families who lived in these counties. Counties and surnames included in " Plecker's List," as this list became known, appear below: Amherst County: Pumphrey (Migrants to Allegheny and Campbell) Adcock (Adcox), Beverly ( according to Dr. Plecker, this family was trying to evade the situation by adopting the name of Burch or Birch, which was believed to be the name of the white mother of the adult generation at the time), Branham, Clark, Duff, Floyd, Hamilton, Hartless, Hicks, Johns, Lawless, Nukles (Knuckles), Painter, Ramsey, Redcross, Roberts, Southwards (Suthards, Southerds, Southers), Sorrells, Terry, Tyree, Willis, and Wood Bedford County: Branham, Burley (See Amherst), Cash, Clark, Coleman, Duff, Floyd, Hartless, Hicks, Johns, McVey, Mason, Maxey, Mayse (Mays), Painters, Pults, Ramsey, and Wood Charles City County: Adams, Allmond, Collins, Custalow (Custaloo), Dennis, Doggett, Dungoe, Hawkes, Holmes, Howell, Langston, Miles, Page, Spurlock, Stewart, and Wynn Caroline County: Byrd and Fortune Henrico and Richmond City: See Charles City, New Kent, and King William King William County: Adams, Allmond, Bolnus, Bradby, Collins, Custalow (Custaloo), Dennis, Doggett, Dungoe, Hawkes, Howell, Langston, Miles, Page, Spurlock, Stewart, Wynn, Nelson County: See Essex New Kent County: Adkins, Bradby, Collins, Langston, Stewart, and Wynn Elizabeth City and Newport News: Stewart (descendants of Charles City families) Essex and King and Queen Counties: Brooks, Broughton, Byrd, Cooper, Fortune, Hammond, Mitchell, Prince, Nelson, Robinson, and Tate. Elizabeth City and Newport News: Stewart (descendants of Charles City families) Fauquier County: Colvin, Hoffman (Huffman), Phillips (See Prince William) and Riley Greene County: Shifflett, Shiflet Halifax County: Epps (Eppes), Stewart (Stuart), Coleman, Johnson, Martin, Sheppard, Shepard, Talley, and Young Lancaster County: L awson (aka Dorsey) Lee County County: Bolden (Bolin), Bunch, Collins, Delph, Freeman, Gibson (Gipson), Goins, Hawkins, Mise (Mize), Moore, Mullins, Ramsey (chiefly "Tennessee "Melungeons") Norfolk County and Portsmouth: Bass, Bright, King, Locklear (Locklair), Porter, Sawyer, and Weaver Prince William County: Tyson, Segar (see Fauquier) Lancaster County: Dorsey (Dawson) Roanoke County: Beverly (see Washington) Rockbridge County: Southerds (see Amherst), Sorrell, Terry, Tyree, and Wood (including migrants to Amherst Co.) Scott: Dingus (see Lee County) Smythe County: See Lee County Russell County: Castell, Keith, Meade, Proffitt, and Stillwell, also see Lee and Tazewell Counties Washington County: Barlow, Beverly, Hughes, Lethcoe, Thomas, and Worley Westmoreland County: Atwells, Butridge, Okiff (Okeefe), Sorrells, Worlds (Worrell) Wise County: See Lee, Scott, Smyth, and Russell Counties As Virginia's Registrar, Dr. Plecker had the authority to change various forms of registration required in Virginia, including birth certificates and marriage records. Since he exercised this authority and changed or added to the documents as he saw fit, this process was referred to as " pleckerizing." 
Permalink Comments (1) The Folder Left on the Desk - "From .43 to .44"Posted Thursday, January 22, 2009 (305 days 23 hours ago.) Viewed 45 times. When I heard about the folder left on the desk in the Oval Office by the outgoing President for our new President, marked simply "from .43 to .44," I wondered what it contained. It wasn't marked "Confidential," and it certainly would not have contained "Classified" information. Possibly, it contained a list of "do's and don'ts," a few recommendations, and maybe some last-minute advice for our new leader. Perhaps it read something like this: 1. The pooper-scooper is in the top-right hand drawer....don't want the new First Puppy to soil the former First Lady's expensive rug. 2. Remember to flush the toilet twice - all 35 of 'em - those darned EPA regulators and their "low flow" toilets! 3. Don't let the girls use the red phone to order pizza. 4. Dont go quail hunting with the VP. 5. Don't put Bill in charge of the Intern Program. 6. Don't email any old girlfriends on that new Blackberry. 7. Better pick a spiritual advisor whose name doesn't begin with "W." 8. Tell your wife not to use those expensive new dishes my wife bought unless you're inviting us over to eat. 9. Call Arthur Murray for dance lessons. 10. Think you might add ex-presidents to one of those bail out plans? I guess we will never know, will we?
Permalink Comments (0) Special Memories of ChristmasPosted Wednesday, December 03, 2008 (356 days 5 hours ago.) Viewed 950 times. Our Christmas-related activities, " after children" were many and varied over the years. They changed somewhat every few years because of where we lived and how old the children were. But the ones I call " traditions" were started when our family was young, and they never changed. Some were influenced by our own upbringing, but the ones that meant the most actually started when our first child was born. One of the things we always did was to put up a " real" tree, usually a fir tree. As we moved, the height of ceilings in our houses changed. When we finally landed in Texas and built a house that had a family room with a very high ceiling, we began purchasing a taller tree, usually something that was about 10-12 feet in height. It became a family event to select the " special" tree from one of the many Christmas tree lots that lined the major streets leading to our surburban neighborhood. But it was a " parent" event to get the large tree home on the top of our vehicle and inside the house when we got home. Placing the lights on the tree in the early years was always an " adult" task, since the children were still too young to help with lights. But as soon as the lights were in place, the children l began clamoring about, trying to see who would be " next" to climb the step ladder to hang their special ornaments on the tree. When the tree was all decorated and the lights turned on, we started a fire in the fireplace (whether it was cold outside or not!) and sipped on hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows on top, sitting quietly for a few moments to admire in awe the advent of another Christmas season. Another of our family traditions involved driving around the week before Christmas to see the Christmas lights in our development and others nearby. Where we live, homeowners' associations take displays of Christmas lights very seriously, and some residents try to outdo their neighbors by having their rooflines, trees, and yard displays decorated by lighting professionals, often the weekend after Thanksgiving. One of these developments continues its lighting tradition, started about 20 years ago now, with red lights outlining the driveways and walkways that are bright enough to make you think you are nearing the runway of a large airport! Strategically placed throughout the neighborhood are painted and lighted storyboards that tell in pictures and words the story of " The Night Before Christmas....in Texas, that is..." It was great family fun then and now, and the children, even after they became teenagers, never seemed to tire of reading outloud the story of Santa Claus in his " buckboard" and cowboy boots, making his rounds to deliver gifts to all the children in Texas. One of my own family traditions growing up in the South was a Christmas Eve family gathering at which we ate fruitcake and drank egg nog. For the adults in the family, the egg nog was " spiked" with rum or with some good old Kentucky bourbon. Don't ask me where they bought the liquor back then....it was likely illegal, since the legal sale of hard liquor did not begin in Mississippi until a few years after I graduated from high school. But the fruit cake and egg nog tradition was not one that ever took hold in my own family after I had children. They liked neither egg nog nor fruitcake. But we simply replaced those holiday items with ones they did enjoy, such as Christmas cookies, lots of hot chocolate, and spicy, mulled apple cider, stirred with a cinnamon stick. More often than not, we enjoyed watching a family Christmas movie together, or when the children were younger, we read Christmas stories and listened to carols, always ending with the ever popular, " Silent Night." Until the children were teenagers, we allowed them to open one gift, and one gift only, several days before Christmas, in an effort to settle some of the anticipation that grew increasingly greater with every day leading up to Christmas morning. Christmas morning always came early in a household where five children had been waiting for weeks for this particular day. After they descended on the gifts, we enjoyed a big, homemade breakfast, that usually consisted of French toast, waffles, or pancakes, with Canadian bacon or little smokie sausages, and juice. Attending Christmas Mass was always a part of our Christmas morning, but as the children grew older and could stay up longer, we began going to Midnight Mass, something that became a very special time for all of us. We especially enjoyed the singing of Christmas carols and a performance by the Bell Choir that began thirty minutes before the start of Mass. One of the many special memories I have of my children growing up was the first time we attended Midnight Mass, when one of my sons expressed amazement at how few cars were on the streets of our surburban city at 11:30 p.m. Little did he know at that moment how many times he and his brothers and their friends would be out at 11:30 p.m. as teenagers driving on those same streets. As the children have grown older and have families of their own now, they have started some of their own special traditions that often mimic those of their childhood. Sometimes, when we are lucky, they include us. But what is important is that family traditions continue to overlap the generations and take with them the special memories of Christmas when we were "growing up."
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