Visible vs. Invisible Indians

 

 

 

 

Contemporary ethnic identity: Sorting it all out Ned Heite's flash of recognition which he relates in an e-mail dated 17 Jun 1998. A Rosetta Stone Today in the state archives, I ran across a remarkable document....  We have been struggling with those blanket "Free Negro" identities for all nonwhites in the record. The Little Creek Hundred 1797 assessment is different. It clearly identifies people as either "mulatto" or "negro" and every entry in the assessment is signed, so we are able to tell who was literate. Moreover, all the tenants are listed, so we know where the non-landowning farmers lived. All the people listed below were identified as mulattoes. All signed with a mark unless there is an asterisk (*) after the name. MULATTOES Isaiah Durham, tenant of Benjamin Stout Daniel Songs John Farmer Thomas Conselor* William Durham, Jr., tenant of John Hamm on 136.5 acres John Cott* Thomas Butcher Peregrine Jehanna* Rachel Williams (one of two by this name, see below) William Durham, Sr., tenant of Robert Holliday and George Wilson Thomas Hughes James Dean managed the land of Elijah Conselor Elijah Conselor John Saunders, no signature John Johnson, cooper* Peter Cook Benjamin Sisco, tenant on 350 acres of Walter Williamson George Sisco Stephen Sparksman The following are listed without race, usually meaning that they were regarded as white: WHITE Charles Sisco* Minors of John Starling Rachel Williams, widow of Solomon, 90 1/3 acres Minors of Solomon Williams, their guardian being rachel, 180 2/3 acres Again in the 1819 reassessment, the assessor identified mulattoes in Little Creek Hundred, but he didn't require signatures. Here are the mulatto entries: MULATTOES Benjamin Conselor Elijah Conselor Elias Bucher John Cott George Colbert Jesse Dean Daniel Farmer William Holston David Hutt John Johnson William Muntz Robert Muntz James Songo Benjamin Sisco John Sanders The 1790 delinquent list for Dover, Little Creek, and Duck Creek includes people who have moved away. Basically, it was a list of people who had not paid their taxes, but the tax collector was excused by the court from attempting to tax them. Here are some names on that list: Thomas Butcher Ephraim Cambridge Benjamin Cambridge Jehu Sammons Charles Cambridge Henry Sammons Ephraim Puckham Benjamin Durham In the 1804 Duck Creek assessment, Benjamin Sisco was tenant of William Killen on a tract with a log dwelling, 200 acres clear, 52 wooded, and 100 marsh. There are only "n" suffixes in this list for that year. (Note -- the 1804 assessment list parallels the 1930 census of Delaware: all persons of color have become children of Africa.)