USCTpagesepsitename%%

The fact that many formerly enslaved United States Colored Troops(USCT) died while serving and fighting in the Civil War is something that has weighed heavily upon my heart for quite sometime. Sometimes referred to as contraband, many did not survive to experience the freedom that they were fighting for. Consider also the USCT who may have been free prior to the war, who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might be free. Several weeks ago while conducting research, I encountered this database on Ancestry.com. U.S., Register of Colored Troop Deaths During the Civil War, 1861-1865 Those Who Served and Fought “By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war—30,000 of infection or disease. Black soldiers served…

I never considered that there might be free persons of color (FPOC) in my family’s history. I assumed that they were all enslaved. After all, my family is African American, from the deep south, Louisiana, and there was no oral or written history to make me believe otherwise. My father’s people were able to tell me some things about my paternal line – that Isadore McKee was my grandfather and that Charley McKee my great grandfather. But no one could tell me who Charley’s father was! It seemed as though any recollection of him, his generation, and preceding generations had already been lost. So it all began back in 2011 with question – Who was Charley Mckee’s father? A death certificate ordered from the Louisiana State Archive would yield the name of his father James Mckee and his mother Virgina. Birth place of father was listed as Louisiana and birth…

Tag: USCT

Freedom’s Price, USCT Death During The Civil War

May 28, 2018May 31, 2018| Karen Galloway|5 Comments

To Be Free, Discovering FPOC in My Family Tree

July 5, 2017January 27, 2018| Karen Galloway|3 Comments