NGS Family History Conference 31 May-3 June 2023

I look forward to presenting two sessions — Four Essential Indexes for Virginia Researchers and Institutional Bondage: Researching Enslavers and the Enslaved in Churches, Schools, and Industry — at NGS’s 2023 Family History Conference, 31 May – 3 June 2023, in Richmond, VA. You can learn more at https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/

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“A Barber’s Shop at Richmond, Virginia”

“This image by English artist Eyre Crowe was published on the cover of the March 9, 1861 edition of the Illustrated London News. Click here or on the image to read the complete entry at the Encyclopedia Virginia website.

“Before the Civil War, most black barbers explicitly groomed wealthy white men, like businessmen and politicians. Black customers were not allowed to get haircuts in these black-owned barbershops, mainly because white customers didn’t want black customers getting shaved next to them. That smacked too much of social equality, so barbers capitulated to the wishes of their white customers both in the North and the South.”
Hunter Oatman-Stanford. “Straight Razors and Social Justice: The Empowering Evolution of Black Barbershops,” Collector’s Weekly, May 30, 2014

“Even when Black-owned shops did eventually arise as slavery fell, these shops were still mostly catering to a white customer base. As such, it was difficult for a Black man to approach a Black barber to reap the benefits of their skills.”
“The History of Black Barbershops: The Must-Know Info About Black Barbershops’ Impact on the Industry,” National Association of Barbers, February 27, 2022

Douglas Walter Bristol, Jr. Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015

Quincy T. Mills. Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013

____________. Left of Black: The Black Barbershop. (35:46) John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University, 2014

____________. Left of Black: The Black Barbershop (4:42) John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University, 2018

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Distribution of Wealth in the United States in 1870

This map was one of several published in Statistical atlas of the United States based on the results of the ninth census 1870 with contributions from many eminent men of science and several departments of the government (1874). The other maps are listed on the Library of Congress catalog record. Click on the image above to get to the Library of Congress where you’ll find that it’s image 80 of 107.

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David Anderson, Company F & Company G

This veteran from the Eastern Shore was beset by difficulty. He suffered a head wound from a shell explosion and his condition worsened as he aged. His wife abandoned him shortly after the war ended and moved to New York with another man. But his son survived into adulthood and the injured soldier married a second time.

Invalid — 169,775 / 121,789

Claimant’s Affidavit, David Anderson, 16 December 1889
47 years old; residence, Eastern Shore, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Bayview
“That there is not in his community or within his knowledge any commissioned office of Company G 1st Regt USC Cav nor first sergeant, nor does he know where either, if any now, be living can be found”

Claimant’s Affidavit, David Anderson, 8 August 1891
47 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles, Northampton Co., Va.
“I was struck by the explosion of a shell from Fort Clifton about June or July … taken to the regiment hospital near Point of Rocks and was treated by the doctors there but I did not know their names”

General Affidavit, David Anderson and Thomas Floyd, 22 August 1892
[Anderson] 47 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Northampton, Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles City, Va.
[Floyd] 51 years old; residence, Cape Charles City, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles City, Va.
“both discharged at City Point, Va. and came home together … both working at Cape Charles City, Va, sees each other every day”

General Affidavit, John Henry, 1 October 1892
46 years old; residence, Cheapside, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cheapside, Va.
“I have been aquainted with the said claimant David Anderson on about 25 years or more”

Claimant’s Affidavit, David Anderson, 27 May 1893
49 years old; residence, Bayview, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles, Va.
“Says that he recd shell wound over left eye Jan 10/64 at engagement at Butler Breastwork front of Petersburg was sent to hospital Point of Rocks near Petersburg & transfer to Camp Hamilton … and remained there”

General Affidavit, Thomas Floyd and Harrison Tucker, 18 May 1893
[Floyd] 52 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles City, Va.
[Tucker] 59 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles City, Va.
“[Floyd] been knowing [claimant] for 25 years, since the war, and since he has been out of the war … I am now living in Cape Charles and see him every day. He now drives the mail from Cape Charles to Brighton once a day and sometimes”
“[Tucker] “a mail carrier myself from the train to the post office at Cape Charles every day and he have to meet the train every day”

Claimant’s Affidavit, David Anderson, 12 August 1894
47 years old; residence, Bayview, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Bayview, Va.
“I have not been treated by any Doctor since I was discharged because I was not so bad off at first”

Questionnaire (Form 3-173), David Anderson, 13 September 1899
[wife’s name/maiden name] “I am not. I has ben [sic] married but she lef [sic] in 67 for another man and went to New York and have not heard from her since”
[where, when, by whom] 1866 December; Andrew Tucker of Norfolk but he is dead
[marriage record] “Norfolk, Va. I was not married but once and that was in 1866; 25 years ago so I do not consider that I am a married man”
[previoiusly married] “I don’t know whether she is dead or living but she will never be my wife enemore [sic] in this world and the world to come”
[living children] “I had one name David Anderson Jr but he was not her son but it was another mother. Born December 1870 as near as I can say. The date of month has slip [sic] my memories.”

General Affidavit, Jeffrey Taylor, 8 January 1906
65 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Va.
“I lived in the claimant’s home with him during the years of 1901 and 1902 … His disability was not due in any way to vicious habits.”

General Affidavit, Edward F. Jordan, 8 Januaary 1906
48 years old; residence, Cape Charles, Va.
“I have personally known the claimant David Anderson for the past four or five years”

Declaration for Pension, David Anderson, 19 February 1907
70 years old; residence, Bayview, Northampton Co., Va.; post-office address, Cape Charles, Northampton Co,, Va
“born January 1st 1837 at St Mray’s County, Md. (my discharge certificate is in Pension Office) … several places of residence since living leaving the service have been as follows: lived in Norfolk, Va. about three months, since then to date in Northampton County, Va.”
“Also personally appeared S.B. Travis, residing in Cape Charles, Va. and Arthur Hurt, residing in Dolby, Va. … their acquaintance with him of 10 years and 10 years, respectively”

Questionnaire (Form 3-389), David Anderson, 20 April 1915
[date and place of birth] 1837 — St Mary’s Co,, Maryland
[organization] Co G, 1st USCC
[post-office at enlistment] Norfolk, Virginia
[wife’s full name / maiden name] Jane Parsons
[when, where, by whom] Dec 1866, Norfolk, Va. Rev. Wm. Tucker
[official or church record, where] yes, Norfolk, Va
[previous marriage] no
[present wife’s previous marriage] “was not married before she met me”
[with wife] “she is dead”
[names and birth dates of all children] David Anderson, living,1869

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Charles City County Genealogical Databases

The note on the website states “Volunteers at the Charles City County Center for Local History have created these databases to make the Center’s resources more widely accessible.  Check back regularly for updates and new features.” Volunteers are also responsible for creating “Revolutionary War Roster,” “Union Service Members,” “Confederate Service Members,” and “World War I Database.”

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