Hi, If you think Jody and Billie have problems, no one has every heard of my Barber line. John Wesley Barber my gg-grandfather, born circa 1800 married Eliza Ann Chance (Indian), born circa 1818. Eliza was brought to Hyde County, NC from Ocracoke, NC (Outer Banks) by Indians. John Wesley was a widower (first wife unknown) with four sons, Wesley b. 1832, Spencer b. 1838, Hezekiah b, 1840 and David b.1841. John Wesley had the following children together. Billie Ann b. 1844, Wm. Ashby b. 1846, Aquilla b. 1847, Shaw b. 1850, Basil Floyd b. 1851, Major b. 1855, Jeremiah b. 1857, John b. 1858, Marvel b. 1861 and Betsy Elizabeth b. 1863.All remained in Hyde County and were listed on the 1850 census as "free people of color". Now to really put the icing on the cake, all of these family members (even the married ones) changed their last name from KING to BARBER sometime between 1870 and 1880. I haven't a clue as to why. On the 1850 there were other Barber families living in Hyde and all listed as "free people of color". Any detectives out there? Lillian

Hi Lillian, I hear a very faint ringing of bells here. Perhaps you have posted this in the past. My Joseph was b 1803 and seems to have no relatives. If the family changed names to avoid the "problem" of being part Indian which the census takers did not want to acknowledge and lumped them into "color", then that may be my Joseph's problem. We were told we were part indian, but no proof. Joseph's dau Martha Jane was my gg-grandmother, and she looks Indian as does her dau Texanna. And, as a matter of fact, Texanna named a son John Wesley Magee. This was a child of her first marriage, and I descend from 2nd to Dooley. Hummmm. Could we have a connection? Of course, if they did not adopt the Barber name until 1870, that would not fit as Joseph Barber seemed to always be Barber. On the Bass line, those descending from a marriage or two with the Nansemond Indians had problems too, of trying to prove they were indian rather than colored. So this was pretty prevalent at times in certain areas at least. ----- Original Message ----- From: LILLIAN BARNES <VINNETTA@worldnet.att.net> To: <BARBER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2000 1:33 PM Subject: Re: [BARBER-L] My Line > Hi, > If you think Jody and Billie have problems, no one has every heard of my > Barber line. John Wesley Barber my gg-grandfather, born circa 1800 married > Eliza Ann Chance (Indian), born circa 1818. Eliza was brought to Hyde > County, NC from Ocracoke, NC (Outer Banks) by Indians. John Wesley was a > widower (first wife unknown) with four sons, Wesley b. 1832, Spencer b. > 1838, Hezekiah b, 1840 and David b.1841. John Wesley had the following > children together. Billie Ann b. 1844, Wm. Ashby b. 1846, Aquilla b. 1847, > Shaw b. 1850, Basil Floyd b. 1851, Major b. 1855, Jeremiah b. 1857, John b. > 1858, Marvel b. 1861 and Betsy Elizabeth b. 1863.All remained in Hyde County > and were listed on the 1850 census as "free people of color". > Now to really put the icing on the cake, all of these family members (even > the married ones) changed their last name from KING to BARBER sometime > between 1870 and 1880. I haven't a clue as to why. On the 1850 there were > other Barber families living in Hyde and all listed as "free people of > color". Any detectives out there? > > Lillian > > > > ==== BARBER Mailing List ==== > Aren't you glad you're a supporter of Rootsweb? > Don't we wish everyone could be one too! > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > >