While browsing "Georgia Genealogical Magazine" (July 1965, p. 1100) for something else recently, I came across the following entry, from Liberty County, Georgia, Deed book B., p. 278: "Peter Augustus Bishop of Sunbury, merchant, manumits (frees) his Negro woman named Felicity, age 22 years, with her children, Nov. 30, 1788. Witnesses; William Harrison and Robert Cole and John Lawson, Jr. J.P. And on the same date before the same witnesses, he in separate instrument frees his Sambo boy named Peter Gilbert, age about 10 years. On the next page (279) is a Bill of Sale for the Sambo boy, dated Oct. 20, 1788, from Matthew Moran Cadet of Island of Hispaniola to said Bishop, same witnesses." An editors note follows: "Sambo boy" was evidently some type of slave and not a person's name. The term may have had reference to his training or may have denoted some African tribe he came from." I was interested by this; I did not know the origin of the word "Sambo", but when I had encountered it previously, I had assumed that it was used as a derogatory term for African-Americans. I set out to find the meaning of the word as it was used in its historical context. I eventually found an explanation of the meaning of the word at the web site at: http://www.msstate.edu/listarchives/afrigeneas/199711/msg00052.html "Sambo" was a name that is still used by the Fula tribes of West Africa, and was used as a name of honor. It was usually used to denote the first born son of a family. It also had religious connotations; 'Sambo' or 'Samba' was also said to be one of the names of the prophet Muhammad. (I was also interested by this last part; we are all familiar that some elements of indigenous African religions survived among the descendants of the slaves, but it is also interesting that this is an element of Islam that survived.) Jeff Armstrong Tallahassee, FL