Dear Hoffpauirs, This has nothing to do with the Hoffpauir clan, but I thought it was an interesting curiosity, and knew that you all would recognize the place names and maybe some of the surnames. The name "Gradenigo" rings a bell, and might have been the name of one of the witnesses on one of Thomas Hoffpauer's deeds. This story comes from a free online genealogy e-magazine that I get once a week. It's a great example of the kernel of truth that often lies behind a romantic family legend. Barbara Hill <bhill@uclink4.berkeley.edu> > * * * * * > > THE WHITE HOUSE -- RACISM IN GENEALOGY > > by Linda Alexander <peachy2@prodigy.net> > >My mother's family hails from New Orleans, Louisiana, and points >south (New Iberia, Opelousas). I have always known this. Little >did I know, however, that her roots held a well-shrouded mystery >which I am still trying to solve. > >I had always been told that my great-grandmother, Carrie ROWE, >was "born in Washington, on the grounds that the White House now >stands on." My grandmother, her daughter's birth certificate, >states that Carrie was born in Washington, D.C. For many years, >I spent hours searching records for the District of Columbia, >looking for Carrie's birth certificate. Nothing to be found. I >was also told that my great-great-grandfather, Robert ROWE, was >"of the sea" from England. > >I am fortunate to live in the Washington, D.C. area and have the >National Archives at my fingertips. Numerous bumbling trips told >me little until I happened upon the 1900 listing for Robert Rowe >(Carrie's father) in New Orleans, Louisiana. I verified that >this was the right family by knowing names of some of Carrie's >sisters and brothers. Many surprises assaulted me as I pored >over that census listing. > >First, Carrie had three brothers and three sisters -- two >brothers and one sister more than I or anyone in my family >previously knew. Robert Rowe was not from England; he was born >in Mississippi. And Carrie Rowe (also -- surprise -- known as >Clara) was born in Louisiana, not Washington, D.C. Where, then, >did this story about the White House come from? And her mother's >name? Alice, simply Alice. > >Now armed with more information, I searched backwards in the >Louisiana census. The 1880 census listed Robert and his family >in New Orleans. He was a painter, not a seafaring man. I went >back another 10 years. There was no Robert Rowe this time in New >Orleans, so I checked the name throughout the state -- a good >move, because I found Robert in, of all places, Saint Landry >Parish. And the town he and his family lived in? Washington. >Yes, there was a Washington, Louisiana, and it was located in >the area surrounding Opelousas. > >Still, the most amazing surprise was yet to come. At the time of >the 1870 census, Robert had but one child, a daughter named >Emily. His wife, Alice, was listed as Allecia and she had a last >name! It was DESSESSARTS, a name particular to that area of >Louisiana. And - I held my breath -- Allecia and Emily were >listed as "Mulatto." I was descended from a mixed race, >otherwise these days known as biracial, matriarchal line. I was >amazed, and rather pleased, once the shock wore off. This >answered so many questions, yet created countless more. > >I have since found out, sadly, that researching a mixed race >genealogical line is not only difficult, it's nearly a closed >door. Few formal records are to be found for slaves and free >people of color (known as FPOC in Louisiana) in general, but >that wasn't the most disheartening. There is discrimination in >genealogy. If I mention the mixed blood when I find a possible >family link, I often have the door closed in my face. And even >more disturbing -- African American folks don't want to hear >they're part Caucasian any more than Caucasians want to hear >they're mixed with African American. Genealogical racism runs >both ways. > >I keep on keeping on, though. I've come up against the >proverbial brick wall in discovering Allecia's (Alice's) >parents. I've located her patriarchal line, Dessessarts, as a >prominent family in the Opelousas area in mid-1800s, and have an >idea of which was her father. But I've yet to be able to prove >it because it appears clear that her Dessessarts father and >unknown mother were unmarried. I even think I may have >pinpointed her mother, a free woman of color named Melite >GRADENIGO. That's a guess made after finding Allecia with >Melite (and two children of a different last name than either >Melite or Allecia) when Allecia was 12 -- once again in >Washington, Louisiana. > >And the "white house" of the original family story? Again, >only a guess -- there were many a white house in Washington, >Louisiana around 1850. Carrie must have been born in one of >them. Or maybe it was hypothetical. If they called their house >"white," that would make them "white." All I do know is that >this has set the stage on which the basis of family secrets have >been kept for more than 100 years. My great-great-grandmother, >Allecia, lived the life of a mixed race woman in the south >during the Civil War years, a difficult life, indeed. Most of >her children (though not all, I've found), including Carrie, >obviously very light-skinned, left that life as soon as possible >and lived the majority of their years as white people, never >even giving the slightest clue to those of us descended from >them of the stories they could tell, if only they had dared. > >I am a published professional writer who, as "coincidence" would >have it, am primarily published in true-life biographical >stories. This story will be told. I will see to it and, I hope, >both my Caucasian and African American blood relatives will be >proud to call that story their own. >