Greetings Group, I'm researching a Civil War trooper from Company B of the 7th Indiana Cavalry Regiment. His name is John Murphy, rank private, his age at enlistment in 1863 is shown as 18, and he was born in Randolph County. Listed after his name on one of the documents in his file at the National Archives is the word "free", and his physical description states he had black eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. This leads me to wonder if he was a free black man? The thing is the 7th Indiana Cav was a white regiment. What records can I pursue to determine if he may have been black? (I would GUESS census records?). Who might I be able to contact to research this for me? Can anyone recommend an Indiana researcher? Thank you. John Gross confederate@worldnet.att.net

John, I looked on the 1850 Census for a John Murphy, and couldn't find one. I will continue to look though, Good luck on the search of his race. I have a few lines from Randolph that were listed as mulatto, and sometimes as white. But they could have been Indian also, and so far have no way of proving it. Gina ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Gross" <confederate@worldnet.att.net> To: <INRANDOL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 8:05 PM Subject: [INRANDOL] Civil War Cavalry Trooper > Greetings Group, > > I'm researching a Civil War trooper from Company B of the 7th Indiana > Cavalry Regiment. His name is John Murphy, rank private, his age at > enlistment in 1863 is shown as 18, and he was born in Randolph County. > > Listed after his name on one of the documents in his file at the National > Archives is the word "free", and his physical description states he had > black eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. This leads me to wonder if he > was a free black man? The thing is the 7th Indiana Cav was a white regiment. > > What records can I pursue to determine if he may have been black? (I would > GUESS census records?). Who might I be able to contact to research this for > me? Can anyone recommend an Indiana researcher? > > Thank you. > > John Gross > confederate@worldnet.att.net > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >