Browse Items · Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery

Annie Cabiniss searching for her son George Cabiniss

Richmond Planet (Richmond, VA)

March 31, 1900

Do You Know Hm?
I desire to know the whereabouts of
my son, George Cabiniss. When last
heard from, he was working in Phila-
delphia [Philadelphia]. Any information concerning
his whereabouts will be thankfully re-
ceived [received] by his mother, who desires him
to return home.
ANNIE CABINISS,
409 W. Baker St., Richmond, Va.

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Britton Richardson seeking their son Isham Richardson

The Tri-Weekly Standard (Raleigh, NC)

November 26, 1867

INFORMATION WANTED!
MY SON, ISHAM RICHARDSON, AN AL-
BINO [ALBINO]—white skinned, but of negro blood, with
one black spot on his under lip—light eyes,
white, soft woolly hair—unable to see in the
glare of the sun—was taken from me when the
Federal army came through, and is no doubt now
in the North some where. On the tenth day of…

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John Dipper searching for his brother Daniel Merr

Liberator (Boston, MA)

April 28, 1832

INFORMATION WANTED.
JOHN DIPPER of Williamsburgh, Va. is anx-
ious [anxious] to obtain information of his brother, Dan-
iel [Daniel] Merr, who left Williamsburgh about 40 years
ago, and was heard of as living in Boston within the
last 17 years. A person by the name of Cesar La-
fayette [Lafayette], of Boston, was well acquainted with Merr.…

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William Robinson (formerly William Volantine) searching for his brother Daniel Cromwell (formerly Joshua Volantine)

Liberator (Boston, MA)

March 2, 1849

INFORMATION WANTED. William Volantine, now
named William Robinson, who was once a slave in
Baltimore, and now living in New Bedford, wishes to
know where his brother is, who was a slave in the
same place, but came from Baltimore about three
years since to Philadelphia. His name was Joshua
Volantine, but he received the name of Daniel…

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Mrs. Mary A. Riker searching for her son Joseph A. Riker

Fort Scott Weekly Monitor (Fort Scott, KS)

December 3, 1885

Information Wanted.

Joseph A. Riker, colored, son of Peter and Mary A. Riker, of this place, served in Harris Light Infantry in 1862 and 1863, and Co. B, Fifth regiment Massachusetts colored cavalry from January 6, 1864, to October 31, 1865. He served in the army of the Potomac until after the surrender of Lee, when his regiment was ordered to…

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Geo. Gardener searching for his father Jacob Gardener

Appeal: A National Afro-American Newspaper (St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN)

May 23, 1891

JACOB GARDENER—Geo. Gardener desires infor-
mation [information] in regard to his father Jacob Gardener who
was a slave belonging to Thomas G. Gardener,
Trimble Co., Ky., was freed in 1S46, went to Han
over [Hanover], Ind., near Madison, where he worked for Dr.
Hayes, He carried with him his wife and one
daughter named Martha Elizabeth…

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Julia Harrison searching for Julius Harrison

The Christian Recorder (Philadelphia, PA)

March 21, 1889

INFORMATION WANTED. INFO MAT ON WANTED OF JUL US HARR. so, formerly of Tar oro, N.C. He is suppos d to ba[Indecipherable]e go e to Baltimore la t Apr l to learn the baker s t[Indecipherable]ade. He is nephew of Rev. M.b. Matthewson of Tarboro, N.C. Any information as o his whereab uts will b gladly received by Julia Harris n, No, 5 Fruit St.…

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Dulcina Hall searching for her father Isaac Tolson

The Christian Recorder (Philadelphia, PA)

February 14, 1889

Information wanted of one Isaac Tolson He left Howard county Mo. many years ago. The last heard of him he was in Canada. He had a daughter named Dulcina. If any one can give any information of his whereabouts they will please inform his daughter, Mrs Dulcina Hail, at Clinton, Henry county, Mo.

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Brothers Joshua Collins and Solomon Collins meet in Cincinnati after decades-long separation

The Highland Weekly News (Hillsboro, OH)

October 17, 1867

Two brothers, colored, met in the streets of Cincinnati, last Sunday, after a separation of sixty years. Their names are Joshua and Solomon Collins. They were both formerly slaves in Fleming county, Virginia. Joshua bought his freedom in 1849, and re-moved to Cincinnati, where he has since resided. Solomon ran away from his master, then living in…

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Frank E. Lawrence finds his father after 36 years

Juniata Sentinel and Republican (Mifflintown, PA)

November 11, 1891

After a separation of thirty-six
years, Frank E. Lawrence, of South
Chester, has discovered the where-
abouts [whereabouts] of his father, in St. Joseph,
Mo. As slaves his father and moth
er [mother] were separated.

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George Thompson finds his first wife after 46 years

Boston Post (Boston, MA)

February 22, 1876

---George Thompson is a negro of Newport, 81 years of age, who escaped from slavery at Freder-ick, Md., forty-six years ago, leaving a wife and family, and who has just heard from his wife, whom he had given up for dead, having been unable to hear from her in years past. Since his flight to the North he has married, but his second wife and four…

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George Harris and Mary J. Brooks reunite and remarry after 45 years

San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA)

July 23, 1904

FORMER SLAVES
JOIN FORTUNES
After Separation of Forty-
Five Years They Meet by
Chance at Fresno and Wed
BOTH MARRIED BEFORE
Each Had Lost a Loved One
and They Quickly Decide
to Finish Life Together
Special Dispatch to The Call.
FRESNO, July 22.---After a separa-
tion [separation] of forty-five years George Harris
and Mary J.…

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Tom Carnahan, the only black police officer in Lincoln, NE, finds his brother after two decades

The McCook Tribune (McCook, NE)

November 4, 1886

TOM CARNAHAN, the colored member of the Lincoln police force, has been treated to a genuine surprise by the arrival of his brother from Texas, whom he has not heard from in twenty years. Before the war Tom and his brother were slave chil-dren in Arkansas and were separated by the war. Tom drifted to the north and his brother to Texas. A short…

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William Joseph Johnson searching for his brother Richard Johnson

Richmond Planet (Richmond, VA)

June 2, 1894

Do you Know Them.
CHESTER, PA., May 30, 1894.—I
would like to know the whereabouts of
my brother, Richard Johnson. The
last I heard of him he was at or near
Hampton, Va. Our mother's name was
Lydia A. Johnson. We are from King
William Co., Va., and belonged to a fam-
ily [family] named Stevens. There were three
brothers, Richard…

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Henry Wilson reunited with his sister after 39 years

The Jacksonville Daily Journal (Jacksonville, IL)

November 4, 1903

FINDS SISTER AFTER YEARS.

To meet a sister after a separation of thirty-nine years is the recent experience of Henry Wilson, the colored butler who has been at the executive mansion through the administrations of Governors Ogles-by, Altgeld, Tanner and Yates. Wilson was born a slave in Missouri in 1855 and was held with his mother for more than…

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Austin Marshall searching for his wife Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall and her two children Granson and Jeannette

Leavenworth Daily Conservative (Leavenworth, KS)

March 5, 1863

INFORMATION WANTED.
OF MRS. ELIZABETH MARSHALL (mulatto) from the
Creek Nation. She is about eighteen years old;
has two children--the oldest, a boy named Granson, wil
be three years old next June; the youngest a girl nurs-
ing [nursing] babe, named Jeannette. They made their escape
from Maysville, it is understood, about ten days after…

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William Watson searching for his wife Nancy Watson and their children George and Jane

Louisville Daily Courier (Louisville, KY)

March 21, 1866

WANTED.
WANTED—INFORMATION—My wife, NAN-
CY [NANCY] WATSON, colored woman, and two chil-
dren [children], George, aged 9 or 10, and Jane, aged 4 or 5, ar-
rived [arrived] in Louisville, Ky., last summer. They were
from Avoyelle Parish, La., near Marksville. We
all belonged to Mr. Cornelius Voris. I have not
heard one word from them since…

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James Bell is searching for his mother Julia Bell

The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

April 23, 1898

Looking for Relatives.
A pathetic letter was received yester-
day [yesterday] by Inspector Mattingly from James
Bell, colored, a resident of Highwood,
Conn. The writer is anxious to learn the
whereabouts of his relatives, whom he
has not seen for many years, and he be-
lieves [believes] they are in this city. Bell was
born in Stafford…

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James E. Johnson seeking information about his parents Henry and Susan Johnson and siblings Walker Claybourne, George W. Johnson, and Henriette Johnson

The Chicago Defender (Chicago, IL)

November 3, 1917

INFORMATION WANTED

James E. Johnson, 109 Douglas
street, Jamaica, N.Y., desires to know
the whereabouts of any of his relatives.
His father and mother, Henry and
Susan Johnson; brothers, Walker,
Claybourne, and George W. Johnson;
sister, Henriette Johnson. All were
slaves of the estate of Dr. Lynn Crum,
New Kent County, Va. They…

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