How Roots Inspired Me
“My name is Kunta Kinte.” This week I have been watching the remake of Alex Haley’s Roots, airing on the History Channel. It’s brilliant. Watching this update...
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Family History Etched in my DNA
The Science section of the New York Times published a wonderful article this weekend titled Tales of African-American History Found in DNA. The article details...
An Orphan’s Apprenticeship
The earliest document I have acknowledging the existence of my great-great-great-great (4x great) grandfather Britton Cumbo Jr., comes from North Carolina cour...
Who was Lou Pope Cumbo?
Louisa “Lou” Pope Cumbo was my great-great-great grandmother. She was born around 1832 in Northampton County, North Carolina to a free family of color. Her fat...
Discussion: Cumbos as Lumbee
There’s been a substantive discussion on my Cumbos as Lumbee Indian blog post both in the blog’s comments section as well as in the various genealogy comm...
Who was Bug Cumbo?
Who was Bug Cumbo? He was my great-great-great grandfather. I never knew anything about him until I started tracing my Cumbo ancestry. My family’s knowle...
A Mixed-Race, Mixed-Marriage
My great-great grandparents Edward Biggs and Florence Cumbo were both listed as Colored on their 1890 marriage license. So why am I classifying their union as a...
The Cumbos as Lumbee Indian
Bloggers note: Lumbee is a modern day term. This blog is about Cumbo ancestors whose descendants currently make up the modern Lumbee tribe. Who are the Lumbee...
Cumbos as Free People of Color
If I were to ask you, “Who were free people of color in America?” how would you answer? If you were to survey say 100 Americans with a reasonable gr...