Comments on Robert Johnson

Question

Re Johnson.  {{African-American Sticker}}

Hi.  Sorry, I don't know.  It was 200 years ago.  It is just the last name they adopted.  The last names of black people in the US during the slavery era may not have been based so much on their father's last name as to what plantation they or other relatives worked on.  Some people just chose a name they liked.

Many of today's descendants of the listed parts of the extended Smith family who lived in the 1800s in the eastern Richmond region in VA took DNA tests on the Ancestry DNA site.  Thanks.

On 23 Jun 2023 Carolyn (Atkinson) Martin wrote on Johnson-61211:

Why is his surname Johnson when his parents and siblings all have the surname of Smith?

Answer 1

Hi Mike, I think the better question is how do you know those are Robert's parents? I don't see any sources linking him to Thomas and Lucy Smith. The first source I see on the linked tree is an 1870 census while he's married. Without a source, they shouldn't be linked

Comments

I see what you're saying. I guess I don't know, and everyone else is older even than I am who would know.

 ? Maybe delete the profile if it is uncertain. ??

One of my elderly mom's cousins used to attend the meetings at Essex County VA's  Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical Society. They hired a researcher I remember.  But I'm not sure. We get of the family info from the folks in that area.  Many of the branches listed took DNA tests.

Thanks.  25 June 2023

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And it's completely okay to use oral history and DNA testing as proof, if it's documented properly. But if it isn't documented, how do we know it's correct?

I'd recommend detaching the parents for now with a research note linking to their profiles until someone can come along with the documentation we're talking about here (either that proves or disproves the parents).