Historical Context
From the War of 1812 and the Jefferson estate auction to the Creek Nation and the last freed communities of Texas.
Major Historical Themes
The events and forces that shaped the lives and dispersals we are tracing.
Deep Dives
Focused explorations of the eras and communities shaping this research.
Research Timeline
Key dates from African roots through emancipation.
- 1620
African Roots
Mundina
One of the earliest documented African ancestors in the cooperative's research scope.
- 1710
African Roots
Nanette Dubruiel, Senegambia
An African ancestor born in Senegambia whose descendants include the Dubruiel, Gusman, and Trudeau lines.
- 1725
African Roots
Mandy, Ghana
Enslaved by the Madison family (President James Madison's estate).
- 1772 to 1832
War of 1812
The Internal Enemy Era
Period documented by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor, revealing slavery and slave family life in Virginia during the War of 1812 era.
- 1808
Legislation
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
Federal law whose violation would later feature in the David Brydie Mitchell smuggling case involving the Creek Nation.
- 1814
War of 1812
British Proclamation of Freedom
April 2, 1814: British proclamation offering freedom and resettlement to enslaved African Americans who escaped to British forces.
- 1814
War of 1812
Corotoman Escape
April 18, 1814: three enslaved men fled Corotoman Plantation and later guided British barges back. Sixty-nine individuals escaped, including forty-six children, the largest group to leave a Chesapeake Bay plantation during the war.
- 1814
War of 1812
Negro Fort
Built by the British in Spanish Florida, the fort became a base for British troops, the Corps of Colonial Marines, and Creek and Choctaw allies.
- 1817 to 1821
Creek Nation
David Brydie Mitchell Affair
Governor Mitchell became U.S. Indian Agent to the Creek Nation and was accused of smuggling slaves into Creek and U.S. territory, leading to his dismissal by President Monroe in 1821.
- 1825
Creek Nation
Assassination of Chief William McIntosh
Killed at Indian Springs, Butts County, Georgia, the same area linked to the Colbert Freedmen lines.
- 1826
Jefferson Estate
Death of Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, leaving massive estate debts.
- 1827
Jefferson Estate
Jefferson Estate Auction
January 1827: an estate auction at Monticello sold 130 enslaved individuals, tearing apart families and scattering many to Georgia.
- 1837
Colbert Freedmen
Birth of Antoinette Colbert Ogletree
Born in Georgia; her life would span slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction eras.
- 1865
Emancipation
Juneteenth / Limestone, Texas
Genetic research revealed a direct connection to the enslaved community of Limestone, Texas, freed by Logan Stroud, one of the last groups of African Americans to be freed.
"Like a flash of lightning"
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor wrote that the War of 1812 acts "like a flash of lightning that reveals the nature of slavery and slave family life in ways that we otherwise cannot see."
The conflict generated documentation of escapes, family separations, and resistance networks that the cooperative uses to trace kinship across the diaspora.
Corotoman Escape
69 enslaved people escaped from the Carter family's Corotoman Plantation in April 1814, the largest group to leave a Chesapeake Bay plantation during the war.
Sotterley Plantation
The second-largest escape: 48 men, women, and children escaped to British ships in Maryland.
Jefferson Auction Diaspora
130 enslaved individuals sold at Monticello in 1827; many descendants have been identified living in Georgia today.
Help Reconnect Dispersed Families
If your family traces to Monticello, Corotoman, the Creek Nation, or War of 1812 refugee lines, your DNA may hold the missing link.
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