Christopher e. williams: sURNAME lINES

Tracking surnames is a major part of recording family histories but due to adoption, misspellings, double-living, personal choice, and/or enslavement, Black American families may often have a difficult time tracking our histories with surnames alone. Keeping a log of the various surnames from your direct family lines can help organize your information and may make it easier to make connections to possible relatives or even note who may have been important to a particular ancestor who may have taken on their namesake.

For my surnames, I have noted the family surnames that were taken through adoption. This, of course, isn’t to say that these families are not inherently mine to claim and cherish; the contrary, noting the adopted names is noting a form of a chosen family and within lineages marked my traumas, suffering, and displacement, there is nothing more familial than making the choice of who we call family.

Williams (adopted), Bagneris, Lewis (adopted), Yarborough, Mincey (adopted), Wheatfall (adopted), McLemore, Billups, Hooper, Watson, Vappie(lle), Tijeau, Middleton, Robinson/Robertson, Fontenette, Stephen, Sorrell, Raymond, Dauphin, Verdun, DuVernay, Henri, Girardy, Reasonover, Ewing, Newbell, Gilliam, and House.