African American Surname Listing
for Kaufman County, Texas

Introduction

Since the beginning of civilization, we have sought to overcome many obstacles.  The struggle for life, the struggle for liberty, and the struggle for freedom.  As apparent as it may seem today, the struggle for the needs of life is as visible, as it is invisible to the human eye.  No one is immune from the struggle.  Every race, country, and religion has undergone this transformation.  Children and grandchildren have lived to benefit from the fruits of its labor, yet, the memory of the struggle becomes lost in time.

Over two hundred years ago, the founding fathers of this great county sought to escape the bounds and chains of the British Empire.  They wanted something that King George of England was not willing to grant them - Freedom.  Thus, the aftermath of this struggle for independence led to the American Revolutionary War.  It resulted in the birth of the greatest country on earth.  The down payment was made in blood, sweat, and tears.  That was then.  Now, the debt continues to be paid.

As we continued from century to century, we witnessed the period of enslavement, World War I and II, The Great Depression, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights.  In the early 1900 we saw the emergence of small pox, then HIV, now the SARS epidemic.

Throughout these periods of time, America's diversity in its people has provided the spark to overcome all obstacles.  Inventors, educators, and some of the brightest minds on earth can be found in this "melting pot".  People change and so does the time.  We have the opportunity to bring forth new changes in our lives to help make America a better place to live.  God and family continue to remind me of where we are today and where we must go tomorrow.  However, the past reminds me of where we've been.

My grandfather, the late T.P. Malone, was a simple man.  As an adult, I can still remember the lessons of life that he taught me.  He instilled in me the tools that I needed to make a difference in my life and in this world.  I remember a conversation we had as I entered my freshman year of high school.

He said, "My Father died when I was in 3rd grade.  I had to quit school and work to help support my mother, brothers and sisters.  There's not much I can tell you about education.  But as a person, I'll tell you this:  learn all that you can; stay humble in your thoughts, stay true to your word and always believe in yourself.  I haven't lived a perfect life, but I've lived a lifetime.  Take care of your family, own up to your responsibilities, and never lie for yourself or for others."

Upon his retirement he received two pensions, a social security check, put five of his seven children through college, and owned his own house as well as other properties.  Not bad for a man who I often had to write out his checks when he couldn't spell the sum of the amount.  But, he worked all of his life.  It was a hard life.  The type of life he wanted his children and grandchildren to avoid.

He had a common cliché which he passed down to his sons which was later passed down to me.  He said, "We tend to forget the simple things in life.  We must learn to do things for ourselves.  We must learn to do things smarter.  A poor man can never make it if he tries to pay others to do his work.  Unlike the rich man, the poor man must pay twice for others' mistakes."

America, with all its great glory, still is not perfect.  It is, however, still here and waiting for "you" to pay on the debt for a vision that was created over two hundred years ago.

The data

How did I obtain the data to develop a database that is exclusively African American?  First, I used the census data from various time periods to identify African Americans.  Second, I reviewed the marriage records to identify the maiden names of spouses.  Third, I used the records of African American Cemeteries to cross-reference dates and times of birth and death records.  Fourth, I used Kaufman County Birth & Death Records to also validate dates and times.  Fifth, I used Kaufman County Obituaries to confirm individuals and family members and sixth, I presented descendants of randomly selected family trees to confirm relationships when information on direct relationships was unclear.  There was no guessing in compiling, developing, and formulating this data.  Individuals who did not pass the previously mentioned criteria were excluded from this data until further documentation becomes the available.  All data was obtained thru public records.

How to interpret the data

This can be a bit confusing unless you review these instructions.  First, in some cases you may see the same name more than once.  This occurred as a result of not being able to determine if two or more individuals were the same.  For example, two brothers may have named their sons and daughters after their father and mother.  In some instances, children received the name of their grandfather or grandmother.  These occurrences were validated in my research from the period 1850 thru 1940.  After that, given names seemed to branch out.  Second, maiden names of married females were obtained thru various methods.  Third, all Surnames and Given Names are spelled exactly as they appear on public records and corrections were made only after their exact spellings were verified either by updated information or thru individuals with specific knowledge of the individuals concerned.  This list contains 16,757 names.

Individuals born in other states or counties

A number of individuals who were born prior to 1865 were brought to this county during the period of enslavement.  These individuals represent the parents and/or grandparents of the African American Families listed in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 Kaufman County Census.

After the period of enslavement, African American migrated to Kaufman County in large numbers.  By 1900, the number of individual surnames had almost tripled since the first census of 1870.

Statistical Information

By the time enslavement ended in the State of Texas, the Kaufman County Slave Index of 1850 and 1860 lists a total of 82 different surnames that were passed on to African Americans.  I refer to these surnames as the "Orginal African American Families" of Kaufman County, Texas.  The surnames are:

Allen, Amick, Bache, Barnes, Barnett, Beck, Bell, Boyd, Burton, Cook, Crouch, Dashill, Daugherty, Erwin, Esters, Ezell, Flemming, Fox, Franklin, Gant, Gardenshire, Gibbs, Gillaspie, Green, Griffin, Griffith, Hardin, Hays, Heath, Hendley, Henegan, Hill, Hittson, Houston, Johnson, Jones, Lewis, Love, Lucky, Lyde, Massey, McCarthy, McCorguodale, McCrary, McDaniel, McKinney, McNorton, McReynolds, Mills, Mitchell, Moore, Morris, Nash, Nichols, Nobles, Norton, Osborne, Parker, Parsons, Pyle, Rees, Rhodes, Richardson, Sanders, Sanford, Shaw, Sheltman, Seitz, Simpson, Slaughter, Snow, Spears, Spikes, Stephenson, Stevens, Stone, Terrell, Tibbs, Walton, Watkins, Williams, Woodhouse.

Questions and Comments may be addressed to Drew Williams