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American Lawmen and Soldiers of Color

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Deputy Marshals in Indian Territory: Identified as (left to right) Amos Maytubby (Choctaw light-horseman) and African-American deputy marshals Zek Miller, Neely Factor, Bob L. Fortune. Image one, black and white with no text is from the Denver Public Library Special Collections. Date for photo is given as 1880-1910.       Image 2 with tape and handwriting is from the Oklahoma Historical Society Archives, Jimmy Stewart Collection. ************************     Unidentified Union Soldier, Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri (1863-65)     ************************   Portraits of 15 soldiers and sailors who received Medals of Honor for service in the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, and Spanish American War. All 15 men are African-American. The man in the top-most middle photograph is Milton Holland, shown also below. The names of the men are: Sergeant John Denny, Co. B, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (second row, first photo); Private James Gardiner, Co. I, 36th U.
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Freedman's Savings and Trust

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  The Department of Justice, formerly Freedman's Bank (tall building on the far left); In the foreground is Rigg's Bank No. 1501, located at the 1500 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington D.C. (14 Nov 1888). Frances Benjamin Johnson, photographer. (Source: Library of Congress)   The Freedman's Bank Records hold invaluable information for some family historians. The bank was part of a corporation formed by the U.S. Government in 1865 to aid freed African American slaves. Frederick Douglass was the last president of Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. The bank failed due to a financial panic and was closed in 1874. Records include, but are not limited to: names, occupations, dates and places of birth, and addresses of account holders; and names of their spouses, parents, siblings, and children. South Carolina Freedmen's Savings Bank in Beaufort, South Carolina between 1863 and June 1866. Hubbard & Mix, photographer. (Source: Library of Congr
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Jean-Baptiste Barbeau, the Younger & The Bluff at Barbeau's Creek

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  Jean-Baptiste Barbeau (Image Source: Access Genealogy, artist not yet known)   Jean-Baptist Barbeau may have been born 27 Sep 1726/27/28. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, District of New France (now New Orleans, Louisiana, USA). His parents were Jean-Baptiste Barbeau dit Poitevin*, a master joiner born in France, and Sylvie Le Moine. Jean-Baptiste was known as "the Younger", not after his father, but after his brother of the same name who was known as "the Elder". Jean-Baptiste, the Younger, was, for a time, a captain in the militia at Prairie du Roche. He married  Marie-Jeanne LeGras 29 Oct 1748 at Fort de Chartres, Kaskaskia (now Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, USA) on 29 Oct 1748. The couple had seven known children (a son and then six daughters): Jean-Baptiste (1755-1798, Marie Jeanne (1760-1842), Rene Julia (1763-1814), Suzanne (1766-1835), Marie Louise (1769-1796), Constance (1772-1820), and Ursulla (1744-1820). Most sources say Jean-Baptiste passed away
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A Bit About William Colquhoun: Brave. Selfless. True.

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Flag of Scots rendering by M. McKenzie William Colquhoun (c1633-1675) William Colquhoun was born in Scotland in the 1630s. At about age 16-17, as a Scottish Covenanter, he went to war, joining thousands of his fellow countrymen in support of Charles I and then Charles II against the Commonwealth of England (Republic of England and Wales) in what is known as Third English Civil War. "Our maine fear to have our religion lost, our throats cutted, our poor countrey made an English province, to be disposed upon for ever hereafter at the will of a Bishop of Canterburie..." (The Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie, 1637-1662, Vol. 1, p. 66).   Battle of Dunbar. Leslie's Scottish troops (ctr), Cromwell's troops (l&r). English warships at bottom. Artist unknown. Public domain. William and his brethren were defeated in battle 3 September 1650 the Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. One of William's fellow soldiers at Dunbar may have been a
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Joseph Antoine Janis (1824-1890)

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Standing: Joe Merrivale; Young Spotted Tail; my relative, (Joseph) Antoine Janis. Seated: Touch-the-Clouds; Little Big Man; Black Cool; and another man. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Image is in the public domain.   *****  Joseph Antoine Janis (hereafter referred to as Antoine) was born in 1824 at St. Charles County, Missouri to Antoine St. Charles Janis and Marguerite Thibaut of French and blended French-African ancestry respectively - Marguerite's grandmother having been born a slave and described as mulatto. Antoine was a successful fur trader and traveled to Colorado where he was the first white settler and founded the town of Laporte in 1858. He married First Elk Woman, who was Oglala Sioux, and they have many descendants today in this and related Sioux tribes.  Ancestry.co.uk member Nushalee posted a document in 2012 entitled "Statement of Henry Cottier Concerning Eleonitte Iott", dated 20 Novembe
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March E. Ford | USS Matsonia

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Arriving in New York Harbor at the end of a voyage from Europe, 1919 with troops crowding her deck. The Statue of Liberty is in the left distance. Photo by Robert Enrique Miller (1881-1921). Photo in public Domain. Our relative, March E. Ford (1893-1972), grandson of March Ford, who was born in bondage in 1822, was a crew-member of this ship during WWI and is likely to be one of the sailors in this photo. He was a sailor of Company "B" 804th Pioneer Infantry. Ship Name: USS Matsonia.
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Russells from Linn County, Missouri

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Image is of a tintype photograph and might be dated anywhere between 1865-1900. However, in researching the mat/frame, I have discovered one that is identical that dates without question to 1873. Similar frames/mats can be found from the early 1860s to the mid 1870s. This may be the image of Judia Russell, a possible ancestor of ours from Linneus, Linn, Missouri. It might also be of another woman who may have known Judia or was related to Amanda Russell a direct ancestor of ours. Both Judia and Amanda had been slaves of Thomas Russell in Linn County. There were only three adult women on the slave schedules of Thomas Russell and all three were discussed by name in his will. They were Judia, Katy (believed to have died in late 1861 to early 1862), and Louisa who had two children by 1861 named Maria and Jordan. Judia and Katy may have both been of mixed European and African heritage. Louisa's ethnicity and coloring has not been described in any documents I have seen to-date. Ju
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