An odd but serious question - Democratic Underground

Orrex

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:40 PM
Original message

An odd but serious question

Is it possible that anyone is still living whose parent or parents were pre-Emancipation slaves?

I was thinking that a slave born in, say 1863 might have had a child unusually late in life, and that child might potentially still be living (though pretty darned old, I know).

Any possibility of this?

If not, when do you suppose the last child of a slave passed away?

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Hugin

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:48 PM
Response to Original message

1. I'd think it is possible...

If the child's father was the slave... He would've been in his early to mid 60's.

There could still be some 'children of slaves' around. But, they're going fast.

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EstimatedProphet

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:48 PM
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2. I thought I'd heard that the last child of a slave died in the 60's.

It was a little fact presented on the Mt. Vernon tour.

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Hugin

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:51 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. That was probably the last slave...

The children of some of the slaves may still be around.

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WannaJumpMyScooter

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:57 PM
Response to Original message

4. We have slaves around now

And I am sure they have children.

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Orrex

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. True enough, but irrelevant to my question

That's why I specifically referred to pre-Emancipation slaves.

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WannaJumpMyScooter

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #5

10. Well, since WWI vets are down to single

digits now... either 3 or 6 depending on what you read.

and if someone was, say born a slave in 1862, say....

sure, it's possible.

but I doubt if there are 10

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AllegroRondo

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Wed Jun-27-07 01:59 PM
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6. I'd say its possible

Slavery ended in the 1860's, so consider that a child a few years old at that time would still be a slave. He could have had children as late as 1910-20 or so, making that child around 80-90 today.

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Hugin

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:01 PM
Response to Reply #6

9. That's what I'm thinking...

Haven't taken it as far as an Internet Search yet, tho.

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Nicholas D Wolfwood

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:00 PM
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7. It'd be quite a stretch, but it's possible.

The slave would have had to have gotten pregnant at 60, which would be near a record for oldest pregnancy. Even then, the child of the slave would be around 84, and it's not a deadlock to reach that age even in the best of conditions, which a child of a slave most certainly would not have been privvy to.

Basically, the stars would have to align on this. I don't think it's happened.

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jobycom

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #7

11. The mother wouldn't have had to be 60.

It would be more likely for an older man to father a child in a younger woman.

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Nicholas D Wolfwood

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #11

12. It doesn't matter.

Men aren't that fertile when they're that old, so even though it CAN happen, it's still a stretch.

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jobycom

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Wed Jun-27-07 02:01 PM
Response to Original message

8. Hm. A baby born in 1865 who sired a child when he was fifty

would have a 92 year old child now. Not impossible, but given average age of death, medical conditions, extreme poverty of most African Americans during the late 19th and most of the 20th century, it's a long shot.

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