2024 Mail

Just today I found your site, Afrolumens Project. I have not yet found what I am looking for, Brysons as possible enslavers in Lancaster County, and will continue to search for that documentation on your site and elsewhere. Getting your site built and collecting documentation is a Herculean effort. I thank you SO much for doing this work. Your site will now be among the growing resources I will use to learn about my ancestry.
Regards, Dyan

September 1. 2024. Reply from Afrolumens Project:

I did a quick check of the site data and did not find any Brysons in Lancaster County. Remember how Pennsylvania's counties evolved, with Lancaster formed from Chester County in 1729, and the counties that were in turn formed from Lancaster. So check around in some of those other counties if you haven't already.

For instance, there is a William Bryson in Allen Township, Cumberland County (formed from Lancaster in 1750): William Bryson registered four children of enslaved women between 1808 and 1816. Here is a link to that page: https://www.afrolumens.com/slavery/cumbab.html#Bryson,%20William. That is all I see so far.

September 1, 2024. Response from Dyan Bryson:

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Yes, please publish my inquiry. This research is challenging enough and too much is already hidden. Even on Ancestry my tree is public so it can possibly help others.

I did not know how the counties morphed in PA - another thing I did not learn in school, however something I learned in other states as I do this research. Thanks for the tips and I will check under the old counties. AND thank you for the link. William Bryson is exactly who I was looking for. I will dig further to ensure this is the right William Bryson - it turns out William Bryson is a family name for both black and white Bryson families. And as you probably already know, yes, I have learned that race is definitely a social construct. Especially as I see the census records over the years as the people themselves morph based on the perception of the record taker.

Your work has provided a whole new resource for me. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Regards, Dyan Bryson

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