Those who have read my report on our Carden DNA project will have seen that
one of those whose DNA matches the Cheshire (England) haplotype exactly was
James Eugene Carden, who wrote "I am African American and have never met
another 'Black' Carden except for my immediate family until about 2 years
ago when I visited Halifax County (Scottsburg) Virginia. I think this is
where my Great Grandfather, James H. Carden was born."
I had supposed that James' family took their surname from that of their
former owner at the time they obtained their freedom. But discussing our
DNA project recently with Jane Reid (who is descended from a sister of the
Eleanor Arbuthnot whose attempted abduction by John Rutter Carden in
Tipperary in 1856 is a well-known story), Jane drew my attention to "The
Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925" by Herbert G Gutman, Oxford
1976. It has an absolutely fascinating chapter about the surnames used by
ex-slaves, from which it appears that they very seldom used the name of
their most recent owner, and the name they used often showed a great
interest in their own family background right back to their earliest known
ancestor who arrived from Africa, and the name chosen was often that of the
original owner or even of the man who transported them from Africa.
Of course it is possible, even probable, that in the case of James' family a
white Carden took a black wife and married her formally, and they gave their
surname to their children in the normal way.
I am sending this note to the list as well as to James, as I think it may be
of general interest. I hope James does not mind, and will respond with
further information.
It might be a good idea, incidentally, were he to agree to upgrade his DNA
analysis from 12 markers to 25 or more in order to obtain more definite
proof that he is a member of the ancient Carden family of Cheshire, and
perhaps link him to a particular branch.
I think, also, that James and the rest of us would like to hear of any
Carden slave-owners. Perhaps quite a number of those who fought for the
south in the Civil War came from slave-owning Carden families, and listers
will be able to tell us about them.
Arthur Carden of Horsham, England.