From what I understand, there were a lot of Chambers in the southern
Appalachians--Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee. Some of them
had a slave. One being all they could usually afford, because they were
mostly poor farmers. Usually the last name of the slave was the surname of
the owner, so I would surmise that the slaves owned by Chambers became
Chambers. As a footnote, there was one family of Chambers that went from
Pennsylvania to North Carolina, but I do not know if they were ever slave
owners.
----- Original Message -----
From: <j.michael.chambers(a)cox.net>
To: <CHAMBERS-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 5:48 PM
Subject: Chambers Family: Caucasians & African Americans
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/BUI.2ACIB/1956
Message Board Post:
I am curious to know at what point in this family history did the name
began be
used by African Americans.
Being from the South, I am aware of the Poche' link to African Americans.
From
what I know of Chambers Hx, we are mainly from Pennsylvania, the
Mid-West and Texas, so the issue of slavery and the common practice of
"borrowing" surnames does not seem to be applicable.
Anyone have information on this topic?