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Hello all,
Just a note to let you know this thing is still working, and a
question.
Has anyone had any luck with contacting the Coaths from the USA?
I am not referring to those that emigrated in the 20th century,
but before.
Last year I traced one family tree right to the present day in
Illinois,
only to be told in about the 4th or 5th message "Oh did I
mention my
grandfather was adopted, does that make any difference?"
This week I received a message from a girl in South Carolina who
was
interested in starting to research her Coath family roots.
Like all US-centric Americans she assumed that I must also be
from the US
and was quite suprised to find that there were also Coaths
living in the UK.
After reading further it transpired that this girl and her
family (her
grandfather only recently dying) were African-American.
Their family folklore was that a wealthy European had moved to
the US and
married one of her African ancestors.
Now colour me cynical but from what I know of South Carolina in
the 18th and
19th century I suspect a different origin.
Namely that many slaves were either given their masters surname
or adopted
it after they were released.
I therefore suspect that at one time one of ours was a
plantation owner in
South Carolina.
Looking through the family tree's there seem to be a great many
Coaths that
have simply "disappeared".
Which one of them links this girl to us?
Steve Coath
researching COATH One-Name Study
Listowner COATH-L