Our Ancestors in the Fellowship of the Free: Our Ancestors in the Fellowship of the Free Their Last Christmas in Nova Scotia as Free People, their Last Treaty as a Free community in Jamaica and their return journeys and hopes in Sierra Leone, Africa.

By Adrian Labor, Barbara Morgan and Akindele Decker

From oral and literature accounts, and retold stories, of a family's ancestral journey as far back as the authors could trace, it became clear that these oral stories in diaspora communities complement the recorded history of their ancestors and those accounts from several colonizers they encountered. The oral stories emphasized being free peopl

• Language: English
• Publisher: African Curator
• Release date: Dec 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798989770311

Adrian Labor

Adrian Q. Labor extended his interest for everything Sierra Leonean by taking up two new hobbies over time alongside his current profession as a Civil Engineer. His first hobby focused on building an online genealogy of the founding settlers of the city of Freetown. He then followed up with a second one to conduct literature research on the Icons of Sierra Leone who shaped the country's diverse national and rich international history. Through the insights gained, he was drawn to the opportunity to create this illustrated history book series. Out of this labor of love, Adrian began a family tradition to share an article at the end of the year to his extended family in which he recounts historic connections and highlights contributions of paternal and maternal ancestors. His most recent article was about events in the 1790sthat led to the establishment of Freetown. The title was "Last Christmas in Nova Scotia, America and their Hopes of Better and Brighter New Year in Sierra Leone, Africa." His first book, "20 Icons of Sierra Leone Who Shaped History", which he co-authored, remakes historic connections and highlights contributions of national ancestors of all young adults of Sierra Leonean parentage.

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Our Ancestors in the Fellowship of the Free

Their Last Christmas in Nova Scotia as Free People, their Last Treaty as a Free community in Jamaica and their return journeys and hopes in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Literature and Oral Research on our Family’s Journey. December 25, 2023. 3rd Edition.

Copyright © 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Notes from the Authors

1. Ancestors as Beacons of Free communities in Africa, America, and the Caribbean

Recreating Our Story Across Generations and Centuries

Our Families and Their Last Christmas in America

2. A View unto Sierra Lioa West Africa in the period 1585 - 1617

The 1792 Nova Scotian Settlers of Freetown, Activities on Arrival

Edmonds (Edmons) Family Story.

3. Our Roots from Guinea to British America 1650 - 1700’s

Pursuit of a Community Free and Prosperous

Our earliest Ancestral Roots Converge in Jamaica 1492-1655

4. Our Earliest Ancestors and the World’s Context from 1400s -1720s.

5. Brief history of Empires in West Africa, North Africa & Iberia Peninsula

The Berber Empire (Moors of Al Andalus and North Africa) (1050- 1147)

Bakongo (Upper Angola) Kingdom: (1390 - 1910)

Genoese - A Shipping Trade Empire

The Portuguese Kingdom, its African Empire and Brazil ( 1415 -1999 )

Kingdom of Castile and the Spanish Empire (1492 - 1976.)

Kingdom of Granada, the last Moorish enclave (1248 -1492)

6. The Moors and African Navigators in the Second and Fourth Voyages of Columbus

7. Early Africans in ( Xaymaca ) Spanish Jamaica - Moors, Black Spanish and African

8. Morgan and Barnett from Jamaica- Their Family Journey Stories

9. Family by fate, by struggles, by marriage: ‘Fambul-in-laws’

Family Genealogy Tree

The Archers and The Elliotts

Other Upcoming Family Research

Foreword

When Adrian Q. Labor and Barbara J. Morgan introduced their interest in writing this book, the limitation of finding enough genealogy data to cover a significant period of time was a fundamental challenge. Archival records about African history do exist. However, most are inaccessible or not readily available to local communities. The dedication and time it took to examine all the relevant sources and carefully sort through all the data must be commended.

At African Curator, we have become accustomed to developing a culture of research and preservation that supports the efforts of the Public Historian. Through the efforts we employ to tell our stories and those of our communities, we continue to appreciate the value of historical data. For previous publications, the need for more public and accessible repositories of history has always been apparent, especially those that are locally generated. This is why the efforts of Adrian and Barbara in writing this book are important.

In Our Ancestors in the Fellowship of the Free, the authors meticulously analyze historical records that chronicle an interwoven thread of genealogy and history. Through rigorous research, they have managed to map the paths of their family tree as far back as historical records permit. Oral history has contributed greatly towards confirming family lores, reinforcing theories, and substantiating historical data.

The completion of this book and the success in tracing their family history to such distant corners of African and world history is a fine tribute to the benevolent work of the Public Historian.

Akindele Decker

Poet, Writer

African Curator

Notes from the Authors

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There comes a time in anyone’s life when we ask questions about the past that only previous generations can answer. These unanswered questions grew as family members from the tight-knit community within Freetown migrated away to green pastures and oceans. The Settler communities of Freetown to which my family belongs came together 240 years ago with unique and fascinating stories. Their stories originate from journeys of earlier ancestors in Africa, in Europe, and the Americas. All these stories are like stars in the sky for children in the family to look up to for direction and with pride . The responsibility to think of ways to unearth and share all these stories regardless of the distance among current family members came from two separate acts of trust. The first was on my mother’s side and from Aunty Marina, the keeper of the family tree. In 2014, she entrusted a copy of the handwritten