Even though it is sad reading about slaves being sold and ripped away from their families, it brought me slight comfort knowing that Painder Wilson was not alone when she was sold to another master. She was accompanied by her cousin which I think may have brought her some sort of comfort as well. What really attracted me to this ad after reading multiple ones is the fact that the daughter changed her name from Painder Wilson to Fannie Lane. I realized in multiple ads that it is normal for slaves to change their last names to match their master’s or spouse’s, however, I wonder if she changed her first name voluntarily. This also makes me wonder how many people were searching for their family members using a certain name not knowing that they had already changed it. I can only imagine how much harder this made it for families to be reunited. I wonder if this was also done on purpose by the masters for that very reason or to show dominance over their slaves.
This ad was placed in 1882, not too long after the “Democrats in the South passed a serious of segregation laws” which are commonly knows and “Jim Crow”. Knowing that violence against Black Americans was especially strong in the South, I can only imagine how worried the father must have been for his daughter. He had no way of knowing whether or not she and her family were safe or even still alive.
One of the trends that I noticed from people searching for their loved ones is describing the location where they were last seen and the location they were going to (if known) as well as any of their masters’ names. There is a possibility that after being separated, they may never hear from their loved ones again. Giving a first and last name is not enough because as mentioned in the ad, it was possible for their names to get changed. Giving as many details as possible and giving specific information helped the readers get a better understanding on who the person was that they were searching for.
What do you think was the reason for Hammond Wilson's daughter changing her first name?
I just read another post that dealt with name changes as well. This is a really fascinating topic, and I agree with @a.day24. Changing one's name after emancipation might have been her way of starting anew, claiming a sense of power that she lacked while enslaved.