1. I noticed that this ad wasn't very detailed and that the name in the ad is spelled differently then the title. I wonder if the ad was successful due to the lack of names for his five sons. How do you contact John from the ad?
2. This ad took place in 1882. Slavery was abolished in 1865 so families that were slaves are split up looking for each other. John last seen his sons in Illinois and hopes that some them made it to California.
3.The trend of the ads in that time period was families were split apart due to them being former slaves. You would have to probably contact the newspaper company to reach John with information.
http://informationwanted.org/items/show/1899
Hi Brian,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this primary source. In my first primary post I choose a similar source to yours. A former slave was looking for information on any of her relatives. This was a common trend after slavery was abolished since most slaves were sold at a young age and separated from their families. How effective do you think these ads were? Keep up the good work!
Hi Brian! It is interesting that there isn’t more contact (or care of) information for John. I’m thinking that maybe he was well enough known in the community that he would have been easy to locate? Also wondering what the Black community was like in this town in California. Was he among an established network? Or was he one of the only Black men there? It is intriguing to think about the wider context of why he might have come to California and why his sons might have followed in his footsteps.