Historical Records Regarding Slavery?

[CMelahn@aol.com]

The mention of "Sinclair Plantation" reminded me of a question that crossed 
my mind recently: has anyone ever had the experience of exchanging 
information with descendants of those who worked on Southern plantations?

In researching St. Clairs in Jackson Co, Missouri, the 1860 census record for 
one of the St. Clair farms noted the presence of "nine slaves."  Thinking of 
the time period, these individuals would have been freed by the time of the 
1870 census. But I wonder if they might have stayed in the area, and possibly 
used the surname St. Clair? This thought strikes me because the City 
Directories for Kansas City in the 1880s carried parenthetical racial 
notations [i.e., "(colored)" ].

Any indication that some former Sinclair/St. Clair slaves retained the 
surname of the  plantation/farm owner?

Chris 
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