The Power of Names

I wanted to share this record I found while searching the Toa Alta baptism records again. In all my years of researching, I have rarely come across an entry this detailed for a slave's baptism. Four years ago, I posted "Whispers of the Past" where certain entries for slaves in the Registry of 1872 contained the name of their parents. This is first time I am seeing a church record include so much information for a slave.

Juan Luis Sandoval, negro adulto - Bautismo [FamilySearch]

Below is a transcription of the document above.

Transcription: En la Rivera de Toa Alta el día diez y ocho de mayo del año mil ochocientos y siete yo el beneficiado presbiterio Don Joseph María Martínez Cura Rector de esta parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción de Nuestra Señora bauticé solemnemente puse oleo y crisma a Juan Luis negro adulto de diez y seis años de edad natural de Guinea en el lugar llamado Gabó, hijo de Ocai y de Gavena y a él lo llamaban Guinbi, esclavo de Doña Manuela Sandoval, fue su padrino el caballero regidor Don Juan Antonio Mexía a quien advertí el parentesco espiritual y sus obligaciones, de que doy fe. [firmado] Joseph María Martínez. 

The main information to discern from above is that on the 18th of May 1807, Juan Luis, a black adult of 16 years of age, native of Guinea from the place of "Gabó" son of Ocai and Gavena who was previously known as Guinbi, slave of Manuela Sandoval, was baptized in the church of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico.

Interestingly enough, three other slaves belonging to Manuela Sandoval are also baptized in 1807 along with Juan Luis, none of them however have as much information to them as Juan Luis. The slaves are as follows: 

Juan Manuel, esclavo de Manuela Sandoval, adulto, natural de Guinea

Andrés Antonio, esclavo de Manuela Sandoval, adulto, natural de Guinea 

Manuel Antonio, esclavo de Manuela Sandoval, adulto, natural de Guinea 

Besides stating that they were "natives of Guinea" no ages or parents' names are mentioned. These type of entries are more common amongst slaves and it's interesting that Juan Luis' entry has so much detail. 

Why only Juan Luis?

It is possible that Juan Luis was quick to learn Spanish and was allowed to share his information when baptized. I'm not sure if Manuela Sandoval was kind enough to let him share this information or if Joseph María Martínez asked him these questions himself when he was baptized. It is likely that Juan Luis was brought to Puerto Rico that year or maybe the previous year and was well aware of who he was, where he was from, and the names of his parents. Potentially even his age is maybe correct seeing as how he was the only slave of four to mention an age. This would mean that Guinbi, later known as Juan Luis, was likely born around the year 1791. 

"El lugar Gabó"

My guess would be that Guinbi was originally from the country today known as Gabon (Gabón in Spanish). From my understanding of the 17-18th century slave trade, most of the western area was known as "Guinea" and so it included various countries that today are: Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and various islands and other countries as well. A map of the times gives us a better idea of the extension of this area known as the "Gulf of Guinea". 

Map of the Gulf of Guinea, 1740-1749 [Bibliothèque Nationale de France]

Unfortunately, this is the closest we are to knowing where Guinbi was from, no town is mentioned and the fact that his baptism includes the actual country and his parents' names is a feat in and of itself.

Guinbi, son of Ocai and Gavena

Since we are dealing with Spanish orthography, we are not sure the correct or accurate spelling of their names. For example, the "u" is used after the "g-" in Spanish but this might not be the case in other languages, the "n" might be a "m" giving us something like Ginbi or Gimbi. His father's name might take a "k" instead of a "c" and the "a" might be a more "e" sound, something along the lines of Okai or Okei. Lastly, his mother's name could take "b" instead of a "v" since Spanish doesn't distinguish the two giving us Gabena. And who's to say these weren't short versions of longer names as well! 

The three main indigenous languages in Gabon are Fang, Mbere, and Sira - all being Bantu languages. I would imagine their names fall under one of these languages but of course there is always the possibility it doesn't. An ethnographic and linguistic analysis of these names and cross referencing other sources of the time which help to distinguish African names in Spanish orthography would be helpful to discover their Gabonese names.

Conclusions

It would be interesting to follow Juan Luis' life and see what became of him in Puerto Rico. How long did he stay enslaved? Does he end up marrying and having children in Puerto Rico? Does he have descendants out there? If only these type of detailed records existed for all of our enslaved ancestors! 

Finding Your Roots: Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice, and Ruth Simmons

This was probably one of my favorite episodes from the Finding Your Roots series so far! Mostly because it helped three African Americans find some roots in certain Africa tribes. Granted, some could have other mixtures from other African slaves brought to the US which married into the family through other lines, seeing as how this only tested the mtDNA which is present in both males and females having been passed down from their mother's mother's mother's line.

With the 23andme testings I have done I have gotten some interesting results for my mtDNA Haplogroups in my family. A study was conducted in Puerto Rico which states that many Puerto Ricans carry Taino Haplogroups, Taino being the originally people to the island before Columbus got there later in 1493. Not everyone carries a maternal native group as you'll see in some of my examples. Provided below are the various maternal Haplogroups from my family. These include: two Indigenous Haplogroups (A2, C1b4)- most likely from Taino/Arawak ancestors, one European (U5b1b1b)- from the Basque area in Spain or the Saami in Northern Scandinavia and then finally one an African Haplogroup (L2a1)- commonly found in Bantu speakers. Here are the Haplogroup maps provided below:

My mother's maternal's grandmother haplogroup

My own maternal Haplogroup

My paternal grandmother's haplogroup

My maternal great grandfather's maternal haplogroup

What was really cool about the show was the exams they took pointed toward exact tribes in Africa, I don't know too much about the process/ science they used to reveal these African tribes but none the less I found it very interesting and amazing! Not every family is able to 'jump the pond' with paper trail, and it isn't too common in African American communities as well in communities effected greatly by diasporas (Jewish, African, etc.) and chattel slavery where slaves had no name or identity.

With Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons they were able to trace back to a tribe in Africa. Ruth Simmons was an interesting case, her maternal Haplogroup was ACTUALLY an indigenous haplogroup which Henry Louis Gates Jr. mentions isn't too common among African Americans. Yet they tested Ruth's Y-DNA through her brother (Y-DNA is only passed down through the males in the family) and found her connection to Africa through her paternal line. 

Connection to the Kota tribe from Gabon

Connection to the Tikar tribe in Cameroon

Connection to the Benga tribe in Gabon

Hopefully one day I'll be able to connect myself to my other ancestors, the ancestors who either made their way to Puerto Rico looking for new opportunities, where there from the beginning or were brought over against their own will. Which tribes from Africa contribute to my family? What Spanish towns did my ancestors live in and dream of a new or better world? What did my native ancestors think as they saw the boats reach the shores of Puerto Rico filled with White "Gods"? And who's stories have I yet to unravel.