The Quander Family and Traditions PDF

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Running Head: THE QUANDER FAMILY

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The Quander Family Instructor Class Date Name

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Research for this family came about given the traditional verbal encounters that existed since their time in the regions and what occurred prior. Oral traditions were their only means of depicting the events in which occurred and passed down from their generations. The primary research came about stemming from those verbal passing’s and contributed to how those younger in the family began researching their family history (Quander, n.d.). The Quander Family was instituted into slavery, but they also had connections with the founding of America, George Washington. This family was rich in tradition that with the only means they had, they knew it was important to continue passing them down into future generations to come. It was determined that the names they were given were essential to the roots of their family traditions and heritage. It is not exactly known for when this family developed their roots in America but has been a continuous quest for researchers to find out (Quander, n.d.). The Quander family is essential because it has been believed they are the first and oldest documented African-American families in present-day America. This is so because historians have not yet found any further ancestry information that has been contributed or published. It is known however that the family originated from Ghana, West Africa, that fact has not been disputed (Quander, n.d.). The changes in their name and mistakes in misspellings have been widely noted and have become recognized as the present pronunciation ‘Quander.’ The Chesapeake regions was a significant settlement for those of African-American race. This region was looked at as a gateway for the first blacks from Africa to enter the colonies. Slavery began in this region during the 1600s and lasted until the ending of the Civil War (Quander, n.d.). The lineage of the Quanders can be traced back nearly 350 years ago during the 1670s in what is known as the colonial Maryland area. Most branches of the family were slaves to the president at that time, Washington (Quander, n.d.). Historical achieves located in D.C.,

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Maryland, and Virginia was extracted to conduct further research of the family. Their deep roots in America has prompted notable researchers and prompted historical perspective to take place concerning the family of the Quanders. In 1864 when freedom was granted to Qunaders by the Emancipation Proclamation Act, they began working for money earning enough to purchase lands and build two-room homes near the town of Alexandria (Quander, n.d.). Coming together in annual family reunions, they have been successfully able to continue passing down their experiences.

The importance of a name relates to that family’s lineage. The importance of a name continues that family’s traditions, cultures, religious beliefs, and how they have grown; it continues the family lineage (Ofori, 2019). Without the name, there would be no traditions or lineage to seek and understand. Given the prevalence of slavery, they had no chances of gaining an education, no matters in society, and were of no importance; they had to come up with their ways of continuing their heritages and traditional backgrounds. That is why most used verbal traditions in carrying down their traditions and name importance (Ofori, 2019).

Slave owner records such as wills, tax records, farm ledgers, letters, estate files, and lawsuits have offered information about history. These could be found in university, state archives and in county record offices. U.S. census records regarding population count have been used to know whether the ancestors on African Americans were free. E.g. The 1860 federal census has been used as a standard by genealogists (Ofori, 2019). The freedmen's bureau records have also been a great aid in terms of genealogical details which can be obtained from online databases. Other online databases include familysearch.org, ancestry.com, the legacy of slavery in Maryland, digital library on American slavery, and many more. There are also available

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guidebooks such as 'Black roots,' 'African American Genealogical Sourcebook,' 'Case Studies in Afro-American Genealogy,' 'finding a place called home,' 'slave genealogy' and Afro-American publications about the genealogical and historical society (Ofori, 2019). One instance is the name Quander, which looks like a translation of the title Amkwando. Oral history and other traditional sources indicate the origin of the name in a place in Ghana, West Africa. This could be true during the shipping of the slaves; the name could have been mistranslated (Ofori, 2019). The presence of graves that have many buried bodies in mount Vernon indicates some evidence. It shows these sources stand up to the traditional sources used by genealogists. Slave owner records used to go hand in hand with evidence found in other related documents as well as oral history. Oral history traced the name to Ghana, and information revealed about how Amkwando was captured, and the name was then translated to 'I am Quander.' (Ofori, 2019). These sources add up together and provide related links. On the case are the freedman's records. Genealogists depend on the evidence of these traditional sources to research more. Some of the obstacles are that some of the records are unclear about their ancestry. Genealogy work involves the investigation of not only the slaves but also their owner's information (Ofori, 2019). These owner's report also is used to reference the slave and other relationships. Financial constraints are also quite common because this process involves several activities. Furthermore, some of the data is inaccurate and thus provided conflicting information. Some of the information has made it hard to figure out information about their history correctly. One instance is the case of unmarked graves at Mount Vernon, which has many bodies buried there. They have used previous past family documents, pictures, paintings, anthropology, exhibits, and collections which have been done by last family members. For instances, the

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Rohulamin Quander pictures (the image of the Amkwandoh home) he had shared represented much information about the family tree (Ofori, 2019). These family collections have accumulated a wealth of information which has been passed from generation to generation. Also, their father's story and time spent interacting with their father and grandparents have helped explain their social activities. Elders in the family told oral history to the young ones. Research institutions such as at the Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, which had past archives relating to their culture have been useful. They have also conducted DNAs to trace their history (Ofori, 2019). Apart from the existence of family documentation, there is also other documentation in the country, such as other books that talk about slavery. The Quander has also traced their history by interacting with other family members through visits and can share their knowledge about their history. The Quander Their history can be traced back in the 1670s. Oral history has made traces of the Quander name in the country of West Africa in the state of Ghana (Ofori, 2019). During slavery, the slave trade merchants captured and took away Egya Eduam Amkwando in a location that was between family villages. The name from the Fanti Tribe, Amkwando lost its translation and transformed to Quander. Stories say he had two sons who later took different paths and disappeared. From Henry Adams, a slave owner, and colonial legislator, will we have seen the Quander name being used? The will state Henry Quando to be freed from all purposes. This is the first and oldest reference for the ancestors of the Quander family. They later onward broke chains of slavery and progressively developed to become farmers, teachers, and even administrators (Ofori, 2019).

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References Ofori O. (2019). Rohulamin Quander of the Historic African-American Quander Family. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtDUzw1P4oM Quander R. (n.d.). The History of the Quander Family. Retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5c1c67a3c99fc/851474?responsecontent-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27quander %2520family%2520reading%2520%2528revised%2529.pdf&response-contenttype=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-AmzDate=20190623T222935Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&XAmz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20190623%2Fus-east1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-AmzSignature=5072fa8e277916d0f910f2525c7fc46179cf7bd1281d3702a1a069b9c1aa871e...