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African American Descendants of the Poindexter Family

African American's with Poindexter as a surname:

After the Civil War, many former slaves of African descent were left without an identity of their own.  They had been given only first names in their lifetime.  Surnames were not used in their family units.  The United States government, in order to count and keep track of these individuals, insisted they provide government officials with both first and last names for all the members of their family.  It was up to each adult of legal age to select a surname for themselves and their minor children.

What name should they use?  Imagine being able to select your own surname from all the names and places in the world.  That was the daunting task put before these former slaves.  If they had come from an environment which treated them well, many took the names of their former masters.  What an honor to those masters to know someone thought enough of them to chose to use their surname over any other name in the world that individual could have chosen.  Others took any other name they could think of rather than one associated with the horror they hoped they were leaving behind.

This is how many individuals of African American descent came to be associated with the Poindexter family.  There were some other factors which also added individuals to our family line who carry the Poindexter name.  As was custom of Early America, some owners of slaves would father children with a slave woman. Some of these children grew up using the Poindexter name, as was their right as a blood descendant of a Poindexter master.

What we can do for both of the aforementioned groups of Poindexter descendants who are researching their family histories, is assist the descendants of these former slaves find their roots within the ancestral records of the Poindexter family.  It is here we will post information provided by the African American descendants of people who carry or descend from someone who carried the Poindexter name.  We hope through this effort to be able to help them document their heritage and research for themselves and assist them in locating others with whom they might have a common Poindexter ancestor.

The Challenge to Researchers:

The challenges that a researcher may have include the loss of slave records, lack of record showing birth father, federal census records only recorded the number of male and female slaves and their ages, and the fact that the Poindexter family was a Southern family since the 1680's or maybe earlier (It was in the 80's that George, our immigrant, was living on his plantation west of Williamsburg).

There is almost 200 years of family history before the Civil War to be covered. That could easily cover 10-15 generations of plantation masters in all Southern states east of the Mississippi up to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and then the states along the West bank of the River up to the Civil War.

DNA Project:

The Poindexter Descendants Association also sponsors a DNA Project for all Poindexter Descendants.  This would be an excellent method to prove or disprove paternity of a particular branch in connection with a specific surname, Poindexter or otherwise.  It could help provide the surname of the master who owned a distant ancestor or document which part of Africa an individual's heritage can be traced to.  It is one more tool you can add to your genealogy research kit.   More info

Family Research Resources:

If you have additional resources you have found helpful, please contact the webmaster so we can add them here.

• PDA's Research Committee:
  • Contact the Research Committee.
  • When the genealogy connection is made, all descendants are invited to contribute to our genealogical database (gedcom). It is also here you may find information about your branch that has been contributed by another genealogist.
  • Poindexter DNA Project, find out if you are related to the Poindexter family.
• Ancestry.com's "Celebrating African American Family History"
• Genealogy.com Gen Forum's "African American Forum"
• RootsWeb African American Records
• University of Virginia Online Texts Database "African American"
• PBS Series: African American Lives

Individuals Researching their African American Poindexter Roots

Following is information provided by African American descendants of the Poindexter family. If you do not have data to add to the gedcom, but would like to post information for others to contact you if they have common information, please contact the webmaster.

Richard Poindexter of Burnt Store, AL.

We have lost contact with the African American family that descended from former slave Richard Poindexter, so we don't have a working email address to pass along here. A member of this family did provide some information and a photo about 2003 0r 2004. Richard was the son of a Poindexter master in Virginia. The Poindexter sold his mother and him to someone who took them to Burnt Store, Alabama. His descendants called him a "handsome man".

South Boston, Virginia area researcher:

Kellee Poindexter is looking for information for her family tree which descends from the South Boston , Virginia area and possibly Louisianna before that. If you have information on slaves that were taken to or lived in the South Boston area, please contact her.  

Kent Poindexter researching slave owner W.R. Poindexter of Macon, Mississippi:

Kent emailed the PDA saying, "I noted in the 1860 Census that there is a W.R. Poindexter, who owned 14 African slaves. I have to assume that this is how I came to get the surname. I wonder if you or anyone could help me and my family find out who this person is, and how far back his descendants can be traced?"

The PDA database does contain a William Rice Poindexter inthat area and that time period. Kent has been referred to the Research Committee chair in Februry, 2008. If you have information that Kent can use, kpea4@sbcglobal.net

John Poindexter of Christian County, Kentucky in 1860:

Phillip R. Brown of Madisonville, Ky. reported on Rootsweb that John Poindexter "owned more than 50 slaves in 1860.  I believe he moved from Virginia to Ky. between 1830 and 1840.  I am doing some research for a local African-American family by the name of Poindexter and feel sure that there is a connection to this John.  Any help would be greatly appreciated." 

Send an email to Phillip at pennyrileprogeny@newwavecomm.net or read his original entry on Rootsweb.