Talk:William J. Sneed

Picture

User:Eagledj: Perhaps you could take a picture of his grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery? I also think we should create George W. Hubbard (a potential DYK).Zigzig20s (talk) 15:36, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

First wife

Findagrave mentions his first wife, Hattie Sugars Sneed, but it is not a reliable source and she is not mentioned in his obituary, so I've trimmed it. User:Parkwells: You may be interested in this and/or Hubbard?Zigzig20s (talk) 15:39, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

She had an obituary of her own in the Nashville American, as was identified as the wife of Dr. W.J. Sneed. I think that is good enough - it also had her dates and their street, so I added that to the article.Parkwells (talk) 13:04, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

Freedmen/former slaves

User:Parkwells: Regarding this edit: Category:American freedmen says, "former American slaves, who gained their freedom during the pre-emancipation era", as opposed to Category:Former slaves. So the former slaves who attended Meharry Medical College after the Civil War were not freedmen--unless they had been freed before the war, which was rare I think. (By the way, there may more articles to move from Category:American freedmen to Category:Former slaves.)Zigzig20s (talk) 14:39, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't know who came up with these two definitions of the categories, but this is absurd. They can't arbitrarily change historical consensus and facts and terms. What about the Freedmen's Bureau, which was specifically set up after the Civil War to administer to the millions of new freedmen in the South? How are these categories supposed to be reconciled with that? And all the references to freedmen in the writing about the former slaves in the South during and after Reconstruction? These two seem like totally arbitrary categories that are not based in mainstream historical consensus. Don't go moving pages to comply with these categories at this point. "Free blacks" in the North before the Civil War sometimes referred to former slaves who had been freed, or to blacks who were born free, especially in the period before the states abolished slavery following the American Revolution. In French territories of the South particularly, such as New Orleans and Louisiana, there was a larger class of free people of color, who were generally of mixed race and partial European ancestry.Parkwells (talk) 01:09, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

Good point about the Freedmen's Bureau. Perhaps the short description at the top of Category:American freedmen should be rephrased to include all American former slaves. Then Category:Former slaves would include all nationalities. It is a little strange to use a different word in the category for the US though.Zigzig20s (talk) 01:13, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

I still think that is wrong - freedmen in the US means something specific, not all former slaves. Here is the first paragraph about the US in the WP article about Freedmen. "In the United States, the terms "freedmen" and "freedwomen" refer chiefly to former slaves emancipated during and after the American Civil War, by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. Slaves freed before the war, usually by individual manumissions, often in wills, were generally referred to as "Free Negroes" or free blacks. In addition, there was a population of black Americans born free." And I would add, in French territory, there was a population of free mixed-race individuals known as free people of color, often born to a white father and woman of partial African descent. If the woman was enslaved, the white man/partner might free her and their children.Parkwells (talk) 01:55, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

Well in that case, Booker T. Washington, Keeble, Polk and Boyd (and maybe a few others) should not be in the former slaves category...Zigzig20s (talk) 02:08, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

When I looked at the American freedmen category, the first listing was Richard Allen, whose article noted that he was emancipated by the end of the Civil War and the 13th amendment. I can't imagine how much there is to be corrected. Maybe someone can set up a bot. I'll have to check the ones you mentioned.Parkwells (talk) 16:21, 14 May 2019 (UTC)