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What a way to end Black History Month! While researching the Reverend Al Sharpton's family history, it turns out that some ancestors of the civil rights leader were slaves of Strom Thurmond's ancestors.
The Daily News has the exclusive, which details exactly how Sharpton found out from genealogists. (The Daily News got the exclusive because they "gave him the opportunity to explore his family's history with the help of a team of experts from Ancestry.com.") Here's how Sharpton is connected to the Thurmond family:
- His great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave in South Carolina.When hearing the news, Sharpton said, "It's chilling. It's amazing... The family that owned my great-grandfather was related to Strom Thurmond's family? Now that's amazing. I had no idea about the interlocking past. I don't know if you know how crazy this is going to be when it gets out."- Coleman Sharpton, a woman and two children - believed by genealogists to be his wife and kids - were given as a gift to Julia Thurmond, and were forced to move to Florida.
- Julia Thurmond's grandfather is Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather.
- Once freed, Coleman Sharpton earned a living as an elderly wood hauler, and fathered a son, Coleman Jr., who would go on to be a minister - like his grandson, the Rev. Al.
The Daily News went to speak to Thurmond's relatives about the news (or to break the news). Thurmond's nephew Barry Bishop said, "That's a bunch of baloney," but then later said he couldn't comment. A niece, Ellen Senter, said, "If you go that far back in history, you're going to find lots of people connected to each other from different walks of life." She also said she'd be happy to talk to Sharpton.
The Daily News will have other articles this week about the findings.
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After reading the article, the connection seems quite tenuous. Julia Stromond's grandfather was also an ancestor of Strom. It's not like Strom Thurmond's ancestors owned Al Sharpton's. His ancestor's cousins owned Al Sharpton.
But now Strom Thurmond got pwned.
"It's not like Strom Thurmond's ancestors owned Al Sharpton's. His ancestor's cousins owned Al Sharpton."
~Yeah, obviously no big deal.~ Come on man, clearly it's jarring for two peers to have that kind of history. 150 years is not that long!
Given that there were only 5.5 mn free people and 3.4 mn slaves in the South in 1860 and the incredible tenuousness of that connection (I believe it's nine degrees of separation), I would be surprised if some link could not be found between any two people whose roots extended back that far in our nation's history. Interesting nonetheless.