Up From The Grave

Abstract

Sociohistorical reconstructions of African American communities in the Midwest are often dependent on diaries and letters that provide a wealth of detail but may not represent the collective pattern. Cemetery and burial records data are used to reconstruct a sociodemographic profile of a small 19th- and 20th-century African American community in the rural Midwest. Surnames of African Americans (and their ancestors) were disproportionately British, suggesting association with or ownership by those of British heritage. Although the mean age of the Black community was significantly younger than that of the White community, childhood mortality was no greater. Rather, Blacks generally did not live as long as Whites in adulthood. However, racial crossover was present. The Black community was disproportionately male, suggesting a frontier phenomenon and instability, and disproportionately experienced violent mortality. Seasonal death patterns among Blacks typified a younger population. Finally, familial measures suggest the Black community was tentative and tenuous.