Hi! In answer to Mr. Farmer's question about the Drake group being unwilling to discuss slavery. I think he's too soon frustrated and mis interpreting the reason for little response to his missives on line. I wish I could help him & have enjoyed learning about his family, but I can only go back to the mid seventeen hundreds on "my" Drakes in Powhatan County, Virginia. I beleive only one other person on Drake-L is in "my" Drake family & I think she recently unsubscribed. I "hang in there" in the hope of someone else on "my" line showing up. "My" Drakes had slaves in Va & MO. I don't know if they had any in Kentucky, but none of my family went to Georgia that I know of, so I haven't responded to Mr. Franklin's call. I think it would be fantastic to find descendants of the slaves to "my" Drakes. There may be some stories passed down through those families that would shed light on my ancestors. There HAD to be both good AND bad stories. No one is all evil. I know some of the slaves of my great grandfather stayed with the family after the war, because my great aunt, who was born in 1870, mentioned them. My mother mentioned that an old black man & his grandson came all the way to St. Joseph, MO in the late 1920's to see and say goodby to my grandfather. Roads were rough to travel in the twenties. They all sat in the parlor and had a good visit. It impressed my mother for she used to tell me exactly where the old man had sat. I still have the set of furniture & have tried to make the past more real to my grandson bu repeating it to him. My grandfather was born in 1873. This little story suggests to me that not all slave owners were Simon Legrees & some genuine caring between the two groups did occur, and extend into the 20th century. So be patient, Mr. Farmer, and keep putting your basic information on line. One of these days, someone new will come "on line" who can answer your questions. If you "unsubscribe" , you may never meet up! Janet Beattie