Andrew Lincecum, Free Born

Andrew Lincecum was born 1853-1860, likely in Louisiana.  This 3rd cousin of mine was a son of Rezin Bowie Lincecum and Annise (Annis, Annisa) Bowie.

I have seen Andrew's surname spelled many ways:  Lincecum, Linceycum, Lynscum, Lincecom, and Linscomb.  And though I've seen him referred to as Andrew most often, Andy and André are also noted.

My family and family history (so far as I know) is very caucasian white.  So it was a mild surprise to see R. Lincecum, a white planter, married to Annise, noted as Black in the 1860 Catahoula Parish, Louisiana Federal census.  These were the parents of Andrew, so his "color" was given as mulatto.  A notation was added to the census for the children of this union:  Free Borne --

What might that mean? Per Wikipedia:

The term free people of color…in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, at first specifically referred to persons of mixed African and European descent who were not enslaved.  The term was especially used in the French colonies, including La Louisiane…  In these territories and major cities, particularly New Orleans, and those cities held by the Spanish, a substantial…class of primarily mixed-race, free people developed.  These colonial societies classified mixed-race people in a variety of ways, generally related to visible features and to the proportion of African ancestry…

In the Thirteen Colonies, settled by the British, and later in the United States, the term free negro was often used to cover the same class of people – those who were legally free and visibly of ethnic African descent.  It included persons of mixed race…

On the flip side, Christophe Landry of Louisiana Historic & Cultural Vistas, notes the following:

From 1699 to 1868, mixed color marriages were expressly forbidden.

So I wonder, were Rezin and Annise "officially" married? I just don't know the answer to that yet.

Returning to Andrew, specifically, his race was noted in a fairly consistent way across the census records taken throughout his life:  1880 – mulatto; 1900 – black; 1910 – black; 1920 – mulatto; and 1930 – negro.

Andrew was occupied as a farmer for the majority, if not all, of his adult life.  About 1887-1889, he married Minerva Maxwell, possibly a daughter of Jackson and Mary Jane M(c?)axwell.  Census takers considered her to be black, Indian, mulatto, and negro.  The couple had five children:  Wallace, Mary Ann (Anise), Roley, Otta (Ida), and Edward.

An interesting note might be that Andrew's son Roley (Rollo, Raleigh, Rolle, Rawlins) lived to be 100 years old.

By the time the 1940 Rapides Parish, Louisiana Federal census was taken, Minerva was a widow.  She later died on 22 September 1956.