Redbones indicted for voting while "of color" (Louisiana, 1837 and 1849)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet provenDisputed: argued, often by a hostile witness
Year: 1837 · Places: Virginia, Louisiana, Gulf Coast, Mexico, Africa
SUMMARYRedbones indicted for voting while "of color" (Louisiana, 1837 and 1849) [Connections: Gulf, Louisiana, Texas & Mexico, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDIn 1837 and 1849, several Redbones were indicted for illegal voting on the charge that they were "of color rather than White." The court found them not guilty, establishing that the community "would be legally considered white in the state of Louisiana." In Texas, members of the community "were not able to vote." Nineteenth-century newspapers variously called Redbones White, African American, of "Indian extraction," or of mixed race. The Wikipedia article itself traces the ancestral families to free African Americans from the Jamestown colony
PATTERNThe same families were "white" in one court, unable to vote in the next state, and "Indian" or "mulatto" in the press. Race was decided by officials, not by blood
LENS (WW9)The same family got three race labels in one lifetime, which shows the paper race was a moving target
DISPUTEDRedbones' Native ancestry is contested; Wikipedia follows the free-Black-from-Virginia origin (Heinegg, Hashaw). The community's Native claims need deep research
OPENFind the case names and the parish court records for 1837 and 1849