{"id":2713,"date":"2023-05-28T11:54:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-28T11:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/?p=2713"},"modified":"2023-06-03T00:19:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T00:19:04","slug":"douglass-surname-in-black-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglass As An African American Last Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 1,838 black Americans with Douglass as their last name. That represented 12% of the total of 14,862 entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Douglass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We end with a review of early records of black military service in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#After_The_Civil_War\" title=\"After The Civil War\">After The Civil War<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Douglass_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\" title=\"Douglass In The 1900 And 1940 Census\">Douglass In The 1900 And 1940 Census<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Douglass_Surname\" title=\"Historic Black Figures With The Douglass Surname\">Historic Black Figures With The Douglass Surname<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Sara_Douglass\" title=\"Sara Douglass\">Sara Douglass<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Frederick_Douglass\" title=\"Frederick Douglass\">Frederick Douglass<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Douglass_In_Black_Military_Records\" title=\"Douglass In Black Military Records\">Douglass In Black Military Records<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Buffalo_Soldiers\" title=\"Buffalo Soldiers\">Buffalo Soldiers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/#Black_Civil_War_Sailors\" title=\"Black Civil War Sailors\">Black Civil War Sailors<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"After_The_Civil_War\"><\/span>After The Civil War<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette.jpg 800w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-silhouette-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1870 census was the first survey after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1850 and 1860, only free African Americans were recorded in the census. The many enslaved were omitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1870 onward, all black Americans were included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>1,744 people named Douglass were recorded in the 1870 census as black and 342 as mixed.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a total of 11,088 people with the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Douglass_In_The_1900_And_1940_Census\"><\/span>Douglass In The 1900 And 1940 Census<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The mixed category was dropped from the census in 1900, so we just need to look at the black numbers this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1900 census recorded 3,750 people with the last name Douglass as black within a total of 15,780 that year.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, the mixed category returned in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. It was dropped again in 1930, but replaced with extra categories for colored and non-white in a way that seems confusing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This changed again in 1940 and we can simply focus on one black category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>The 1940 census recorded 0 people named Douglass as black within a total of 0.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Historic_Black_Figures_With_The_Douglass_Surname\"><\/span>Historic Black Figures With The Douglass Surname<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Douglass-1024x536.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Douglass-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Douglass-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Douglass-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Douglass.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some notable African Americans in history with Douglass as their last name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sara_Douglass\"><\/span>Sara Douglass<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: 1806<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 1882<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert and Sara Douglass were the children of a leading abolitionist family in Philadelphia. Robert studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (one of the few black students) and at the very prestigious Royal Academy of Arts in London. was a noted portrait painter and earned a living as a sign painter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sara Douglass taught at a school founded by her mother and the wealthy black abolitionist James Forten. She went on to establish a school for African American girls. She was headmistress at the school from 1838 to 1877.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sara wrote for the abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator. She also co-founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frederick_Douglass\"><\/span>Frederick Douglass<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Born: About 1817<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From: Cordova, Maryland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Died: 1895<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Frederick-Douglass.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Frederick-Douglass.jpg 400w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Frederick-Douglass-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Frederick Douglass was born enslaved in Maryland. He taught himself to read and write, which was illegal in the state. He also taught other slaves on Sundays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When he was working at the docks, he met a laundress, a free young woman called Anna Murray. She helped Douglass financially to escape to New York and they married in 1838.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frederick had used his mother\u2019s name of Bailey. It was after his marriage that he changed it to Douglass, inspired from characters in a poem by Walter Scott. As well as working as steward, he became a preacher in 1839.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was greatly influenced by the anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator, and started giving abolitionist speeches. He became renowned as an eloquent speaker and a leader in the African American community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also wrote a famed autobiography, &#8220;<em>Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave<\/em>&#8220;. Part of his motives were that skeptics questioned if so eloquent a speech-maker could ever have been in bondage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Douglass described the oppression on a Maryland plantation and rallied an even wider range of supporters to the abolitionist cause. You can read it <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/utc.iath.virginia.edu\/abolitn\/dougnarrhp.html\" target=\"_blank\">online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Slave Narratives<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Douglass&#8217; account of his  life is considered to be part of the genre of slave narratives. Here are some more:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/bibb-surname-in-black-history\/#Henry_Bibb\">Henry Bibb<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/hawkins-surname-in-black-history\/#Walter_Hawkins\">Walter Hawkins<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/henry-surname-in-black-history\/#George_Henry\">George Henry<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/jacobs-surname-in-black-history\/#Harriet_Jacobs\">Harriet Jacobs<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/jennings-surname-in-black-history\/#Paul_Jennings\">Paul Jennings<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Douglass_In_Black_Military_Records\"><\/span>Douglass In Black Military Records<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois.jpg 600w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Buffalo-Soldiers-Illinois-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Military records are a rich resource of information for family history research. Here are examples of the Douglass surname from military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffalo_Soldiers\"><\/span>Buffalo Soldiers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Five regiments for black soldiers were formed during the Civil War. They were known as the Buffalo Soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their records are part of the national archive of military monthly returns. The information includes the year and place of birth, where they enlisted, their occupation, and their height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest military entries for Douglass was in February 1884. Primas Douglass was a Recruit in the U.S. Tenth Cavalry. He was stationed in February 1884 at Fort Davis and Fort Concho, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was in March 1907. Turner Douglass was a Private in the U.S. Tenth Cavalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are researching military ancestors, there is a free index of these records on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/search\/collections\/1934\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ancestry.com<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.familysearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FamilySearch.org.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to create an account on either website, but you do not need to pay for the Buffalo Soldiers archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Black_Civil_War_Sailors\"><\/span>Black Civil War Sailors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Parks Service has a free archive of African American sailors during the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The information includes their age, height, rank, occupation, and where and when they enlisted. It also includes every ship that they served on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can search the database on the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/civilwar\/search-sailors.htm\" target=\"_blank\">National Parks website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-sailor-standing.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-sailor-standing.jpg 400w, https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/civil-war-sailor-standing-150x300.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Amos Douglass<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the earliest entries for Douglass was for Amos Douglass from Newtown, Virginia. He enlisted in March 4 1861 at New York when he was aged 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The record shows that Amos was assigned on April 1 1865 to the ship Iroquois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Steward. His naval rank was Landsman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>&#8220;Landsman&#8221; was the lowest rank at the time and was given to recruits with little sea experience.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charles Douglass<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the later entries was for a sailor who enlisted at Potomac Flotilla in September 26 1862. Charles was aged 15 and was from Washington, District of Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was assigned to the ship Eureka on September 30 1863.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His occupation before enlisting was as a Waiter. His naval rank was 1st Class Boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>&#8220;1st Class Boy&#8221; was the rank given to young men who enlisted when they were under eighteen.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2010 U.S. Census recorded 1,838 black Americans with Douglass as their last name. That represented 12% of the total of 14,862 entries. This article tracks their numbers in the census since the Civil War. We also look at historic African American people named Douglass. We end with a review of early records of black &#8230; <a title=\"Douglass As An African American Last Name\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/douglass-surname-in-black-history\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Douglass As An African American Last Name\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2713"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2926,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions\/2926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exploreblackheritage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}