Do you think the last name Mitchell is from an ancestor who was african american?

I am trying to find out the history of my family tree.

Do you think the last name Mitchell is from an ancestor who was african american?
African Americans were given the names of their slaveowners. Thus AA's in America do not have a real "heritage" when it comes to namesake. Many took the names of presidents at the time to make themselves seem important: Jackson, Jefferson, Washington and so on.....





Malcolm Small became Malcolm X because he no longer wanted to bear the name of the slave Master. Cassius Clay took the name Muhammid Ali for the same reason. Today people don't make that big of a deal but if you are looking for family tree then you will probably find white heritage in general. You could do genetic testing if you want to find out if you have any African blood. The Genome project on the National Geographic website is great I did it and found out I have DNA from Northern Africa. I am African American. Good luck and God Bless.
Reply:The only way to find out would be to trace it. Like "Jackson", "Johnson", "White", "Black", "Green", "Carpenter", "Baker", "Pack" and a gazillion other surnames, some people with it are black and some are white. Some of them are Eurasian, too.





How do you trace your family tree? Good question. Here is my stock answer.





This is a text file I paste to questions like yours. People ask similar questions 3 - 14 times a day here. You get a long, detailed answer, I don't get finger cramps. It is long because there are over 400,000 free genealogy sites.





It is also long because researching your family tree is as hard as writing a term paper in a History class. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, but you won't do it with five clicks. I could tell you everything I know in 30 minutes, but not 3. The fact you have to do research stops nine out of ten teens and many adults.





If you didn't mention a country, we can't tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia. I'm in the USA and my links are for it. If you are not, please edit your question to add a country. Genealogists from the UK answer posts here too. They are more experienced and more intelligent than I am. I'm better looking and my jokes are better.





The really good stuff is in your parents' and grandparents' memories. No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960's by smuggling herbs. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late.





You won't find living people on genealogy sites. Don't look for yourself or your parents.





So much for the warnings. Here are some links. These are large and free. Many of them have subtle ads for Ancestry.com in them - ads that ask for a name, then offer a trial subscription. Watch out for those advertisements.





If you try the links and don't find anyone, go to





http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html





It repeats each link, but it has a whole paragraph of tips and instructions for each one.








http://www.cyndislist.com


Cyndi's List has over 250,000 sites.





http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/f...


The Mormon's mega-site.





http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.c...


RootsWeb World Connect. The links at the top are advertisements. They mislead beginners. Ignore them and scroll down.





http://www.rootsweb.com/


RootsWeb Home.


This is the biggest free (genealogy) site in the world.





http://www.ancestry.com


Ancestry has some free data and some you have to pay for.





http://www.usgenweb.net


US Gen Web. Click on a state. Find a link that says "County".





http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/defa...


Surname meanings and origins, one of Ancestry's free pages.





http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b...


Social Security Death Index. Click on "Advanced". Women are under their married names. They are under their maiden names in most other sites.





http://find.person.superpages.com/


USA Phone book, for looking up distant cousins.





http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/sear...


California Death Index, 1940 - 1997.





http://www.genforum.com


GenForum has surname, state and county boards.





http://boards.ancestry.com/


Ancestry has surname, state and county boards too. They are free.





Read


http://www.tedpack.org/goodpost.html


before you post on either one.





Read the paragraphs about query boards on


http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html


before you search them.





http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/lis...


Roots Web Mailing List Archives.





Read


http://www.tedpack.org/maillist.html


if genealogy mailing lists are new to you.





Off the Internet, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow Mormons. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly. They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their religion unless you ask a question about it.
Reply:Mitchell was a English and scotish name however,if you have your DNA tested for about $200.00,you can find your Haplogroups . But if your Africian American, three are two possibitilies.


1. changed your surname


2. mix marriage
Reply:maybe b/c it sounds kinda like a name a freed slave would take or of the family name. my ancestors were slaves so i can't really trace the roots back that far.
Reply:I know some Mitchell's, they are white!