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My great-great grandparents, Oscar and Priscilla where once slaves in the state of Maryland. According to the U.S. Census they were born between 1813-23 in Maryland. It is believed that their parents were also born in Maryland. Oscar was once enslaved to the GARDINER, GARNER, GARDNER family. It is said that this family brought the very first slaves to Maryland. This surname was also cited in “Alex Haley’s Roots Mini Series. Many of the GARNER family are buried at the St. James Parish Church Cemetery in Lothian, MD. The EASTON family have resided in Lothian, MD; Mt. Zion, MD; Owensville, MD; Sudley, MD, Deale, MD; Harwood, MD; West River, MD; other parts of Anne Arundel County, MD and Calvert County, MD.
From family stories passed down for many generations, it is believed that at the end of slavery, Oscar changed his surname to EASTON, EASTEN, EASTERN, EASON, or ESTOP because he didn’t think he should keep his master’s surname because he/she was not kind to him.
Oscar and Priscilla had a son named Frank Easton who married Charity. They had several children with common American names with the exception on the last child, which was my beloved grandmother. Unlike her siblings she had a different birth name, which was MORGHANA. When she went to school her name was changed to Margaret Ann.
In 2005 members of the Easton family took the genetic DNA test through African Ancestry, Inc. and learned that our family line came from the AKAN people of GHANA. Upon reviewing the DNA results, I noticed that the family had a clue of our African Roots all along – it was in my grandmother’s name MORGHANA.
Since then the Easton family have conducted a lot of research on the AKANS from GHANA and have had several meetings with The Honorable J. O. Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister, Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of The Capital City, Accra, Ghana and have met with His Excellency Dr. Kwame Bawuah-Edusei, Ghana's Ambassador to the United States. The Ghana Government intends to use the year 2007, the 50th Anniversary of the country’s independence, to celebrate African excellence and to inaugurate “The Joseph Project”. Ghana will use the year to bring together, more closely, people in Ghana and brothers and sisters in the Diaspora and establish herself as the true gateway to the Homeland for Africans in the Diaspora.
So, in July 2007, family members and friends of the EASTON family will take our very first spiritual and cultural journey to GHANA. We’re so excited because we’ll be visiting GHANA during their 50th Year Independence and PANAFEAST CELEBRATIONS. We’re also play a vital part in the “Joseph Project”. We will participate in several celebrations and hope to connect with our GHANIAN relatives by visiting the villages of the ancestors. Plans also include meeting with the President, Ashanti King, and Minister of Tourism, Chiefs, Queens, Elders and other leaders.
Upon our return from GHANA, the Easton family will gather for a three-day family reunion near our ancestral homes in West River, MD. At which time we will share the story of our trip to GHANA.
If any one out there have any genealogical information or enslaved GHANAIANS that came to Maryland or any advice in researching while we’re in GHANA, please don’t hesitate to share. Please contact Lyndra [Pratt] Marshall at PRECIOUSLLM@AOL.COM.
Sincerely,
Lyndra (Pratt+Easton) Marshall, Reunion & Community Organizer & Genealogy Specialist -- A Proud Member of AAHGS and The Family Reunion Institute of Temple University (An advocate for restoring families and their rich history back to God's original purpose.)
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