George Swindell was my 5th great grandfather. He fought in the war of 1812. And decades later was the recipient of 80 acres of land, granted by Congress to veterans of the war. The document giving him all that land is below. He died a few years after getting the land. When white people talk about how they earned everything they have in life, remember people like my 5th great grandfather, who was granted 80 acres by congress at a time in history when millions of people were slaves.
Also, here's a digitized copy of George's federal Census record fron 1840. There were 7 people in his household at the time. All white. One was "insane" and an "idiot".
I've looked at countless Census forms. Up until the Civil war they included numbers of slaves. But this is the first time I've seen "insane and idiot" on a census form
