Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
#louisiana #ancestry #nytn #ancestry #findingyourroots #familyhistory #genealogy
In this conversation, Creole genealogist Alex Lee reveals the overlooked Black lineage in Pope Leo XIV’s family tree — a history absent from a widely shared New York Times feature. While the article focused on white celebrity connections, Lee brings forward the deeper, untold ancestry that challenges the narrative. This is the story they didn’t print.
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► Melungeon + Redbones: youtube.com/watch?v=LyLd8rizXCQ&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hS0duqgK5mkBh_9aqIpbooI
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OTHER VIDEO PLAYLISTS
► Melungeon + Redbones: youtube.com/watch?v=LyLd8rizXCQ&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hS0duqgK5mkBh_9aqIpbooI
► "Who Counts as..." Series in the US: youtube.com/watch?v=yUbLF-tgbB0&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hRisWeiK9K5E8X7asZdz4X1
► Mexicans youtube.com/watch?v=IwJyAwnx39Y&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hSU0OWM1p4QUln0iBpI77wf
► Enslaved Ancestor stories youtube.com/watch?v=uAxyz0q0A4s&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hQxDnyRTah5wYRX9b4FSrqR
► My family story of white passing : youtube.com/watch?v=SQp7jeNp_yg&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hQcox9CjaJWA7QKTYXw9Zn2
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Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home.
My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life, I have romanticized Louisiana.
Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born.
Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana--although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask---who was Lola really? Who were we?
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If buy something through these links, we may earn affiliate commission. Thank you for supporting this project!
#louisiana #ancestry #nytn #ancestry #findingyourroots #familyhistory #genealogy
In this conversation, Creole genealogist Alex Lee reveals the overlooked Black lineage in Pope Leo XIV’s family tree — a history absent from a widely shared New York Times feature. While the article focused on white celebrity connections, Lee brings forward the deeper, untold ancestry that challenges the narrative. This is the story they didn’t print.
✅SUPPORT NYTN
☕Send me a coffee!: ko-fi.com/nytn13#linkModal
patreon.com/NYTN
► Melungeon + Redbones: youtube.com/watch?v=LyLd8rizXCQ&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hS0duqgK5mkBh_9aqIpbooI
► 👕 NYTN Merch: nytonashville.com
▶Download the first section FREE of my "Be a Good ancestor" course here:
nytonashville.com/shoplola/be-a-good-ancestor-course-digital-download-videos-bjks6
FOLLOW ME 📸
► YouTube: / @NYTN
► Facebook: / facebook.com/findinglolafilm
► Website: nytonashville.com
► X: / twitter.com/ImFindingLola
OTHER VIDEO PLAYLISTS
► Melungeon + Redbones: youtube.com/watch?v=LyLd8rizXCQ&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hS0duqgK5mkBh_9aqIpbooI
► "Who Counts as..." Series in the US: youtube.com/watch?v=yUbLF-tgbB0&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hRisWeiK9K5E8X7asZdz4X1
► Mexicans youtube.com/watch?v=IwJyAwnx39Y&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hSU0OWM1p4QUln0iBpI77wf
► Enslaved Ancestor stories youtube.com/watch?v=uAxyz0q0A4s&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hQxDnyRTah5wYRX9b4FSrqR
► My family story of white passing : youtube.com/watch?v=SQp7jeNp_yg&list=PLvzaW1c7S5hQcox9CjaJWA7QKTYXw9Zn2
--------
Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home.
My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life, I have romanticized Louisiana.
Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born.
Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana--although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask---who was Lola really? Who were we?
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If buy something through these links, we may earn affiliate commission. Thank you for supporting this project!





![The Shocking History of Louisiana Redbones
The Louisiana Redbones settled a strip of land that, for about fifteen years, belonged to no country at all; no law, no government, no census taker. Thats the Neutral Strip, between Texas and Louisiana, and its where this story starts. In this one I get into how I found my own Redbone roots, the surnames that keep showing up (Ashworth, Goins, Chavis), what the 1893 Rigmaiden Report actually said, where the name Redbone might come from, and how the community is different from the Melungeons and the Creoles I usually cover.
Ashworth. Goins. Perkins. Chavis. Dial. Recognize any of these surnames in your family tree? I put together a FREE surname reference for the Redbone, Melungeon, and Lumbee communities — with the counties and parishes where those families settled. Grab it here → https://nytonashville.com/shoplola/free-redbone-melungeon-lumbee-surnames
00:00 – Inside the Isolated World of Louisiana’s Redbones
01:31 – The Moment I Discovered My Redbone Roots
02:40 – Why Redbone is a Culture, Not Just an Ethnic Group
03:18 – The 1893 Rigmaiden Report: A Racial Mystery Solved?
04:52 – The Ashworths & Goins: Famous Redbone Surnames
06:22 – Inside Privateer Township: The Goins Family’s 1897 Story
08:16 – Life in the Neutral Strip: America’s Lawless No Man’s Land
09:42 – Pirates & Outlaws: The Legend of Jean Lafitte in Louisiana
10:57 – The Genetic Riddle: Native American, European, & African Roots
12:43 – Where Does the Name Redbone Actually Come From?
13:37 – The Nash Family & Their Journey on the El Camino Real
14:59 – Redbone vs. Melungeon vs. Creole: What’s the Difference?
Select sources:
Albert Rigmaiden to McDonald Furman, May 6, 1893 Letter from Albert Rigmaiden, Calcasieu Parish Treasurer, writing from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to McDonald Furman in Ramsey, South Carolina. Held in the Charles James McDonald Furman Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. Finding aid: https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/55692926
McDonald Furman, The Name of Goins, News and Courier (Charleston, SC), April 29, 1897 Furmans letter to the editor, datelined Ramsey, Privateer Township, April 29, 1897. Transcribed at: http://redbonenation.com/archives/mc-donald-furman-articles/
McDonald Furman, Jim Smiling a Redbone: An Interesting Patriarch of Unique People in Privateer, The State (Columbia, SC), May 27, 1897 Furmans biographical sketch of James Edward Smiling, then about 77 years old, the patriarch of the Privateer Redbones. Digital record: https://dsi.appstate.edu/projects/lumbee/furm001
The Privateer [S.C.] Redbones, Sumter Watchman and Southron, May 27, 1896 Earliest of the Furman newspaper clippings on the Sumter County community. Referenced in the McDonald Furman Papers finding aid.
Neutral Ground Agreement, November 5, 1806 Signed by U.S. General James Wilkinson and Spanish Lieutenant Colonel Simón de Herrera.. Reference: J. Villasana Haggard, The Neutral Ground between Louisiana and Texas, 1806–1821, Louisiana Historical Quarterly 28, no. 4 (October 1945).
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, 2 Stat. 426 (1807), effective January 1, 1808 Federal law banning the importation of enslaved people into the United States, which drove the smuggling economies of the Neutral Strip and coastal Louisiana referenced in the video. Full text: https://www.loc.gov/resource/llsalvol.llsal_002/?sp=460
Marler, Don C. The Louisiana Redbones. Woodville, TX: Dogwood Press, 2003.
Marler, Don C., ed. Redbones of Louisiana. Woodville, TX: Dogwood Press, 1997.
Redbone Heritage Foundation. Ongoing scholarly and genealogical research on Redbone families, primary source transcriptions, and community history. https://redbonenation.com/
Gilbert, William Harlan Jr. Memorandum Concerning the Characteristics of the Larger Mixed-Blood Racial Islands of the Eastern United States. Social Forces 24, no. 4 (May 1946): 438–447.
Kennedy, N. Brent, with Robyn Vaughan Kennedy. The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, revised edition 1997. C
McCallum, Brenda Hornsby. Charles James McDonald Furman (1863–1904): An Introduction. University of South Carolina, South Caroliniana Library. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=scs_anpgm
Haggard, J. Villasana. The Neutral Ground between Louisiana and Texas, 1806–1821. Louisiana Historical Quarterly 28, no. 4 (October 1945). The foundational scholarly account.
Neutral Strip. 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities). https://64parishes.org/entry/neutral-strip-adaptation
Handbook of Texas Online, Neutral Ground. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/neutral-ground
McDonald, Archie P., ed. The Old San Antonio Road and the Caminos Reales: A Tri-Centennial History, 1691–1991. Austin: Texas Department of Transportation, 1991. The Shocking History of Louisiana Redbones](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tz8Gi4y3OOk/mqdefault.jpg)




