One of my students just submitted an excellent research paper on the history of the settlement of Samana in the Dominican Republic around 1824.

Freedmen and escaped slaves from Philadelphia were offered land, and were settled there. Many of their descendants still live in the DR.

http://www.el-bohio.com/samana/samanaS.html

See link below to article on photo exhibit.

Some of the surnames were Vanderhorst, Miller, Kelly, Johnson, Shepherd, Barrett, Wilmore, and King.

Most research on resettlement has focused on Liberia - but this small colony in the DR should be explored as a place to search for missing family.

One anthropological study of this settlement is available:

Hoetink, Harry. "Los americanos de Samaná." Eme Eme: Estudios Dominicanos 2, no. 10 ( 1974): 3-26.

DEnise