I can trace my Bankston side back to 1834 and have 165 relatives and counting so far orginating from AR. and still need to find links in MS,GA, LA AND NCand SC. I believe the white slave owner to be Spenscer Bankston in Hinds County, present Jackson area, I base this on family oral history of Afican American Bankstons in MS and AR that my great grandfather came from MS. and moved to AR. I looked at the 1850 slave records and the ages and sex of slaves match. The white Bankstons I can trace to the 1500's. Will DNA be the only way to get a definitive proof of the link of the two races.

I have 300+ relatives from the AR. Branch side of our family. The early family names included are Wakefield, Wright,McGhee.and Swopes I can trace some of back to AFrica , in particular Ethiopia.