Unfortunately, many of my ancestors owned slaves, and I have found some of their names in probate records of these ancestors. I am considering/researching the possibility of doing some in depth research to identify these folks and their descendants where possible to aid others in their genealogical research.

I'm looking for two kinds of input here specifically, but any advice/guidance/ideas will be taken under advisement:

1. The family name I am most familiar with is Baskin/Baskins - if you are part of an African-American Baskin(s)family and have researched your own family, I would love to see where you ended up (i.e. were any of the enslaved people I've come across possibly your ancestors)

2. If I do all this research - I'm talking months to years worth of quality, exhaustive research for publication - would anyone be interested in reading through it or would this be for my own curiousity.

I have come across many African-American Baskins in the 1870 U.S. census in areas where my family lived, so I assume there is a connection, but this is an entirely new area of research for me. As I said, any advice/thoughts/ideas would be most appreciated. In the mean time, I'll continue with my own family and begin reading about researching African-American families.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Sincerely,
Alicia Watt