Wesorts

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Mixed-race group in Maryland

title: "Wesorts" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["charles-county,-maryland", "american-genealogy", "african–native-american-relations", "african-american-history-of-maryland", "ethnic-and-religious-slurs", "multiracial-ethnic-groups-in-the-united-states", "native-american-history-of-maryland", "piscataway", "exonyms"] description: "Mixed-race group in Maryland" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesorts" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mixed-race group in Maryland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]

FieldValue
group
native_nameBrandywine deme
image{{Easy CSS image crop
imageEdward Augustine Savoy cropped.jpg
desired_width250
crop_left_perc12
crop_right_perc20
crop_top_perc0
crop_bottom_perc0
aligncenter
altEdward Augustine Savoy, former Chief Messenger to the Secretary of State.
image_captionEdward Augustine Savoy, former Chief Messenger to the Secretary of State.
total750-3000
total_year1950
total_sourceestimate
total_ref
regionsPrince George's and Charles Counties, Maryland
languagesEnglish
religionsCatholicism
related_groupsMelungeons, Carmelites, Dominickers, Lumbee, Chestnut Ridge people, Brass Ankles, Free Black people, Free people of color
::

| group = | native_name = Brandywine deme | native_name_lang = | image = {{Easy CSS image crop |image = Edward Augustine Savoy cropped.jpg |desired_width = 250 |crop_left_perc = 12 |crop_right_perc = 20 |crop_top_perc = 0 |crop_bottom_perc = 0 |align = center |alt = Edward Augustine Savoy, former Chief Messenger to the Secretary of State. | image_caption = Edward Augustine Savoy, former Chief Messenger to the Secretary of State. | image_alt = | image_upright = | total = 750-3000 | total_year = 1950 | total_source = estimate | total_ref = | genealogy = | regions = Prince George's and Charles Counties, Maryland | languages = English | religions = Catholicism | related_groups = Melungeons, Carmelites, Dominickers, Lumbee, Chestnut Ridge people, Brass Ankles, Free Black people, Free people of color | footnotes = Wesorts (also We-Sorts), also known as "Brandywine people" or "Brandywine deme",{{cite news | last=Bernstein | first=Carl | title=Tri-racial "Wesorts" face genetic nightmare | newspaper=The Montreal Star | location=Montreal, Quebec | date=1970-12-15 | page=17 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/739862681/ | via=Newspapers.com | access-date=2026-01-03 |last=Hashaw |first=Tim |date=2006 |title=Children of Perdition: Melungeons and the Struggle of Mixed America |url=https://www.mupress.org/Children-of-Perdition-Melungeons-and-the-Struggle-of-Mixed-America-P70.aspx |publisher=Mercer University Press |page=89 |isbn=9780881460742 |access-date=1 January 2026 | last=Heinegg | first=Paul | year=2000 | title=Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware From the Colonial Period to 1810 | publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company | location=Baltimore, Maryland | pages=1, 3, 5–7, 53-67, 258, 286-290, 318, 321, 334-339 | isbn=978-0-8063-5042-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/freeafricanameri0000hein | access-date=2 January 2026 The term is regarded as derogatory and a pejorative{{cite magazine |author = Earl Arnett |year = 1979 |title = Indian place-names: a vestige of Maryland's past |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XdAMQRe4jYkC |magazine = Maryland Magazine |publisher = Department of Economic and Community Development, State of Maryland |access-date = 2026-01-03 by some. Wesorts prefer being called Brandywine people, a name that references the Prince George's and Charles County line where the majority of the group have historically resided.{{cite news | last=Ruehl | first=Peter | title=Brandywine People--mixed heritage, proud race | newspaper=The Evening Sun | location=Baltimore, Maryland | date=1979-12-18 | page=D1, D2 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/371360834/ | via=Newspapers.com | access-date=2026-01-03

History

Modern genealogical analysis traces the Brandywine people as originating from free people of color, in this case freed slaves from Tidewater Virginia and the free offspring of slaves and white women. From 1702 to 1720, all but one of the court convictions in Charles County for illegitimate children were from women with core Brandywine surnames. Many free Black people with these surnames began living in the District of Columbia later in the century, often descending from white women, which they would often use to prove their freedom.

19th century to present

In 1865, Oswell Swann, a free Black man of Brandywine lineage, was paid to be a guide for John Wilkes Booth during his escape. He later informed to Union soldiers. By 1950, Brandywine people were recorded to attend both white and colored schools, and sat in the pews behind white people at church, while black people sat in the balcony. Some were noted to be living in Washington D.C. and Baltimore by this time. In 1944, a ship was named after Savoy as part of a WW2 initiative to celebrate outstanding African-Americans.

In 1990, James E. Proctor Jr. of the Proctor family was elected as the delegate for District 27A, which represents the Brandywine area, and was a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

State recognized tribes

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Piscataway_Indian_Nation_And_The_Piscataway_Conoy_Tribe_Officially_Recognized_By_Governor_Martin_O'Malley_And_State_Of_Maryland_In_Annapolis_On_January_9,_2012_II_Flickr.jpg" caption="archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119193932/http://www.journalism.umd.edu/cns/wire/2000-editions/12-December-editions/001219-Tuesday/ReturningRelics_CNS-UMCP.html}}"] ::

In literature

Wayne Karlin's novel The Wished For Country (2002) represents the origins and struggles of the Wesorts as a multicultural people in the early days of Maryland's first European settlement at St. Mary's City. The Los Angeles Times reviewed The Wished-For Country as a contribution to the history of "the common people," calling the book "an attempt in novel form to bring to life the original Wesorts and their turbulent world."

Leslie Tucker, an African-American of Wesort descent, and Henry Horenstein published We Sort of People in 2006, which referred to Wesorts simply as "Proctors". The book contains pictures and interviews with Brandywine people, often from Leslie's family.

References

References

  1. (22 September 2013). "Edward Augustine Savoy". [[The Washington Post]].
  2. Price, Edward Thomas. (January 1950). "Mixed Blood Populations of Eastern United States as to origins, localizations, and persistence". [[University of California]].
  3. Sims, Leah C.. (n.d.). "Unraveling a Deceptive Oral History: The Indian Ancestry Claims of Philip S. Proctor and His Descendants".
  6. Sweet, Frank. (n.d.). "Melungeons, Redbones, and other U.S. Maroons (E3)".
  7. (January 2011). "2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File". United States Census Bureau.
  9. (1963). "Social Origins of the Brandywine Population". [[Clark Atlanta University]].
  10. Brown, Letita Woods. (1972). "Free Negroes in the District of Columbia 1790-1846". [[Oxford University Press]].
  11. Allen, Bob. (7 July 2025). "Stalking John Wilkes Booth". [[American Battlefield Trust]].
  12. Vognar, Chris. (19 March 2024). "Does ‘Manhunt’ Get the John Wilkes Booth Story Right?". [[Penske Media Corporation]].
  13. Steers, Edward. (2001). "Blood on the Moon The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln". [[University Press of Kentucky]].
  14. Savoy, Lauret E.. (13 September 2013). "Early African-American workers in DC were more than silent witnesses". [[The Christian Science Monitor]].
  15. Cushing, Lincoln. "Liberty and Victory ships named for African Americans".
  16. Hernández, Arelis R.. (11 September 2015). "Del. James Proctor, Maryland lawmaker, dies at 79". [[William Lewis (journalist).
  17. "Elizabeth G. (Susie) Proctor". [[Maryland State Archives]].
  18. (30 October 2015). "Two Maryland delegates from Prince George's sworn in today". [[The Washington Post]].
  20. Day, Anthony. (27 September 2002). "A Story of Marginalized Colonists Not in History Books (review of ''The Wished For Country'')". Los Angeles Times.
  21. Verlag, Kehrer. (28 November 2023). "Henry Horenstein & Leslie Tucker: We Sort Of People". [[All About Photo Magazine]].
  22. (6 July 2021). "Leslie speaks about Wesorts". [[Bending Spoons]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

charles-county,-marylandamerican-genealogyafrican–native-american-relationsafrican-american-history-of-marylandethnic-and-religious-slursmultiracial-ethnic-groups-in-the-united-statesnative-american-history-of-marylandpiscatawayexonyms