There's an interesting thing - he might have been an Indian classified as colored or Negro. It was common to do that, which is why a quarter of the slaves in the South were Indians.
I'm not buying that 25 percent of the slaves in the South were Indians. The total remaining Indian population in the slave South at the time was nowhere near one-quarter of the population, let alone those enslaved. I'd buy 2 percent or so, maybe 5 percent to count mixed native lineage, though there are no figures available to academically verify any percent claimed.
But I know how an idea like that might have gained traction. For years, perhaps even today but especially in the 1960s through 80s, many blacks were claiming some Indian ancestry (in that time before DNA kits were generally available). It was explained to me by black college friends there was a common black family story associated with the fact that there were some Indian tribes in the South that were never defeated or enslaved by euro-Americans, such that one could believably claim
"some of my old folks were free and independent -- not all step-and-fetch-its." Cogniscent or not, it was an attempt to set aside some of the shame of one's ancestors being slaves.* I'd be interested to know if anyone else here has encountered this.
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* On that tack, perhaps should be bumped as new thread ...I have noticed that in my reenactment/museum outreach as an "UGRR Conductor" that older generation black spectators tend to avoid my presentation
(joke opportunity noted -- have at it). It seems the older black generations can't quite stomach some white guy explaining black history to their kids, and from their perspective I can't say I blame them. Of those that stayed there were one or two compelled to bring up their Indian ancestry. What's interesting to me though is that none of the younger generation in tow seemed to know what was going on with their parents or grandparents in this regard, so I think its a generational thing.