CNN’s Victor Blackwell’s Journey Through Time: Tracing His Family History Back to Slavery
- Ishmael Bey
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
When CNN anchor Victor Blackwell walked through the doors of the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, he wasn’t just visiting a museum—he was stepping into the shadows of his own past.
Armed with curiosity and guided by a team of historians and genealogists, Victor set out on a deeply personal journey that would uncover nearly 300 years of buried history. What he found was far more than just names on old documents—it was the legacy of survival, resistance, and identity.
CNN host makes discovery about his family's past that shocks him
A Trail Etched in Chains and Courage
Victor’s family tree began to take shape through records that stretched all the way back to 1712, when a woman named Mary—an ancestor on his mother’s side—appeared in Virginia. Mary, a free American Indian Mataponi woman, should have remained free by law. But her descendants were swept into the cruel machinery of slavery through racial misclassification, a common tool used to enslave people with Indigenous or mixed ancestry. Mary’s granddaughter, Bess, was also born free, but eventually enslaved.
Then came Sarah, Bess’s daughter, and finally Rachel, Sarah’s daughter. These women—Victor’s foremothers—fought not only to survive, but also to prove their right to freedom in a world determined to erase their status and silence their bloodline.
Lineage Overview
Mary – A free American Indian woman who arrived in Virginia in the early 1700s.
Bess – Her daughter, born free, later enslaved (likely in Richmond County).
Sarah Veney – Bess’s daughter, enslaved under Thomas Smith in Richmond County.
Rachel Veney – Daughter of Sarah (born c. 1764–1774), also enslaved.
These generations form the core ancestral line that eventually connects to CNN’s research on Victor Blackwell
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⚖️ The Fight for Freedom in a Broken System
What sets Victor’s family story apart is not just that they were enslaved—it’s that they fought back.
In 1789, Sarah and her children sued their enslaver in Northumberland County, Virginia, stating they were wrongfully enslaved and descended from a free Indian woman. Two years later, they won.
But that wasn’t the end.
Rachel, Sarah’s daughter, would later be forcibly moved and sold again by people who didn’t honor the original court ruling. Rachel was forced to fight for her freedom a second time, in Montgomery County, with limited resources, against a rigged legal system. And still—she won.
The Veney family of the Northern Neck: Sarah’s Story
" According to Virginia law, an enslaver could not sell or transfer enslaved persons after they filed a suit for freedom. Dunnaway chose to violate this law by selling Rachel and her children. But when the purchaser learned that they were plaintiffs in a freedom suit, he returned them. Undeterred, Dunnaway sold Rachel and her children to Bud Ryder, who told Dunnaway, “he [Ryder] would sell Rachel where she should never git [sic] free.”
These women didn't just endure slavery—they challenged it through the law, using the system that oppressed them to assert the truth of their ancestry and birthright.
⚖️ Freedom Lawsuits & Court Cases
a) Sarah Veney & descendants (Northern Neck suit, 1789–1791)
In 1789, Sarah and her children (including Rachel) sued Thomas Smith in Northumberland District Court.
They argued that they were descendants of free Native American women (Mary & Bess).
By Sept 7, 1791, the court ruled that Sarah and her children were free .
The Smith estate’s lawyer contested this, but the court found his argument contrary to law—affirming that Sarah descended from legally free Indian women uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com.
b) Rachel Veney (Montgomery County suit, c. 1807–1815)
Despite the original 1791 verdict, Rachel was moved by Smith’s heirs and Bud Ryder to avoid enfranchisement.
She filed a new lawsuit in Montgomery County around 1807 against Henry Patton Sr.
With legal aid (Foushee G. Tebbs), Rachel gathered witness testimony that linked her back to Sarah and Bess whsv.com+12uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com+12uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com+12uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com.
Over nearly a decade, including petitions to the General Court, she finally won in the Superior Court around 1815—securing freedom for herself and her descendants, with the court awarding a nominal one cent in damages uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com.
📝 Summary Table
Ancestor | Freedom Suit & Year | Court Outcome |
Sarah Veney | Northumberland District Court, 1789–91 | Granted freedom in 1791 based on free maternal lineage |
Rachel Veney | Montgomery County & Superior Court, 1807–15 | After legal struggles, secured freedom for herself & descendants (~1815) |
💔 The Weight of Discovery
For Victor, the revelations were overwhelming.
On air, he confessed:
“ To do it TWICE in one Bloodline is just REMARKABLE ”
He saw documents that listed his ancestors as “property.” He walked on land where they were forced to labor. He realized that his very existence was forged in resistance.
This wasn’t just a genealogy report. It was a homecoming.
Why This Story Matters
Victor Blackwell’s journey speaks to millions of Black and Indigenous Americans who’ve been severed from their history by slavery, forced migration, and racist legal systems. His ancestors’ story is not rare—it’s tragically common.
So many were misclassified as “Negro” or “colored,” stripped of their tribal ties, and erased from census rolls, property records, and even family Bibles. But like the Veney women—Mary, Bess, Sarah, and Rachel—truth has a way of surviving.
Victor’s tears weren’t just his own. They were for every ancestor who dared to love, to resist, to pass on a name, even in chains.
Victor’s story is a reminder: Our history is not lost. It’s waiting to be found.
If you are a descendant of the enslaved, the displaced, or the erased—you have a right to know your roots. Your ancestors were not property. They were people. And they are calling you to remember them.
Let Victor’s journey inspire your own.
FIRST TRIBE
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