Blyden family (West Africa)
The Blyden family is a prominent Americo-Liberian-Krio family and hails from both Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Blyden family is an example of an Americo Liberian and Krio family of African American and West Indian descent. The two branches of the Blyden family share the same patriarch, Edward Wilmot Blyden, but have different matriarchs. The matriarch of the Americo-Liberian Blyden family was Sarah Yates, a mulatto and the niece of the then vice president Beverley Yates. The matriarch of the Krio Blyden family was Anna Erskine the daughter of African American preacher and Americo Liberian colonist George Erskine and the granddaughter of the 'octoroon' President of Liberia James Spriggs-Payne.
Notable members
- Edward Wilmot Blyden-renowned pan africanist
- Edward Babatunde Blyden- Sierra Leone Independence movement pioneer