Into the LIGHT

Amanuensis Monday - Letters from Louisburg, Part 3

2012-01-22T15:00:00.045-05:00

I have been posting a series of letters written by one, William A. Eaton, of Franklin County, North Carolina, to officials at the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands over the course of a few months in 1865. I ran across these letters during a visit to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., while searching for any mention of my great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, a former slave who'd been notated in the 1870 Census as a "former schoolteacher". Since the Freedmen's Bureau was instrumental in helping to establish schools for "colored" children after Emancipation, I wanted to see if my ancestor's name might be mentioned in any of the correspondence to/from Franklin County. Although my great-grandfather wasn't mentioned by name in these letters, I still felt a connection to him through these letters, because the "poor, colored" folks the writer so often refers to include many of my ancestors, including (most certainly), my great-grandfather, Calvin. Not only that, but in another letter, which I took a picture of with my camera, but don't have a full copy of to transcribe, Mr. Eaton uses as an example the slaves of one widow, Mrs. A.J. Yarborough. This Mrs. Yarborough was the widow of my great-grandfather's last owner, James H. Yarborough, and was thence Calvin's owner at the time of Emancipation.
This is the final letter of the three I copied, although there were several more on the microfilm. (Click to read Part 1 and Part 2.) Whenever I return to the NARA, I will try to get copies of those missing, which include responses from some of the officials Mr. Eaton was writing to.

Louisburg Sept 25th 1865

Col E Whittlesey

Dr Sir
I wrote you in answer to your favour of Aug 12th about three weeks past, and as your letter was 18 days coming from Raleigh to Louisburg, I thought it posible my letter did not reach you at all, therefore I write you to know if you received my letters.
If it is posible to take any steps towards buildng up a home for the colored people, or freedmen, the sooner we begin about it the better for I see that as the year nears to a close, the poor creatures are runing more and more into a state of confusion, without homes. And (without) any person to guide or advise them it is now difficult to keep them at home long enough to gather in the growing crop, part of which is now ready to be gathered. Some of them are really in a deplorable situation, it being out of power of any person to govern them. It will be utterly imposible for the White people to feed them in their present condition. Have you made

pg 2

up your mind what shall be done with the children that have no parents.
     Please let me hear from you at your earliest convenience. Should you think it desirable to have a personal interview with me, I will come to see you, but I would greatly perfer seeing you at my house, and if you can come out, I will meet you any day you will appoint at Franklinton and bring you out.

                                                                                                       Very Respectfully
                                                                                                                     Your Obt St
                                                                                                                     W A Eaton

About Mr. Eaton:
William A Eaton was born in 1812 or 1813 in NC. He appears to have spent most of his life in Granville County, which is ajacent to Franklin, but once shared some of the same land. His main property appears to have been in the township of Fishing Creek (Granville). It is unclear at this time where his property was located in Louisburg.
In 1840, Mr. Eaton owned 38 slaves. In 1850, he owned 80, and in 1860, the value of his personal estate (not including real estate) was $86,900, so it's safe to assume that his attainment of human property had increased, even more.
William Eaton married the former Jean Burwell, of Mecklenburg, Virginia in 1840. He died of paralysis in 1870 (in Louisburg) at the age of 58.

Source Information:
Ancestry.com.
Virginia Marriages, 1740-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers

Year: 1850; Census Place: Fishing Creek, Granville, North Carolina; Roll: M432_631; Page: 88B; Image: 177.

Year: 1860; Census Place: Fishing Creek, Granville, North Carolina; Roll: M653_898; Page: 380; Image: 384; Family History Library Film: 803898.

United States. Nonpopulation Census Schedules for North Carolina, 1850-1880: Mortality and Manufacturing. M1805, rolls 1-5. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.

A note from the transcriber:
During the weeks I've been transcribing these letters for the blog, all of the intial feelings/reactions I had to reading them that first day at the Archives have resurfaced. I've chosen to say little about those feelings because I don't want to skew the perspective of my readers, however, I am so very interested in hearing your thoughts! I've received some comments on the previous posts, as well as via Twitter and email, however, I'd love to have a "conversation" of sorts with you, my dear readers, via the comments section right here on the blog. So, please ma'am, please sir, if you are so inclined, do share a few thoughts with me about these letters? I'm curious to hear from White and Black on this, to know how you're interpreting Mr. Eaton's words and intentions. Of course, if you'd rather keep your thoughts private, that's your perogative, but for those who'll leave comments, I will respond to them all. :) Let the conversation begin!

Renate

Wordless Wednesday - Me at 50!

2012-01-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

Amanuensis Monday - Letters from Louisburg - Part 2

2012-01-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

Last Monday, I shared the first of a series of letters between William A Eaton, of Franklin County, North Carolina, and officers of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (usually known as the "Freedmens' Bureau"). In his letters, Mr. Eaton is pleading for the support of the bureau in establishing a home, school, and working farm for former slaves after Emancipation.

I read and copied three of the letters in this series during a visit to the National Archives over a year ago. At that time, I had no idea I'd be sharing them, so I must apologize for not having the exact source information, other than to say that the letters were on a reel of microfilm which held records of the Freedmens' Bureau which related to Franklin County, NC. My purpose in reading through these records was to seek any mention of my own ancestors, most specifically my formerly-enslaved great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, Sr., who, in the 1870 Census was noted to be a "former teacher".

If you missed the first letter I posted, which was from Mr. Eaton to the first commissioner of the Freedmens' Bureau, General Oliver O Howard, you can read it by clicking here. This second letter, penned by Mr. Eaton on September 2, 1865, is to Colonel Eliphalet Whittlesey, Assistant Commissioner for the North Carolina Freedmen's Bureau, 1865–1866.

Franklin County Sept 2d 1865

Col E Whittlesey

Dr Sir

Your letter 12th *itto reached me this day. I have read its contents carefully, and I am truly thankful that I can indulge a slight hope from your letter, that something may yet be done for the poor destitute colored people of this country, for I do assure you they will soon stand much in need of your assistance. I say of yours Colonel, because they have no one to look to but you, and unless you can enlist the General government, or some of the Philanthropic Societies at the North in their behalf, God only knows, what is to become of them.

The time is drawing near where the greater portion of the negroes will have give up their present homes, and I fear many thousands will be homeless and friendless. As things exist, it will follow as a natural consequence. Very many of our largest land holders are renting their grounds to White laborers, owing to their inability to pay high wages for Colored labour; And this will throw a great many women and children out of imployment. And then there are a great many persons, who would employ the negroes but they are fearfull that the negro, might leave them in working season, and they would loose their crops. And this will throw a good many out of homes: And the fearfull consequence

Pg. 2

must follow.. that a great many negroes will spend the most of their time runing about the country looking for day work: which will nothing like give them a support. And that good old adage will surely be about them, Idleness produces want & want, vice & vice misery.

I had a good deal of conversation with Col Clapp* on the subject of the home for the destitute. I think I can furnish an excellent tract of land for the home, and think with good management it could be made to support a great many indigent negroes. You ask if such a place can be had with suitable buildings. There are already a great many buildings on the place, but not enough to carry out the home according to the scale I would like to start one, say with a school attached, for improving the young, and giving the old proper religious instruction, both of which I consider very important. I should like to have a personal interview with you on the subject. The place I propose to sell for the home, is two plantations that lay together. The two tracks of land contain 2200 acres, if properly laid off into lots, say of from 30 to 60 acres each, with with a good family house on each. And then select some of the best families we can find settle them on these lots. I say best families because I would like to have a good example set at the beginning, it would induce others to do better.

There are now on the two places good family residences sufficient to accommodate the teachers to the school, and the manager of the farming opperations, I gave Col Clapp a full description, and particularly of the School house which is onto

Pg. 3

accommodate 500 pupils. I propose to make it a manual school. By settleing 50 or 60 families, which would consume about 1500 acres; and the remainder of the land to be worked by the pupils in the school; The two places can be purchased for Twentyfive thousand dollars ($25,000) I have made a calculation what it would cost to erect all the buildings necessary to make the accommodations sufficient for 500 pupils, at my figures: all the necessary buildings will cost Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) So you will see that land & buildings will cost ($75,000). I propose to put up every thing in neat and comely style: for unless the place was made to look like home; The colored people would not like it. I refer you to Col Clapp, for a full description for the plan. I would like to see you here; that you might see the situation. I think you would like it.

I am quite sure Col, that I could, after the frist year, make it a self supporting Establishment, and if you will have a proper agent, a goodly quantity of supplies may be collected from the farmers, from the growing crop for the indigent, if delivered to them, they will soon be waisted. And by the coming Spring, they will not have one pound of any thing to subsist on. And I fear, unless some eye is kept on the more ignorant persons among the colored people, many of them will be left without any portion, and then, what is to become of the women and children, unless they have some place to go to, and some person to look to for advice. Use your best endeavor to get a home erected for them. God grant us his assistance, in this. I believe a I hope I will meet with his approbation.

p. 4

I before said that provisions could be collected from the farmers. I mean that portion of the crop that belongs to the Orphans. And then we have a good many women who have large families, and no husband, and may as a class may be counted Orpans, for, I assure you these women and children will want as much looking after, as any Colored people in our land. take these two classes together, and they will give a large number of the destitute. I think if you will have a proper agent for the colored people, and establish a home for them, and have their provisions collected to gether, and have some system in the use of them a large sum will be saved to the general government.

For unless you have some place for them to collect they will all be puring into your at Raleigh by the 1st of January, and in a very short time the fuel a lone would cost as much as the home would. And at this home, they can have wood without allowance, and comfortable houses to live in, many of them made to support themselves. By strict vigilance over them, many of them who would always live in idleness if left a lone, would be induced to work where every body was at work around them. But some of them would have to be made to work or they will die in idleness

pg. 5

Let me speak a little more plainly on the subject of an agent for the colored people, and I hope you will pardon my freedom of speech on that subject.

The time will soon be here when the crop is to be gathered in, and then come the division of the crop; A great many of the white people are perfectly willing that the Negroes should have an equitable part. But on the other hand I fear there are a great many who will try to make the negroes part as little as possible. Will it not be important to have an agent for them, who is well acquainted with the customs of the country; and likewise to be able to judge under the present circumstances what part of the crop ought to be paid to the negro for his services. This agent ought to be carefully selected, and ought to be required to give his entire time and personal attention to this business, for I assure you he will find, a full amount of business for any one man to attend to. If one man can do it, after the crops are divided between the whites & Blacks, some attention will have to be bestowed on the 2d division, say among Blacks themselves. For the stronger will be sure to try to get a full share and leave the orphan out and those orphans Col, must have some one to care for them. And you will find a great many in every county. We have in our family some 6 or 8 who will be destitute in deed if you do not have them looked to be some one, and have some place to send them to, some place of safety for them

p. 6

I only cast these hints that you may think of what ought to be done in the premises.

If you can possibly come to Franklin I would be pleased to come out, for I am sure if we could see each other, we could make some arrangements for the home. If you conclude to come, give me a weeks notice. Your letter was 18 days on the road. Let me hear from you at least.

I am very Respectfully

Your most abl St

W A Eaton

*Lieutenant Col Clapp – Superintendent of the Central District of the Freedmen’s Bureau

Wordless Wednesday - A Little Booklet of Advice

2012-01-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Front cover and title page of booklet I found last summer at the home of my 91 year-old aunt in NC.

Amanuensis Monday - Letters From Louisburg (Part 1)

2012-01-02T19:02:00.001-05:00

During a visit to the National Archives last year, while searching records from the North Carolina division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned lands for any reference to my great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, I ran across a series of letters (on microfilm) between William A Eaton, a respected citizen of Franklin County, NC, and certain officials from the bureau. Mr. Eaton was concerned about what was going to become of Franklin County's formerly enslaved population, once they were fully and completely on their own, following Emancipation. Without adding my (perhaps) biased opinions/reactions to this line of correspondence (given my families roots in this county), I will present the three letters I chose to copy, beginning today, and then on each of the next two Mondays.

In this first letter, Mr. Eaton is writing to General Oliver Otis Howard, the first Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. He had previously written a letter to the General, expressing his concerns, and the General had written him back. What follows is Mr. Eaton's response.

Louisburg

Franklin County N.C. Aug 1865

Genl O O Howard

My Dear Sir

Your very kind letter 22 xxxx, was recd a few days past. And I hope you will pardon me for trespassing again with an other letter. The only excuse I can make General, is thae hope of getting something done for the poor colored widow & Orphans, many of wom must be left to starve unless you can be enlisted in their behalf. General you are the only hope they have on earth. It is generally believed they are committed to your care, and let me entreat you to try and get something done for them. Unfortunately a great many of the colored women have large families of children without a husband and a great many will be totally unable to feed and cloth themselves & children when they are given up by their former owners, which the former owners will be compelled to do, at the end of the present year. Nearly all the men will set up for themselves and leave the women & children to shift for themselves and many of them were formerly owned by widows......

pg. 2
and Orphans, who have no home. The negros are xxx hired, and the 1st day of Jany (January) coming will find them homeless & friendless, unless the government will ___ forward to their relief. You say in your letter General that Franklin County will have to take care of its own paupers. General if every white (probably citizen) in this county, was taxed to his full capacity ___ could not take proper care, of the pauper negros that will be turned on the county the frist (sp) Jany next But General I do not propose to make this altogether a county institution, the reason why I ask to have it under th especial care of the general goverment (sp) is that when ever the agent for freedmen for the state, finds a fit subject for his special patronage he may have a place to send him to where they can have proper care taken of them, and if we can get one such institution started in the South it will beget many others of like character. In the present crippled state of this country I fear it would be a hopeless job to raise money to establish an institution of any kind much less for such a one as I propose. Many persons think it best to keep the colored rase (sp) in

pg. 3
as much ignorance as posible. I beg leave to differ with them. I wold to God that every man woman & child in these United States were well educated, and piously instructed, and properly point the way to the Lamb of God, and how can that be done, unless Gods more enlightened children, will help to lift these poor people from the darkness that now surrounds them; I have written to Col Whittlesey* and invited him to visit me that I may lay my plan before him: I think it the cheapest plan that can be adopted to do any good. The land that I propose to get for the purpose belongs to 5 persons but all lying in one compact body, and if laid off and adjusted with skill, would accommodate a great many negroes, andif provisions are laid in at the begining of winter may be done to advantage If Col Whittlesey allows the negroes to remanin in and about Town the wood for them would cost quite as much as the home for them, here they can furnish their own wood, and by proper encouragement a great many may be enduced to support themselves. With one years start the place

*Col Whittlesey was the Commissioner for the State of North Carolina Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

pg. 4
can be made to support itself. General would it be asking too much of you, to request you to speak to the highest powers that be, in behalf of this home for Negroes, in the name of God I beg that something be done for them. I hope General you will pardon my earnest entreeties for them, being here among them and knowing thir true situation I can not help being interested in their behalf seeing too as I do every day how unconcious they are of ther true Situation, for unless something is done many must perish the coming winter from cold. “let us not turn them away homelss necked hungry and cold” but do what we can for them. God prosper my petition for them is the earnest prayer of
                                                                                                                       Your Humble Servant

                                                                                                                      W A Eaton

P.S. There is one thing that we must not loose sight of, heretofore the Negro was taxed as property, now that is lost to state county and the general government, and I am sure they will not be able in their present situation to pay even a pole(poll) Tax -

                                                                                                                         ps cte   W.A.E..

Happy New Year! (More to come!)

2012-01-01T12:44:00.005-05:00

2012!

Well, it's a brand new year, and like most, I've set some personal goals. This is something that I typically do quietly, and privately. I don't make "resolutions", but I do spend time reflecting each year on the previous one, and making decisions (which I hope to stick to) about how I might do things differently in the new year. Usually, I do a pretty good job of sticking to my plans, but of course there are some things that end up carrying over to the next year's goals.

Anyway, this is my third year blogging, and I've been reading everyones' genealogy-related goals. I applaud those of you who diligently post your resolutions each year, and then, go back and "grade" yourselves (publicly) on how well you've done. Certainly, there's an aspect of accountability that comes with doing it that way, and perhaps I'll graduate to such heights in the future. But, for now, I just want to share a few thoughts about where I am in my genea-life, and to clarify, or perhaps, reassert my commitment to this work.

Although I've always been curious about my family, my official start as a family historian began in 1997. Two life-changing events occurred that year, both of which contributed to my quest to learn more about who I am, and where I come from: I got my first computer; and my father died. As I wrote my father's obituary, and designed and published his funeral program (using my new computer), I ended up learning more about the man I called, "Daddy", than I'd ever known before. Later, as the executor of his estate, and the one who handled his personal effects, I discovered even more, especially with regard to his military career. With each new find, I gained a greater respect for my dad, but I also realized how little I'd actually known about him - about his younger years, and about the experiences he'd had which made him the man that he'd become. This led me to a new level of reflection and wonder about my entire family, but in particular, about myself. Who am I, exactly? What am I really made of? Why am the way I am? What made me this way?

I began to try to find as much information as possible about my family. I remember using AOL for something, and eventually (after 2000), I started to use Ancestry.com, and Familysearch.org to look at documents. At some point, Google became my friend. But, before all of that, I just started asking QUESTIONS. I visited and interviewed my mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins, most of which involved taking road trips to North Carolina towns. I took lots and lots of notes, and I began building a hand-written pedigree chart, which I'd actually started in 1990. I remember being amazed just to learn the names of ancestors that were only two generations ahead of me, whom I'd never even heard of before! But, sadly, there were very few stories to go with those names. It seemed that my family was historically disconnected, and that very little effort had been made to preserve the history that was ours. I wanted to change that. And so, I began...

My first pedigree chart, which I started in 1990. (Home address and phone number are covered with sticky and scratched over.)

Now, it's 15 years later. I've spent hours and hours in courthouse backrooms and basements, archival repositories, and county, state, and university libraries and municipal offices, all resulting in thousands of copies of original documents, for which I'm still trying to find just the "right" organizational system! (Smh) I've visited public and church-owned cemeteries, as well as private burial grounds on plantation properties, on which my ancestors once labored. I'm a member of two genealogical societies (about to join a third), and I travel in and out of the tiny towns from which my ancestors hailed, taking photographs of places they might've been, and feeling sure that I sense their presence in some of them. I have two blogs, and I volunteer as an indexer for two companies and one major project in the genealogical community. I've published two articles in the Franklin County Heritage Book (Volume 1, 2008), and I also worked as part of the committee which published it. I'm a contributing member of FindaGrave.com, and I put out a monthly e-newsletter to all of my family members for whom I have email addresses. I maintain subscriptions to Ancestry.com and Tribalpages.com, and have trees on both sites. I'm a member of Afrigeneas.com, and I follow and contribute to message boards all over the Web. I've had my DNA tested, which has given me data about my maternal line, and I've gotten two male cousins to submit theirs, allowing me to obtain, confirm, and learn more information about two of my paternal lines (HAWKINS and YARBOROUGH). I have discovered and "met" (online) a female cousin in another state who has recently submitted a DNA sample that will give us much-needed information about the maternal line that began with my gg-grandmother, Anna GREEN. I communicate with people all around the country each day via Twitter and Email, as we work together to figure out family lines and to share research techniques. I've scanned hundreds of family photos and documents, and have shared many of those, electronically. And yes, I spend countless hours on the Internet, digging, digging, digging for ANYTHING I might find that will lead me to more information about my ancestors. I do this because they are who I am. They are where I come from. Learning about them, gives me the answers to the questions that began tugging at me unstoppably in 1997, and which will no doubt one day pull on the heart of one of my descendants. Hopefully, the work I've done will make it easier for that yet-to-be-known somebody to find their answers.

Slave auction-block and hitching post at Cascine Plantation - Franklin County, NC (taken in July, 2007)

So.... What will 2012 bring for this researcher? More of the above, because there are still so many questions, unanswered. I renew my commitment to fidelity in sourcing my information, something I didn't know to do in the early years of my research. I will work on creating a better, "just right" (for me) filing and storage system for my hard copies of documents, and I will continue to scan family photos, so that they can be preserved for the future in digital format. I plan to begin participating in "Amanuensis Monday", a Geneabloggers meme, which encourages transcribing and sharing historical documents on the Internet. I'll keep sending the family e-newsletter, even though I sometimes want to stop because I get so little feedback from it. Nevertheless, I will continue, because the work I'm doing is not just for me, it's for ALL of the descendants of my ancestors! I will try to do more to help others in the genealogical community. And, I hope that 2012 will be the year in which I attend my first genealogical conference!

For me, genealogy is not a hobby, at all. It is work - hard work. But it is hard work with a purpose, and for the most part, I do enjoy doing it. Researching my family has it ups and downs. There are long periods of frustration, and brick walls that seem insurmountable, but for me, these are incentives to keep at it. Anyone who knows Renate knows that once I start something, I perservere until it's finished. I guess that means I'm in this for my lifetime, because, as I've learned from many who've been at it for longer than I, researching one's family history is a "job" that never ends!

Happy New Year, and thanks for reading Into the LIGHT, and supporting me in my genealogical quest!

Renate

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Skyping on Christmas

2011-12-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

My mom (in my office/den) skyping with my daughter (in Paris) on Christmas Day.

Mysterious Monday - A Very Odd Photo

2011-12-05T19:42:00.004-05:00

Today, I've decided to share one of the many photos I have in my possession of unknown (family?) folks. I can remember seeing this one when I was younger, perhaps a teenager, in our garage where a couple of old photo albums were kept. I have no idea who the people are in this picture, but it has always intrigued me, on a number of different levels.

I've theorized a few different interpretations of this photo, but none with any level of certainty. No one in my family seems to know anything about its orgins, but I'm assuming by the "x" mark over the head of the guy in uniform, that he must be the subject with whom we have a connection. I am so baffled by the other character, the pose, and the ---- well, the EVERYTHING about this picture!

I don't want to give away any of my ideas, so as not to influence yours. Please, dear readers, leave me comments on your interpretations of this photo, or if you have actual knowledge (like, perhaps, what kind of uniform the man on the right is wearing), please share it with me.

The photo is on a 3 & 1/4 x 5 & 1/4 postcard, and I did a bit of research to attempt to get a date range for it. According to the information I found on the site Photos Made Perfect, this postcard was produced by Kodak between 1918-1930. I was able to determine this by the AZO stamp box, which has two triangles pointing up, and two pointing down. Also, it's obvious that picture is posed in front of a backdrop showing the US Capital building. I'm not sure if that means it was taken in Washington, DC or not, but I guess it's something to consider.

I welcome, and invite your ideas!

Renate

Happy Veterans' Day!

2011-11-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

In memory of my father, Major Arthur P. Yarborough, Sr. (Army, Ret.)

June 21, 1924 - October 4, 1997

My father began his service as one of the first black Marines at Montford Point, NC. From there, he enlisted in the Army, and went on to serve for over 20 years, retiring in 1964 with the rank of Major. You can read more about my dad and his military service here.

Thanks, Daddy, and thanks to all veterans!!!

Renate

A Genealogy Certificate!

2011-11-09T20:24:00.001-05:00

Wow! Has it really been two and 1/2 months since I've posted here? Unbelieveable! But, I have been unbelieveably busy, so I guess it makes sense!

I just had to drop by to share a "first" with everyone. I know it may not seem like much, but today I received my very first genealogy-related recognition of any kind. Check this out:

My regular readers my recall that I've been involved in an indexing project that is being sponsored by the North Carolina Genealogy Society, in partnership with FamilySearch.org. We are working to index estate records that have been microfilmed at the North Carolina State Archives. The project still needs volunteers, so if you're reading this and you can help, please click here to learn more about this iniative. The work is quick and easy, once you get the hang of it, and, as you can see, your efforts will be valued and appreciated if you join in! :)

Renate

Happy birthday, Brother Arthur

2011-08-23T00:49:00.002-04:00

Arthur Yarborough, Jr (August 23, 1960 - April 6, 1984)

A short life, but well lived...

Today my heart is aching and I am especially yearning for and missing my brother, Arthur. If he were still here, this would be his 51st birthday. Arthur's birthday was always special for both of us, because it marked the beginning of the almost five month period each year when he would claim to be two years older than me. Notice I said "claim", because in reality, Arthur and I were less 17 months apart. But from August 23rd of each year, until the following January 16th (my birthday), his numerical age was two years, instead of the usual one, ahead of mine. Arthur used to announce this publicly, any chance he got, and he tried to use it as leverage to get extra privileges from our parents, even though we all well knew that he was no older than me than he'd been before his birthday, lol. I can just hear him now, saying, "But I'm TWO years older than her!!!) But for me, August 23rd always meant the beginning of almost five months of teasing, taunting, and torture (just kidding) at my expense, as my "almost twin" brother boosted his own ego by trying to seem "older". :)

I'd give anything to have my brother back. As I mentioned in my tribute to him last year, it was he who shared my childhood memories; he who knew all of my secrets, and I"m pretty sure I knew all of his. We shared so much growing up together, and now there's no one with whom I can reflect on those memories. But, God knew best when he chose to take my brother at the age of 23. He was loved and cherished by many here on earth, but he is in a better place now. One day, we'll meet, again.

Happy birthday, my dear, dear brother. I'll catch up with you in January. :)

Love,
Renate

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - WHERE I'M FROM

2011-07-24T11:38:00.007-04:00

Thanks again to Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings for providing us with a fun, engaging activity. This week's assignment, was to use write a poem entitled, "Where I'm From", using the template provided here. To visit Randy's site and read the entire challenge, please visit http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-write-poem.html

I enjoyed working on this poem, but found it challenging in some ways, as I had to grope for ideas for a few of the items. However, most came easily, and I found myself smiling, and even laughing as I reflected on memories of days gone by. I encourage everyone to give this a try, and to share it with your family members, too. :)
Here's my poem:

Where I’m From

By Renate Sanders

I am from bell-bottom pants, stacks and afros. I’m from Hostess Twinkies and Now & Laters.

I am from the historic neighborhood of Aberdeen, paved streets, big yards, filled with children playing while mammas watched from every window, and where you’d better get home before those street-lights come on. I'm from playing on the "Big Hills", waiting for the Ice-Cream Man or "The Truck", and from where switches came off trees faster that you could get the last disrespectful word out of your mouth.

I am from azalea bushes and crepe myrtle trees, and from my grandma’s prized roses.

I am from holding hands during mealtime prayers, and perservering above the odds; From Anna Beatrice GREEN and Mary DAVIS and YARBOROUGHS, DUNSTONS, HILLS, and BROWNS. And, like it or not, I’m also from HAWKINS.

I am from the head-strong and faithful. I’m from, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” And, “Pretty is, as Pretty does.”

I am from Baptists, and Presbyterians, and from the foot-stomping, dancing-in-the-aisle United Holy Church. I’m from folks who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and all that is within us!

I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, by way of Louisburg, Halifax, and Warren Co., NC, Norfolk, VA, and somewhere in Africa where people spoke the Bantu languages and watched their families torn apart, chained, and loaded onto ships like somebody’s cargo. I’m from Nigeria, where my ancestors walked proudly, heads up – backs straight, until that fateful day when they were forced to bend by men whose descendants would one day be kinfolk.

I’m from blue-crabs steamed in vinegar and seasoned with Old-Bay; I’m from collard greens and macaroni-and-cheese, with hot, buttered corn bread on the side.

From Anna Green, a runaway transplant who loved and was loved by Nathaniel Hawkins (a negro trader), and bore six kids by him; from Arthur P. Yarborough, who worked his way up to the rank of Major in the United States Army, only to be cheated out of his next promotion by the stronghold of racism.

I am from the house my grandfather built in Louisburg, the property my grandmother and mother fought to keep in Norfolk, from the last house on the left on the corner lot in Granger Court. I’m from the metal safe box which always sat on the top shelf of my parents’ closet, but now rests in mine. I’m from photo albums filled with pictures of the known and unknown, from manila folders labeled with surnames and CD-roms that hold pictures and documents that provide proof of my history.

I’m from all of this, and so much more. I’m from America.

Mystery Monday - Workin' on the Railroad

2011-07-18T00:28:00.001-04:00

This picture was amongst the belongings of my maternal grandmother, Mary Davis Walker Hill Thomas. I don't know who any of the gentlemen in the picture are, but I can be pretty sure that they likely worked at the railyard in Norfolk, Virginia, since that is where my grandmother lived, and sinceher father, Walter Davis, and at least on of her husbands worked for the railroad. I would love to be able to identify these men, especially since one of them may possibly be my great-grandfather!

Note: It's possible that the gentleman who is kneeling in front with the brake bar(?) in his hand might be James Allen Walker, my grandmother's first husband. He has the same light complexion and sharp features, however, the man in this picture looks older than 27 (to me), the age Allen was at the time of his sad and tragic death. However, I can't rule him out because Allen did work as a brakeman at the Virginia Railway coal pier, so this very well may be him.

Note 2: It's also possible that one of these gentlemen could have been my grandmother's father, Walter Davis. I've never seen a picture of him, but he, too, worked at the pier, and was mortally injured in a train accident in 1935.

(Amost) Wordless Wednesday - My Mom the Military Wife

2011-07-13T22:45:00.000-04:00

My mom, Maryanne Hill Yarborough, standing, center.

This photo would have been taken sometime between 1956 and 1964, most likely in the late fifties, though. The back has our last name, "Yarborough", faintly written in pencil (probably because this was the copy set aside for my parents), and then, in my mother's handwriting, "A coffee for Army Officers' Wives". The location is unknown, but was most likely either Bremerhaven, Germany, or Cleveland, Ohio.

My Second Blogiversary!

2011-07-10T23:05:00.004-04:00

Happy blogiversay to me!

Happy blogiversary to me!

Happy second blogiversary,

Happy blogiversary to me!!!!

Today, on the second anniversary of Into the LIGHT, I've decided to give myself, and the genealogy blogging community a gift! :) Just moments ago, I wrote the inaugural post for my new blog, Genea-Related! I hope that all of my readers will visit my new blog, which, as its name implies, is forum and a platform for all things related to genealogy! Please click here to learn more!

Thanks to all of my readers for sticking with Into the LIGHT for whatever portion of the two years you've been reading. I know that my posts have been sparse over the past year, especially recently, but I hope to do better. Without going into it, I want to share that I've been deeply affected by a negative experience I had here, over a year ago, and it has made me a little less than enthusiatic about posting, even though I often really, really want to. However, as I continue to heal from this experience, I feel myself coming back, and I'm sure that the work I'll put into Genea-Related, will help to speed the process along.

In the end, what's most important is that I continue my research, and I have done that. However, some of the discoveries I've made have also contibuted to my lack of posts, as I've had to deal with feelings that were completely unexpected as I've learned more and more about parts of my ancestry which, just a couple of years ago, I knew nothing about, as well as with the frustration of not finding anything out about those of my ancestors whom I was aware of, and who are the main subjects of my research. Still, I won't give up, and I'm constantly inspired by all of you whose blogs I read daily, and who I follow on Twitter each day.

Again, I thank you for reading, and wish you blessings, always.

Renate

*Cake photo courtesy of clker.com

Wedding Wednesday - Mabel GREEN and James POWELL

2011-06-22T23:30:00.000-04:00

This is my grandmother, Anna Green's sister, Mabel Lee GREEN, and her husband, James Calvin Powell. Mabel was born in Rolesville, NC on March 9, 1889 to John Wesley and Susan Dunstan Green. She died in Raleigh, NC on December 11, 1978 at the age of 89.
James was born on June 19, 1889 in Wake Forest, NC, to Calvin and Healon Powell. He died at age 36 on June 16, 1925 of acute Bright's Disease. According to his death certificate, James was a barber. This makes me wonder if he may have worked for (or with) my grandfather, who I'm told owned a barber shop.
James and Mabel made their home in Raleigh, NC on Person Street. They were the parents of five children; James Jr., Ella, Roger, Mabel, and Ruby (who was born the same year her father died).

This is the Face of Genealogy

2011-06-05T18:03:00.003-04:00

I'm offering this post in support of the virtual "protest" of the article that was posted in the LA Weekly, which made light of the research we do, and, to add insult, included a picture of two children who were supposed to be representative of the products of inbreeding. To follow the trail to the article, click here.

Like several others in the genealogy community have done today, I'm sharing just one of the true faces of my genealogy. This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandmother, Anna Green Yarborough, granddaughter of a slave trader (Nathaniel HAWKINS) and a Mulatto woman (Anna P GREEN). (Click on her name to read more about her!)

Anna Green Yarborough on the bridge over the Tar River in Louisburg, NC.
(Photo property of Renate Y Sanders)

Unfortunately, I will never see the majority of the faces of my ancestors, since the majority of them were enslaved people, but through my research, I have gotten to "know" them through the remnants of their lives, and the individual reflections of the spirits they left behind.

Renate

NC Indexing Project

2011-06-01T16:16:00.001-04:00

Hello Readers:
This is not a typical post, but one in which I'm using my blog as a platform to solicit your help! As a member of the North Carolina Genealogical Society, I'm privileged to be one of the first to join the effort of an indexing project involving North Carolina Loose Estate Papers! Having worked for several months now on the SC Project, through LowCountryAfricana and Footnote, I've seen first-hand how much valuable information these records can provide for family researchers. Of course, most of us have encounter these records on a more personal level in dusty courthouse basements, or perhaps at our state archives, but through this project, we will bring this information right to the fingertips of anyone with access to a computer!

With the permission of Victoria Scott, the Second VP/Publications Chair of the NCGS, I am sharing this information with my genea-friends, and asking for your help! If you are interested in working as an indexer on this project, please email Victoria Scott at victoria.p.scott@gmail.com.
Here is the partial text of an email I received which explains a bit more about the project:

The North Carolina Genealogical Society, in partnership with FamilySearch.org, and in collaboration with the North Carolina State Archives, is excited to announce that the online indexing project of the North Carolina Loose Estates Records is ready to begin!

Currently, five counties have digitized images available for indexing. More will be forthcoming over the next few weeks and months. This project requires "double blind" indexing, so counties that may have previously been indexed from microfilm will be verified a second time. This is to ensure accuracy before their entries are uploaded into the FamilySearch index database and the images made available for viewing.

The Publications Committee, as well as the entire Board of the North Carolina Genealogical Society, are very excited about this project. It will be a tremendous resource for all researchers with North Carolina ancestry.

Thank you for your participation!

I hope that many of my readers will decide to help out, especially those with a personal research interest in North Carolina! Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you. :)

Best,
Renate

New Discoveries on the Maternal Side - HILLS, HOWELLS, and HAYES

2011-05-22T22:53:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a banner day in my research life for two reasons: One, I visited the Library of Virginia for the very first time, and two, while there I discovered the name and hometown of my maternal great grandmother!

The Library of Virginia is indeed a beautiful building. It is spacious, well-lit, and beautifully appointed. I'd gone there planning to tour the entire edifice, and take it all in, with plans only to view and get copies of three of my Norfolk, VA ancestors. After all, I was only in Richmond for an impromtu breakfast meet-up with my youngest daughter. This was just going to be a quick stop on a day filled with "to-do"s. Four hours after arriving, I was reluctantly leaving for the drive back home to attend an afternoon engagement. Not only did I have the death certificates (which provided lots of surprising information that I'll blog about later), but I'd also taken advantage of the Pro-Quest access to uncover more articles about my ancestors, the tiniest of which provided me with information about the family of my elusive grandfather, Daniel W. Hill, my mother's father (who abandoned their family when she was just four).

Daniel Webster Hill has, until now, just basically been a name on my family tree. He is definitely one of my brick walls, and he is the one closest to me, generationally, as he was my mother's father. Daniel and my grandmother, Mary Davis Walker, were married in Philadelphia in 1929, and they lived there for a short time after they wed. However, by 1930, they are already back in Norfolk, VA, living in the home which Mary had moved out of to join Daniel in PA. I've often wondered why they returned to Norfolk so soon, but perhaps now, I've found my answer.

As a result of my search of the Norfolk Journal and Guide on ProQuest for "Daniel Hill Norfolk", this little article popped up.

It reads: Mrs. Pinkie Howell of Gilmerton, VA, who was strickin with illness while visiting her daughter in Philadelphia, Pa., died Sunday, May 19. The remains were brought to Gilmerton for funeral and internment. She leaves to mourn her loss a son, Mr. Daniel Hill, of Norfolk, and one daughter, Mrs. Emma Hayes of Philadelphia.

..... and
        the
            brick wall
                    began to immediately
                                              tumble
                                                       down.....

In just these three little lines, I learned the following information that I never knew before:

The name of my great-grandmother. Pinkie Howell would have been my mother's grandmother. This explains so much for me, as I've often wondered how and why she never knew her father's parents, or any of his relatives, despite the fact that he abandoned the family when she was four. I've asked her and her brother many times if they are sure that no one ever asked after them, or visited them from their father's family. They've always insisted that no one had, and they've both grown old not knowing a thing about their own father or his family - except for their father's name. Now, at least I can let them know that it wasn't that their own grandmother didn't care enough to want to know them; she had passed before either of them were ever born. :(
The origin of my mother's brother's first name, Howell. My grandparents named their first-born child, Howell Webster Hill. I've always felt that the "Howell" had to be for something or someone, since they gave him the same middle name as his father (Webster). Now that I've discovered his mother's surname, I'm beginning to question whether or not Daniel's real last name might've been Howell, too. Maybe he was running or hiding from something or someone, and maybe this is why he's remained a brick wall for so many years. This is a stretch though, because there are some other Hills in the Norfolk area who my mom and her brother say that we are related to. Maybe Pinkie was just married to a Howell who raised Daniel. I'll have to research this further.
The location of my grandfather's family. According to the article, Pinkie Howell lived in Gilmerton, Va. Well, there is no longer a township by that name, but when I looked it up, I discovered that Gilmerton was actually located in Chesapeake, Va (which is right next to Norfolk), and after a few moments reflection, realized that it must be in the section of Chesapeake which now hosts the Gilmerton Bridge, which I hear about every morning and evening during the traffic segment on the news. This was confirmed today during a telephone conversation with my Uncle Howell, who lives in Chesapeake now. This means that my grandfather, Daniel Hill, whom I've always known was born in Virginia, was most likely raised right in Chesapeake.
The fact that my grandfather had a sister, Emma, her married name, Hayes, and her location. This means that my mother and her brother had an aunt, who sadly, never knew them or vice-versa. However, Emma will most likely be the key to my finding out more about my grandfather's family and circumstances, and she may even lead me discovering what happened to him. I've already found the Emma Hayes that I'm pretty certain is her.If I'm right, she was married to McCabe Hayes, a gentleman who appears to have been 8 years younger than she, and who was a WWI Veteran.

From this 1920 Census document, I also learn that Emma's father was born in North Carolina, and her mother in Virginia. Assuming that Emma and Daniel shared the same parents, these would be my great-great grandparents. :)

In addition to the information above, several "mysteries" have been cleared up for me by this article. I now understand why, despite an announcement in the Journal and Guide (which I shared in a previous post) that my grandparents (Daniel and Mary) were married and had moved to Philadelphia in 1926, they were back living at her home in Norfolk by the time the 1930 Census was taken. I also never understood just how it came to be that they got married in Philadelphia, rather than in Virginia. Even though my mother and her brother have always said that their father had some kind of connection to Philadelphia, they never seemed to know what it was. Now, we know that at least one close relative, Daniel's sister, Emma was there. Perhaps, after the death of their mother, they came back this way to close her affairs. I may never know the answer to that, but at least it all makes more sense now.

What was supposed to have been a quick visit to the Library of Virginia, has resulted in a smashing (no pun intended) insult to a long-held brick wall! I now have my work cut out for me as I begin to explore this newly found branch of my family tree. There are many questions to be answered, and lots of verifying to do, but I'm up for the task! In just a few weeks, school will be out for the summer, and I'll be digging into my research around the clock. Surely, this will keep me busy for hours on end!

Thanks for reading. :)
Renate

Wordless Wednesday - Farm Life

2011-05-04T20:10:00.001-04:00

My father, Arthur P Yarborough (behind the cow) and his cousin, George R Greene, apparently doing a little farm work.
(Photo is property of Renate Yarborough Sanders)

Separate But Equal? WWI Draft Registrations

2011-05-01T22:35:00.005-04:00

This will be a quick post. It was inspired by a question posed to me by George Geder, of Geder Genealogy, after a comment I made on his recent post about his grand-uncle, Frederick Geder. George had included a copy of his ancestor's WWI Registration Card, and I noticed right away that, although Frederick was clearly of African descent, the corners weren't cut off of the bottom of his registration paperwork. So, I inquired about this to George, and responded by asking me to enlighten him about this practice.

Well, I don't have all the details, but I see this as an opportunity to share something (for once) that I'm aware of, and that perhaps others, like George, may not have been. Quite some time ago, I was engaged in a discussion in what I believe was the Afrigenas chatroom on this issue. At that time, although I'd found and save several of my ancestors' WWI Draft Registrations, I hadn't even noticed that, on a large percentage of them, either one, or both of the bottom corners had diagonal cuts on them. After the chat, I went back into my documents and looked at them, and this was indeed the case. However, there were some, like that of my my own grand-uncle, William Green (who was passing for White in NY), on which the corners were not cut. (See below.)

Before I responded to George, I googled the topic, and found right away that Ancestry.com had a copy of the blank registration form on their site, showing that it was actually a part of the written directions on the form to cut the lower left corner if the registrant was of African descent. (All this time, I'd been thinking that it was just something that was being done "unofficially". I know... I should have known better.) You can see this copy, below:

Screen shot from Ancestry.com: http://c.ancestry.com/pdf/trees/charts/DraftCardB.pdf

Another thing I did after responding to George's query is that I went into my files on Ancestry to take a look at a couple of my ancestors' forms, with the intent to send George a few copies. I went right to my grandfather, Calvin YARBOROUGH, and his brother, Eugene, because I remembered having theirs and I knew that they had gone (presumably together) on the same date to register. Upon revisiting their forms, I noticed something interesting:

Here's my great-uncle Eugene YARBOROUGH's first registration form, from June 5, 1917. Notice the cut corners.

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005

I also noticed the writing across Eugene's registration form, indicating that his registration was "Cancelled by order of the Adjucant General, May 12, 1918. (I can't read the line under that.) I guess finding out the reason for that gives me another "mystery" to work on solving.

Now, look at my grandfather's registration. He and Eugene were brothers, less than two years apart, in age. The corners are not cut.

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Here is a picture of my grandfather, Calvin R. YARBOROUGH, Jr. Like with George's ancestor, there is no question of his African ancestry.

On that day, my great-uncle Eugene re-registered. Apparently, September 12, 1918 was the main registration date for Franklin County, NC. Notice that this time, his corners are not cut, either. Here's his second registration:

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

I have visited all of the WWI Draft Registration cards for surnames beginning with D, G, and Y for Franklin County, NC on Ancestry.com, and I've found that fairly consistently, the corners were cut for African-Americans. What made them not cut them for my grandfather and his brother on September 12, 1918, is a mystery to me.
Oh! I almost forgot: Here is the registration form for my grand-uncle, William A Green. As you can see, he is designated as White, and his corners are not cut. What makes this even more interesting (to me) is that less than two decades before this, when he was still a North Carolinean, William had actually served in the 3rd NC Volunteer Infantry, a colored regiment in the Spanish-American War. Just one of those things that makes you go, hmmmmm, huh? :)

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

I hope this information has been helpful to other researchers. If you weren't aware of this distinction being made on the WWI Registration Forms, you might want to go back and take a look at the ones you have for your ancestors, to see how they were "assigned".

Renate

Tombstone Tuesday - Family Time in the Cemetery

2011-04-26T19:36:00.001-04:00

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you've seen this plot before. It's the family plot for my paternal grandparents, Calvin and Anna (Green) YARBOROUGH. This plot is located in the Louisburg City Cemetery, formerly known as the Louisburg Colored Cemetery, and often referred to by locals as, "The Hill". The majority of my paternal ancestors are buried throughout this serene, remotely located cemetery, but the plot shown holds my grandparents Calvin and Priscilla YARBOROUGH and my uncle, Calvin R. Yarborough, III. Space remains for my aunt, who just celebrated her 91st birthday. I also plan to place a marker there in memory of my father, Arthur Yarborough, Sr., although he was interred in the Hampton National Cemetery with full military honors, when he passed in 1997.
On Saturday, the day before Easter, my daughters (who had both come in for the holiday weekend) and I, along with my oldest daughter's fiance, took the 2 and 3/4 hour drive down to Louisburg to visit my aunt, with an ulterior purpose being for her to meet the fiance. :) After a nice visit, we piled back into the car to leave, when lo and behold, my vehicle (which has a mind of its own - hee hee) just knowingly made the turn from the old homeplace (where my aunt still lives) onto Mineral Springs Road, and directly towards The Hill! Seriously though, this was an opportunity I just couldn't resist. Usually, I'm alone when I take my trips to Louisburg, or occasionally, my youngest daughter (now 22) might be with me. But to have a chance to visit our ancestral burial ground with both of my daughters in tow (and a future son-in-law, to boot) was too good to pass up. So, there we went, up the winding rock-covered path which was once traveled by horse and buggy (and is still only wide enough for one car at a time), through the woods, and up the hill to the cemetery.
As we entered the clearing, I began pointing out the ancestors: GREENS to the left, a little further up, Hilliard and Mattie YARBORO, and the tiny graves of all the children they'd lost too soon... Next to them, Cousins Geral, Sheldon, and others... over to the right in the center of the field, Eugene and Lucy YARBOROUGH and their children, several of whom also died young. Then, on the corner near the top of the hill we stopped. Our family plot, proudly bearing the YARBOROUGH name was in full view. As I began to tell the stories (mostly for the benifit of the fiance), my daughters gave in to what they knew was inevitable - a photo shoot!

Photo property of Renate Y Sanders. April 23, 2011 - Louisburg City Cemetery

Maryanne's Birthday - Bringing Family Together!

2011-03-27T20:22:00.010-04:00

This past Wednesday, March 23rd, was my mother's 77th birthday. On Sunday prior, I hosted a little celebration in her honor, which was attended by her siblings, their spouses, a cousin, and my oldest brother, Ed. It's difficult for me to write much about the dynamics of this side of my family, because I am innately guided by the mantra, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." Not only did my father reiterate this phrase over and over again during my childhood, but I also heard it each morning on the radio station. I didn't realize (or remember) until searching for the exact voice to link into this post, that this was a line from the movie, Bambi!
Anyway, the gathering was a complete success, and my mother was truly happy to see her family members all together. It was a long day for her, and she was tired by the time we started taking pictures, but I do have a couple to share.

Mom was wide awake and excited about the "surprises" I had in store for her.

My brother, Ed, helping mom read one of her cards.

Mom with her sister, Gwen, and brother, Howell. (I forgot to get the 7's for the cake, so I used the number one to indicate that she is the #1 Mom!)

Maryanne Hill Hoggard Yarborough was born March 23, 1934 to parents Daniel W. and Mary Hill. I thank God for allowing her to celebrate another birthday!

Roots Television - Where Have I Been?

2011-01-16T15:55:00.001-05:00

At this moment, I'm just sitting here shaking my head. Where have I been? I've been seeing fellow bloggers and tweeters making mention of Roots Television for as long as I've been a member of this community, but for some reason, I have never clicked on one of the links to this amazing resource for genealogists and family historians! That is, never before today.

I've just viewed two segments of the "Ancestors Series", and I'm just amazed at how well-done these videos are, and how well they explain the feelings and experiences that I've had as an African-American researcher. For me, the videos didn't offer a lot of new information, but I can see where they would be of great help to a beginning researcher. I can image that once I watch some of the other segments on the site, I will certainly find information that will help me, too.

So now, with my "tail between my legs", I'd like to take this opportunity to share the first two segments of the "Ancestors Series" on Roots Television with my readers. I plan to include these in my next "Family News" email update - the newsletter that I send out to my family members, each month. I think that if they will take the time to view these videos, many of my relatives will gain a better understanding of the work I'm doing, and the critical role that they can play in helping to enhance the research!
If you are a "newbie", don't miss this opportunity to expose yourself to a fabulous source of guidance for the African-American genealogy researcher!

Enjoy!
Renate

Tombstone Tuesday - Jacobina Sherrod Hawkins

2011-01-11T17:54:00.001-05:00

My third-great grandmother, Jacobina/Jacobine Sherrod Hawkins, wife of Philemon; mother of Archibald, Madison, Lucy, Nathaniel (my gg-gf), Fannie, Mary, and Benjamin. Her grave is located in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC. Photo Source: http://www.findagrave.com/ (Memorial# 41496203)