Wednesday, May 23, 2012

AVAILABLE: Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery, Second Edition

 Paperback; 302 pages; $14.99


     I am thrilled to announce the release of the new 2nd edition of Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery.  With a new publishing company, I am happy to be able to offer this 2nd edition at a much lower price.  The nature of genealogy research has witnessed some changes since its first release in 2008 due to advances in technologies.  Because of this, the 2nd edition contains an updated Research Tips section, a number of other updates, and a new epilogue that shows how autosomal DNA testing validated my research findings. 

     Mississippi to Africa can be described as an extensive case study of an African-American family – my maternal grandmother’s mother’s family – whose roots were successfully traced back 7 generations to an 18th-century enslaved couple in South Carolina.  That couple is believed to have been among the first ancestors to step foot on American soil.  This book takes readers on my 14-year journey that involved finding numerous records that enabled me to methodically piece together my family puzzle, generation after generation, in 5 informative chapters.  The explanatory nature of this journey, which is told in a narrative form, helps and inspires everyone, including the beginner researcher, the intermediate researcher, and the advanced researcher.

     Along with the oral history from a number of family elders, one who died in 2008 at the age of 103, the sources that enabled me to document 7 generations include:

Bills of sale (slaves)
Books
Census records
Church records
City directories
County history books
Court records
Death records
Deeds of gifts (slaves)
Diaries / memoirs
Educable Children school records (Mississippi)
Freedmen’s Bank applications
Land records
Linguistic books
Marriage records
Military pension record (Civil War)
Newspaper articles
Probate records
Slave inventories
Slave narrative
Slave schedules
Social security applications
Southern Claims Commission records
Tax digests
Transatlantic slave trade data
Wills
World War I draft registration card
...and more
 
F O L L O W   T H E   J O U R N E Y   A N D   L E A R N  A   L O T !

Saturday, May 19, 2012

How Oral History Can Get Misconstrued

      I remember when I was in junior high school, and our class played a game to show how a story can change as it is being relayed by many people.  I don’t remember the example story we used in class, but imagine the following:  Person no. 1 relays the following to person no. 2, Mary Jones got married to Robert Williams in Huntsville, Alabama, and they soon moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they had three children, Bob Jr., Sallie, and Katie Mae.  Each person relayed what he/she is told to another person.  By the time the story reaches person no. 8, it has become, “Katie Mae Williams married Bob Jones in Atlanta, Georgia, and they moved to Mobile, Alabama, where they had three children, Bob Jr., Sallie Mae, and Callie.”  This simple exercise demonstrates how a lot of the oral history we hear is often not entirely true.  The operative adverb is “entirely” because there might be several parts of the story that are partially true.  In the example, the only true parts that person no. 8 hears are the first name of the husband (Robert/Bob) and the states where they lived (Alabama and Georgia) but in the wrong order.   

     When I was in high school, my grandmother told me some things about her paternal grandfather, Robert “Big Bob” Ealy of Leake County, Mississippi.  She shared how his slave master used him as a breeder, and he fathered a whole lot of children by many enslaved women.  He never laid eyes on those children.  However, he and his wife, Grandma Jane Ealy, had at least 13 children, whom he was able to raise to adulthood.  I was no more than 15 years old when Grandma relayed this story to me, and it took me awhile to fully grasp what she was telling me.  Then, as I talked to more family elders about our history, they shared that my great-great-grandfather was purchased and transported to Mississippi from Macon, Georgia by his mean slave master, who was known as “Masser Billy”.  This oral history had also been printed in some of the family’s early reunion booklets.  So for awhile, I had a mental picture of Grandpa Big Bob being placed on an auction block in Macon, Georgia, and “Masser Billy” was the highest bidder who purchased him and brought him to Leake County, where he was used as a breeder.

     Well, in 1993, my search began at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson.  By this time, Grandma had been deceased for nearly three years, but I still heard her voice in my head relaying some things about Grandpa Big Bob.  Indeed, I found him and Grandma Jane in the 1870 and 1880 Leake County, Mississippi censuses.  But I was surprised to see what state was reported as his birthplace.  See here for yourself what was reported in 1870:


 Now look what was reported in the 1880 Leake County, Mississippi census:


Now look what was reported in the 1900 Scott County, Mississippi census.  Grandpa Big Bob, reported age of 86, was living in nearby Scott County with his oldest daughter, Mrs. Adeline Ealy Orman.


      Even in the 1900 census, North Carolina was also reported as the birthplace of Grandpa Big Bob’s father and mother.  Interestingly, Virginia was consistently reported as Grandma Jane’s birthplace in 1870 and in 1880, so this recollection about Macon, Georgia did not initially appear to be about her.  I soon figured out that “Masser Billy” was William W. Eley, who lived in the neighborhood of Grandpa Big Bob in 1870 and was the only white Eley in Leake County and the obvious last slave-owner.  Billy was a nickname for William.  To add, further research findings have concluded that Grandpa Big Bob was first enslaved by Jesse Bass of Nash County, North Carolina.  When he died in 1822, his youngest daughter, Frances Bass, inherited Grandpa Big Bob and a slave named John.  Frances soon married William W. Eley, and they moved to Mississippi around 1837, bringing Grandpa Big Bob, John, and several others with them.  Again, why on earth did my family elders think that Grandpa Big Bob had come from Macon, Georgia?  I was bewildered.

     A possible explanation soon came to the horizon when I noticed what was reported as the mother’s birthplace of Paul Ealy in the 1910 Leake County census.  Paul was my grandmother’s father and one of Grandpa Big Bob’s sons.


      Someone reported that Paul Ealy’s mother (Grandma Jane) was born in Georgia.  Maybe the reference to Macon, Georgia was actually about her history??  But, the state of Virginia was consistently reported as her birthplace in 1870 and 1880.  Additionally, Uncle Robert Ealy Jr’s death certificate revealed that her maiden name was considered to be Parrott, which led me to figure out that she and her children by Grandpa Big Bob were last enslaved by William Parrott, who was originally from Lunenburg County, Virginia.  He had moved to Leake County, Mississippi around 1840.  William “Billy” Eley and William Parrott were neighbors.  Therefore, Virginia appeared to be Grandma Jane’s correct birth state.  Still, I felt there had to be a reason why Macon, Georgia had been part of my family’s oral history.  I just didn’t feel that it was thrown in the story to make it sound more sensational.  Besides, in Mississippi, the small city of Macon was probably not as well-known as Atlanta, Georgia or Savannah, Georgia. 

     Nevertheless, a light bulb began to go off when Norma Money, a direct descendant of William Parrott, shared info with me about his family that was researched by Dr. Mavis Parrott Kelsey of Houston, Texas.  To sum it up, here goes (pay close attention):

·         (1) William Parrott was born around 1789 in Rockingham County, North Carolina.  He has his wife, Betsy Johnson, had lived on a 300-acre plantation in Lunenburg County, Virginia.
·         (2) William’s father was Abner Parrott. His mother was Mrs. Elizabeth Parrott Sr., who moved to Greene County, Georgia, but died in Overton County, Tennessee where her son Benjamin lived.
·         (3) William had two sisters, Micah and Elizabeth Jr., who also moved to Georgia; Micah died in Monroe County, Georgia and Elizabeth Jr. had settled in Greene County, Georgia Monroe County is just north of Macon, Georgia, around 10 miles to the northwest.  Hmmmmm……
·         (4) MOST INTERESTING: There’s a lawsuit dated 1839, in which the executor of Benjamin Parrott’s estate (William’s brother) sued another brother, Riland Parrott, for part of the $1200 proceeds from the sale of a valuable slave named Jerry, a blacksmith, claiming that the proceeds from the sale belonged to the six heirs of their mother, Elizabeth Sr.  According to Dr. Kelsey, the court proceedings mentioned that a group of forty negroes in Georgia were entailed to the heirs of Elizabeth Parrott Sr. (William’s mother), but there was little likelihood of gaining title to them.

     There is little doubt in my mind that the reference to Macon, Georgia in my family’s oral history actually pertained to happenings in Grandma Jane’s history, not Grandpa Big Bob.  Although she was born in Virginia around 1829, perhaps when William Parrott left Virginia, he went to near Macon, Georgia first, perhaps Monroe County where his sister Micah lived, and stayed there for a few years in the 1830's before making Mississippi his final home by 1840.  Perhaps Grandma Jane relayed stories about her time in Georgia before William brought her and others to Mississippi.  Or perhaps she relayed to her family that some of her people were living near Macon, Georgia during and after slavery.  William Parrott was in the 1820 and 1830 Lunenburg County, VA censuses, and then he shows up in the 1840 Leake County, MS census.  However, this does not mean that he never went to Georgia.  I truly believe he did, and Grandma Jane probably remembered being in Georgia for a few years, but I have more work to do to prove my speculations.  Stay tuned!

     MORAL OF THE STORY:  Oral history has to be taken with a grain of salt until proven with documentation.  Once proven, one may often find that some parts of the story are inaccurate, yet there may be some parts that are true but misconstrued.

Monday, May 7, 2012

COMING SOON: The Second Edition of “Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery”

Paperback; 302 pages; $14.99

COMING IN JUNE!

     I am overjoyed to announce the upcoming release of the new 2nd edition of Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery.  With a new publishing company, I am thrilled to be able to offer this 2nd edition at a much lower price.  The nature of genealogy research has witnessed some changes since its first release in 2008 due to advances in technologies.  Because of this, the 2nd edition will contain an updated Research Tips section, a number of other updates, and a new epilogue that will show how autosomal DNA testing validated my research findings. 

     As a recap, Mississippi to Africa can be described as an extensive case study of an African-American family – my maternal grandmother’s mother’s family – whose roots were successfully traced back 7 generations to an 18th-century enslaved couple in South Carolina.  That couple is believed to have been among the first ancestors to step foot on American soil.  The book takes readers on my 14-year journey that involved finding numerous records that enabled me to methodically piece together my family puzzle, generation after generation, in 5 informative chapters.  The explanatory nature of this journey, which is told in a narrative form, helps and inspires everyone, including the beginner researcher, the intermediate researcher, and the advanced researcher.

     Along with the oral history from a number of family elders, one who died in 2008 at the age of 103, the sources that enabled me to document 7 generations include:

Bills of sale (slaves)
Books
Census records
Church records
City directories
County history books
Court records
Death records
Deeds of gifts (slaves)
Diaries / memoirs
Educable Children school records (Mississippi)
Freedmen’s Bank applications
Land records
Linguistic books
Marriage records
Military pension record (Civil War)
Newspaper articles
Probate records
Slave inventories
Slave narrative
Slave schedules
Social security applications
Southern Claims Commission records
Tax digests
Transatlantic slave trade data
Wills
World War I draft registration card
...and more
 
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY AND LEARN A LOT!
Will be available at MississippitoAfrica.com or Amazon.com in June!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

How “150 Years Later” Came To Be


 (See reunion documentary below.)

     150 Years Later: Broken Ties Mended takes the reader on the journey of solving my great-grandfather Bill Reed’s mysterious history.  I call it a historical mystery novel that incorporated a great deal of genealogy research....and patience.  I am still in awe of the amount of records and the types of fascinating records that fell into my lap during the years when I would often pray to God and ask Him to help me with this mystery. One of the unique records was a very revealing letter written by the slave-owner’s widow, Rebecca Reid Barr.  The stories that my family elders told me of Grandpa Bill’s experiences as a slave in South Carolina stayed fixated in my mind since high school.  Because of that, I felt that it was my life mission to unravel this mystery.  I never imagined in a million years that the ultimate outcome of solving this mystery would culminate into an unprecedented, emotional reunion....150 years later.

     You see, in 1859 near Abbeville, South Carolina, my 12-year-old great-grandfather was forever separated from his family. Grandpa Bill's father was sold away, and his mother, grandmother, and other family members were all transported away from the state soon afterwards. He never laid eyes on them ever again, and he and a younger sister Mary were soon sold to a local Reid slave-owner. Shortly after becoming free people, he and others left South Carolina on a wagon train pulled by mules and migrated to northern Mississippi.  Family elders remarked jovially of how they had been told that Mississippi was the “land of milk and honey with fat pigs running around with apples in their mouths.” Grandpa Bill died near Senatobia, Mississippi in 1937, at the age of 91, never learning the whereabouts of his family members, who were actually living not too far from him . . . in the same state!

     Before his demise, Grandpa Bill sat underneath his sycamore tree on his 300-acre farm and told his children and grandchildren many stories about his early years in South Carolina.  He was not a tight-lipped man, and my family elders remembered many stories that he shared, especially my late cousin and his grandson, Isaac Deberry, Sr. (1914–2009).  That overwhelmingly valuable oral history propelled the research and led to me solving this longtime mystery.  Despite the stories, no one knew why Grandpa Bill was separated from his family. No one knew where his family members ended up.  He told his family who his father was – a man named Pleasant Barr – and recounted the day he watched with great sadness as his father was placed on a wagon and forever taken away, but even Grandpa Bill never knew where he ended up, according to my elders.  And before I started to research it, no one could remember exactly where in South Carolina they were all from. 

     Ultimately, the mysteries were solved, many descendants were located, and a family reunion of a lifetime was held in Atlanta and in Abbeville, South Carolina beginning August 7, 2009, a day after my birthday.  Over 250 descendants came together for the first time.  My cousin and video producer, Kristina Hayes of Atlanta, produced this wonderful documentary about the reunion.  Yet, after the reunion, I pondered over the thought of writing a book about the entire experience the good, the great, and the not-so-great.  The ancestors were tired of me pondering about it.  “You must do it” was the feeling that I was getting. 

     And so I finally gave in. On one Saturday morning in October 2009, I sat at my table and started writing.  The ancestors immediately took over and guided my fingers across the keyboard of my laptop.  How do I know that they guided this?  Well, even now when I pick up the book to re-read various parts, I honestly do not remember writing it.  That’s how I know.  The ancestors had intervened, and 150 Years Later was written in about five months and ultimately released on July 28, 2011. They wanted the story told, and I honored their wishes.  

Documentary:  Families Reunited After 150 Years of Separation, Part 1 of 5

 

(Total: 30 minutes)

Book website: www.150yearslater.com