Do you (or did you) know your great-grandparents? We each have 8 biological great-grandparents; they are our parents' grandparents, and they existed whether we knew them or not. I never had the pleasure of meeting any of mine, but thanks to 31 years of genealogical research, I at least know and can call all of their names - and I can tell you a little something about each of them and their families of origin. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of any of my formerly enslaved ancestors, so I must only imagine what they looked like. However, my research has led me to many documents that allow me to tell parts of my ancestors' stories. This Cohabitation Record for my great-grandparents, Calvin and Precilla Yarborough, was one of the first I found that confirmed their status as persons who had been formerly enslaved.
On this special day - this JUNETEENTH* holiday - I pause to call the names of my known formerly enslaved direct ancestors who were alive to see freedom, in 1865. Three of those were my parents' grandparents, but they were deceased before my parents were born, so they never met them, either. ALL of these Ancestors were of an age to have known their status as enslaved and to have been already providing unpaid labor to their enslavers at the time of Emancipation. Many, as you'll see below, had lived long lives as chattel, and were blessed to live out their final years as free people. Again, these are only my direct ancestors, but of course they had siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins who shared their status as enslaved, and who may have been able to join the jubilee shout - "We'z FREE now!"
Great-Grandparents:
Calvin Yarborough - 25 years enslaved
Precilla (Shaw) Yarborough - 23 years enslaved
Pinky Tredwell- King Howell - 9 years enslaved
Great-Great-Grandparents:
Louis Neal - 50 years enslaved
Mary Neal - 55 years enslaved
Mack Tredwell - 52 years enslaved
Amy Littlejohn - 50 years enslaved
Lewis Davis -16 years enslaved
Dolly Ann Crutchfield -10 years enslaved
Asa (Asy) Brown - 22 years enslaved
Louvenia Ross Brown -10 years enslaved
Third-Great-Grandparents:
Elsy Littlejohn - 69 years enslaved
Everett Ross - 35 years enslaved
Minervia Dobbins - 35 years enslaved
Fourth-Great-Grandparents:
Essex Ross - 69 years enslaved
Chaney Ross Thornton - 70 years enslaved
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And, these are the known names of my direct ancestors, who were enslaved, but either didn't live to see "freedom" or whose death date is currently unknown. They are all my third-great-grandparents.
Peter Littlejohn (1782-1855) - husband of Elsy
Lewis - father of Lewis Davis
Lavinia - mother of Lewis Davis
It has become my life's work to research my ancestry and to share what I've learned with my family and with the larger community. I pay homage, every day, to my ancestors - those who were "free" before 1865 and those who were enslaved. Let no one tell you that you can't find your ancestors before 1865 - or before 1870, when formerly enslaved persons appear, by name, on Federal Census records. That's a LIE; and, every name you see above is proof of it! I knew nothing about my ancestry, before I started asking questions and doing the work, in 1993. If you're reading this, and you want to explore your own family history, let this post be incentive to you. There are more resources available to you than ever before, and you can get started with this research right from the comfort of your own home. YOU CAN DO IT! By Juneteenth 2025, you can be calling your own ancestors' names!
Thanks for reading - and happy Juneteenth! Renate
* "Juneteenth," officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name is a portmanteau of the words "June" and "nineteenth," as it was on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Grandger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, in Galveston, TX, following the end of the Civil War. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth)
