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Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Happy Juneteenth: Calling My Ancestors' Names

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!"

Calvin Yarborough - my great-grandfather - 25 years enslaved

Precilla (Shaw) Yarborough - my great-grandmother - 23 years enslaved

Pinkey Tredwell- King Howell - my great-grandmother - 9 years enslaved

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Louis Neal - my great-great grandfather - 50 years enslaved

Mary Neal - my great-great-grandmother - 55 years enslaved

Mack Tredwell - my great-great-grandfather - 52 years enslaved

Amy Littlejohn - my great-great-grandmother - 50 years enslaved

Lewis Davis - my great-great-grandfather - 16 years enslaved

Dolly Ann Crutchfield - my great-great-grandmother - 10 years enslaved

Asa (Asy) Brown - my great-great-grandfather - 22 years enslaved

Louvenia Ross Brown - my great-great-grandmother - 10 years enslaved

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Elsy Littlejohn - my great-great-great-grandmother - 69 years enslaved

Everett Ross - my great-great-great-grandfather - 35 years enslaved

Minervia Dobbins - my great-great-great-grandmother - 35 years enslaved

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Essex Ross - my great-great-great-great-grandfather - 69 years enslaved

Chaney Ross Thornton - my great-great-great-great-grandmother - 70 years enslaved

 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

Unknown parents of Precilla Shaw

Unknown parents of Asa Brown

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)


11 comments:

  1. Thank you are also a DNA match to me according to my Gedmatch and my mother the surname “Yarbrough” she would often speak to a lady since deceased by the name of “Pastor Nellie Yarbrough “ about their relatives from Warren County and Franklin County NC Pastor Yardbough she lived in Boston MA at the time..

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    1. Hi. You commented as "Anonymous." Can you share your name and info so that we can communicate? My email is yarsan@aol.com.

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  2. Hi. My direct ancestors are Howells from Monroe County Mississippi. Their enslaver was Abraham Howell whose family traces back to South Carolina.

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  3. I just discovered that my ancestors' FAN club includes the Neals in Henderson County, Tennessee. My ancestor, William Howard, had two daughters who married Timberlake brothers. Richard Timberlake, their father, married Mary Neal. The Tennessee State Library and Archives' vertical files include a Timberlake file. Inside, was a transcription from the Richard Timberlake family Bible which included 38 enslaved individuals with their birthdates back to 1776.

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  4. Kelley Robins HicksJune 19, 2024 at 2:06 PM

    I just posted a similar post on my FB page. I am a 5th/6th generation Texan so Juneteenth is especially personal to me. John Robins and Bettie Terrell, Noah and Lucinda Robins, Harriet Hill, Charity Boone,Harriet Williams, Henry and Edy Glenn, Harold And Ellen Rodgers, Elbert Rodgers Sr., Harriet Ross and Charlie Lawler, Austin and Rebecca Spears, Bill Murray and Edna Dickie, Noble Naylor, Frances Goree, Jordan and Mary Goree, Violet Robbinson and Henson Naylor.

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  5. Kelley Robins HicksJune 19, 2024 at 2:08 PM

    I just made a similar post on my FB page. I am a 5th/6th generation Texan so Juneteenth is incredibly personal to me. John Robins and Bettie Terrell, Noah and Lucinda Robins, Harriet Hill, Charity Boone,Harriet Williams, Henry and Edy Glenn, Harold And Ellen Rodgers, Elbert Rodgers Sr., Harriet Ross and Charlie Lawler, Austin and Rebecca Spears, Bill Murray and Edna Dickie, Noble Naylor, Frances Goree, Jordan and Mary Goree, Violet Robbinson and Henson Naylor.

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  6. I have worked on my North Carolina ancestors for over ten years. I started and stopped many times. This is an inspirational kick to get me working again

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  7. Here’s a playlist of videos specific to NC research. Hopefully, you’ll find it helpful! Happy researching!
    https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF7SCjHtqZpTCdG3DJPpekmoIZT2Y_zoS

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  8. What a beautiful memorial to your ancestors.

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