Road Trip - Fun in North Carolina!

I don’t know why I never thought of this, before, but since magical things seem to happen every time I go to North Carolina, I am going to start a little series that I’ll just call, “Road Trip”. (Hee hee) J I’ve just returned home from an 11-hour day of travel to NC and back, and I’d like to share some of my experiences.

TARBORO

My first destination was to Tarboro, NC to meet my 89 year-old cousin, Jessie YARBOROUGH Clemmons and her son, Rev. Samuel Clemmons, Jr. I also had the pleasure of meeting Sam’s wife, Rosa. The purpose of this visit was not only for me to meet my cousins, but also to obtain a saliva sample from Cousin Jessie to be sent off to FTDNA for autosomal testing.  I was so glad that Jessie seemed to understand what I was asking of her, and she willingly allowed her son to do the first cheek scraping, and me to do the second!

My beautiful cousin, Jessie YARBOROUGH Clemmons

Sam gets the first swab

In addition to the success of obtaining the DNA sample, I’d also brought along a photo album, which had belonged to my aunt, Susie YARBOROUGH Hawkins (1920-2013), of Louisburg. The album is filled with photos of family members, but several have subjects I haven’t been able to identify. Before Sam and Rosa arrived, I’d already shown Jessie a few of the pictures. She recognized my dad (Arthur), his sister, Susie, and brother, Calvin III and also our cousin, Geral YARBORO Sargent. All of these were Jessie’s first cousins, and I knew them all. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to recognize any of the “unknown” people, even the one that I thought may have been her, when she was younger. But, when Sam and his wife came, they were actually able to identify the folks in many of the photos, and, without me saying anything at all, Sam exclaimed that the photo I’d suspected may have been Jessie was her!

As soon as Cousin Sam saw this photo, exclaimed, "That looks like my mama!" And after looking at it, again, he added, "She looks just like my sister, Eunice!" 

Sam and Rosa identified several of the other photos as being pictures of Jessie’s siblings, so now I’ve been able to label those, and decrease the number of “mystery photos” in this album!

Before I knew it,  my visit was approaching the two-hour mark, and it was time for me to head to my next destination – Louisburg – where I had an appointment with a contractor. The timing was good though, because Cousin Jessie was getting hungry, and the dining room (where we were) at her facility was beginning to fill with residents ready for lunch. We said our goodbyes, and off I went to my next destination, which was exactly one hour away. I loved meeting my cousins! :)

LOUISBURG

As most of my readers know, I now own our ancestral home in Louisburg, North Carolina. Some months ago, I had some work done on the property, and I was not satisfied with the workmanship, at all. I’ve been trying to get the contractor to revisit his work, and complete it, according to contract, as well as to put a more professional touch on the work that he did do. Although I’ve sent photos and emails, expressing my concerns, this contractor, Freddie White, insisted that I come and meet with him, in person, to discuss it. So, that is why I went to Louisburg, today.  There is no need to dwell on this part of my trip, but suffice it to say that I did not leave this meeting satisfied, and will never use Mr. White’s services, nor recommend him to anyone, again. He tried to deny that he’d even done some of the work, and refused to take responsibility to the shabby job he did do. He was defensive and argumentative, and was being totally unreasonable.  I have seen his work, elsewhere, and know he could have and should have done a better job than what he did for me, but I chose not to stand in the cold and argue with him for longer than the 30 minutes already wasted, so that was that.

On the upside, though, my visit to Louisburg was not in vain! First of all, while at the house, before the contractor came, I was (of course) continuing my work of going ever-so-carefully through the things left behind from all who’ve lived there. Today, I went back to a particular bookshelf I’ve been working on, which is filled mostly with church-related papers, magazines, bulletins, and books. It is my habit to flip through the pages of every single thing, because I learned, early on, that there could be treasures found between the leaves. I pick up every item, flip through it two or three times, and examine anything that’s found between the leaves. Well, today I didn’t find anything of sentimental value inside of anything, but I DID find great treasure, in the form of a manila envelope, stuck between a set of Sunday School booklets from the 1980s.  Here’s what I saw on the outside of the envelope.

This list served as an exact "table of contents" for what was in the envelope!  Check out this video: 

Well, that was exciting (at least for me)! And, now, I have a new mystery on my hands. Who was "Aunt Rose"?  You KNOW I'm going to find out! :)

Anyway, I actually found the envelope just before the arrival of the contractor, but before that, I'd realized something. I'm a dues-paying member of the Heritage Society of Franklin County, but because they meet on Thursdays at 1:00 (when I'm usually at work), I've never attended a meeting, except for the one where I was their featured speaker in July of 2014. What I realized was that I was actually in Louisburg on the day and at the time of the Society's monthly meeting! Therefore, the second I was finished with the contractor fiasco, I rushed right over to Johnny Bull's to try to catch the end of the meeting, and that I did!

It was so great to see my Heritage Society friends, and they seemed to be happy to see me, also!  I was fortunate to arrive in time to hear Diane Taylor Torrent finishing up a talk about the Louisburg Dispensary. She also shared a newspaper article (from the Charlotte, NC newspaper) about a huge fire that took place in Louisburg in the early 1900's, which started at the C.B. Cheatham Tobacco Warehouse, and burned all the way down to the Edgerton home on "Happy Hill".

Diane Taylor Torrent presenting at the meeting

Here's an article from the Franklin Times about the fire:

                             

Found on Newspapers.com powered by Newspapers.com

After a few minutes of fellowship, it was time for me to get on the road to head back to Virginia. It was so great to end my visit to Louisburg this way. Even though I am not a local person, this group has accepted me with open arms, and I feel a true bond with them. Oh! And, I even got to meet a new online friend (and possible Hawkins kin), Jackie McNamara! That just put the icing on the cake!

So, until my next (genealogy related) road trip.... 

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John Wesley Green

I was looking something up about my great-grandfather, John Wesley Green, and I realized that today marks exactly 88 years since his death on December 6, 1927 so I decided to do a post about him. I wish so much that I had a picture to share, but I've never seen his likeness. I'm still hoping and praying that perhaps someone will discover a (verified) picture of him, and share it with me. :)

Here's a little about John Wesley Green. 

John Wesley GREEN was born in July 1864 , to Nathaniel Hawkins (white) and Anna Green (mulatto). He married Susan Georgiana DUNSTON on January 23, 1886, Franklin County (Louisburg), NC. John and Susan lived Franklin and Wake Counties, and had six children over 18 years. He was a barber, who owned his own business (possibly with a partner). He died on December 6, 1927, in Louisburg, at the age of 63, and was buried there in the Louisburg City Cemetery, or what we know today as "The Cemetery on the Hill".

I'm including a few of the documents I've have uncovered over the years, which have helped me to learn more about my great-grandfather, and to further my research. The first is from a 1925 publication, put out by the Masons, called, "Proceedings of the Fifty Fifth Communication of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge F.A.A.M". It shows John as a dues-paid member of the lodge. (This document was an enlightening find for me, because it also shows my grandfather, Calvin R. Yarborough, and his brother, Eugene, as members of the lodge. It allowed me to see that there was a relationship between my grandmother's father, and her husband, Calvin. I wondered if maybe Grandpa John introduced the two of them, since my grandfather had been widowed, and was raising three children alone. It's just a hunch, but it does seem likely, since they were "brothers" and my grandmother was already 28 years old when they married, indicating that perhaps her father was afraid she was going to become an "old maid".)

The next document is the marriage application and license for John Green and Susan Dunston. The application was made on January 23, 1886, and they were married two days later, on the 25th. As is typical of these documents, there are errors in spelling, etc., but it is rich in genealogical information, and helped to confirm parentage and ages for both of my great-grandparents, early in my research. (The NB Hawkins is an error: It should be NM Hawkins.)

The third document is from the 1899-1900 Raleigh City Directory. It shows John W Green (colored) of "Green & Matthews" living at 9 McKee Dr. I haven't yet confirmed that this is my ancestor, but I believe it to be. I just haven't ever heard the Matthews name, in connection with him, nor did I know of him having a partner. I'll be doing more work on this. :)

The last document I'll attach here is Grandpa John's 1927 Death Certificate, showing that he died at home (my grandmother's house in Louisburg) of "cerebritis", which is an infection of the brain that leads to deadly inflammation. Thanks to the letters from John's son, WL to his wife, Georgia (which were shared with me by my cousin, Kelly), we know that Grandpa John was losing his ability to care for himself in the period before his death, and that he may have been having trouble recognizing his family members. When I was reading the letters, I thought it sounded like Alzheimer's; but this document gives a more direct diagnosis,although it probably wasn't clinically determined, since the doctor states that he'd only attended to John Green on the day of his death. Also, although we can't always read too much into these documents (because there is almost always human error), it struck me that William didn't know, or maybe wasn't able to recall the name of John's father, Nathaniel Hawkins, who would have been his own grandfather. This let me see that (sadly) the trend of not sharing family history/stories started from the beginning in our family.

I will close with this picture of the only three children of John and Susan's children who lived to adulthood. I've been told that John Green was a stocky man with white hair and blue eyes, and that he looked like a white man; however, until we see pictures of him, or of Susan, we can only try to imagine what they may have looked like, as we gaze at the faces of these three, Anna (my grandmother), William, and Mabel.

Thanks for reading!  As always, I welcome your comments, questions, suggestions, and ideas. Please do share this post with your networks. Perhaps someone will read it who knows something about my people! :)

Renate

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Tombstone Tuesday - Family Time in the Cemetery

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



Mysterious Monday - A Yarborough Ancestor?

On a recent trip to Louisburg, NC, I was given the opportunity to begin looking through some of the belongings of my deceased cousin, Geral Yarborough Sargent, the same cousin whom I wrote about in a previous post. My cousin Geral was a "double Yarborough", in that her mother was a Yarborough, and so was her father (though they were not related).  The Yarborough name is very common in and around Franklin County, in both the Black and White communities. The Caucasian Yarboroughs were a wealthy family of slave-owners, thus leaving a plethora of freedmen who chose to adopt the YARBOROUGH/YARBORO surname after 1865.  Cousin Geral's father, Hillard, was from one set of these Y's, and Cousin Geral's mother, Mattie Yarborough, was the daughter of my formerly enslaved great-grandparents, Calvin and Priscilla.

On the day of my visit, I found several photographs of people who may possibly have been my ancestors.  Most, I'll likely never know the identity of, but hopefully, my cousin Geral's "adopted daughter", Madie, will be able to help me with a few.  But, for this Mysterious Monday, I'd like to post what appears to be the oldest of the photographs.  I have no idea who this woman is/was.  She has some features that lead me to believe that she was probably an ancestor of Geral's, but on which side?  For all I know, I could be looking into the eyes of my own great-grandmother, Pricilla, but I think it may be more likely that this could be Cousin Geral's paternal grandmother, Matilda (Hill) Yarboro.  Matilda was born on January 1, 1844, and died 98 years later, on her birthday, in 1942.