F is for FAITH and FOREVER: A Tribute To My Brother #AtoZChallenge

 This tribute was first written and posted in 2007, on the twenty-sixth anniversary of my brother's death. It's being updated and reposted as part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge on April 6, 2017.



Arthur Yarborough, Jr.

Twenty-six years Thirty-three years ago today, I lost my brother, Arthur.  We were only 17 months apart.  The two of us grew up together, almost like fraternal twins.  We did everything together, shared the same experiences, good and bad.  When Arthur died, he took all of the secrets of my youth with him, because he was the only person who knew and (in many cases), shared them.

 My mother, Mary Yarborough, poses with her newborn son, Arthur, Jr.

Arthur Yarborough, Jr. was born on August 23, 1960 in Bremerhaven, Germany, to our parents Arthur, Sr. and Mary Yarborough.  He was said to have been a very good-natured baby, with an even temperament and a quick and easy smile.  I remember hearing stories about how Arthur, as a baby, would always stop whatever he was doing when television commercials came on, and would watch and listen intently.  Once the commercials ended, he would resume his activity.  This was an interesting bit of family lore, since Arthur grew up to be a Mass-Media enthusiast and majored in it in college.

  Above:  Arthur as a toddler (Presumably, before I was born)

Below:  My dad, Arthur, Sr. and my brother, Arthur, Jr. in Louisburg, NC

circa 1968-69

As a boy, Arthur was involved in many community activities.  He was a Cub Scout, played Little League baseball, and enjoyed attending youth activities at our church.  In high school, Arthur was a triple-sport athlete, playing basketball, football, and baseball.  After two years at Bethel High School in our native Hampton, VA, he decided to go off to military school at Augusta Military Academy in Staunton, VA.  It was there that Arthur truly blossomed as an athlete, as well as as an ROTC officer.  He graduated from Augusta in 1978.

Arthur, the Little League's star pitcher

 Top left: Arthur's Junior picture @ AMA.  Right: QB Arthur (#10) and another player pose for their football picture at AMA.

Arthur returned home to Hampton to attend the alma mater of our mother, and our two oldest brothers, Hampton Institute (now Hampton University).  Known by the nickname, "Yang", he was very popular and well-loved by his fellow students. Arthur grew deeply involved in his major, Mass Media Arts, and became best known for his smooth jazz radio show, "Inspirations", on Hampton's radio station, WHOV.  In addition, he wrote for the school's newspaper, and anchored a 15-minute nightly broadcast on Hampton's "Newswatch 10" a weekday cable news program.  He also joined several social fraternities, including the oldest on Hampton's campus, Omega Sigma Chi.  Arthur graduated from Hampton in May, 1982, two months after discovering that he had cancer.

 Hampton Institute president, William R. Harvey, congratulates Arthur and hands him his diploma on Mother's Day, 1982

Though the news of my brother's illness was discouraging, he never let it stop him from working towards his goals.  What began as a mystery-illness, with symptoms of abdominal pain and blackouts, was first diagnosed as a hernia.  Plans were made to surgically remove the hernia while Arthur was on Spring Break during his senior year at Hampton.  However, what we thought was going to be the solution to his problems turned out to be just the beginning.  Once the hernia was removed, surgeons discovered a tumor on my brother's liver.  Primary liver cancer of unknown origin.  The fight began...

 Here, Arthur, wearing his fraternity tee-shirt, snaps a picture of himself in the mirror.  I kind of like the "halo" effect. :)

 For the next two years, my brother, with the support of my then-divorced parents, did everything he could to beat the odds.  Liver cancer was one of the toughest to beat, especially as the primary site.  Arthur tried traditional and experimental treatments.  He tried dietary changes and supplements.  He had good days and bad days.  Good weeks and bad weeks.  He underwent chemotherapy and radiation and was in and out of the hospital.  During this time, we remained in close contact, via phone and letters, but I was away in college and unable to be by his side as often as I wanted to.  Then, in June of 1982, while still living in Charlottesville, I gave birth to my first child, Natasha. and named Arthur her god-father, In the summer of 1983, decided we could stay away no longer.  I wanted my brother to know his niece, so I got a job as a teachers aide, and my daughter and I moved back to Hampton Roads, so that we could be near him and assist in his care. During that year, my brother got to know my daughter, and she, him. Though she was very young, the two of them developed a very close relationship, and she remembers him, to this day.  I praise God for my decision to move back to Hampton, because it was during that school year that my brother's health took a turn for the worse.

My brother, Arthur, with my daughter, Natasha, sometime in 1983.

Although Arthur was sick, he was determined to continue his quest to find employment in the media field, which he loved so much.  He completed an internship at our local CBS affiliate television station, and was being considered for an anchor position at the time of his death.  Additionally, he worked as a sports writer for the Daily Press, our local newspaper; and as a newscaster for WNIS, news/talk radio station. I give thanks to all of these companies who recognized his talent, and were willing to give him opportunities to do what he loved, despite the fact that he sometimes was too ill to work.

In March, 1984, Arthur took ill and was admitted to Riverside Hospital (now Riverside Regional Medical Center).  The doctors were pessimistic about his prognosis, and pretty much let my parents know that this was it.  But still, my brother stayed positive and hopeful.  He was in a coma for the first week or so, but once he became alert, he started talking about coming home and about wanting to get back out onto the golf course with my dad.  We were taking turns sitting with him - my mother, father, and I - and on my shifts we enjoyed reminiscing about when we were little, and he played with Natasha if she was with me.  A few times, when he was sleeping, he would seem to choke and stop breathing, but I would shake him and say, "Breathe, Arthur, breathe!", and he did.  At first, my parents and I were just quiet about the idea of him coming home, but he was so insistent, and he seemed to be doing so well, that finally the doctors agreed to let him go.  I believe the plan was for some level of in-home hospice care, although I didn't really understand what that meant at the time.  (I was only 22 years old, and I think the hospice concept was fairly new.)   My mother was so excited, and she worked hard to get his old room clean and ready for him, with a hospital bed on order, and plans to have nurses checking in.  Unfortunately, early on the morning of April 6th, the day before he was scheduled to come home, and with our father by his side, my brother, Arthur took his last breath.

Today marks the 26th  33rd year since the day my brother died.  Words can't explain how deeply the loss of my brother has affected me, and changed the course of my life.  Although I do have two other brothers, they are so much older than me, that they were both gone from home by the time I was seven years old.  So, it was just my parents, Arthur, and me for most of my life.  Arthur and I fought like any other siblings, but our love for each other was undeniable, and our paths (I'd thought), inseparable.  When he was in the hospital, I prayed and prayed, always asking God to help me to accept His Will, whatever that turned out to be.  My brother's death was, and has continued to be a lesson in FAITH for me.  I miss him so much, but I know that he is in a much better place, and that he is rejoicing now in heaven with our father, grandparents, and all of the ancestors that I'm working to learn about now. I will love and miss my brother FOREVER.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This is my absolute most-favorite picture of my brother and me.  I think it says so much about us, without having to say anything at all! 

In closing, I'd like to share a poem that I wrote in 2007, on the anniversary of Arthur's death.  At that point, he'd been in heaven for as long as he was here on earth, and these are the words that came to my heart:

To Arthur

For twenty-three years you were here on this earth,
Now for twenty-three years you’ve been gone.
I know in my heart that you’re better off now,
As you rest in God’s heavenly home.
I’ll always remember the things that we shared,
The good, as well as the bad.
The ups and the downs, the smiles and the frowns,
And all of the secrets we had.
Without you, my brother,  life’s not been the same
But I’ll try not to dwell on the past.
God knew what was best when he took you with Him
To anchor on Heaven’s broadcast.
For twenty-three years you were here on this earth,
Now for twenty-three years you’ve been gone.
I’ll see you one day, when God chooses me
To rest in His heavenly home.  

                                                                
                                                      With love, from Renate
                                                April, 2007

 One of those Easter Sundays.  I miss you, Arthur.

Thank you for reading.
Renate

The content and pictures included in this post are the property of Renate Y Sanders, and should not but used, copied, or embedded without the express permission of the owner.  Please contact me via email at yarsan@aol.com.  Thank you.

E is for Elizabeth! #AtoZChallenge

E is for ELIZABETH!

I'll have to make this quick, if I'm to get it in before midnight!

E is for Elizabeth, better known as "Bettie" Green.  Bettie was my 1st cousin, 2x removed. She was the daughter of Annie Green and an unknown (to me) white mill owner in Franklin County, NC.  She was the granddaughter of Anna Green (mulatto) and Nathaniel Hawkins (white).  Therefore, Betty was what was referred to at that time as a "quadroon".

Betty was born in August of 1890, in North Carolina (most likely in Franklin County). She died in New York, where she lived passing as WHITE, and is buried in Farmingdale, Suffolk County, in that state.

Bettie worked as a "hairdresser for the rich folk", according to our now 97-year old cousin, Florine, who knew her well. She was, most notably, the personal hairdresser of Doris Duke for some period of time, and is said to have traveled with her "everywhere she went". Bettie married Reginald "Roy" Alonzo Miller, and lived a lavish lifestyle. However, if the story is true, the wife of her uncle William Green (who was also passing) discovered their truth and "outted" Betty, causing her to lose her clients, and most devastatingly, her position with Ms. Duke. (None of this has been proven via research.)

This photo of Bettie, where she appears to be relaxing on the deck of a boat, provides support for the stories of her traveling with Doris Duke.

Bettie and her dog on a NY rooftop

Roy Miller, Bettie's husband

Although all of my elder cousins who knew Bettie insist that she and our other relatives who left Louisburg to live and work in New York were living as white, the one census record I've found her in enumerates her as "negro". That was in 1930, and may have been after William's wife spilled the beans. At that time, 38 year old Elizabeth, her husband, Roy, and her younger sister, Ruby (who worked as a seamstress for the wealthy, until the "reveal") lived on Convenant Avenue in Manhattan. It's easy to see how this couple could have passed for white, isn't it?

This photo shows Bettie (top left) with her mother, Annie (seated left with hat and glasses. I'm not sure enough about the identity of others in the photo to name them.(I believe the younger woman sitting on the curb to probably be Bettie's sister, Jessie.) I would really like to be able to identify the location of this photo. Does anyone recognize that monument?

Thanks for reading!

Renate

                     
Permalink: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2017/04/e-is-for-elizabeth-azchallenge.html



The pictures and content in this post are not to be used without the express permission of the poster, Renate Yarborough Sanders. 

#AtoZChallenge - D is for DUNSTON

D is for DUNSTON!

Today is Day 4 of the A-Z Challenge, and I'm dedicating it to my DUNSTON ancestors, of Franklin County, NC. Everything I know about my Dunstons has come through my research; I've never met any of my relatives from this branch.

The Dunstons were free people of color, who are said to have descended from one Patience Dunston, who is mentioned in Paul Heinegg's book, Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. 

Because I am away from home, and from my regular computer, I'm going to cheat a little here by sharing an link to the page in Heinegg's book:  http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Driggers_Dutchfield.htm

Patience Dunstan (1734 - )


6th great-grandmother
William Dunstan (1755 - )


son of Patience Dunstan
Alcy Dunstan (1782 - )


daughter of William Dunstan
Wilson Dunstan (1813 - 1896)


son of Alcy Dunstan
Wilson "Wills" Dunston (1842 - 1901)


son of Wilson Dunstan
Susan Georgiana Dunston (1865 - 1907)


daughter of Wilson "Wills" Dunston
Anna Beatrice Green (1891 - 1977)


daughter of Susan Georgiana Dunston
Arthur Person Yarborough (1924 - 1997)


son of Anna Beatrice Green
Renate Suzanne Yarborough


daughter of Arthur Person Yarborough

So, this is my line of descent from Patience DUNSTAN. I have done significant research on this line, but it mostly amounts to names and dates, with a few apprentice bonds, bastardy bonds, and military records here and there. I've met some other Dunston descendants from the area, but so far none of us are matching each other on DNA, and we have different names on our trees, so I guess not all Dunstons are connected, as we'd previously thought.

To make matters a bit confusing, I also descend from another line of Franklin County DUNSTONS! This is because my second great-grandfather, Wilson "Wills" Dunston, married another Dunston, Laura, who was the daughter of Simon Dunston and Susan REED. Here's that line:

Simon Dunstan (1817 - )
3rd great-grandfather


Laura Dunston (1846 - 1920)
daughter of Simon Dunstan


Susan Georgiana Dunston (1865 - 1907)
daughter of Laura Dunston


Anna Beatrice Green (1891 - 1977)
daughter of Susan Georgiana Dunston


Arthur Person Yarborough (1924 - 1997)
son of Anna Beatrice Green
Renate Suzanne Yarborough
You are the daughter of Arthur Person Yarborough

The only photo I've ever seen of one of my direct Dunston ancestors is this one of my 2x-ggrandmother, Laura Dunston. I've had it restored, but I don't have a copy of that with me (on vacation). I will update the photo on a later date. :)

Laura Dunston (June 17, 1846 - March 28, 1920)

From an article written by Maury York for the Tar River Roots publication, I have this excerpt:

"As in other areas of eastern North Carolina, most free blacks in Franklin County worked on farms, but few owned land.

Farmers in 1850 included members of the Anderson, Dunce, Dunston, Fog and Mitchell families.

Quite a few craftsmen, however, contributed to the local economy.

These included carpenters Leonidas Anderson, Henry and James Dunston, and John Fog. John Mitchell built coaches, and several members of the Dunston family worked as blacksmiths."

I've also been told that Simon Dunston was responsible for a lot of the stonework found in the city of Raleigh, NC but I haven't further researched this.

I may add more to this post, but for now that's all, folks!

Renate

Source info: 

Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware from the Colonial Period to 1810. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.

York, Maury http://www.louisburg.edu/tarrivercenter/freeblacks.html Published in the Franklin Times newspaper, August 15, 2013.

Permalink: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2017/04/azchallenge-d-is-for-dunston.html

Sentimental Sunday - The ANCESTORS At Work in Tyrrell County!

I am posting this under the "Sentimental Sunday" prompt because today has been a very emotional one for me (for reasons I don't wish to discuss), and I needed something good to happen. And so it has, with a little (or a lot) of help from the Ancestors!

I haven't before written on this blog about my mother's paternal line, which hails from Tyrrell County, NC. This is a line I wasn't even aware of, until just a few years ago, due to the fact that my mother never knew her father, nor any of his family members, save a distant cousin of his who (apparently) lived in the Norfolk, Virginia community she grew up in. According to what I've been told, my grandfather, Daniel Webster HILL, abandoned my grandmother and their two children in 1938, when my mother was but 4 years old, and her brother, Howell, 7. My mother, who passed in 2013, had no memory of Daniel, at all; and my uncle's few memories of him are not pleasant. Once their father left, the family didn't hear from him, again, and it's only because of my research that I was able to inform my mother before she passed, that her father had actually died in Peterburg, Virginia in 1940 - just a couple of years after he'd left them.

My grandmother remarried in the same year of Daniel Hill's death, so I have to believe she did know of his circumstances; however, my mother maintained throughout her life that she didn't know anything about what happened to him, so I have to believe that. She would have only been 6 years old when her father passed, and she already had a new step-father, whom she loved dearly, and came to refer to as her father. I'll write more about that when I more fully introduce this line, but for now, here's a shot of my descent from Charn HILL and Grace BRYANT of Tyrrell County, North Carolina. Charn and Grace were Daniel Hill's great-grandparents.

Now, let me get to the point of this post:

Last month, I had the honor of presenting my talk, "Researching Ancestors of Color: It Takes a Village" to the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society. That visit was only my second to Tyrrell County, an area of North Carolina with which I had no familiarity before learning that I have ancestry from there. So, I went down early and did some exploring before my presentation, and when I returned home, I blogged about my visit. As a result of this post, I've received many messages from folks in Tyrrell County, offering support and encouragement with my research. One of the most exciting was a private message from Reverend Laurel Melton, Associate Minister of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who reached out to me via Facebook. Rev. Melton took my number and agreed to call me soon since she'd read that many of my Hill (and Bryant) family members attended Chapel Hill, and are buried in the cemetery there.

Meanwhile, I posted, a few days ago, on the Tyrrell County Genealogy page on Facebook, a query about the location of my Hill ancestors' land, and a family cemetery that is named in some of their death certificates. There've been many comments, but in one, the poster asked if I'd read the "cemetery books" by Camille Everton. I had not, so the commenter suggested that I contact one Jimmy Fleming, who was said to be working to update the listings. So, I reached out to Jimmy, and he graciously offered to look for my Hills, and email me his findings. That he did, and upon receiving his email, today, I was happily surprised to see a listing for a HILL FAMILY CEMETERY in the Scuppernong district of the county, where much of my Hill family lived! Here's the listing:

Cemetery Name:		Hill Family Cemetery
Town/Community:		Albemarle Church Road
County & State:		Tyrrell County, NC
Location:		Family cemetery located about .2 miles in a field south of SR 1200 (Albemarle Church Rd) almost
		directly across from the intersection of SR 1200 (Albemarle Church Rd) and SR 1203 (Albemarle Shore
		Rd) in the Scuppernong community of Tyrrell County.
GPS Location:		N35 55.626 W76 20.514

When I saw this, a Genealogy Happy Dance happened that I didn't even know I had in me!

Still dancing, I plugged the location of the cemetery into Google Earth, to see if I might get lucky enough to see the graves. I did narrow down the image and identified some potential graves, but it wasn't clear enough to be sure. I took a snapshot and made a mental note to get back to Tyrrell County as soon as possible. But ....
....the Ancestors weren't through with me yet! Guess what happened next? A private message popped up on my Facebook wall, and guess who it was????  Reverend Melton!!! Can you believe it? She was just letting me know that she hadn't forgotten me, and would be calling soon, but you KNOW I asked her about this cemetery, and guess what her response was? Well, just look for yourself!

It's. right. down. the. road. from. her!!!!!!!

Oh, my goodness!!!! I was in here dancing and screaming! Not only did Reverend Melton divulge that she knows and lives near the cemetery, but she went on to tell me that she knows the Hill family that maintains it, and that one of them is a high school classmate of hers (who she also mentioned I reminded her of). She is giving that person (my cousin?) my contact info and will encourage her to call me.  So, I'm going to "meet" one of my Tyrrell County HILL cousins!!!!

This is the area of the Hill Family Cemetery. I see something I think might be graves, but I'm not sure enough to claim them (yet). 

Oh, my gosh, I needed this today!!!!! It's been an emotional week, and a challenging day but what  I'm feeling right now on this Sentimental Sunday is pure GRATITUDE. So, thanks to the Ancestors, to God, and to all of the people who fell into place in the ultimate plan to lead me to this place at this time.

Thanks for reading!

Renate

 Permalink to this post: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2017/03/sentimental-sunday-ancestors-at-work.html

Road Trip - Tyrrell County, NC

One week ago, today, I traveled to Columbia, NC, to give a talk to the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society. I was honored to have been invited to speak to this organization, particularly since, through my research, I've uncovered a direct ancestral link to this county, through my mother's father. (My Tyrrell County surnames are HILL, BRYANT, and DAVENPORT.) Although I made an immediate post about my experience on Facebook, I also want to document it, here, on my blog.

The Ride
Tyrrell County North Carolina is located just over two hours away from my home in Newport News, Virginia. Prior to this excursion, I'd only visited the area once, and I was thinking that the drive had been longer than that. So, when I put the address for the Columbia Senior Citizens Center, where the meeting was to be held, into my GPS I was quite surprised to see that the distance was only 120 miles, and the length of the drive was estimated to only be 2 hours and 5 minutes. At that moment, I began to chastise myself for not having gone down, again, for research purposes (because I was thinking it was further). Now that I know, I'll be heading back to Tyrrell County "on the regular". :)

My talk was scheduled for 2:30, but I wanted to go down earlier, so that I could do a bit of exploring. Therefore, I left home at about 9:30 a.m., to head on down. The drive was lovely; it was a bright, sun-shiny day, and I was accompanied by the soothing sounds of gospel radio, followed by a little NPR, as I made my way out of Hampton Roads toward my destination.  My route provided a mostly uninterrupted rural scene all the way down 17S to 32 to 94, and then Highway 64 into Tyrrell County, and the quaint little town of Columbia.

These silos represent one of the few breaks in my beautifully monotonous drive .

Upon arriving in the county, I first went to scope out the meeting location, so I'd know how long it would take me to get there. Next, I went to the Tyrrell County Visitors Center, a very well-appointed rest area,with extremely clean bathrooms (yay!). As an added treat, this rest area is home to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Center. I didn't go in, but I can just imagine what a treat that would be, especially for people traveling with children. I did, however, follow the outdoor walkway around to the back of the (closed) Visitor Center, to take in the beautiful view of the Scuppernong River, the bridge into Columbia, and I took note of the walking trail and the nice setup of benches and rockers on the back porch of the facility. Next time I go back (in warmer weather), I definitely plan to go back and spend some time in this serene setting.

          

Wildlife Center

Visitors Center (not open until 1 p.m. on Sundays)

                               

Exploring Tyrrell County
With about two hours to spare, and no real agenda, I decided to first head to the one place I'd already been on my previous visit to Tyrrell County, and that was to Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, where many HILL and BRYANT family members are interred. These are two of the Tyrrell County families from which I descend, both being recorded as Free People of Color, as early as the late 1700's, and also both known to be of Native ancestry, before intermarrying and/or procreating with blacks. I headed towards the church, hoping that perhaps, since it was close to 12:00 noon, I might catch service in session, or perhaps wrapping up, and that maybe I could introduce myself to some folk, and encourage them to come to the meeting to hear me speak. However, when I got to the church, the parking lot was empty. It didn't appear that a service had been held there, that day.

I turned into the cemetery, which is directly across the street from the church. (There is another larger part right behind the church.)

Chapel Hill Missionary Bapist Church

I hadn't originally planned to get out, because I had photographed most of the graves on my first visit there; but it looked like maybe there were some that I'd missed, so I couldn't resist the urge, and out I went. (Of course.) I quickly walked through the graves, snapping photos of almost every one in the area I'd chosen, and trying to step carefully on the soft turf, so as not to dirty myself before my presentation. I'd almost made it without incident, until I decided to try to get to one of the furthest back graves. While trying get close enough to brush away some leaves, I took one step too close and down went my foot and part of my leg... into the mud! Well, that was enough of a sign to me that it was time to go. After all, in just a short time, I'd be standing in front of an audience. I needed to keep myself presentable!  Anyway, I took the long way (lol) around to get back to my car, still snapping pictures as I went. Once in the car, I was grateful for my handy-dandy pack of wet wipes, which I used to clean off my leg and shoe, before I headed off to explore some more of Tyrrell County.

After leaving the cemetery, I decided to just explore a little of the area around it, so I headed back down Chapel Hill Rd., and turned right onto Travis Rd. After driving about 4 miles down that road, and seeing nothing (save a house or two and a little bit of industry), I turned around and headed back to the town of Columbia to check out some of the neighborhoods. First, on the same side of town as the Visitors Center, I found a neighborhood which was (very sadly) filled with deteriorated, falling-down homes. Upon stopping to chat with a kind young man, who was parked in front of one house, I learned that this had been (or still was) a black neighborhood, but that many of the original owners had passed and/or moved away, and that the children/grandchildren, etc. had no interest in living there, so the homes were just abandoned. As I shared with this young man, I see this often in my travels in more rural areas, but this was the first time I'd seen an actual neighborhood, in which so many homes were in that condition right next to each other. The example in this picture is located facing Rowson Street. This saddened me so, but I love how this home seems to be fighting against the inevitable; it seems to almost be saying, "But, still I stand."

                                         

This photo doesn't fully capture the degree to which
this house is leaning back.

                                 

I asked the young man about churches in the area, and he pointed me to the end of the road, saying that the church there should be about to let out. I followed the road to it's end, and sure enough, the congregants of what appeared to be a black church were just getting into their cars. I stopped in the middle of the road to greet two ladies who were chatting, and invited them to come to the meeting at 2:30. I was pleasantly surprised when one responded that she'd "read about that in the paper", and was planning to be there! I introduced myself as the speaker, told her I was a Hill-Bryant descendant, and asked her if she knew where those families might have lived. She pointed me in the direction of "Alligator", and told me how to get there. I thanked her and bid her farewell (until the meeting), and off I went.

With just a little over an hour to go before I needed to be at the Center, I decided to ride off down Highway 64 in the direction of Alligator. I drove for miles and miles and miles, seeing nothing but a pattern of fields, then trees (in swamps). Finally, I arrived in the general area of Alligator. I rode all around this mostly unspoiled area, passing field after field, and seeing only the occasional home and a couple of small churches. The area was beautiful, though, and filled with so much of nature's goodness. I felt a true peacefulness, as I traveled the unknown roads. I honestly can't tell you where I turned or how I got to where I ended up, but I'll just show you a few photos.

When I first passed this log, there were about 6 or 7 turtles sunning on it, but when I stopped my car and backed up to take this picture, the smaller ones just into the water.

This Methodist Church sits along
Dock Landing Rd., in Alligator.

Fields, fields, and more fields... That's what Tyrrell County
 seems made of!                                                

The Meeting
With it being after 1:30, I knew I had to head back to town,  so I did. On my way back in, I snapped a few photos. (Unfortunately, my iPad case got a little in the way.)

Tyrrell County Courthouse

Main Street - Columbia

Cooper House

  

Winery

I wondered if this was the original school house. It is on the high school property.

When I arrived at the Senior Citizens Center, I was greeted by Cathy Roberts, President of the TCGHS, and Lamb Basnight, the gentleman who'd originally contacted me about speaking. Lamb, was dressed in period costume, which kind of threw me off, at first; but I soon learned that he volunteers Several other members, and a few guests arrived, including author of Somerset Homecoming, Dorothy "Dot" Spruill Redford (which really took me by surprise)! After a short wait outside, we all proceeded in and prepared for the  start of the meeting, which had a great turn out, indeed. :)

It was so nice to meet Lamb Basnight. He is so cool! :)

I was honored to meet Dorothy Spruill Redford!

Following the business meeting, came my time to speak. My presentation, "Researching Ancestors of Color - It Takes a Village" is one that I've prepared to not only discuss first steps and resources for researching ancestors of color (whether free or formerly enslaved), but also to share with descendants of white, slave-owning (or not) ancestors how they can help to further the research of those who descend from ancestors of color.

The talk ran about an hour, and was very well received. Audience members were quite complimentary, and seemed genuinely moved and interested in looking back into their families' records and artifacts, to see if they might have any information related to connections of their ancestors with people of color. (This is the goal of the workshop!) One participant has actually already emailed me with information about an ancestor's "body servant" (from the Civil War), whom she has been seeking more information about, the details of which she'd like to share with the larger community!

The meeting was followed by close to an hour of chatting with attendees - answering questions and sharing information. As an added bonus, I met two people who are (apparently) my cousins! One was a Bryant descendant (pictured), and the other (who was camera shy) was a Hill-Bryant descendant, just like me! That was so exciting! I look forward to communicating with these two, to confirm our connections and share information!

This is Otis. His (known) cousin has confirmed our BRYANT connection via DNA.
Since he lives locally, he came out to hear my talk and to meet me! That's my cousin, ya'll! :)

Finally, at about 5:00, it was time to say my last goodbyes, and get on the road to head home. I had such a fulfilling day in Tyrrell County, and I can't wait to go back!

This picture doesn't do it justice, but on the way I passed this beautiful field of windmills, near Elizabeth City, NC.
They went on for at least 7-8 miles. Amazing!

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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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The "Jim Crow Bible" - Did you know?

While reading this post, please click on each of the articles to enlarge and isolate them. All articles are sourced by hovering over the title bar at the top of each one.

Last night, I participated (via live feed), as an audience member, in a wonderful talk, given by author Isabel Wilkerson (The Warmth of Other Suns) at the University of Richmond. During her engaging lecture, Ms. Wilkerson mentioned something that I'd never heard of - the "Jim Crow Bible". Curious, I decided to look up the term, to learn more about it. The closest thing to an actual definition I found was in this somewhat satirical little snippet posted in The Albuquerque Journal, in 1903.

Found on Newspapers.com

As was shared during the talk, the Jim Crow Bible was a term used to describe the separate bible that was used to swear in blacks, in a court of law, during the Jim Crow years - roughly 1877 to the beginning of the 1950s, when the Civil Rights era began.1

In my quest to learn more about this oddity, I discovered several newspaper articles, most of which made reference to the same (apparently) monumental event which occurred in Raleigh, NC in 1906.

First there was this, from The Raleigh Times, in March 1906.

Found on Newspapers.com

By August of that same year, apparently folks were still talking about this judge's horrible mistake, only now, as often happens when stories are passed down and around over time, the tale has grown to include a bible-tainting kiss. Read about it from the Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle. No worries though. A new (replacement) bible could be purchased for just fifty cents.

Found on Newspapers.com

Now, before you go thinking that the whole kissing the bible thing was an embellishment, take a look at this article from a November, 1947 edition of The Pittsburg Courier.⁵  Yes, that's right. I said 1947. 

Found on Newspapers.com

Well, folks, I think you get the picture. I have to say that I've been educated, yet again. Little did I know that Jim Crow stretched its racist, segregationist hand even to the touching (or kissing) of the Holy Book. What baffles me most about this is that those same black hands that weren't supposed to grace the same bibles, were holding, loving, raising the children, preparing the food, washing the clothes, and even changing the very sheets of the folks who dared not place a hand on this sacred implement during a seconds-long courthouse ritual.

Go figure...

1 Melvin I. Urofsky https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law

Permalink: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-jim-crow-bible-did-you-know.html