Latest Recipient of Ancestor Approved Award

I am honored to have received my first blog award from colleagues and genealogy friends The Family Griot, J-MAC JOURNEY, and My Ancestor’s Name. This award really means a lot since I was initially hesitant about blogging about my genealogy experience. It is good to know that individuals appreciate what I have to share about conducting African American genealogical research.

As a recipient of the Ancestor Approved Award, I must list ten things I learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled, or enlightened me.

Surprised

1)My great great grandfather, Jefferson Haynes, was the parent of thirty-two children.

2)Learning that my maternal grandmother, Cosette Stanley, laid in front of a greyhound bus to protest segregation in Naples, Texas when she was 5 years old.

3)Discovering that an insurance policy was taken out on my great great great great father, Joseph Ransom in 1846.

4)Finding out that the slave owner’s son post a surety bond for my great great great grandfather Andy Perkins who was charged with attempted murder in 1873.

5)Being to locate my great great great grandfather’s sister Betsy (Ransom) Harris who was separated from the family in 1843.

Humbled

6)That despite the hardships of enslavement and Jim Crow, my ancestors did not lose faith in the United States or the American Dream.

7)My great grandfather, R. Matthew Stanley, taught himself to read and write by candle light after working 12 hours days picking cotton.

8)By the assistance I have received from complete strangers over the years.

Enlighten

9)By the amount of information I have been able to obtain on my enslaved ancestors and the lives they created during slavery.

10)By the awesome history and legacy that my ancestors have given me.