It's the Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of summer. The thing most on my mind is getting out there and physically digging for my roots. Not literally, of course, but I am getting off my comfy chair and going into the archives and libraries of Mississippi and Tennessee.
Genealogy isn't a cheap hobby although the internet has made it more accessible. I had my own personal recession 5 years ago so I am looking for the most frugal strategies to make my trip possible. For example, this July I am taking a bus to Nashville and Jackson and McComb, Ms. I am buying my tickets 21 days earlier. My trip will cost me around $143 round trip! By traveling overnight I will save one night in a hotel. Of course, some may think I'm crazy going by bus. I look at as an adventure and a small price (really small price) that I pay for my hobby.
Unfortunately there are no bus stops near the cities I need to visit in Tennessee except for Newbern. It stops there at three am. That's not a good time to be stopping in a strange southern city. I do draw the line somewhere. The Koonce reunion is supposed to be in Tennessee this September and I will try to get ro some libraries and/or courts around during that time. I'm hoping to get enough new information at the archives in Nashville to update my book in time for the reunion.
All in all, I'm excited about my road trip. It will be interesting. No doubt.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Lost
I'm back from my short journey to Tennessee. It was an eye opening experience but not in the way I had hoped. Several things hit me and I'm still processing them.
First, the area where my maternal ancestors lived is still very rural and sparsely populated. For example, my grand aunt Inez lived a few feet from the church where she was eulogized (and a few blocks from Alex Haley's birthplace). However, we traveled 45 minutes and through two counties to get to the cemetery where she was buried. My sister, who was driving, was concerned about running out of gas. She was advised to get gas when she went through downtown Maury City. Unfortunately, we didn't recognized downtown when we went through it. It was one short block of family businesses.
My aunt lived in this area all 102 years of her life. That had to shape her vision of the world. I see that same vision in my mother even though she has lived in an urban area most of her life. The viewpoint is narrow, comfortable and void of inquisitiveness.
That speaks to the other thing that struck me. All the knowledge my aunt had of my side of the family has now gone to the grave. I had accepted that my aunt did not want to talk about her family because that's what my mother and my aunt Adrene told me. Then at the funeral, a woman, a niece of Inez's husband, talked about how she asked questions about the family and how Inez gladly recited family stories to her. It makes me so mad and sad at the same time. I asked my mother if she ever asked my aunt anything to which she said never. My mother is now one of the oldest living Koonce so I will have to unearth whatever I can through circumstantial evidence not oral stories.
I can't imagine not wanting to know everything about my family history. My mother is interested and satisfied with her minute knowledge. She doesn't understand my thirst and my endless questions. I don't understand her nonchalance and acceptance. The worst part and the best part is that I seem to be "that one" in the family that pursues the answers. It's a lonely job but, I believe, somebody's gotta do it.
This summer, I will go back to Tennessee and delve into court documents and look up books in the local libraries and talk to people who may know about my family history. Too bad I wasn't able to do it before my aunt passed away.
First, the area where my maternal ancestors lived is still very rural and sparsely populated. For example, my grand aunt Inez lived a few feet from the church where she was eulogized (and a few blocks from Alex Haley's birthplace). However, we traveled 45 minutes and through two counties to get to the cemetery where she was buried. My sister, who was driving, was concerned about running out of gas. She was advised to get gas when she went through downtown Maury City. Unfortunately, we didn't recognized downtown when we went through it. It was one short block of family businesses.
My aunt lived in this area all 102 years of her life. That had to shape her vision of the world. I see that same vision in my mother even though she has lived in an urban area most of her life. The viewpoint is narrow, comfortable and void of inquisitiveness.
That speaks to the other thing that struck me. All the knowledge my aunt had of my side of the family has now gone to the grave. I had accepted that my aunt did not want to talk about her family because that's what my mother and my aunt Adrene told me. Then at the funeral, a woman, a niece of Inez's husband, talked about how she asked questions about the family and how Inez gladly recited family stories to her. It makes me so mad and sad at the same time. I asked my mother if she ever asked my aunt anything to which she said never. My mother is now one of the oldest living Koonce so I will have to unearth whatever I can through circumstantial evidence not oral stories.
I can't imagine not wanting to know everything about my family history. My mother is interested and satisfied with her minute knowledge. She doesn't understand my thirst and my endless questions. I don't understand her nonchalance and acceptance. The worst part and the best part is that I seem to be "that one" in the family that pursues the answers. It's a lonely job but, I believe, somebody's gotta do it.
This summer, I will go back to Tennessee and delve into court documents and look up books in the local libraries and talk to people who may know about my family history. Too bad I wasn't able to do it before my aunt passed away.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Inez Koonce Jacox - 1906-2009
My oldest living relative was Inez Koonce Jacox. She lived to see two World Wars. She lived through the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, Civil Rights demonstration. She lived to see a Black man elected president of the United States. She lived an exemplary Christian life, praising God and wanting to be in the center of His will until she passed away yesterday morning. She was 102 years old.
Inez was my grandmother's sister. She lived all of her life in Tennessee but I got to meet and see her several times. She was frank and honest and reminded me a lot of my grandmother. My mother has grown to favor her as she has gotten older. The one thing I remember most about her was that she didn't like photos of dead people. She claimed "haints" were attached to them. I've never understood how a God-fearing woman could also be superstitious but it seems to run in my mother's family. That superstition kept her focused on the present so I never got any information from her. What a loss. What an accomplishment. She lived long and well.
Inez was my grandmother's sister. She lived all of her life in Tennessee but I got to meet and see her several times. She was frank and honest and reminded me a lot of my grandmother. My mother has grown to favor her as she has gotten older. The one thing I remember most about her was that she didn't like photos of dead people. She claimed "haints" were attached to them. I've never understood how a God-fearing woman could also be superstitious but it seems to run in my mother's family. That superstition kept her focused on the present so I never got any information from her. What a loss. What an accomplishment. She lived long and well.
Friday, April 17, 2009
To Tweet or Not to Tweet -That Isn't The Question
I confess. I have been tweeting when I should have been blogging. It is easier to write a quick line or two than a paragraph. I have more excuses for my lack of posts. March was a very stressful month for me. I moved from my home of 18 years to a temporary (I hope) stay at my childhood home. Economics bit me in the butt and I had little choice but to move. It was hell. Distilling 18 years of collections, furniture, paper and memories is hard enough. My home was 2100 square feet. My space now is considerably smaller. But a woman's got to do, what a woman's got to do. I will survive.
That being basically over, I am now planning my summer break. I am going to take off for five weeks and visit Fort Wayne's Allen County Library, the archives at Nashville, TN and Jackson, MS, possibly the National Archive and a few courthouses and libraries in between. At least, that's the plan now. If I can do that, I will be a very happy genealogist.
That being basically over, I am now planning my summer break. I am going to take off for five weeks and visit Fort Wayne's Allen County Library, the archives at Nashville, TN and Jackson, MS, possibly the National Archive and a few courthouses and libraries in between. At least, that's the plan now. If I can do that, I will be a very happy genealogist.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Genealogy Rule Number One - Never Assume
I keep getting reminded of this rule all the time in one way or another. I assumed that my g-g-g-grandfather couldn't be a slave captured from Liberia. While I haven't corroborated this--it is stated on the census that his birthplace is Virginia--I did find out that there were native Africans on the land before it was usurped for the imported freed slaves. There was naturally a lot of tension between the natives and the "Americo-Liberians." The Americo-Liberians were always considered foreigners not citizens by the natives. Liberia was even used as a temporary shelter by Americans for re-captured slaves for a while. So it is possible that maybe John's father did come from the land renamed Liberia. I know that his son, my great grandfather was very dark.
Then about Catherine being an east Indian--it is possible. I followed the lead of fellow blogger Miriam and googled east Indians as slaves. To my surprise, I found that east Indians were part of that melting pot that made up Jamestown in the 1600's. According to Francis C. Assisi (I don't know if that's his real name or his pen name) in an article for the India Currents, east Indians were brought to US shores as indentured servants and slaves first by the Dutch and then the French, the English and lastly the American captains. So it is possible that Catherine was part east Indian.
So I am reminded once again, don't jump to conclusions or make general assumptions. Research, corroborate, and verify.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Genie Meeting
Our little genealogy club meets the first Saturday of each month. It was convenient that talking about local genie clubs was part of genea-bloggers weekly prompt this week.
It was a decent turn-out. Our club is very informal. We bring each other up to date on where we are in our search. In turn we help those who are stumped, if we can, and try to inspire others not to give up. I was able to report on my latest doings--the book signing, the ancestry.com webnar about african-american genealogy, and my trip to Newberry Library. I was so proud of myself especially since I had kind of slacked off there for a while. I can feel the old bug now, though. I mean, two posts in two days!
What is also helping me is that I got to talk to Florence Octavia Alexander Townsend. I followed up on the clues I found yesterday and was able to track her down. She was friendly and enthusiastic. We are planning to meet very soon. She shared something very interesting in our short conversation. She said her grandmother's ancestry is part Indian--east Indian. According to her, some Indians had immigrated to Kenya and intermarried. I never heard that before. So maybe it is possible that Catherine has East Indian blood after all. Of course, I will verify first, though.
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