Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots: 2023

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Me

In July 2022, I started putting my family history information on WikiTree as one of the ways to validate my research and share my research with distant family.

WikiTree is a collaborative world tree with the Mission "to grow an accurate single family tree that connects us all and is freely accessible to us all, forever." The WikiTree site further explains its Vision as balancing "privacy and collaboration so that living people can connect on one world tree to common ancestors. . . Collaboration on deep ancestors is between distant cousins who are serious about genealogical research, careful about sources, and willing to see their research validated or invalidated with DNA." (www.WikiTree.com)

I was drawn to WikiTree because of the emphasis on documenting genealogy through sources. Also, important to me was the ability and encouragement to connect enslaved with enslavers -- whether it's a biological connection or not.

Once a week members get a WT News email with updates along with a "Featured Connections" to famous people. This week, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, was among my 12 connections. When I looked at the connection, it was through a marriage in my paternal line. I recognized the surname immediately -- Adair -- but the surname is connected to my maternal line.

Ms. O'Connor's third great-grandfather's brother, John Brooks, married Jane Adair who was the daughter of Whitmill Harrington Adair, who was the son of Bozeman Adair who was the enslaver of a branch of my maternal Washington family line (July 11, 2020 blog). Also, Whitmill's sister, Judith Adair married Elijah Williams who is the brother of John W. Williams, Jr. who is an enslaver in my paternal Williams line. John W. Williams, Jr. is the father of my great-grandfather, William Turner Williams. My blog of June 26, 2023 chronicles my paternal Williams enslavement.

So for me, WikiTree has proved it's point that we are all connected in some way or other. Below is the graphic of my connection to Sandra Day O'Connor.

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Family Death Records: Organization

More than once I have "found" the death record of a family member after sending (and paying) for the record I thought I didn't have. While I knew I had to organize what I have, I couldn't wrap my head around how to do it. It seems the universe was guiding me when I attended two separate virtual events within months of one another. At a Zoom meeting of the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society - Chicago (AAGHSC) member Alvin Blakes presented his Death Certificate database that he had created in a Google Docs format. Alvin has a family history blog, Almost Disappeared. Months later I attended a webinar of Robyn Smith who presented, "Putting It All Together", showing how she created a table format for her death records. Robyn has a genealogy blog, Reclaiming Kin.

I decided to use Google Docs/Sheets so I can have the information readily available for research trips. I merged and tweaked both of their forms to include headings that work for me. My spreadsheet has been very helpful in allowing me to compare and see what family members were serviced by the same undertaker, are buried in the same cemetery or area. More importantly, I have death records in one place, and I can easily add more as my research uncovers the information or I "happen to find" documents in my genealogy files.

While I present the spreadsheet headings here to accommodate the page, it's actually one continual form with cells from A to Q.

Death Records Spreadsheet Headings

Surname

First/Middle Name

Maiden Name

(Death) Certificate #

Date of Death

Place

Date of Birth

Place

Parents

Marital Status

Spouse

Informant (on death certificate)

Cause of Death

Cemetery

Date of Burial

Undertaker

Comments

In the Comments section I put whether the record is a death certificate, obituary, or funeral program. I also list where I physically have the record, as well as the source for newspaper obituaries and death certificates.

Monday, August 7, 2023

Honoring Ned Washington: My 2nd great grandfather

On March 30, 2023, I submitted my application to the lineage society, Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP) and my application was accepted on May 8, 2023.

Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage was started in 2011 to recognize free and enslaved individuals of African descent who lived in the United States from 1619-1865. Descendents of such Ancestors are accepted into the Society with documentation of their direct lineal line.

Applying to the lineage society SDUSMP is important to me because my work was reviewed by genealogists specializing in the field of African American family history research. My research being accepted means it will be preserved and my Ancestor's name will live on.

My Honored Ancestor, Ned Washington, is my 2nd great grandfather on my mother's maternal Washington line. I was able to document him named in the 1857 will of his enslaver Bozeman Adair, along with Sylvia and Elijah -- ."To my son James L. Adair my three Negroes, to wit, Elijah about sixty years of age, Silva about fifty two years of age and Ned a man about twenty five years of age. . . the said Negroes are not to be separated." Sylvia (her name has been spelled many ways) is in Ned's household in the 1870 census.

Ned's birthplace is consistently listed as Georgia. However, his birth year varies.

Age listed as 50. Birth year approximately1820. 1870 census of Polk County, Georgia

Age listed as 56. Birth year approximately 1824. 1880 census of Barkers, Floyd County, Georgia

Age listed as 78. Birth listed as Feb 1822. 1900 census of Beat 1, Holmes County, Mississippi

Age listed as 85. Birth year approximately1825. 1910 census of Beat 1, Holmes County, Mississippi

Ned Washington and my 2nd great-grandmother, Darkis were married about 1866, probably in Georgia which is listed as their birth places in all of their census records. Georgia is also where they are recorded as living in 1870 and 1880 census records. They had six sons -- Clinton, Silas, Newton, Elijah, Peter (my great-grandfather), and Ned.

He spent most of his life providing for his family as a farmer; first in Georgia and later in Mississippi. Ned died in Lexington, Holmes, Mississippi on May 31, 1918, at the age of 98 years old. Mississippi State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate #10163, filed June 1, 1918.

I believe my 2nd great-grandfather is the first Ned Washington because it appears the surname was taken or selected after emancipation. The name, Ned, became a family name as he named his son, Ned, and at least two of Ned (the first) sons had a son they named Ned.

Monday, July 17, 2023

My Ancestry Tree Now Public

Today I made my Ancestry-dot-com main family tree public. I did this because:

(1) I have been working on my family history for years and I don't

want my research to have been in vain.

(2) None of my immediate family (one daughter and three brothers)

are interested in genealogy. What would become of my research

if it could not be accessed?

(3) I have had dna cousins reach out to me. I hope to make their

research road a little easier.

I selfishly made my tree private years ago because I was annoyed at people "taking my family" and incorrectly adding them to their trees. Yes, it was selfish -- my family members were part of a community. I have come to realize that my family members should be honored and recognized as part of the communities where they were born, lived, grew, loved, and had families.

Sources and proof have always been important to me, so I have very carefully evaluated and added family members and their records to my tree. I can only hope that those look at the "hints" generated from my Williams / Brown / Washington tree also take steps to evaluate the information.

Welcome Family!

Monday, June 26, 2023

Williams Enslaver Is My 3rd Great Grandfather

Spencer, Virgil, Clark, Isaac, Noel, Daniel, Henry, Jack, Bill, Snipe, Jim, Hilliard, Matilda, Maria, Ann, Betsy, Mary, Charity, Malinda, Rose, Amanda and Jerry

These are the people -- possibly my blood family -- listed in the 1849 Last Will and Testament of John Williams (Sr.) of Jones County, Georgia. He "bequeaths" these human beings to his children and grandchildren.

The name Ann caught my attention right away because on the death certificate of my great grandfather, William Turner Williams, Annie is listed as his mother and John Williams is listed as his father. Also, Ann was among the "sixteen negroes" that John, Sr. bequeathed to his sons "to be equally divided among them." Did John (Jr.) select Ann as part of his inheritance? Most probably no matter which brother Ann went to, it's likely that John Jr. would have had access to her. Could this Ann be the mother of William Turner and my 2nd great-grandmother?

I lifted up the names of the enslaved first to honor them and recognize their lives.

I know the historical aspects of enslaver and enslaved intertwined in the same family, but to be able to document it within my family is hard to digest. As I process that John Sr is my 3rd great grandfather and his son, John Jr is my 2nd great grandfather, my concern centers on the enslaved individuals and the lives they lived.

Below is a chart of the direct paternal line from WikiTree uploaded from the Family Tree DNA yDNA test of my brother, Richard L. Williams.

While I have only started preliminary research of this Williams line of European-descent, I have seen the Wills of each of these direct ancestors from George Williams, Jr. (1671-1750) to John W. Williams, Jr.(1812-1895) and each of these men Willed their land and enslaved people to the next generation -- five generations of enslavers!

WikiTree Williams-113378

Last Will and Testament of John Williams (Sr.)


"Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," database with images, FamilySearch : 20 May 2014), Jones > Wills 1809-1864 vol A-D > images 242-244 of 387

TRANSCRIPTION:

John Williams' Will

In the name of God. Amen.

I John Williams of the State of Georgia and the County of Jones being aware of the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life, being in feeble body but sound & healthy mind and memory have thought proper to make and ordain there to be my last will & testament, in manner and form following, viz:

1^st I do hereby nominate and appoint my three sons, John, Thomas J and Samuel L Williams, Executors of this my last will & testament.

2^nd It is my desire and intention that my wife Mary shall have the use of the residence place and such negroes & stock as she may choose sufficient for her ample and d? suport during her natural life or widowhood.

3^rd I give to my son John Williams a negro man named Spencer to make him even with my other three sons to whom I have primarily given a negro.

4^th I give and bequeath to my four sons, Henry, John, Thomas J. and Samuel L. sixteen negroes, viz, Virgil, Clark, Isaac, Noel, Daniel, Henry, Jack, Bill, Snipe, Jim, Hilliard, Matilda, Maria, Ann, Betsy & Mary to be equally divided among them.

5^th I give and bequeath to my two grand children, Henry L. and Martha Elizabeth Densler the following negroes, viz, Charity, Malinda, Rose, Amanda & Jerry, in trust of my executors aforementioned & should they both die before the arrive to the years of maturity or the age of twenty one years said property with all that accrues to them from this instrument to revert to the remaining legatees.

6^th All the residue of my negro property I wish equally divided among my daughters Mittisiss, Barnard, Nancy Manderville, Katharine Bartlett and their issue after them & to the issue of my daughter Elizabeth Sawyer in trust of my executors (the portions following to Katharine Bartlett and the issue of Elizabeth Sawyer to be immediately under their control.

7^th I give and bequeath to my daughter Mittisiss And after her to her issue all of the lands I own or possess on the northwest side of Cedar Creek – though if her husband Jesse Barnard should wish to remove he shall have the privilege of selling it.

8^th I give and bequeath to my three sons, John, Thomas J. and Samuel L. all of my lands on the southeast side of Cedar Creek,

9^th I give and bequeath to my son Henry nine hundred dollars out of the moneys arriving from my estate.

10^th I give and bequeath to my grandson Jeremiah Mauderville two forty acre lots of land in the in the Cherokee County.

11^th All the residue of my property, money, crops, horses, mules, cattle, sheep, & hogs, carriages of every description, plantation tools, house & kitchen furniture, I wish equally divided among my four sons above mentioned & my daughters & their issue aforementioned, and the issue of my deceased daughter Elizabeth Sawyer and Martha Densler.

John Williams

Signed and acknowledged this 10^th day of October in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred & forty four in presence of

W. D.Ethridge

John P. Key

John L. Smith

Georgia Jones County

In Chambers, Dec 28^th 1849 and now in vacation before us, William Moreland and Jonathan Parrish two of the Justices of the Inferior Court of said County in person came William D. Ethridge & John P. Key two of the subscribing witnesses to the within instrument of writing and being duly sworn deposeth and saith that they saw John Williams the testator sign publish and declare the within instrument to be and contain his last will and testament and that testator was of sound and disposing mind and memory at the time of the execution there of and that deponents subscribed the same as witnesses together with John . Smith in the presence of the testator, and at his request, and in the presence of each other.

Sworn to and subscribed

before us, this 28^th Dec 1849 W. D. Ethridge

William Moreland J.I.C. John P. Key

Jona, Parrish J.I.C.

Recorded 16^th Jany 1850

Richard W. Bonner C.C.O.

Codicil to the Last Will and testament of John Williams

Georgia, Jones County

Whereas I John Williams did on the tenth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty four, Sign, Seal declare and publish my last will and testament in the presence of W.D. Ethridge, john P. Key and John L. Smith, who signed the said will and testament as witnesses, and whereas I am desirous of altering and changing two items in said Will and Testament, I therefore make and publish this codicil to said Will.

First I revoke and change so much of the fourth item of said will as relates to my son Henry Williams, and hereby give and bequeath the sixteen negroes in said item mentioned to me three sons, John, Thomas J. & Samuel L. Williams.

Second I also entirely revoke and expunge the within item of said will which gives to my son Henry nine hundred dollars as when he shall receive Six hundred dollars more from me, he will have received his entire share and interest of my estate.

Signed sealed published and declared by John Williams Sr. as a codicil to his will and testament of the tenth of October in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and forty four, in presence of us.

W. D. Ethridge his

Alfred Wyche John W. Williams

J.A. Ethridge mark

Georgia, Jones County

In Chambers, Dec 28^th 1849

And now in vaction before us William Moreland and Jonathan Parris two of the Justices of the Inferior Court of said county in person came William D. Ethridge and Alfred Wyche two of the subscribing witnesses to the within instrument of writing and being duly sworn deposeth and saith that they saw John Williams the testator sign publish and declare the within instrument as a codicil to his last will and testament as herein designated – that testator was of sound mind and disposing memory at the time of the execution thereof and that deponents together with J.A. Ethridge subscribed to the same as witnesses in the presence of testator at his request and in the presence of each other.

Sworn to and subscribed W. D. Ethridge

before us, this Dec 28^th 1849 Alfred Wyche

William Moreland J.I.C.

Jona. Parrish J.I.C.

Recorded 16^th Jany 1850

Richard W. Bonner C.C.O.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

My February 2023

My month began in Morrow, Georgia (outside of Atlanta). February 2-4, 2023, I attended a 3-day event presented by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Metro Atlanta Chapter and the Georgia Archives. The theme was "African Americans in Georgia: Education, History, and Genealogy". This was my first visit to an archive and to say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. However, I did achieve my main goal which was to see a copy of the original will of Bozeman Adair, the enslaver of some of my Washington family: Sylvia, Elijah, and Ned.

In the photo below I am looking through the vertical files. I went through all files with my Georgia surnames and locations.

February 2, 2023

After two days of presentations focused on education and history, I was one of the AAHGS-Atlanta members who were scheduled to present a genealogy workshop. There were two genealogy tracks -- Track 1: Genealogy Basics and Track 2: African American Genealogy in Georgia. My presentation, "Document Analysis/Evaluations & Timelines" was in Track 1.

On February 11th, I also gave the presentation to the Buffalo Genealogy Society of the African Diaspora (BGSAD), my local genealogy group, during our monthly meeting.

Genealogy presentation at the Georgia Archives, Morrow GA
February 4, 2023

On December 22, 2022, storyteller Rosalind Campbell Hunter and I were scheduled to give a workshop on beginning storytelling to art students working on the project -- "Sharing Our View 25th Anniversary: The Art of Storytelling" -- under the direction of local African American artists, John Baker and James Cooper II. The date of our presentation was the last day of school before the Christmas break; however, due to forecast of heavy snow weather conditions all extra-curricular activities were canceled. Our presentation wasn't at a school, but it was an afterschool activity, and no students came for this scheduled session. Thanks to cellphone technology, Rosalind and I were recorded so the students could be shown our presentation at a later date.

When I attended exhibit opening on February 10, 2023, at the Birchfield Penney Art Center (Buffalo NY), I was pleasantly surprised to see that the images of Rosalind and I were part of the exhibit.

Birchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo NY
February 10, 2023

On February 25th I gave a Zoom presentation for beginning African American genealogy research to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc for their Black History Month meeting.

"Hello Ms Bush,

Thank you for the excellent presentation on African American Genealogy Research provided to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. Your slide presentation will be posted on our website; thank you for sharing it. Following your presentation, I received numerous comments from our members as to the benefit of this presentation in their personal research. I too am encouraged to continue my efforts in documenting my family’s history.

On behalf of our basileus, Mary Walker, the Membership Development Committee, and myself, thank you for donating your time in support of our Black History Month Program.

Sisterly,

Edna Fleming"

So, the month ended as it began, giving genealogy presentations . . . and the genealogist in me couldn't ask for anything better.

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

WASHINGTON: A Family Surname

During my teenage years, I remember my Aunt Verlie proudly telling me that we were related to George Washington. Much, much later my education taught me he did not father any children so we couldn't be biologically related to ole George.

Decades later doing family history research, I found out that the Washington surname is considered one of the top names the formally enslaved chose as a surname after emancipation. Some articles even reported that WASHINGTON was the "Blackest name in America". According to the 2000 U.S. Census there were 163,036 people counted that year with the surname WASHINGTON and ninety percent of them identified as African American -- this was a higher percentage than any other surname.

It seems that my family chose the surname WASHINGTON after enslavement. which was the surname of Ned's wife, Darkas. Ned's mother Sylvia first used the surname Adair, and later Washington. In my blog post Connecting to An Enslaved Ancestor -- Sylvia Adair Washington I show the connection of my 3rd great-grandmother and her enslaver.

My Maternal WASHINGTON family line

My research was validated when I found the hand-written research notes of my Aunt Verlie about our Washington family line on 3-ring loose leaf paper. (1) On this sheet, she has circled "last name Adel was changed" (should be Adair). There is a spelling variation that I attribute to the time lapse in the telling or perhaps the teller never knew how to spell Adair. (2) In the margin Aunt Verlie indicated that her great-grandmother, Dorkie Washington and her great-grandfather, Ned Washington were slaves and that she checked. There is a spelling variation in the name Dorkie (it's Darkas on her death certificate) but her death date is the same as what I have found. Initially, Aunt Verlie wrote her great-grandparents as her maternal family -- which they were, so this leads me to believe that she was interviewing her mother, Lucy Washington Brown. Ned and Dorkie Washington would have been the paternal grandparents of Lucy Washington Brown but the maternal great-grandparents of my Aunt Verlie.

Notes from research on Washington family by Verlie Mae Brown Walton, date unknown (expanded top portion from full page below)

Notes (full page) from research on Washington family by Verlie Mae Brown Walton, date unknown

When my aunt made transition in 2021, my brother, Ray and I cleaned out her house. We found a number of these hand-written pages on our family history. Unfortunately, my aunt was very secretive about her family history research, and I had asked her many, many times about it. Maybe now she is guiding me to build on what I have been able to find and document.

WASHINGTON surname articles

Washington, Eric. "The Irony of the 'Blackest Name In America'". Historical Horizons, February 26, 2016.

Washington, Jesse. "Washington: the 'blackest name' in America". NBC News: The Associated Press, February 21, 2011.

Friday, January 13, 2023

A favorite photo with Granny -- Lucy Washington Brown

Evelyn Brown Williams (left), Sandra Ann Williams, Elizabeth Bonds (on lap),
Lucy Washington Brown (right); Buffalo NY, 1978

The above picture represents four-generations of my direct Washington family line.

Elijah Washington (born abt 1797)

Ned Washington (born Feb 10, 1825)

Peter Washington (born Dec 1872)

Lucy Washington Brown (born Nov 1,1904)

Evelyn Orthelia Brown Williams

Sandra Ann Williams

Elizabeth aka Libby

From the time my daughter was born, my mother wanted a four-generation picture with herself, her mother, me, and my daughter, so one Sunday we went to Granny's apartment after she came home from church. My brother, Raymond Williams, took our picture. Unfortunately, this is the only four-generation picture that we ever took, even though we had many other opportunities.

Lucy Washington was born in Lexington, Mississippi on November 1, 1904, to Peter Washington and Mary Barrett Washington. Her obituary (April 15, 1996) stated that she "united with the Church of God in Christ at an early age in Mississippi. Upon moving to Buffalo, she joined the Saints Home Church of God in Christ where she was a faithful member for many years. Later she transferred her membership to the Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ where she was happy to be made Church Mother."

Granny was among the millions of African Americans who migrated to the North from their rural Southern homes, starting with the Great Migration in 1916.

Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots

Pages