In our family, several births, deaths and marriages took place in the month of November.
In 1888, two teenagers — Robert B. Wilkes and Melissa C. Gray — married in a simple ceremony in Greene County, Missouri. The hard-to-view document includes the signature witness of our Great-Great Grandfather’s father, Peter Wilkes. He gave permission for his 17-year-old son to marry his bride.
For our Great-Great Grandmother, the form noted that she was under the age of 21. Other records show that she, too, was 17 years old.
Their marriage remained for another 40+ years until their deaths. Their union produced 13 children; 11 lived to adulthood. The Wilkes family lived a great life in the hills of Springfield, Missouri. Most children, including our Great-Great Grandmother Edna Robinson, graduated from high school and moved away from home to the states of Nebraska, Hawaii and New York.
If you are interested in the lives of your ancestors, check out the marriage records. For those even easier to read than this one of our loved ones, you will likely learn more about the circumstances of the marriage. In this case, the only person requiring permission to marry was the groom since he was not yet the legal age of 18 years old.
By planes, trains and automobiles, an estimated 54 million U.S. travelers made it families and friends this 2021 Thanksgiving season. Those numbers are nearly equal to pre-Covid 2019 levels, according to AAA, air, train and government travel trackers.
If so, don’t spend all of your time around the table of good food, or shopping until you drop. Instead, start now to preserve your precious history by recording short and even long stories of your loved ones.
Generations of family: Priceless Photo by August de Richelieu on Pexels.com
As a nearly lifelong writer (Ann) who began journaling at age 10, I learned the importance of being a good listener who captured cool stories from the annual family gatherings. Those early lessons served me well as I became an award-winning financial journalist who found that my interview skills came in handy when I became more interested in African American family genealogy.
Admittedly, it is not easy getting our family members to open up about their past. However, I have found that to get meaningful conversations started, flattery gets you everywhere. Here are my quick tips on how to glean information from your loved ones:
Tell them upfront that you are interested in preserving your family’s history. If they are like my Great Cousin Madeline Wilkes, your loved ones may respond with “no one really wants to know that stuff about me.” That’s a stall. Take immediate action such as what I describe in the next step.
Do what they like to do. Sit, cook, read, watch TV, walk, play cards and board games, fish, shop and generally hang out with them. In the case of Great Cousin Madeline, I took pictures of her and showed her how vibrant she looked at 90 years old. With that in motion, I moved to my next step and my recommendation for you.
Have your recorder, camera and notebook handy to capture stories about their earlier holidays and hobbies. I asked her questions about her father, my great-grandmother’s brother. She loved to talk about her Dad. I got some great stories. I was able to wrap up our short conversation by reiterating and expanding my reasons for asking her a few questions. I was pleased that I advanced to the final step.
Tell them why their stories are important to the families’ legacies because it ensures the younger generations learn from the older ones’ successes and any mistakes.
For more ideas on how to speak with your relatives to capture their stories, check out this great freebie checklist from Genealogy Bargains.
The Frazine K. Taylor African American Research Scholarship (application due by 1 March each year) — open to anyone committed to expanding their knowledge of African American genealogical research.
The Frazine K. Taylor African American Research Scholarship (application due 1 March each year) was established on 7 June 2018 by Deborah A. Abbott, PhD, in honor of Frazine K. Taylor upon her retirement as coordinator of the “Researching African American Ancestors” course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. This scholarship for IGHR tuition is open to anyone committed to expanding their knowledge of African American genealogical research. Taylor proposed and organized the first biennial African American course at IGHR in 2004.
Frazine K. Taylor is a former Peace Corps volunteer and administrator who served in the Fiji Islands and traveled extensively in the South Pacific before earning her Master of Information Studies degree from Atlanta University. She has over twenty years’ experience as a librarian, archivist, lecturer, and writer and has received numerous awards during her career including Employee of the Year from the Alabama State Employee Association. She is the former Head of Reference for the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) and was an expert on Alabama records at ADAH. She is also the author of Researching African American Genealogy in Alabama: A Resource Guide published in 2008.
For IGHR 2022, this scholarship is limited to individuals who are interested in enrolling in Course 11 – Researching African American Ancestors: Courthouse Records. The scholarship will be awarded to the applicant who demonstrates a passion for African American genealogy and the ability to communicate that commitment in writing. This scholarship covers tuition only.
Applications are due by 1 March. The winner will be notified no later than 15 May. Please include the following in your application:
Name
Address
Email
Phone
Are you self-employed or working for a company as a professional genealogist?
Are you employed by a Library or Archive? Where employed?
Number of years you have been conducting genealogical research.
In 500 words or less (one printed page), a description of how participation in this course will benefit you.
Applications should be submitted via email to Deborah Abbottdbrhabbott@yahoo.comby 1 March and the subject line should read Taylor Scholarship.
2019 Frazine K. Taylor African American Research Scholarship Winner
Ancestor Comedian Richard Pryor had a funny bit about Black people in horror movies. He said that Black people would enter a haunted house and hear a ghostly voice say, “hello.” Pryor said the likely answer would be “goodbye.”
Pryor’s funny gag lines were prior to the current-day horror films where Black actors are among the headliners.
Those special insignas headstones offer huge clues to the organizations your ancestors were affiliated with such as those associated with the Good Genes Genealogy heritage. While we are offering a glimpse into the fraternal insurance-based burials in other states.
Our Arkansas ancestors
On our maternal side – Gray, Wilks, Wilkes — were in northwest Arkansas before moving across the state line into Missouri. Ann’s paternal side — Lee, Weed, Wead — were in the southeast, Arkansas Delta area. The maternal Owen family resided in Hope, Arkansas, before they and other African Americans were put on trains and buses and pushed out to northern cities. Our mothers — born with the surname Owen — are direct descendants of that migration from Hope. The father of Angeline Cecil Owen (Ann) and Lyla Janet Owen (Mark) was a young man when his father and sister landed in Kansas City, Missouri, shortly after the death of Grandfather Eugene Owen, Jr. ‘s mother, Armentha in 1925.
Not only was Great Grandmother Armentha Powers Owen buried in the “black” cemetery in Hope, Arkansas, other ancestors’ graves are in the state. To learn a little more about our relatives and other researchers of Arkansas family histories, consult the guide to cemeteries based on insurance companies and fraternal markers on graves.
heck out daily posts @goodgenesgenealogy on wordpress, fb, twitter and via goodgenesgen@gmail.com. Also check out @weadwriteandgenealogy on wordpress
It’s Freebies Friday from your hosts, Good Genes Genealogy! Take a peak at our book, “Out of Sight…” published in February 2021 that puts you on the right path to locate your ancestors.
Go to https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/mark-s-owen-ms-and-dr-ann-lineve-wead/out-of-sight-an-introduction-to-unearthing-your-african-american-and-afro-caribbean-genealogy/ebook/product-k447kz.html
An excerpt from our book: There are thousands of federal, state, local and private records that offer guidance for genealogy researchers.
Archives Library Information Center (ALIC) Listing of State Archives Alabama Alabama Department of Archives & History 624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36130 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 300100, Montgomery, AL 36130 Phone: (334) 242-4435\ Email: mark.palmer@archives.alabama.gov Alaska Alaska State Archives Mailing Address: P.O. Box 110525, 141 Willoughby Avenue, Juneau, AK 99811-0525 Phone: (907) 465-2270 Fax: (907) 465-2465 E-mail: archives@alaska.gov Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records History and Archives Division Mailing Address: 1901 West Madison, Phoenix, AZ 85009 Phone: (602) 926-3720 Fax: (602) 256-7982 E-mail: See the Contact Form Arkansas Arkansas History Commission Mailing Address: One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 77201 Phone: (501) 682-6900 E-mail: state.archives@arkansas.gov
52
California California State Archives Mailing Address: 1020 O Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone, Reference Desk: (916) 653-2246 Phone, General Information: (916) 653-7715 Fax: (916) 653-7363 E-mail: See the Contact Form Colorado Colorado State Archives Mailing Address: 1313 Sherman Street, Room 122, Denver, CO 80203 Phone: (303) 866-2358 Toll-free, in state only: (800) 305-3442 Text: (303) 866-2229 E-mail: See the Contact Form Connecticut Connecticut State Archives Mailing Address: Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106 Phone, General Information: (860) 757-6500 Phone, History and Genealogy Unit: (860) 757-6500 Text: (860) CONNREF (860 266-6733) E-mail: See the Contact Form Delaware Delaware Public Archives Mailing Address: 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. North, Dover, DE 19901 Phone: (302) 744-5000 E-mail: See the Contact Form Florida State Archives of Florida Mailing Address: R.A. Gray Building, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 Phone: (850) 245-6700 TDD: (850) 245-6096 Reference Fax: (850) 488-4894 E-mail: info@dos.myflorida.com Georgia Georgia Archives Mailing Address: 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 Phone: (678) 364-3710 E-mail: See Ask an Archivist Hawaii Hawaii State Archives Mailing Address: Kekauluohi Building, Iolani Palace Grounds, 364 S. King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
53
Phone: (808) 586-0329 Fax: (808) 586-0330 E-mail: archives@hawaii.gov Idaho Idaho State Archives Mailing Address: Idaho State Archives, 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, ID 83712 Phone, Archives: (208) 334-2620 Fax, Public Archives: 208-334-2626 Illinois Illinois State Archives Mailing Address: Margaret Cross Norton Building, Capitol Complex, Springfield, IL 62756 Phone: (217) 782-4682 Fax: (217) 524-3930 E-mail: See the Reference Request Form (Illinois Residents Only) Indiana Indiana State Archives Mailing Address: 6440 East 30th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46219 Phone: (317) 591-5222 Fax: (317) 591-5324 E-mail: arc@icpr.in.gov or see the Contact Form Iowa State Historical Society of Iowa: State Archives and Records Program Mailing Address: State of Iowa Historical Building, 600 East Locust, Des Moines, IA 50319-0290 Phone: (515) 281-5111 E-mail: dm.library@iowa.gov Kansas Kansas Historical Society: State Archives Mailing Address: 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099 Phone: (785) 272-8681 Phone, State Archives Reference Desk: (785) 272-8681, ext. 117 E-mail: reference@kshs.org Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Mailing Address: P.O. Box 537, Frankfort, KY 40601 Phone: (502) 564-8300 Fax: (502) 564-5773 E-mail: kdla.archives@ky.gov or see the Records Request Forms Louisiana Louisiana State Archives Mailing Address: Louisiana State Archives, Louisiana Secretary of State, P.O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125 Phone: (225) 922-1200 Fax: (225) 922-0433 E-mail: See the Contact Us Page
54
Maine Maine State Archives Mailing Address: 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333 Phone: (207) 287-5790 Fax: (207) 287-6035 Maryland Maryland State Archives Mailing Address: 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone: (410) 260-6400 Toll free: (800) 235-4045 Massachusetts Massachusetts Archives Division Mailing Address: Secretary of Commonwealth, Massachusetts Archives, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125 Phone: (617) 727-2816 Fax: (617)288-8429 E-mail: archives@sec.state.ma.us Michigan Archives of Michigan Mailing Address: 702 W. Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, Michigan 48915 Phone: (517) 335-2576 E-mail: archives@michigan.gov Minnesota Minnesota State Archives Mailing Address: Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 Phone: (651) 259-3260 Fax: (651) 296-9961 E-mail: See the Contact Us Page Mississippi Mississippi Department of Archives & History Mailing Address: P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205-0571 Phone: (601) 576-6876 Fax: (601) 576-6964 E-mail: refdesk@mdah.state.ms.us. Missouri Missouri State Archives Mailing Address: 600 W. Main, P.O. Box 1747, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Phone: (573) 751-3280 Fax: (573) 526-7333 E-mail: archref@sos.mo.gov. Please read the guidelines before sending reference requests.
55
Montana Montana Historical Society Mailing Address: P.O. Box 201201, 225 North Roberts Street, Helena, MT 59620-1201 Phone, Research Center: (406) 444-2681 E-mail: mhslibrary@mt.gov or see the Online Request Form . Nebraska Library/Archives Division of the Nebraska State Historical Society Mailing Address: Library / Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society, P.O. Box 82554, 1500 “R” Street, Lincoln, NE 68501 Phone: (402) 471-4751 Fax: (402) 471-3100 E-mail: nshs.libarch@nebraska.gov Nevada Nevada State Library and Archives Mailing Address: 100 North Stewart Street, Carson City, NV 89701-4285 Phone: (775) 684-3310 Toll free, in state only: (800) 922-2880 Fax: (775) 684-3311 E-mail: See the request form New Hampshire New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records Management Mailing Address: 71 South Fruit Street, Concord, NH 03301 Phone: (603) 271-2236 Fax: (603) 271-2272 E-mail: archives@sos.nh.gov . For birth, death, and marriage records, contact the Division of Vital Records Administration at http://www.sos.nh.gov/vitalrecords/. New Jersey New Jersey State Archives Mailing Address, State Archives: 225 West State Street, P.O. Box 307, Trenton, NJ 08625-0307 Mailing Address, State Records Center: 2300 Stuyvesant Avenue, P.O. Box 307, Trenton, NJ 08625-0307 Phone: (609) 292-6260 Fax, Reference: (609) 292-4127 E-mail, State Archives: njarchives@sos.state.nj.us New Mexico State Records Center and Archives Mailing Address: 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Phone, Archives and Historical Services Division: (505) 476-7948 Fax, Archives and Historical Services Division: (505) 476-7909 E-mail: archives@state.nm.us
56
New York New York State Archives Mailing Address: New York State Education Department, Cultural Education Center, 222 Madison Avenue, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12230 Phone, Research Assistance: (518) 474-8955 Phone, General Information: (518) 474-6926 E-mail, Research Assistance: archref@mail.nysed.gov North Carolina State Archives of North Carolina Mailing Address: 4614 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4614 Phone: (919) 807-7310 Fax: (919) 733-1354 E-mail: archives@ncdcr.gov North Dakota State Archives Mailing Address: 612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505 Phone, Reference: (701) 328-2091 E-mail: archives@nd.us Ohio Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library Mailing Address: 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211 Phone: 614-297-2510 Toll free: 800-686-6124 Fax: (614) 297-2358 E-mail: reference@ohiohistory.org or see the Reference Contact Form . Oklahoma Oklahoma State Archives and Records Management Mailing Address: 200 NE 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Phone, Archives: (405) 522-3579 Phone, Records Center: (405) 524-4416 Fax, Archives: (405) 522-3583 Fax, Records Management: (405) 524-7567 Oregon Oregon State Archives Mailing Address: 800 Summer Street NE, Salem, OR 97310 Phone: (503) 373-0701 Fax: (503) 373-0953 E-mail: reference.archives@state.or.us Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State Archives
57
Mailing Address: 350 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Phone: (717) 783-3281 E-mail: ra-statearchives@state.pa.us Rhode Island State Archives Mailing Address: 337 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903 Phone: (401) 222-2353 Fax: (401) 222-3199 E-mail: statearchives@sos.ri.gov South Carolina Department of Archives and History Mailing Address: 8301 Parklane Road, Columbia, SC 29223 Phone, Reference Room: (803) 896-6104 Fax, Reference Room: (803) 896-6198 E-mail: See the Genealogy Request Form South Dakota South Dakota State Archives Mailing Address: 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501 Phone: (605) 773-3804 Fax: (605) 773-6041 E-mail: archref@state.sd.us Tennessee Tennessee State Library and Archives Mailing Address: 403 7th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243 Phone: (615) 741-2764 E-mail: reference.tsla@tn.gov Texas Texas State Library and Archives Commission Mailing Address: P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 Phone: (512) 463-5455 Email, Reference: reference.desk@tsl.state.tx.us Utah Utah State Archives Mailing Address, Research Center: 300 S. Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone, Research Center: (801) 533-3535 E-mail: See the Contact Form Vermont Vermont State Archives and Records Administration Mailing Address: Office of the Secretary of State, 1078 Route 2, Middlesex, Montpelier, VT 05633-7701 Phone, Reference Room: (802) 828-2308 E-mail: archives@sec.state.vt.us. For vital records requests use vitals@sec.state.vt.us.
58
Virginia Library of Virginia Mailing Address: 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219 Phone: (804) 692-3500 E-mail: See the Contact Form Washington Washington State Archives Mailing Address: P.O. Box 40238, Olympia, WA 98504-0238 Phone: (360) 586-1492 E-mail, State Archivist: archives@sos.wa.gov E-mail, Research Requests and Information on Public Records: research@sos.wa.gov West Virginia West Virginia State Archives Mailing Address: Archives and History Library, The Cultural Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305-0300 Phone: (304) 558-0230 The West Virginia Archives will not answer e-mail research requests. All research requests must be submitted in writing. Wisconsin Wisconsin State Historical Society Library-Archives Mailing Address: Archives Reference, Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706 Phone: (608) 264-6460 Fax: (608) 264-6472 E-mail: See the Archives Reference Request Form Wyoming Wyoming State Archives Mailing Address: Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002 Phone: (307) 777-7826 Fax: (307) 777-7044 E-mail: See the Contact Form Source: State Archives | National Archives
Nannie Helen Burroughs, holding the banner, is surrounded by her fellow members of the Women’s National Baptist Convention. Source: Library of Congress
On this day, Sept. 28, 2021, deemed the National Voter Registration Day to encourage the essential act that equalizes all of us, please honor the lives of so many great crusaders and advocates like Nannie H. Burroughs and register to vote.
Nannie H. Burroughs died a few years before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. It granted my parents and all other Black adults the opportunity to cast votes for the first time in their lives. I’ve voted my entire adult life and could not imagine what our ancestors endured to be a participant in the economic, social and educational systems in this country and yet not have a say in its governance.
Learn about your loved ones and friends who participated in the thousands of Black Right to Vote movements in the United States. There are many more Nannies whose lives are worthy to learn more about.
The worthy search for ancestors, friends and other loved ones remains important. As newbie or veteran genealogists, the precious lives of ancestors are not always scripted with a pleasant ending. Yet, we are comforted by the achievements of so many pioneers who paved the way for us.
Such is the case of the little-known civil rights pioneer whose work as a Louisville, Kentucky prosecutor earned her a special place in history. Jones was the first attorney for the rising star boxing great Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) by writing his first contract in 1960, she participated in several civil rights marches, including the famed March on Washington in August 1963. She was appointed Louisville City Attorney in 1964 — the first woman of any race and ethnic background to hold that position.
My triumphant Sorority Sister and one of the longtime unsolved mysteries about her death that was caused when she was tossed off the Louisville Sherman Minton Bridge into the Ohio River on August 5, 1965. She was 35 years old.
Alberta Odell Jones is recognized for her service; unsolved crime investigation continues
There are so many more factoids you should learn about this lady. Take three minutes and read all about her! Look up some of your loved ones who may be fraternity, sorority, church, temple, school, work and other socially related ancestors. You can start your research by building your family trees and searching U.S. Census records for neighbors. It is worth it.
