Bluesin’ for my Kin – Bentonia Blues Festival

 

Two weeks ago, I shared some news on my Facebook feed that I’d like to share and elaborate on here as well. My post on Facebook read as follows:

After many, many months of visualizing a community kin connecting and genealogical event I’m so excited to be one month out from this project. Yazoo Mississippi area family, friends and members of the community, I hope that you will ALL join me in this unique Bluesin’ for my Kin endeavor made possible through funding provided from the We Shall Overcome Fund from the good folks at the Highlander Center.

 

Meet me at the Blue Front Café in Bentonia during the week or at the Holmes Farm on Saturday, June 15th during the 47th Bentonia Blues Festival. I will be sharing information about Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage, a lineage society dedicated to the memory of freed and enslaved ancestors. The objectives of SDUSMP are Historical, Educational, Memorial and Patriotic. Additionally, I will be providing FREE genealogical assistance and guidance for recording and preserving your own family historical narrative. Joining me will be the amazing folks from the Ricks Memorial Library to provide insight on what the local library has to offer for your research quest.

 

In-kind partners include Ancestry and MyHeritage who have both provided free DNA kits as well as free annual subscriptions to their databases. FamilyChartMasters has tossed in some beautiful blank family pedigree charts and Arcadia Publishing Charleston is participating by providing some of their amazing Mississippi area historical books. Swing by for an opportunity to win some of these amazing prizes.

 

Whether you’re rooted in the Yazoo area or just trekking through I can’t wait to blues and rejoice in the memory of our collective Yazoo area roots and love of family research.

Allow me to break this down piece by piece and the importance of this project not only to me, but to the folks in Yazoo County, Mississippi, surrounding areas and any community wishing to host their own community kin connecting initiative.

During the third week and on the third Saturday in June the small rural community of Bentonia, Mississippi hosts one of the oldest blues festivals in the country. Started by Mr. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and now in its 47th year – this particular festival is said to be like none other in the country and visitors come from all over to participate and enjoy a variety of blues musicians. This will be a first time for me attending this festival and while I enjoy live music of all sorts including the blues, my purpose for wanting to visit is because I’ve got the blues. I’m bluesin’ for my kin. Read more

conversation with DNA cousin Tamu Ngina

Navigating through your many DNA matches can feel like a monumental task. Give pause when needed, but do not stop collaborating. The power in DNA testing for genetic genealogy is found within your DNA matches. Sometimes the connections are solidified from the jump. Sometimes you wait for others to join the party in order to triangulate. And sometimes knowing another person out there sharing a biological genetic link and being able to acknowledge your shared kinship is all the success you get.
 
This week I was fortunate enough to share a conversation with Tamu Ngina on her YouTube channel. Tamu is a DNA cousin I connected with in January 2017 and our precise connection is still unknown. However, we have narrowed down the possibilities. I’m related to Tamu through her father and she appears to connect to me through my maternal grandmother’s father’s side of my family. Check out our conversation on genealogy, our Ancestry DNA experience, identity and more.
 
Thank you for letting me babble Tamu Ngina – Holistic Artist.

52 ancestors in 52 weeks

Well here I am getting started at the end of the week, but none the less I am starting out on my very own 52ancestors journey. So many noteworthy things occurred after my previous blog post in June 2017, but you never heard about them here because I dropped the ball. And I am deeply sorry about that. My hope is that with this 52ancestors series I will share with you some of my research finds as they are hot off the press and of course there will be some from the archives as well, but the point is that they will be shared here.

The theme for this week was simply to start and as with all themes to interpret the theme as you wish. So for this first post I’d like to step backwards to one of those highlights in 2017 that I missed blogging about in real-time.

Nigeria.
Read more

Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War

Now listen. I know I said somewhere on the internet (maybe it was here on my blog) that this lineage society thing wasn’t typically my sort of thing, but it so happens now that I kind of enjoy this new exercise. Wouldn’t the preservation of your forefather’s legacy excite you as well? I’d only imagine it would, but if the bug hasn’t taken you yet I trust it shall in due time. So here’s the latest…

I am now a very jubilant and proud member of the DUVCW or Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. In short DUVCW is:

a sororial lineage society of direct descendants of veterans of the Federal US Army who defended and preserved the Union during the Civil War.

Did I note how excited I am about this membership? It was in April of this year that I actually acquired successful membership, but I didn’t get my awesome certificate and badge in my mailbox until two days ago. How fitting that these items should arrive two days before the Juneteenth holiday. Also, I have joined the ladies at the Mary Todd Lincoln Detached Tent here in Florida and look forward to attending future meetings.

The application process for this society was much easier than the process I went through for DAR membership. This is mostly because there are fewer generations to work back to going to the Civil War as opposed to the Revolutionary War. Before I outline my process for membership allow me to introduce you to my Civil War ancestor: Private Alexander Branch and others in my direct line of descent.

Alexander Branch is my 3rd great grandfather on my maternal grandmother’s side. The line of descent is as follows:

Alexander Branch (Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Louisa Branch (Great-Great Grandmother)
William “Willie” Jones (Great-Grandfather)
Johnetta Jones (Maternal Grandmother)
Mom
Me
Read more

sharing family history with children

FHforChildren

I remember the moment I went into labor with my first born child. While she was busy signaling (contractions) to me that she was ready for her grand arrival into the world I was quickly grabbing any necessities that had gone astray from my hospital bag. Once done with that I hit the late night road with my mother for the short trip to the hospital. I was excited and nervous all at once to meet this new little person. What would she be like? Joyful? Comedic? Smart? Sporty? Who would she look more like? Me or my husband? My mother and I stopped en-route to the hospital to pick up a pack of gum. Like any other meeting with a new person I suppose I wanted to have minty fresh breath when meeting my baby. Would she remember that her mama had minty fresh breath when they placed her in my arms for the first time?

If she ever comes back to read this blog I suppose she will definitely know that fresh breath was of great importance to me at that time. Maybe we’ll talk about this in the future if she ever asks for the story of her birth. Then she won’t need to refer to this blog.

Anyhow, this brings me to my main point of this particular post: Why should anyone share family history with children? Are the smallest of details of any benefit to children? What kinds of family stories should you share? When is the best time to share family history?
Read more