AFRICAN AMERICAN OBITUARIES

There are hundreds of African American obituaries on-line in the AfriGeneas Database. I have put over a thousand obits also on the Findagrave website. The websites are a godsend to Black genealogists. I have found a few relatives on those sites. AfriGeneas is a valuable site for african Americans.

DO YOU HAVE INDIAN ANCESTRY? COUNTY KEPT NO RECORDS

I found out my grandmother was half Blackfeet Indian and I contacted the Arkansas Historical Commission in my state. They told me that they had no records of Indians in our state.I am lucky that I have a picture of my whole family in their indian costumes.

In the state of Arkansas after the Civil War, all free Black men were ordered to leave the state. So I have stopped working so hard on my line because I know that my state had no regard of Black History.

Last month I contacted the Counway County Arkansas Courthouse and wanted the records of "Sullivan"the black high school. I was told that there were no records. They didn't keep them. But the other high school in the town, their records are there.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOUR GRANDPARENTS ARE?

I have talked to many people who do do not know who their grandparents are. Their parents never discussed it with them. I was so surprised. I had never heard of such a thing. Family and family values are lost with many families now. Trying to make a living has been at the forefront.

On holidays in California there are people who do not take the time to relax and spend time with family. They are out shopping at malls and home improvement stores. And some of them don't know the meaning of the holiday and why it is observed. It is just a day off work.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE SEARCHING THE RIGHT STATE

I had been searching the whole state of Arkansas for years and never could find anything. I was introduced to a cousin whose mother was a slave. She told me that the family was from Darlington, South Carolina. After that it was a little easier.

But I could never find my two great grandfather's parents or if they had any siblings. I could not find them on the 1870 census.