Aggie Andrews (1868-1944) I had some other posts to share but this was too good to ignore. What if among other last names such as Andrews, Burns, or Farrow that Mama Aggie also went under another family name. And the evidence I have already found just fits about where she was recorded on the US Census as a baby. In the 1870 US Census she was found in Hinds County, Mississippi with her parents Turner (Surner) and Maria Andrews with her brother Abram. The key fact is that this record was taken near the town of Utica, Mississippi.  And then the same record in Utica where this family were known as Roach this time in the 1880 US Census. How did I find them? I decided to look for who I presume is one of Aggie's kinfolk known as Simon Andrews - who is known as a minister. Found a record of him and just started to look for whatever I can find of Aggie and her family and found a match. Now we have an interesting wrinkle in our family history. If Turner Roach is the father of Aggie Andrews ...

Before going into this our Tribal Historian - the last time we really talked about this subject - wanted me to acknowledge that this story was considered by her largely  hearsay . So far we have found very little information on my great-aunt Hattie other than what was mentioned by our Tribal Matriarch or whatever was said by my grandmother Gurtine Howard. Hattie was the sister of my great-grandfather and our Tribal Chief James Lee Burns. She was the product of a relationship between Aggie Andrews and an unknown father. She's also said to be biracial and was able to pass for white during the most difficult time for race relations of the 20th Century. Aunt Hattie??? The only noted sighting of Hattie was at the funeral for her nephew Cornelius Brown which through research took place in 1990. I'd be very curious to know how old she was at that time, our Tribal Chief at that point had passed away about two years earlier. Unless there were other children out there we didn't k...

The 2024 Hunter/Burns Family Reunion took place in Montgomery, Alabama the capital city of the Yellowhammer State. Montgomery, AL is known for it's civil rights history as it was host to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1955, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and led a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery. It was there that Ms. Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and of course it was also know that Black passengers after paying their fare were forced to enter the bus through the back doors. It was a shame not to have been able to attend this reunion and see some of the historic sites there especially those concerning the Civil Rights Movement. Expected on the itinerary was visiting the city of Selma, AL which was the site of a march to Montgomery, AL that a protest for voting rights for Blacks. That march was dramatized in the blockbuster film Selma released in 2014. Anyway here's some swag that will be shown ...

My mother Lois Diana Burns Jenkins passed away after 10:00 PM on Monday, August 26, 2024. Until her very last breath she fought a long courageous battle against an illness. One of her last acts as our Tribal Historian ( Emeritus ) was to take an Ancestry DNA test and made many discoveries with regards to her maternal grandmother's family (Emma Hunter Burns). I was glad even as she was in the hospital in May that she was still willing to do so. She was also in on a call with a member of the extended family another act to help expand knowledge of her maternal grandfather (James Lee Burns) family's roots. Something written about briefly on this blog. She was a longtime banker who first started at the First National Bank of Chicago where she was a Trust Officer and then later became a Vice President at the Black-owned lender Seaway National Bank of Chicago. She graduated from JFK High School in Mound Bayou, MISS and after a period of part-time study she gained her undergrad degr...

Aggie Farrow - Find a Grave  It was a bit of a task to find out when Mama Aggie Andrews had passed away and some semblance of where she had passed away. Or even to have some confirmation of when she was born. All we have are census records to show that she was around. I found her in 1870, possibly 1880, 1900, 1920, and 1930. She was emergency contact for her son Turner when he was part of the WW1 US Army. Another son Will who joined the US Army listed her as someone he needed to support on his draft card. We found that she had married a Mr. James Farrow in the 1920 US Census. Which leads credence to family legend as recorded by our tribal historian. And now we know about when she was born and had passed away. She lived a long life I wonder how many of her grandchildren got a chance to know her. Sadly most of the ones I could haved asked has since passed away. Both Mama Aggie and Mr. Farrow died in 1944. Perhaps there's a way to find out if there is an official record for Aggie a...

James L Burns - June 18, 1898 Our Tribal Chief was born on this day in June 18, 1898. And he transitioned  ✝ well into the 20th Century in April 1988. Imagine all the things going on during his lifetime. Two World Wars, the Spanish-American War, Korean War, Vietnam War, the Cold War (and he just missed the conclusion), Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of two US Presidents, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, the Jim Crow South, men landing on the moon, I could go on. Here's his one connection to the 2nd World War. As you may recall his two older brothers Turner and Will had served in the 1st World War, however, James himself never served in the military. However, he still at 43 years of age had to register for the draft during that very awful global conflict. It's amazing what is found online when you're looking for information on your ancestors

Have you bought a kit? In April, our Tribal Historian and myself ( The Custodian ) spoke with a DNA match over the phone. I won't identify him at this time unless he says it's OK to do so. It was the first time we had spoken with a grandson of Arthur Burns.  As a reminder Arthur Burns is a younger brother to our Tribal Chief James Lee Burns. In my ongoing research I found out about him through the obituary of their older brother Will Burns . Arthur Burns (1900-1979) We learned through my 2nd Cousin that my late grandmother Gurtine and her living brother & sister has one paternal first cousin that's still alive. She won't be identified at this time as well. We had a nice chat over a relatively short period of time talking about their roots and they have their own "tribal historian". And it's exciting to reach out to other members of this extended family. One thing I have noticed over the years, is that for our reunions we've never really had anyon...