A Providence Family Connection Through DNA

I am excited to report that I recently discovered a DNA match who is likely kin to me on my PROVIDENCE family line. My PROVIDENCE ancestry comes through a great-great grandmother, Ersie Jane PROVIDENCE ROBINSON (abt. 1850-bef. 1910) on my father's side. Grandma Ersie Jane lived in Greensville County, Virginia. She married my great-great grandfather Joshua ROBINSON in Greensville County, Virginia on June 9, 1867. Discovering more about my PROVIDENCE ancestry has been achieved by a combination of oral history, document research, and now DNA. 

ORAL HISTORY
I initially learned of Grandma Ersie Jane through oral history in 1995 and 1996 which came from conversations with four siblings of my paternal grandmother Hattie MOORE PAIR (1902-1956): Samuel "Channie" MOORE, Charlie "Jack" MOORE, Washington MOORE, and Della MOORE RICHARDSON. During my initial conversations with my great aunt and three great uncles, who were born between 1900 and 1917, they gave me names of both sets of grandparents and other family members. They did not know Grandma Ersie, but heard about her from their parents and others. Later,I also had conversations with other grandchildren of Grandma Ersie Jane and Grandpa Joshua and gathered and wrote their memories of their grandparents. 

I don't remember if any of the grandchildren recalled that Grandma Ersie Jane's maiden name was PROVIDENCE. I think that the first time I learned her maiden name was when I discovered her 1867 marriage license to Joshua Robinson. After learning Grandma Ersie Jane's maiden name, I began asking if any of the grandchildren remembered her kinfolks. It was probably my great aunt Della and her first cousin Rozella, who told me that Grandma Ersie Jane had a sister named "Lucretia" who was married to Grandpa Joshua's brother Aaron GREENAWAY. None of the grandchildren remembered any other kinfolks of their grandmother. Research of Lucretia provided invaluable information on Grandma Ersie Jane's family and will be discussed further in a separate blog posting.


DOCUMENT RESEARCH 
After gathering oral history from my great aunt, great uncles, and other grandchildren of Joshua and Ersie Jane PROVIDENCE ROBINSON, I began searching documents such as marriage licenses, death certificates, and the census on the people they named. 

Research of documents can verify or dispute oral history as well provide new ancestral information. Much of this research was done in the late 1990s when there were not many resources on the Internet. I spent many hours gathering family history documents the old school way at libraries and courthouses. As I gathered documents on my family, I shared my findings with Grandma Ersie Jane's grandchildren and other family members through conversations as well as in the writing of letters, newsletters, and family reunion books.


DNA
My recently discovered PROVIDENCE DNA match and I both took autosomal DNA tests through Ancestry DNA.  This test analyzed the 22 pairs of chromosomes we inherited from each of our our parents. The results according to Ancestry DNA indicate that we share 27.5 centimorgans across two DNA segments and that we are fourth cousins. It helps to possibly make some type of definite family connection if both parties know names of their ancestors. Since my PROVIDENCE DNA match has a family tree on the the Ancestry DNA website, it enabled me to see that the PROVIDENCE surname is common in both our our ancestral lines. 

Ancestry DNA results for my PROVIDENCE DNA match and I

The DNA kit of this new match is being managed by her son and I sent him a message via Ancestry's site earlier this week. Thankfully he responded and I look forward to our journey together to piece together our family history. 

Genealogy is a continual process of working from the known to the unknown. The known for me through oral history and document research is that I had a great-great grandmother named Ersie Jane PROVIDENCE ROBINSON of Greensville County, Virginia, the daughter of John and Eliza PROVIDENCE. John and Eliza had at least two other children: Lucretia and Matthew. Matthew PROVIDENCE had least two sons: John and William. Matthew's son John was born around 1897 in North Carolina and died in 1952 in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

The known of the family tree of my PROVIDENCE DNA match indicates that the maiden name of her maternal grandmother Gentelia was PROVIDENCE and that Gentelia's father was named John PROVIDENCE who was born around 1904 and lived in Southampton County, Virginia in 1930.

It does not appear that John, the son of Matthew and the John PROVIDENCE ancestor of my DNA match were the same person. However, there are numerous other men named "John PROVIDENCE" living in Virginia and North Carolina during the same time as the other two Johns mentioned above.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Genealogy is a continual process of working from the known to the unknown and I look forward to discovering more about my PROVIDENCE ancestry and making family connections with living descendants through oral history, document research, and DNA.
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Grandma’s “The Help” Stories

My maternal grandmother, Emma Johnson Thornton (1922 - 2011).

Photo taken in Newport News, Virginia around 1950s.

“The Help” book and movie is bringing out a multitude of emotions—good, bad, and indifferent. My maternal grandmother openly talked about her experiences as “the help”, but she referred to this employment as “day work.” I am proud that she took the time to share such a rich oral history through her stories about being “the help”. The point of many of Grandma’s “the help” stories was to teach us about life and it’s challenges.

Through Grandma’s “the help” stories, I learned about racism, budgeting, motivations for migration, and about challenges in life. Grandma frequently recalled various racist comments made by some of her employers and having one job working as a live-in maid where she had to sleep on the porch with the family’s dog.

During the early 1940s, my grandmother moved from Ridgeway, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia where she lived with a maternal Aunt and worked as a Domestic for white families. Later she moved to Washington, DC around 1942 for better wages before getting married in March 1943 and settling in Newport News, Virginia. Through these stories, I learned about her motivations for migration.

One of the other stories she repeatedly told my family was about how she earned $3 a week and budgeted this wage: $1 to give her aunt for rent, $1 to get her hair done, and the rest for food which was not enough for the week. This story taught us about budgeting and hard times. “I should have listened to my mama and not jumped out so fast,” Grandma would often remorse about her decision to leave home at age 19 and head for the city to get out her rural hometown. This was the story she would tell to her grandchildren and great grands who were anxious to leave home and get out on their own.

After seeing “The Help” movie on opening night, I left the theater with a smile on my face and pride in my heart for my grandmother and other ancestors who endured the abuses of segregation, Jim Crow, and working as “the help.” I know that quite a few African Americans are upset by this movie and book, however my response is to reflect on my grandmother’s life and her stories about being “the help” as well as to honor her and other known ancestors who worked in this capacity.

Irregardless of how you feel about it, author Kathryn Stockett has told her version of “the help” story through a book and film which has ignited the emotions of Americans of all races around the country. But Stockett’s story is not the one and only story, so I encourage people of all races to share their “the help” stories. There is something liberating about sharing these types of stories and we saw this demonstrated in the book and film as the black maids of Jackson, Mississippi began to share their stories with Skeeter (Emma Stone).

Movie "The Help"

Watching the trailer for "The Help" movie reminds me that I need to record my grandmother's story about her working life as a Domestic for white families from the early 1940s to sometime during the 1970s. She refers to her working life as “Day’s Work” and I’ve heard others from her generation use this term to refer to Domestic work.

Thanks to Robin Foster of Saving Stories for posting this link on Facebook today. The trailer certainly ignited oral histories I’ve heard over the years and motivated me to revisit these memories from my grandmother. In Grandma's china closet are various items given to her by some of her employers and I recall conversations with her about which items were given by whom. However, I don’t recall who gave what so this time I plan to record these memories.

Therefore my genealogy priories for the week are as follows:

1. Write down what I remember Grandma saying about her life as a Domestic.


2. Write down questions to ask her about her life as a Domestic.


3. Take photos and inventory items in china closet which were given to her by her employers and record her memories of these items.


4. Begin recording and writing her memories of her life as a Domestic in Richmond, VA, Washington, DC, and Newport News, VA.

Trailer for Movie, "The Help"


Mary J. Blige records New Song For the Help

My WDYTYA Episode - Oral History

Note: Thanks to all of you who have read my previous postings about my Great Grand Uncle Andrew Bullock. A special thanks to William Carson, of Afrigeneas Genealogy and History Forum for nicknaming my uncle “Uncle Andy B.” I love this nickname and to plan use it in my blog postings. Thanks William for your permission.
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He said…? She said…? Who really said it? This is both my dilemma and regrets for not always documenting the sources of oral history or “who said what” regarding Uncle Andy B. and others. Now as I write up my oral history tradition about Uncle Andy B’s life, my memory grows fuzzy with regard to who really said what. Some of these “informants” are still alive and well so I can still ask them questions again, while others are now deceased or not so well in mind now.

Throughout my years of tracing my family history, I have learned many facts about my family through oral history. In some cases, I conducted formal interviews where I took notes and tape recorded the conversations. In other cases, I learned tidbits about my family through informal conversations with my older relatives by phone or face-to-face. From my recollections of conversations within the last 15 years of researching, I gathered several bits of information about Uncle Andy B.

In analyzing the oral history information learned about Uncle Andy B., I will identify the sources of oral history by their kinship to him and comment whether they are alive or deceased. If alive, I will comment on what I know about their health or state of mind.

I first learned that I had a Great Grand Uncle named Andrew Bullock from two of his nieces and a brother-in-law at a family reunion in 1989. Later, I learned several things about him from the following sources whom I’ll refer to as “Informants.”

Informant #1
Niece saw him once at family funeral in 1951; remembers him as tall and dark-skinned. Informant still living and in good state of mind.

Informant #2
Niece in law visited him on several occasions with her husband (one of Uncle Andy B.’s nephews), Attended his March 20 1972 funeral. Informant is now deceased. I think that she mentioned that Uncle Andy B. had stepchildren.*

Informant #3
Niece visited him when she lived in NY and attended his March 20, 1972 funeral. I think that she also mentioned that Uncle Andy B. had stepchildren.* Informant still living and in good state of mind.

*****

*Note: My memory is fuzzy with regard to who said what about Uncle Andy B. having stepchildren. I think that both Informants #2 and #3 mentioned that Uncle Andy B. had stepchildren. Since both of them visited him during his lifetime, they both would have probably known about the stepchildren. I am not sure which informant (#2 or #3) gave me details on the gender of the stepchildren and the names of some of them. The recollection is that Uncle Andy B. did not have biological children, but had one stepson and two stepdaughters. The informant thought that the stepson’s name was Johnny; and that one of he stepdaughter’s name was Winny. Informant did not remember the name of the second stepdaughter.

*****

Informant #4
First Cousin who may have interacted with him when both lived in NY. Informant still living. This first cousin who is in his early 80s possibly has Alzheimers, but I am not sure how severe. This informant did not tell me directly, but reportedly told another Bullock family researcher that Andy B. left home during his teenage years and moved to NY to live with relatives. He and Uncle Andy B. were first cousins and it is likely that their paths crossed in NY. I have met and had several conversations with this informant and probably brought up Uncle Andy B’s name during our conversation after I learned that informant lived in NY during his adult years. If this conversation took place, I do not remember anything in particular that this informant said.

Other Oral History Conversations
I am positive that I asked others about Uncle Andy B. during times when I have inquired about memories of the children Uncle Andy B’s parents, Andrew and Luvenia Bullock. Nothing significant is remembered from these inquiries other than Uncle Andy B. was the son who lived in New York.

More Possible Informants
There are still a few living relatives whom I have not talked to yet, who likely remember Uncle Andy B. or remember hearing about him. Uncle Andy B. has several first cousins still living, one in particular who moved from NC to New York during her early adult life. Last time I saw her, she was 95 years old, very spry, and walking better than I was. I can’t remember what year I last saw her and for some reason I don’t have her date of birth recorded in my family tree file. Yesterday I posted a message on our Bullock family website to ask about this cousin’s well being as well as contact information for her. If this cousin is not well enough to talk, then there are other possible persons such as her son who might be in his 70s or 80s or other living cousins or nieces and nephews of Uncle Andy B.

Stay tuned. . . Coming Up! – Professor Dru learns about Uncle Andy B. from the Census.

Discrepancies in Memories and Oral History

Memory is a funny thing and we know that when several people witness the same event such as an accident, they will all remember and recall it differently. This is a hilarious video of a discussion among three black gospel music pioneers, Thomas Dorsey, Sally Martin (lady on left side), and Willie May Ford Smith (lady on right side) about the origins of the first Gospel Music Convention.

Mr. Thomas Dorsey keeps his cool as he sits in between these two argumentative and highly opinionated women.

If I were the person who asked this question to these three gospel music pioneers, I would write down ALL sides of the story.

Oral History Interview - Growing up in a Small Town (Dumas)

This oral history project is an interview of two cousins. The interview was conducted by an 8th grader for an English/History school project. Oral History: From this interview, one can learn a a lot about childhood traditions during the life of the interviewee.

Oral History Questions

All family history researchers should take the time to conduct oral history interviews of family members as well as friends of the family. Through these interviews, researchers will learn things that will never be found in documents we gather. Knowledge gained from oral history interviews can put “flesh on the bones” of ancestors long gone.

Many interviewees may remember as far back as their grandparents or great grandparents. Their memories can take your research back several generations. For example, early in my research I interviewed four of the siblings of my paternal grandmother, Hattie Moore Pair. They were all in their eighties or nineties during the time of the interviews which took place between 1996 and 1997.

Through the interviews, I learned about their lives as well as the lives of their parents and grandparents, who were born during the 1840s. I also learned about my grandmother Hattie, whom I never knew, because she died when my father was a child.

Now, three of these siblings are deceased, but thankfully I have the interviews on tape. The last living sibling of my grandmother is Aunt Della, who will be turning 100 later this year. Her memory is still sharp and I look forward to learning more about my family history through her memories

Below are two websites with list various questions you can ask during oral history interviews. Remember not only to ask questions, but also to record them, either by audio or video, and transcribe and share the results with other family members.

Selected Topics and Questions for Oral Histories

50 Questions for Family History Interviews

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph Bullock

This is the tombstone of Joseph Bullock (August 11, 1905 - October 11, 1932). He was the youngest son of my great-great grandparents Andrew and Luvenia Bullock and is buried in the cemetery of Morning Star Holy Church in Vance County, NC. His mother Luvenia and sister Nancy are also buried in this cemetery.

Through oral history, I learned that Grandma Ven (Joseph's mother), purchased a car for her son to drive her to church. Like young men of any time frame who sometimes take advantage of car privileges given to them by their parents, Joseph, reportedly didn’t always show up to take his mother to church when she wanted to go. This car was possible purchased sometime during the mid to late 1920s. No doubt, Joseph's abuse of car priviledges created much friction in the Bullock household.

Joseph Bullock died as a young man on October 11, 1932 from “pulmonary tuberculosis” in the Jubilee Hospital, in Henderson, NC. Jubilee was the hospital for blacks or negroes during the time that Joseph Bullock died. He was attended by Dr. S. M. Beckford fore three days, October 9, 1932 to October 11, 1932 when Joseph died shortly before midnight at 11:25 PM.

Joseph's death certificate lists his age at death as 28, however, a date of birth is not listed on the certificate. Joseph's tombstone lists a date of birth as August 11, 1905 and date of death as October 11, 1932. If this is accurate, then he would have been age 27 when he died.

My maternal grandmother Emma and her younger siblings were living with Grandma Ven during the time of their uncle's death, but my grandmother does not recall this death. She was ten years old when her uncle died. My grandmother, does, however recall getting rides in the car with her uncle.

Oral History--Early African American Memories

This is a video recording of an interview with Rose Ruffin, age 93, who discusses her family history and life in Onslow County, North Carolina. This oral history is part of an ongoing research dealing with the Brick Mill Cemetery preservation project. Brick Mill is the largest all African American community cemetery in Onslow County, North Carolina.

Part 1


Part 2

Family Oral History Using Digital Tools

Computer book author Susan Kitchens discusses her website, Family Oral History, where she shares tips for being a better interviewer, using the right tools, and the possibilities of digital technology.

Susan Kitchen

Capturing the Past

This five-part video series provides an overview of oral history interviewing and explains the steps in the process.

1. Planning the Interview
2. Planning for an Interview
3. Conducting the Interview
4. Preserving the Interview

Capturing the Past, Part 1


Capturing the Past, Part 2


Capturing the Past, Part 3


Capturing the Past, Part 4


Capturing the Past, Part 5

Oral History Interviews

I am preparing for an upcoming presentation on conducting oral history interviews. This has been an invaluable technique for learning about my family history and discovering clues for further research. The following video explains the process of interviewing and gathering oral history.

Interviewing Your Information Source