SATURDAY, JUNE 10
RIC MURPHY
PLENARY SPEAKER
asha mcdowell
REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY
BREAKOUT SESSION A
10:30AM – 11:30AM
ADRIENNE ABIODUN
Geneology 101
This discussion delves into the practical aspects of using genealogy as a foundation for reparations claims. By intertwining genealogical evidence with legal arguments, we aim to strengthen the case for reparations, emphasizing the need for acknowledgment, restitution, and reconciliation.
BRENDA A. WILLIAMS AND LANA REED
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MACON, GEORGIA 1860-70
This presentation will offer participants an opportunity to learn, using the slave and federal census and Excel Spreadsheet Pivot Tables, to create primary data that possibly connects enslaved peoples to the people who enslaved them.
JANICE CROSS GILYARD
CONNECTICUT FREEDOM SEEKERS IN THE U.S. COLORED TROOPS – FREDERICK O. CROSS, JOSEPH O. CROSS, AND SAMUEL G. CROSS, THE LEGACY OF THREE FREE BROTHERS DURING AND AFTER THE U.S. CIVIL WAR
Joseph O. Cross of Griswold, Connecticut served in the Twenty-ninth (Colored) Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during 1864 and 1865. Samuel G. Cross of Hartford, Connecticut served in the 3rd and 5th Connecticut Regiment, and Frederick O. Cross of Hartford, Connecticut served in the 3rd and 8th Connecticut Regiment.
This presentation will highlight their service in the U.S. Civil War and focus on their lives after the war. Joseph O. Cross wrote letters to his wife detailing his service and the battles he fought in which are highlighted on the American Civil War Museum’s website. Samuel G. Cross ended his service in Washington, DC, attended Howard University, and started a school to teach the formerly enslaved with assistance from General Otis O. Howard (Led the Freedmen’s Bureau and was the Founder of Howard University). Frederick O. Cross started a business and was the first person of color to become a Sheriff in Hartford, Connecticut.
ALVIN BLAKES
THE FIGHTING VEALS: A FAMILY OF CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
After the fall of Vicksburg Mississippi to the Union Army July 4, 1863 and the surrender of Port Hudson Louisiana June 13, 1863, the union army controlled the entire Mississippi River. With the advance of the Union army into the lower Mississippi River valley and northeast Louisiana, whole enslaved plantation communities began to communicate and mobilize to join the fight and proclaim their freedom.
By 1864, the Veal Family, initially located in Wilkinson County in 1809, had been spread into Louisiana by the slaveholding families in West Feliciana and Rapides Parish, Louisiana. An 1864 list of “runaways” from the Louisiana plantations documents the Veal family members and other young men in the plantation community before they joined the Union forces.
In this session Alvin will identify several Veal Family members who enlisted in US Colored Infantry Regiments and boarded Union Navy ships in Natchez, New Orleans and Bayou Sara/ St Francisville, Louisiana. The Veal family of Louisiana and Mississippi made a noble contribution to the Union Army victory by providing formerly enslaved men who took up arms and became the new supply of lifeblood to the Union.
LUNCH
11:30AM – 1:30PM
Panel Discussion: Using Genealogy to Support Reparation Claims
Panelist: Jonnie Brown, Treasurer of the Board of Directors; Evelyn A. McDowell, Chair, Board of Directors; Des Hamilton, Founding member of SDUSMP; Hollis Gentry, Smithsonian Institute; Adrienne Abiodun, Board Member. Moderated by: Desmond Hamilton, Founding SDUSMP Board Member, California Residence.
Description: At the end of the Civil War, United States Government developed and implemented a plan to help the newly freed enslaved individuals. This plan was reversed and stopped by Andrew Johnson. However, the program acknowledged the harm and the need for restitution to the freedmen. With California and other states leading the country towards a final acknowledgment of the debt owned, genealogy is front and center because it can help identify the freedmen’s descendants. We will discuss how genealogy can be used and how descendants can start connecting to their enslaved ancestors will be topics at this year’s conference.
12:30PM – 1:30PM
LUNCH COOK-A-LONG WITH CHEF KEESHA O’GALDEZ
During this session, Chef Keesha O’Galdez will teach us to make a dish of our ancestors.
BREAKOUT SESSION B
1:30PM – 2:30PM
Janice m. Sellers
FINDING FAMILY MEMBERS IN FREEDMAN’S BANK RECORDS
The Freedman’s Bank was started so that USCT soldiers and formerly enslaved individuals could invest and save money after Emancipation. The records for these more than 70,000 accounts can show you family members listed together—at times three generations for one account—and sometimes the former slaveholder’s name, a key to finding more information about your family prior to 1865. Examples will show how family relationships can be documented with these records.
RUTH D. HUNT
MY 2ND GREAT UNCLE FOUGHT IN THE UNION ARMY… ABRAHAM PETTY LEFT WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA AS A SLAVE AND RETURNED AS A FREE MAN!
Cherekana Feliciano
Gettysburg Miracle: A 158 Years To The Receipt of A Military Medal
I will explore what I have uncovered about the life of my second great grandfather and Civil War ancestor, Larkin Woodruff, who served in the 50th USCT. I will share the research challenges I’ve encountered as well as an exciting discovery I made about his Civil War service. I also intend to share outstanding questions I have that I hope to answer through continued research.
BREAKOUT SESSION C
2:45PM – 3:45PM
ORICE JENKINS
Exploring the Thomas Terrell Plantation Records
The presentation begins in 1725 with the death of Thomas Terrell’s grandfather-in-law, and ends with the 1937 Slave Narrative of his biracial great-granddaughter. Orice will give background information on the enslaving family by showing and analyzing their probate records. Orice will also discuss the lives and accomplishments of some specific individuals that survived enslavement on this land, including his own ancestor.
CHARLOTTE BOCAGE
Germaine’s Grandchildren
This lecture shows the progression from enslavement, to freedom provider, to present day. This lecture provides a look into the lives of Charlotte’s 2x great-grandparents lives and how they created a climate of success for their children and their descendants.
KATHY MARSHALL
CASE STUDY: MARGARET BOOKER, FROM ENSLAVED TO FREE DURING THE CIVIL WAR
Where are the records of black women in history? This session will follow the intricate steps Kathy Lynne Marshall took, from 1976 to 2022, to uncover a number of mysteries about her great-great-great-grandmother, Margaret Booker. Margaret was enslaved for thirty years in Beverly, Randolph County, West Virginia, and ended her life as a free businesswoman in Barnesville, Ohio. But who was her slave owner(s)? Who fathered her children? How did she earn her freedom? What was her life like during the Civil War? How did she travel with her children from West Virginia to Ohio during Civil War fighting? Who were her parents and what happened to them after the Civil War? Finding information about enslaved people is difficult. Finding confirmation about black women’s lives is especially confounding; but Kathy was able to answer all her questions. You can follow her steps to make progress on your search.
Kathy will present examples of the documents she found from online and onsite research to share ideas with attendees for their own genealogical adventures. That includes local publications and court, probate, newspaper, census, birth and marriage documents. Serendipity, good luck, or spiritual help from the ancestors helped Kathy find exciting answers, sometimes in unexpected places. More information about her successes are presented in The Mystery of Margaret Booker, published in 2020.
Kathy’s goal was to find sufficient evidence to convincingly answer her research questions. This case study affirms that we CAN find information about our formerly enslaved ancestors.
biographies
RIC MURPHY
Ric Murphy© is the President General of the Society of the First African Families of English America, and the past National Vice President for History for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. He has published in numerous historical, genealogical, and literary journals, and is the author of numerous publications including the Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia in 1619 (History Press, 2020); Section 27 and Freedman’s Village in Arlington National Cemetery: The African American History of Americas Most Hallowed Ground (McFarland Publishers, 2020); the biography of Rear Admiral Larry Chambers, USN: First African American to Command an Aircraft Carrier (McFarland Publishers, 2017); and Freedom Road: An American Family Saga from Jamestown to World War (Franklin Pearson Publishers, 2014). He is currently working on his next book, Liberty: The Legacy of 1776 and Cuffee’s Lane, expected to be released in the summer of 2022 and The Thirteenth Amendment, expected to be released in the winter of 2022 (History Press). His family lineage has been evaluated and accepted by several heredity societies, including but not limited to the General Society Sons of the Revolution; the National Society of the Sons of Colonial New England; the Sons of the American Revolution; the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War; the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage; and the Society of the First African Families of English America. Mr. Murphy was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University, Kennedy School; he earned a Masters from Boston University, and a Bachelors from the University of Massachusetts.
ASHA MCDOWELL
Asha McDowell is an English and social studies teacher in the New Orleans area. She holds a M.A. in History from Jackson State University where her primary studies used the WPA Slave Narratives to focus on enslaved people and how they practiced religion. She has done extensive research about West African spirituality and the way enslaved people practiced it. Asha currently acts as the social media coordinator for SDUSMP and is a charter member.
adrienne abiodun
Adrienne Abiodun is a Professional Genealogist and Researcher with Legacy Tree Genealogists located outside of Tampa, Florida. Combined, her personal and professional genealogical pursuits span nearly two decades, fourteen years of which have been in the exploration of genetic genealogy. She is a member of the Florida Genealogical Society, and a handful of lineage societies which include: Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW), Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP) which she serves on the board for and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) where she is presently the National Vice Chair for the NSDAR DNA Network Committee and State Chairman for the Florida Society Children of the American Revolution. Her niche areas include African American genealogy, Deep South U.S., lineage societies and genetic genealogy.
When Adrienne isn’t researching or giving presentations, she enjoys spending time with her two favorite DNA matches – her two children, Naomi (11) and Oneil (9).
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BRENDA A. WILLIAMS
Brenda A. Williams is an avid enthusiast and front runner in African American Genealogy. As a genealogist, she has provided history for her family, tracing them back to their roots on the David Dickson plantation. Ms. Williams planned a reunion for her family at Dickson plantation, thus allowing them to walk in the footsteps of Buena Vista and Lucy Lester, Lou Vicey Mills, and Phillis May. Ms. Williams has also connected her maternal family to Dr. Herbert’s Plantation of Warrenton, Georgia. She also traced the paternal side of her family to enslaver Nathan Haines of Jeffersonville, Georgia. In addition to the African American side of her family, she works diligently with Ms. Lana Reed, putting together the Caucasian side of her ancestry. She has done genealogy consulting and given Ancestry help to individuals who do not have any idea who their father is much less hope of going farther back in their lineage.
Ms. Williams has partnered with Dr. Chester J. Fontenot, Chair of African American Studies of Mercer University Macon Campus, The Honorable Erica Woolford, Bibb County Clerk of Courts and Jessi Downey, Historian of the Oakridge Cemetery, final resting place for many enslaved people in Macon, Georgia. Thus, creating a comprehensive and scientific approach to connecting people to their ancestors.
She is an honor graduate from Morris Brown College and Golden Key Honor Society member. She has earned a Masters of Arts degree in Organizational Management and working toward her doctoral degree, focusing her research on conflict management styles of millennials in the Middle Georgia area. In addition to her professional studies, Ms. Williams is a Georgia registered civil, juvenile and domestic mediator, with a specialization in domestic violence. She is the program director for the Houston and Bibb Judicial Circuits Alternative Dispute Resolution program, serving the citizens of the Middle Georgia area.
Brenda resides in Macon, Georgia and is married to the Honorable Henry E. Williams, mother to one daughter, four sons, 10 grandsons and is raising her 8 year old granddaughter, Dynver.
LANA REED
Lana Reed enjoys the challenge of genealogy. Ms. Reed actively extends her tree branches daily and uses her 25 years of searching for ancestors to help others do the same. Ms. Reed is a business analyst in the financial industry. Fluent in Spanish, she spent part of her childhood in Costa Rica and Peru. She has lived in 4 countries and visited 33. She worked at the American Embassy in Moscow, USSR before the end of the iron curtain. She taught English in the Peoples Republic of China in the late ’80s.
While trying to find her DNA cousin connection to Ms. Brenda Williams, Lana developed a system of using Excel and her theory of “Follow the Money”, to create spreadsheets that connect data from the 1860, 1870 Federal and Slave census’. Filtering and analyzing the data, Lana and Ms. Brenda Williams find connections to families as well as enslavers. Ms. Reed has completed census studies from Washington, Hancock, Jefferson, and Macon-Bibb counties, in Georgia as well as counties in Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. This is a way to take a complex set of data and cross reference multiple data sources to uncover information long buried for decades if not for 100s of years. It takes this, combined with stories, with court tax records, Will and Probate data to puzzle the pieces back together. It isn’t easy but Brenda and Lana are up for the challenge. We hope are also!
janice cross gilyard
Janice Cross Gilyard is a charter member of the Harriet Tubman Chapter of Sons & Daughters of the US Middle Passage, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society – New Jersey Chapter (AAHGS-NJ), the New Jersey Genealogical Society, and the National Genealogical Society. She served as Vice President (three terms) and is currently serving a second term as President for AAHGS-NJ. She is Editor of the AAHGS-NJ Family Times Newsletter, Programming Coordinator, and she provides content for the chapter’s Facebook page. Janice also serves on the following boards: The National Genealogical Society, Sons & Daughters of the US Middle Passage, and the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project. She is also on the Advisory Team for the James Howe House Project in Montclair, New Jersey.
Janice has conducted her family research for the past 26 years and documented her family history back to 1720 (Native American, African American, and European). She is proud of her ancestors, which include farmers, authors, professors (two founded colleges), abolitionists, mariners, midwives, political campaigners, and pastors. Janice is enthusiastic about history and genealogy and believes that her ancestors chose her to research, document and tell their stories. She has made numerous presentations at genealogical and lineage societies, churches, libraries, universities, and she has presented at RootsTech 2021, 2022 virtually, and for the first time in person this year. She is a Paul E. Sluby African American Scholarship recipient (2021 from The Board of Certified Genealogist – BCG) and host a Podcast: Speak On It! History & Genealogy Conversations with Janice & Cherekana via BlogTalkRadio.
Janice’s professional experience includes over 20 years in Public Relations providing consulting services. Currently, she manages all Customer Care Clients for a major health foods company in New Jersey. Janice loves history, genealogy, and traveling.
ALVIN BLAKES
Alvin Blakes is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who has researched all the branches of his family’s history from Mississippi back to the late 1700s. He is the author of the blog Almost Disappeared: Unearthing My Family History (almostdisappeared.com), where he shares the genealogical resources and methodologies found over the last 25 years while tracing his family’s history.
Alvin is a member of the Dallas Genealogical Society’s African American Genealogy Interest Group and the African American Genealogical and Historical Society of Chicago. He has been a guest on Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalk radio, Nurturing Our Roots Genealogy Discussions, and has presented topics at the Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage Conference, the African American Civil War Museum and Memorial and the African American Genealogical Interest Group of Dallas, Texas. Alvin graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University’s School of Engineering and has enjoyed a lifelong career as a Mechanical Design Engineer.
Jonnie Ramsey Brown
Jonnie Ramsey Brown, MBA, CPA, CISA, worked at various colleges and universities during her career and served on two Olympic organization committees: Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. She retired from the Department of Homeland Security in 2019. As her family historian, Jonnie published a compilation of family stories in 2017 and writes articles for various genealogy publications. She is also a member of the Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage, Daughters of the American Revolution, First Families of Alabama, National Society Descendants of American Farmers, and other lineage, historical, and genealogy organizations. Jonnie also tells her family’s heartbreaking story to bring awareness to the racial disparities in healthcare, in honor of the legacy of her late husband, Thomas James Brown. Her book entitled You Promised To Do No Harm will be available June 20, 2023.
evelyn mcdowell
Dr. Evelyn Aniton McDowell, Ph.D., CPA, CGMA is the President of the Board of Directors and founder of Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage. She is also an Associate Professor of Accounting at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace College, and her Master of Accountancy and Doctor of Philosophy in Accountancy from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. She is the Program Director and co-founder of the Aspiring Accounting Professionals Program, an organization devoted to increasing the number of minority accounting professionals through mentoring, community involvement, experiential learning, and academic and peer support.
Dr. McDowell was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. In her spare time, she researches her family’s genealogy and is a member of the Princeton, NJ Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is currently searching the following surnames: Polk, Aniton, Anderton, Blakeley (Alabama); Passmore, Colbert, and Jolly (Georgia).
DES Hamilton
Des Hamilton is a Media Technology professional working in the social media and gaming industries. As a creative, he partners with video game developers and medial social influencers to transform businesses amid today’s evolving digital landscape. In 2018, Des built “Gravitron,” an intranet creative learning platform that fosters product knowledge sharing between 13k game developers. In 2020 Des helped stand up the video game influencer ecosystem on Facebook. Currently, Des is focused on expanding his consultancy practice, where he assists small businesses in achieving growth and scalability.
Des was born in Pennsauken, NJ, where he started his collegiate journey at Rider University. After his sophomore year, he transferred, accepting a whole track and field scholarship to the University of Southern California. After obtaining All-American Track & Field honors, Des graduated with a B.S. in accounting and went to work for Ernst & Young LLP as a financial statement auditor serving technology and pharmaceutical clients.
Hollis gentry
Hollis Gentry is a genealogy specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture Library. She provides genealogical and historical reference services; develops and implements genealogy instruction, programs, and presentations; and serves as a genealogy consultant on the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s special projects. She worked for the National Daughters of the American Revolution for eleven years working as Special Projects Researcher and Genealogists. She recently testified as an expert genealogy witness before the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. Ms. Gentry says that working at the museum is the realization of a dream she’s had for more than two decades: to provide reference assistance to staff, scholars, and the public on subjects related to African American history, culture, and genealogy. She loves researching and enjoys helping other researchers find the information they seek. She also enjoys being amongst colleagues who have a passion for their work, learning from them and with them, and enjoying the numerous opportunities for professional and personal development that are available at the Smithsonian. Over the years, she has advised the leadership of Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage in the creation of its genealogy standards and other issues.
chef keesha o’galdez
Keesha O’Galdez is a personal chef. She has completed the Chef’s training program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Culinary Arts in New York City. Focusing on organic, vegetarian, vegan and other health supportive diets. Also a BS in Information Systems Engineering from Buffalo University—SUNY and a MBA from Simmons College in Boston, MA. Worked in the non-profit, academic, public and financial sectors as a project consultant and operations manager. She has graced the kitchens as a Pastry Chef in Smith Canteen in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn, Amy’s Bread, and Smile to Go in Soho and savory as a catering chef at Patina Events. You may have seen Chef Keesha on multiple episodes of Epicurious’s 50 Person Prep challenge web series that has reached over 10 million views and Food Network’s Chopped.
janice m. sellers
Janice M. Sellers has been researching her family history for almost 50 years. She is now a professional genealogist who is passionate about her work, specializing in Jewish, Black, dual citizenship, and newspaper research. She previously worked in publishing as an editor and indexer. Her site is ancestraldiscoveries.com.
ruth d. hunt
Ruth D. Hunt is a seasoned family historian and genealogist. In 1977 she was inspired by the Godfather Alex Haley and has been researching family history ever since. She has developed research skills that produced miraculous results believed to be gifts from her ancestors. One of her greatest accomplishments was finding her long-lost WWII half-brother in England. She lectures and provides genealogical workshops for numerous organizations, libraries, and civic groups. Ms. Hunt most recently developed a genealogy workshop program for the New York City Veterans, New York City Health + Hospital Corporation Inclusion Group, and the Roanoke Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution. A few of Ms. Hunt’s affiliations are she is a Charter Member of The Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage. She has been a member of The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society since the 1980s. Ms. Hunt has been a member of the DAR since 2009, and she holds a certificate in Genealogical Research from the National Society Daughters of American Revolutions and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Department of Defense for her work with Veterans.
cherekana feliciano
Cherekana Feliciano is a family historian, public history enthusiast and law school graduate. She has been conducting family history research for almost fifteen years and currently serves as the Vice President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) – New Jersey Chapter. By day, she works for the local courthouse. Alongside her cohost, Janice Gilyard, she is one half of a genealogy podcast entitled, Speak On It! History and Genealogy Conversations with Janice and Cherekana on BlogTalkRadio. She also conducts informal research on African American cemeteries in New Jersey. She blogs her genealogy findings and musings at https://curiousconjurerblog.wordpress.com/. She is a New York City native and Rutgers University (Douglass College!) alumna.
orice jenkins
Orice Jenkins is a recording artist, genealogist, educator, and author from Hartford, Connecticut. He began researching his family history upon discovering that Whitney Houston’s grandparents were from his grandmother’s hometown of Blakely, Georgia. Since then, he has traced his ancestry back to 1755, uncovering the stories of several formerly enslaved Americans.
Orice is a charter member of the Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage. He has been featured on genealogy shows such as “Research at the National Archives & Beyond” and “Grating the Nutmeg” and presented his findings to Racial Justice Rising and at the Indiana African American Genealogy Group annual conference. Orice has worked as a consultant for Dr. Matt Baker, the creator of UsefulCharts.com, collaborating on genealogy videos that have garnered millions of views on YouTube. Most recently, he contributed to Bernice Bennett’s new book: Black Homesteaders of the South (Arcadia Publishing/The History Press). Orice also publishes a blog called Chesta’s Children, and serves as the Executive Director of a youth music program in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
CHARLOTTE MARIE BOCAGE
Charlotte Marie Bocage is a full-time professional genealogist with more than four decades of experience. She is the Bocage Family genealogist and historian tracing one line of her paternal family back to 17th century Europe. She has published three family history books. She is also the Bloom and Bocage Family Reunion chairperson. Charlotte graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies. A New Orleans native she organizes family reunions for both sides of her family. She worked for Pacific Bell for over 31 years retiring in 2001. She taught Source Documentation 101 and a Louisiana Research Webinar for Family Tree University. For six years, Charlotte was a guest genealogy lecturer for the University of California, Los Angeles Osher Lifelong Learning Program. She volunteers on the Board of Directors and is the Education chair of the Southern California Genealogical Society and Research Library. She is the First Vice President of the Pasadena Area African American Genealogical Society. She was a Vice President and Program chair for the California African American Genealogical Society. Charlotte has lectured at societies and conferences across the United States. She recently provided two in-person lectures for the National Genealogical Society Conference in Sacramento May 25-28, 2022.
kathy lynne marshall
Kathy Lynne Marshall, the Black Ancestor Biographer, works as a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist on behalf of our ancestors. She’s written eight books that enhance the American Historical Record by adding extensively-researched, factual accounts of the lives of women, enslaved African Americans, and other groups. She has received multiple Book Awards. As an instructor, she leads workshops to guide others in writing the untold stories about the contributions of historically excluded individuals. Her passion is encouraging all people to write their stories. Kathy has been interviewed by various news sources in Sacramento, California, American Spark-TV, and several national podcasts. She served as a consultant to West Virginia’s Beverly Heritage Center to create an African American exhibit which included her Booker family in 2022. She worked for the California Highway Patrol as a researcher, analysis, and technical writer for 36 years. As the artist called Kanika, she enjoys ceramics and welding recycled steel sculptures. For more information: KathyLynneMarshall.com