Hello ~ I just happened to find you .......

[goclark]

I had no idea there was a Group for my passion ~ learning where I came from so that I know what made me who I am!

My family is from Rappahannock /Caroline Co. Virginia and Maryland.
I am African American and have been "Digging for my Roots" for at least 12 years.

[dgibby]

1. You've come to the right place.

I love genealogy,too, and I've gotten lots of good info here.

The Rappahannock area is beautiful, isn't it? I have family in Matthews and Gloucester, but I'm originally from Clifton Forge, about 40mi north of Roanoke, in the Alleghany Mountains.

Glad you found this group. Hope it helps you as much as it's helped me.

:hi:

[goclark]

2. I read a post here yesterday that made my day,my week,my year

I truly hit pay dirt!

A poster was suggesting that one of the best sites was familysearch.org.

I had visited there a few times.

Yesterday I tried it again and BINGO!

I found so many pieces to my CHINN family I could not believe it, still don't believe it.

I don't recall ever seeing the Virginia Marriage and Death Records when I used the Pilot Search of that site.

I was on my computer for 4 hours and even now, I am happily putting puzzle pieces together.

:hug:

[dgibby]

3. That's great!

I'm so happy for you! Some of the hints I got here helped me trace both sides of the family back to Europe. Unbelievable!

[goclark]

5. I just keep getting lucky at familysearch.org

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I am really on a roll with my research now.

Since finding the updates on familysearch, I decided to take the names of any ancestors that I 've had trouble finding the puzzle pieces for... it's working, I'm finding them so fast!

I found my uncle Herbert in about five new to me records, he lied so many times to the census people its a shame....
Truth-- his family was "Negro" but they all looked White.

He told his brothers that he would be leaving Maryland and passing for White. He sure did that one!

He lived in Maryland farm country and census records said he was White.

He moved to Texas and married a lady from Puerto Rico -- he gave the right B Day but he didn't list Race.

Married another lady that was Mexican and he said he was Mexican.

He was buried as a Veteran in Los Angeles and he was listed as White.When the man at the desk directed me to his grave site, he told "little brown skinned me" that could not possibly be my uncle.I gave him the birth date and the city of birth and told him , " That IS my uncle ~ Herbert (he lied again)

I've also been finding ancestors in the 1930 Census for Maryland.

Thanks for all the help here.

For some reason, I didn't get the reply notices from this forum in my Inbox???

[NOLALady]

4. Hey.

I've been digging up my elusive Africans (and the rest of em) for nearly 20 years. It's a great hobby. IMO nothing can compare.

I have a few who ended up in Louisiana that were previously from VA and Maryland. Unfortunately, that's where I hit the brick wall.

[goclark]

6. Have you visited Afrigeneas ~

www.afrigeneas.net , it is fantastic!

They have helped me so much I can't even count the ways,

And now www.familysearch.org is pointing me in the right direction so much I can't believe it! There new pilot search is updated beautifully, happy searching!