Also, we were happily blessed with a visit from Scott's sister, Rebecca and her three beautiful kiddos. My oh my, her children have grown so much and it was exciting to see them and to visit with Becca. Becca's a professional genealogist, so I was able to hear a personal lecture on how to start genealogy. Folks, let me just say that she is full of knowledge... she's AWESOME!!! After my lecture, we went to "the Beach" with the Moeai fam, Nathan, Mom, Quinnie-boy, Tyler and Samantha. Becca and Hannah stayed home since poor little Hannah wasn't feeling too well. At "the beach", the older Moeai boys caught several fishes, I'll add that these boys have an incredible talent for fishing. The only thing the rest of us caught was the sun and water.
For the past several years, I've been working on my genealogy
and have been seeking out both my mother and father's lines and have found a few more of my ancestors and their siblings, but then I hit a brick wall, 4' thick (yes, that thick!), and 20' tall with barbed electric fencing at the top, oh and a pack of wild ravenous, blood-thirsty wolves on the other side... the reason? I've been searching out my father's line who were Negroes from the South and documentation are not as easily attainable or available. But, with Becca's encouragement from her lecture, which I really appreciate and was lucky to have, and with the help of my sis-in-law, Alissa, I'm continuing on with more hope and have ordered my g-grandfather's death certificate, who was a coal miner, in hopes of another lead... a lead to find his second wife, my g-grandmother, Lula. Finding Lula and the others, has made my quest frustrating since not much is known about her and her family. 
Also, I've been wanting to find more info on my maternal father's Samoan side and Becca told me that my best bet was to find someone in that field. So until I do that, my Samoan ancestors in that line will have to wait. And while I wait impatiently for my paternal g-grandfather's death certificate, I have been doing HEAPS and HEAPS of research and reading on the coal mining industry and Negro coal miners in WV, McDowell County in particular, and about the Negroes during that time period in the South, mainly Tennessee and North Carolina. I have learned sooooooooooooooo much. I find myself falling asleep while reading into the wee hours of the morning with Malianna on my lap, only to wake up reading where I left off. I have this unquenchable thirst to finish what I have started. There's a good chance that this research will eventually lead me to take a trip back East... so save your money hon! I've also been working on my mother's side of our Tongan heritage for the past 3 years and this week alone, I've logged many hours researching my Tongan line and managed to trace one line 18 generations back, that's 18 GENERATIONS ya'll!!! To be able to go back that far is difficult for many Polynesians since a lot of their history was not written and was only handed down by oral traditions. However, I'm fortunate that the Royal family in Tonga had most of their genealogy documented and I was able to verify my findings. 
(Tongan crest)
My g-g-g-grandfather was a prince in Tonga and he fell in love with a Samoan taupou (daughter of a high chief) in Samoa. 
I was told that he loved her so much that he decided to live in Samoa and marry her.
Anyhow, I know that I'm suppose to pick one person and work on finding that person, but I have to use whatever little spare time I have wisely and search for others while I await more info on the one I'm suppose to work on. It has taken me a few years to find many of my ancestors, but they make only a few branches on my family tree. Speaking of a branch, I'd like to share something that I was told by my paternal grandparents (when they were alive), and my aunts regarding one of my g-grandfathers that I mentioned earlier. He was not only a coal miner in WV, 
but he became a pastor at an A.M.E. Church in Pittsburgh, PA. He had reddish-brown hair, blue eyes and fair skin. Now, this was the same g-grandfather who was listed as a negro in census' during the period he was working as a coal miner in WV. I wanted to find evidence about his looks... why? Because it's rare to find a black person with those attributes. I knew that if he were to have those features then he must have been a mulatto. Anyway, according to my relatives, my g-grandfather was quite well to do by the time he was a pastor. So, over the last couple of years, I've been trying to track him down and during the process, I've found the names of his father and mother and his mother's family. Then, about 3-4 months ago, I was chatting with Becca about the brick wall I had at that moment and she emailed me copies of the WWI and WWII registration cards for him. WWI listed him as black and the WWII registration card listed him as having brown hair, blue eyes and ruddy skin color... DOCUMENTATION!!! 
Finally, proof of what I've been told by my relatives and father is true. This venture has opened and even answered a few of my relatives questions about their ancestors. Overall, it's been a tedious process as Alissa can attest, yet we both receive overwhelming joy over the simplest and minuscule findings, most of them have led me to other things. I plan to continue this quest in hopes of finding more of my ancestors and by so doing, I'll uncover my past.
2 comments:
That is really facinating!! It really is because Becca gave me the bug and so I'm totally facinated with all things geneaology.
Way to go Cece. Doing Geneology from different countries is tough. You are working with different languages, governments and histories. I know I'm stumped with a lot of my Mexican ancestry. I'm glad that you are having success.
Emily
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