Tuesday, July 24, 2007

My Familial Tree



My family tree is made up of many roots.
On my paternal side, family names include Burney, Knox, Hines, Jefferson, Brayboy, Morris, Taylor and Pressley.
My maternal lines includes Green, Greene, Brown, Banks, Brittentine, Gay, Johnson, Clay, Clayton, Lee and Smith.
Of course, there are many other name branches that extend from the above family names.
Most of my more recent ancestors originated from Louisiana. They resided primarily in either Bossier, Caddo, Desoto or Webster parish. The towns they resided in include Plain Dealing, Ivan, Rocky Mount and Benton in Bossier Parish. In Caddo parish, the towns include Shreveport and Gilliam. Frierson, Gloster and Stonewall are some of the towns my ancestors lived in Desoto Parish. In Webster Parish, I have familial connections in Springhill and Cullen. Of course, there were many others scattered all about Louisiana.
The more distant ones were brought primarily as slaves to the above parishes to Louisiana from North and South Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, or Kentucky with their slave masters. Although, on my Burney side my great-grandpa Rev. Anderson Burney relocated to Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish after slavery from Pike County, Alabama which is situated near the Florida border.
Hence, even though I will primarily be sharing and making available research tools and information about Louisiana, this site will also include history and information about the above States of my family's origin.

Louisiana Lineage Legacies Foreword

Welcome to Louisiana Lineage Legacies! A wise man once said, "You will never know where you are going until you know where you came from." With that in mind, I set out on a mission 15 years ago to trace my ancestral history. My desire to do so was primarily prompted by the sudden and frequent passing of loved ones that I held precious and dear. Aside from the initial onset of grief, something else weighed heavily on my mind. Would my children and grandchildren after me know the legacy and the contributions that these now deceased loved ones made to this family? Deep in my mind, I knew the answer was, no. After all, besides my maternal line, I did not really know all my own ancestors beyond my great-grandparents. The realization set in that in most cases, we die and are buried and 100 years later even your own descendants never even know we existed. That was very troubling to me.

Since that time, I have traced my ancestors on both my maternal and paternal sides back to slavery and filled in many of the gaps that previously existed. In the process, I have learned that I, like many of you, descended from a long line of great men and women who contributed much to their families, communities and countries despite the social circumstances that might have existed when they walked the earth.

Though my search is ongoing, I feel blessed and fulfilled in having "reunited" with many of my ancestors from the past.

It is my current desire to share my 15 year genealogical journey with others and to exchange information to hopefully aid and enable others to connect with their long-lost ancestors as well.

And so our collaborative genealogical journey begins!