(curious music) - [Narrator] On this episode of "Identity Quest," we'll meet a man from Oklahoma, whose great-grandfather disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

A Topeka woman who can trace her ancestry back to Mexico.

And a local attorney and civil rights activist, who knows little about his family history.

That's all coming up next on "Identity Quest."

(gentle music) (curious music) - Welcome to "Identity Quest."

I'm Val VanDerSluis, general manager, for KTWU Public Television.

"Identity Quest," is a brand new KTWU program that is produced in partnership, with the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.

"Identity Quest" will explore the intricacies, and challenges of genealogy.

In each program, we will investigate the family histories of ordinary people, some well known, others not.

We'll uncover their histories, and add to their family stories.

We'll also discuss some of the valuable tools, that professional genealogists use to reveal the past.

Our first guest today is Royce Caldron.

Royce was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He's an army veteran.

He received his BA and Master's degrees, from Oklahoma State University and he worked for over 35 years as a school counselor.

Royce said his family currently live in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

Your host for "Identity Quest" is author, attorney and professional genealogist Kenyatta Berry.

- Hi Royce, welcome to "Identity Quest."

- Good morning.

- So why are you here today?

What are you interested in learning about your family?

- Well, the thing that I turned in, to be considered was a great-grandfather that seemed to disappear after 1900, and family legend says that he took a new identity, went back to his old job, doing the same thing my great-grandfather did, started a new family.

- Ooh, okay.

- And so that was the dead end.

- That was the dead end.

And your great-grandfather was named Patrick?

- Yes, Patrick Caldron.

- And when did, you said after 1900 he disappeared?

- Yes.

- So he was injured in a train wreck and then hospitalized, is that the family story?

- [Royce] Yes, in fact he was, I have newspaper clippings that show he died in that train accident.

And then newspaper story the next day that says the doctors detected a faint heartbeat, and he lived.

- [Kenyatta] And he lived.

- And I have documented that he has lived at least four or five years past that accident.

- Okay, and so he worked for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, is that correct?

- [Royce] Yes ma'am.

- And you believe that with this new identity, that he went back to his old job?

- Yes.

- [Kenyatta] Okay, and why is that?

- Well, again, part of it's family legend, and then I did find a gentleman that appeared that it could have been him that did the same thing, for the Santa Fe that my great grandpa did.

- Mhmm.

- And I have no record of that gentleman before my great-grandpa disappeared.

- And there was a 1914 newspaper article, is that correct?

- [Royce] Yes.

- [Kenyatta] About his disappearance.

- [Royce] As I recall, one of his sisters posted one of those, "anybody know the whereabouts of Patrick Caldron?

Please contact me."

- Right.

So kind of like finding, you know, my relative, or looking for someone ad in a newspaper.

- Yes.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

- Yes.

(curious music) - [Narrator] Our second guest today is Christine Soria.

Christine was born and raised in Topeka.

She's a first generation college graduate, receiving a bachelor's degree in finance from Washburn University and has worked for the state of Kansas for 16 years.

Christine is an avid reader of biographies, and loves learning about the lives of others.

She also wants to learn more about her family, which can be traced back to Texas and Mexico.

- Hi Christine.

- Hello.

- Welcome to "Identity Quest."

- Thank you, I'm happy to be here.

- So tell me a little bit about yourself.

- I've been born and raised in Topeka.

My parents were born and raised in Topeka.

My grandparents are from Texas and Mexico.

I'm kind of like the family genealogist.

Anytime there's photos or stuff somebody wants scanned or kept, I volunteer to do that, so I can keep a copy for myself.

Then I send it off.

- [Kenyatta] Good job.

- Yes.

(laughs) - Good job doing that.

- [Christine] Yes.

- So what sparked your interest in genealogy?

- I don't know if I can pinpoint it, but it's, maybe it's reading, so like, I like to read books just about stuff, I like biographies mostly.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

- And know about people, and their stories, and so I think, just knowing where you came from, knowing, you know, your grandparents, you don't think to ask their stories until they're gone.

You're like, I wonder what, how they made it, how they made it, how they did it, how they got through things.

And then you've lost that.

So I just started, you know, with my family, and then going back and then now I have a young son.

So now that's pushed the generation back, another one.

So, you know, I always wanted to be one of those people who go back 15, 20 generations or something, and just see where we came from.

And since I didn't know how to do that, I figured I had to start now.

And then the people who come after us, our kids, grandchildren, they'll have that because I started it.

- Right, well that's great, I mean, of course, I love genealogy and I don't have time to do my own (laughs) but I do love it.

And you know, I think as you said, those stories are passed on and you know, you get the photographs.

I like that you scan a copy for yourself.

Well, I have a question for you.

How do you organize those, do you have a system in place?

- Not really.

I do try to put like my father's side, and then my mother's side.

I've got a bunch that I need to get with my mother, so she can tell me who the people are.

'Cause we've just got photos that have no names, we don't know, but like, I try to put names and dates, if I remember or know where it's from.

And basically right now it's just like, the side of the family.

- Mhmm, so I ask that question, 'cause as an attorney, we usually don't ask a question, that we don't know the answer to.

- Okay.

(laughs) - [Kenyatta] So I already knew that.

(both laughing) So, this is my little genealogist type of thing, for you to get with your mother sooner than later, for you to create a system of organizing those photographs, right?

Digitally, to have that information.

Because what we struggle with down the road, 'cause as you're the family genealogist, right?

Who's going to carry that on?

- Right.

- And so if there is someone, to do that, a way to interest them, is to make it a little bit easier, right?

We like digging through the weeds, or going down the rabbit holes, and looking at records that have been indexed.

But not a lot of people wanna do that.

- Right.

- So while you have the time now that is my, I'm strongly encouraging, (laughs) for you.

- [Christine] Yes.

- For you to do that.

Especially since you're so very interested in genealogy.

Since you know so much about your family, what made you decide, to fill out the application?

Like what were you hoping to learn?

- When I read about it, it seemed like they were more, they were interested in different heritages.

And I know for me, as far back as I could go with, you know, limitations of time and cost, and I know, language.

I'm sure I'm gonna have to get to Mexico, or the Spanish documents that I can't read.

(laughs) - [Kenyatta] Okay.

- [Christine] I don't know them, I don't know where to start to get them.

- [Kenyatta] Right.

- So I, you know, I said well maybe someone can do that for me.

(laughs) - [Kenyatta] Okay.

(curious music) - [Narrator] Our third guest today is Richard Jones.

Richard is a Topeka attorney, and local civil rights activist.

He graduated from Topeka High School in 1966, and was accepted to the Kansas Bar in 1973.

Richard knows very little about his family hisory, and came to us hoping for answers.

- Hi Richard.

- Hello, how are you, Kenyatta?

- [Kenyatta] I'm good, welcome to "Identity Quest."

- Thank you.

- So Richard, I knew that you have been involved in a lot of stuff in Topeka, but I wanna know a little bit more about your involvement in civil rights and sort of the impact, that it may or may not have had on your career.

- I guess as you're in school, you start out, you know, being a protestor concerning the war, Vietnam war, and then about things that are happening, you know, on campus, things that you don't think are right and you wind up protesting some of the administration's actions, then it just kind of spreads out to anything you think is not right.

- Mhmm, so do you think that was part of the decision, part of your decision to become an attorney.

- Actually, no.

(laughs) (both laughing) - Okay.

- When I was about ready to graduate and perhaps, go start working for Goodyear Tire representative, one of my friends asked me if I would accompany him, while he was going by the law school to, to pick up his last grades or something.

And so while I was waiting for him, the assistant dean walked out and asked me, if I would fill out this form for her.

And I said sure, and I filled it out.

A couple weeks later, she had sent me a letter saying that, that I was accepted to law school and I had a scholarship.

- Oh, well that's great, okay.

That makes sense then.

- Right.

- Right, right.

So I understand that, I, having gone to law school, without a scholarship, so I get it.

(laughs) So what do you know, what made you interested, I guess, in applying to "Identity Quest," to learn more about your family history?

What were you hoping to find out?

- Well, once I learned about some of the genealogy stuff, it sounded really interesting.

So, when I heard about this program that they had concerning genealogy, it just piqued my interest more.

- Right, so what do you know so far about your family?

I mean, what information do you have, if any, at all?

- Well, I don't know anything on the paternal side.

- On the paternal side, right, okay.

- On the maternal side.

- Mhmm.

- All that I know is what my grandmother has told me.

And I know, knew my grandparents fairly well, but they didn't have any historical information to share with me other than my grandmother used to have a picture on her kitchen wall.

And remember she had hair come down to the middle of her back and she with us said, she was a Native American.

But, you know, that's about all I know about that.

- [Kenyatta] And what was your grandmother's name?

- [Richard] Mary Majority.

- [Kenyatta] Mary Majority?

- Oh, well that, that was her married name.

(curious music) - [Narrator] In order to explore our guests' family histories, we recruited professional genealogists to do the research.

Genealogist Barb LaClair explored Richard Jones' past.

- So Richard Jones is an African-American, and that in and of itself makes genealogy and family history research more challenging.

(curious music) Prior to the Civil War and emancipation of slaves, most African Americans rarely appeared in any sort of legal document and were not recorded by name in the census.

So getting pre-Civil War information, on African American families is particularly challenging.

Even after the Civil War, sometimes the families were struggling to make a living, living in poverty, didn't own land, weren't likely to appear in the records, where we might find other people.

So that that presents challenges, moving around a lot, makes them difficult to follow in the records.

All of those things have contributed.

And a common name like Jones, (laughs) certainly complicates the research a little bit further.

- [Narrator] Genealogist Debbie Gurtier, researched Christine Soria's ancestry, at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

- We're talking about research in Mexico, but also research in the United States.

And everybody's go-to for the United States, if you're getting started, should be the US census, locating the family where they're living, trying to identify their composition when people were born, where they might have been born, who are their neighbors, that sort of a thing.

And then you're gonna move on to your vital records, your birth certificates, your death certificates, your marriages, see what information is in there.

And then of course expand out to newspapers.

In the case of those immigrants who came up from Mexico, you wanna look at border crossings.

And one of the key things that I say about border crossings, is if you do find your ancestor in a border crossing, is to check to see who else crossed the border of the same day.

Because we know families often travel together.

So it's important to check those records, and to see who else was with the family at the time that they crossed.

And there's the Catholic Parish records, which are church records of baptism's, marriages, and burials.

And so these are all key resources, for researching Hispanic family.

- [Narrator] And finally, genealogist, Marty Flanagan explored Royce Caldron's family history.

- What I found was that his family would require multiple skills.

He had deep New England roots, which is of course my expertise, I love to go there.

And I've gotta say that I spent a lot of time using the resources here at Topeka Genealogical Society, which we have a complete set of the Mayflower books, and then also American Ancestor, which is a premier organization that focus on New England research.

So they have a lot of records that are very useful.

Then he also had Pennsylvania.

And Pennsylvania sometimes is a hard state to research, but we also have some land records here, at the library as well as some tax rolls.

And I did use those to see if I could break down his brick wall.

- So we do have a picture of Patrick here.

And so I wanted to, I'm sure you've seen this before, but or if not, this is Patrick Caldron.

- [Royce] Yes.

- And in doing genealogy research, something, you mentioned a couple things.

And one is that you felt like he assumed a new identity, right, that he left and then had a whole 'nother family.

You found someone you thought was very similar to him.

Right, and certain maybe age, and other information uncovered.

So when doing genealogy research and looking for folks, we will get to those brick walls or those dead ends, right?

- [Royce] Yes.

- And when folks assume an identity, we have to wonder why they did that.

- [Royce] Yes.

- So our team of genealogists have done research on your family history and unfortunately, we were not able to confirm where Patrick was.

We haven't found him and weren't able to confirm the same person you thought was Patrick is actually Patrick.

So that we did not find the answer to that mystery.

However- - [Royce] Okay.

- We did find other information.

- [Royce] Okay.

- So I'll share that with you right now.

One of the big things we found for you, are you familiar with lineage societies, like the Mayflower Society?

- [Royce] Yes.

- [Kenyatta] So some of those, okay.

Well, you were eligible for a number of lineage societies, the Quakers, the Sons of America Revolution, the Mayflower Society, as well as early pioneers of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Massachusetts.

- Wow.

- So you have a very deep roots in New England, and you're eligible for all these lineage societies.

And this is how you're eligible for the Mayflower Society.

So this is a family tree and these are your colonial ancestors here that are highlighted, right.

So using this information from your family tree, and other documents, the genealogists have already been able to complete the paperwork, if you're interested to actually be part of these lineage societies.

- Does that mean I can trace my family back, to somebody that came on the Mayflower?

- Yes, it does.

- Wow.

(laughs) - [Kenyatta] Yes it does, and yes, so.

- No idea.

- Yeah, you can trace your family back to the Mayflower, as well as the Quakers, right.

The Sons of the American Revolution, I mean, you have the early pioneers of all these different states.

So your tree goes back very, very far.

I will give you, your tree, actually goes back nine generations.

So how does that make you feel?

- That's a lot of folks.

(laughs) - It's a lot of people, right?

Well, I think in genealogy, most people don't have that.

You know, they don't go back nine generations.

They also aren't attached to a number of lineage societies and especially the Mayflower Society, 'cause everyone wants to be a part of that.

- Yeah, that's a big surprise.

(laughs) - [Kenyatta] So you definitely have the paperwork and can do that.

- [Narrator] The Mayflower Society was founded in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1897.

The role of the society is to educate the public about the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower, and the role they played in shaping the United States of America.

In order to become a member of the Society, one must be able to document their descent from at least one of the 102 passengers who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620.

Before we continue with Royce Caldron, let's check in with Christine Soria.

- Now, I don't speak Spanish either, but I do have two documents that I have a couple things I wanna share with you.

- [Christine] Okay.

- Primarily, we're gonna focus a lot on your family trees.

Okay?

- [Christine] Okay.

- [Kenyatta] And one of the things I want to start with, is that your maternal grandfather was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in Chihuahua, Mexico.

- [Christine] Yeah.

- [Kenyatta] Manuel, mhmm, Duran.

And he lived at Topeka from 1946 to 1982, while working for the Santa Fe Railroad.

Right, so you know about that.

- [Christine] Yes.

- The other thing I want to share with you, is that you have deep roots in San Luis Potosí Mexico.

You can see, I tried to say, my friend told me, she was like, "don't just bunch them together."

So I'll say it again.

You have deep roots in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Now this is on your paternal side, Jose Martinez, okay.

And he received a railroad pension.

- Yes.

- And he died in October of 1985.

We do have the railroad pension file.

- [Christine] Oh.

- [Christine] I will say, as a genealogist, it's a lot to look at, (laughs) and it's busy with stuff.

It kind of discusses how much he was paid, and different things like that.

So that gives you that, I think with that pension file, once we hand it over to you, that will give you a broader kind of, or context around his life.

- [Christine] Yeah.

- [Kenyatta] Outside of just names, dates, and places.

But we do also have here, the Petition for Naturalization for Jose.

And this document, these are available online, but they list a lot of information about him, as where he was born, information about his family.

And have you seen, you've worked with naturalization records before?

- [Christine] I think I might have seen this one before.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

- [Christine] I don't know if I have a copy though.

- [Kenyatta] Well, now you do.

- [Christine] Yes.

- So when you start working with naturalization records, right, what I like to do is just, you know, one, keep a copy, obviously, but thinking about when you're organizing your files, and you're doing your research moving forward, there's gonna be a lot of pieces of information that you can use with dates, who is the relatives information around here, where he was living and things like that.

So that, again, paints that story and that picture for you.

- Yes.

- [Kenyatta] So those are two documents I wanted to share with you.

- Okay.

- Now I wanna get to your family trees because, they are extensive, (laughs) they're also very small, so, okay.

As far as us being able to print, but.

- [Christine] Okay, I see.

(laughs) - Yeah, there, yeah, no, no, no.

- I was like, what?

- [Kenyatta] No, no, no, you go back nine generations.

- Nice.

- But what we've done is, as we've highlighted here, all of the folks that, that you were not able to identify or didn't provide to us in your application, so you'll be able to start, now you have a new starting point, now you have additional generations.

- Wow, yeah, and that's exactly what I was looking for, to see how much names I didn't even know.

- Right, right.

And so this is actually, if I'm on this side, we have one of your maternal line here.

- Mhmm.

- Right.

And then I think you're familiar with that.

- Mhmm, yes.

- And then we have this on your paternal line.

You're familiar with that one as well.

With these trees, and then what we tried to do again, with this, oh, go ahead.

- I was like, we've got a guy way over here.

- Yes, we got a guy way over there.

- Look at that!

- And so this is what, you know, let me take a step back with that, right.

I'm showing you all these trees, you know, because that's what we do as genealogists.

We love to look at the family trees, right?

- Right.

- And so you got a guy, as you say, all the way over there.

So now this is a starting point again, for you to do the research.

And then you have a starting point, with these additional trees here, for both your maternal and paternal side of the family.

- Yes.

- So I think as a researcher, as someone who, this is what you came here for, right?

I wanna talk to you a little bit about sort of what this means as a genealogist.

You now have a new set of records.

- [Christine] Yes.

- That you have to learn, right?

- [Christine] Right.

- You also have expanded your family tree, back to nine generations.

Now there's some gaps in there.

So I would focus on filling in those gaps.

- Okay.

- Right.

In your research and that way you use what we have done so far, the team of genealogists has done so far to help you continue to discover your family's story.

- Yes.

Yes, nice.

- And so I have another question for you.

- Yeah.

- And we're showing you all these documents, and I know it seemed like I went through them quickly, but I wanted to make sure, I wanted to give you the visual, right, because sometimes it's really hard when we're working on that computer, especially using Ancestry, you gotta keep clicking and clicking and clicking.

And then it doesn't print out like the way you want it to.

(both laugh) Yeah, that's a problem.

- Yes.

- So that's why I'm like, you know, giving you all these trees to say, you know, look here, we tried to, you can use a magnifying glass to read it later.

But my other question to you is, with all of this history, with your interests as a genealogist, you know, sharing your family's story, how do you plan to capture that?

We talked about the photos, but how do you plan to capture your family's history here in the US, and in Mexico and wherever it takes you?

- That's a good question.

I mean, I have a binder at home where I've had some documents and these will get added, like you talked about, making a system, so it's easier for to pass it on to someone else.

That has always been my question.

Like, who would I pass it on to?

Who would be interested enough that I could give it to, that they would, you know, carry it on or, you know, have it handy if somebody else had more questions about, you know, our generations back.

- [Kenyatta] Mhmm.

(curious music) - [Narrator] Now let's learn more about Richard Jones.

- What we did, right.

Given the information, you know, that you provided in your application, the team of genealogists actually went through, and we were able to find a obituary, that I'm gonna show you here.

And this is for your grandmother, Mary Alice Majority.

- [Richard] Right.

- So what we highlighted here, and let me take a step back and kind of tell you why is this document important, right?

And what I love to see as a genealogist, is that we have a birth date, right.

Where she was born and who her parents were.

Okay, so this adds another generation back for you.

So we have now your grandmother right here, then your great-grandparents were identified right here.

- [Richard] Right.

- [Kenyatta] Claybourne and Grace Young.

And then one other thing is we see her husband, who's listed here, who's Elijah C Majority.

This document gives you, or this newspaper obituary, gives you so much information about your family, right.

About your grandmother that you didn't know.

And it's just one piece of the puzzle in her story.

And had you heard any of this information regarding where she was born or anything about her parents.

- From her, I mean, she used to talk about some place in Mississippi.

I think, she always talked about living by the dock.

- Oh, okay.

Well it says here, it's in Vicksburg, right?

So one thing about obituaries, that we look at as genealogists, right?

Is that these are gonna be written by the folks, obviously around at that time that knew her.

- [Richard] Right.

- But based on the information they have at that time.

So what we do is take this information we, you know, prove it or use it to help us actually, kind of go back further in your tree, right.

So this is your maternal side, the Majority side.

- Right.

- Right.

So I wanna talk a little bit, before I get into this piece, I wanna talk a little bit about your mom.

- Okay.

- Okay.

So your mother served during World War II.

She was also a Majority, obviously, served during World War II in the all black, 6888.

And I'll say that again, 6888.

That sounds much better.

Central Postal Directory Battalion, between 1945 and 1946.

So what did this, what did they do?

What was sort of their role, right?

- Oh, well, I've heard of the 6688, but I didn't know that she was in it.

- Oh, okay, yeah.

So she served as part of it in Great Britain.

And what they did, excuse me, back in Great Britain and France, is that they sorted mail that had not been delivered for quite some time.

Okay, so there's photos of these black women walking to these very large spaces with mail, just stacked to the top, right.

And there's actually a memorial in Leavenworth, and you're, and your mother's name is on it.

And so here's a photo of that.

- [Richard] Okay.

- [Kenyatta] If you have the opportunity, you should probably go visit it.

But I don't think a lot of folks know about this, know about these black women and what they did.

And then when they came back, they weren't treated kindly.

Right, and they didn't get any really benefits.

They weren't considered part of the military.

And it's one of those stories in history that we need to know that was buried.

And so I think it's great that you have that, that your mom was part of that on your Majority side, right.

Because, you knew from your grandmother, you didn't know that she was, your mom was part of this.

And I know there's still some missing pieces on your father's side as well.

- Mhmm.

- Right.

But I wanna take a step back, and talk about Elijah C Majority, okay.

So that was your grandfather.

- Right.

- And what we have here, is a certificate of death.

Okay, and the death certificate, as we always say, is only as good as the informant, right?

The person providing the information.

So with this death certificate, we have Elijah Majority here, your grandfather.

- [Richard] Right.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

But Elijah's father, his name was Major Majority.

So that's your great-grandfather.

- [Richard] Right.

- Okay.

So here we have Major Majority, very unusual name, I think, in doing the research.

But what's interesting about Major Majority, is that he actually signed a labor contract, in December of 1865.

With a gentleman, Person, could also be Pearson in Shelby County, Tennessee.

Now, labor contracts were contracts that the formerly enslaved signed, typically with the last enslaver.

So they were the employee, and the last enslaver was the employer.

These contracts were managed by the Freeman's Bureau, which is created in March 3rd, 1865.

It was part of the war department.

This is a way for those who are formally enslaved to get paid, right, a way from them to get an education.

And having a labor contract typically lasting for one year, would lay out sort of what you would get paid, whether it be, I guess kind of like room and board, or half of the crops, or a certain amount of money.

So that, so Major Majority we know signed a labor contract.

Okay, and now in Shelby County, Tennessee.

Right, we have the majorities that were here in Vicksburg, Mississippi with your grandmother, and then we have with your great-grandfather, Major Majority signing a labor contract, were you aware of any connections to Tennessee at all?

- Well, I knew that, that my grandfather was from Tennessee.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

- That was, that was all I knew.

He was from Tennessee, she was from Mississippi.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The 6888 Postal Battalion, was part of the Women's Army Corps or WACS, during World War II.

The unit was created in 1944 in order to deal with a huge backlog of mail addressed to American service members in the European Theater.

The 6888 was the only all female, mostly African American battalion sent overseas during World War II.

When the unit arrived in England early in 1945, they found warehouses and unused airplane hangars, stuffed to the rafters with millions of pieces of mail.

The women devised their own system for processing the mail.

They worked around the clock in three shifts, seven days a week with each shift handling around 65,000 pieces of mail.

By May of 1945, the backlog in Birmingham, England had been cleared.

And the 6888 moved on to France, where they cleared mail in both Ruan and Paris.

(curious music) Then in 1946, the unit returned to the United States and was disbanded, during their two years of active duty, the 800 plus women of the 6888 processed and estimated 17 million pieces of mail, bolstering the morale of US troops in Europe.

But when they were discharged from service, they received no public recognition.

In 2018, this monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, was dedicated to the memory of the women of the 6888 Postal Battalion.

We'll learn more about our guests in a minute, but first, here are some research tips from our genealogists.

- I do use resources that probably are not as well known, and that is the National Society of Daughters of American Revolution.

And anyone, you don't have to be a member of DAR, to use the resources there.

A lot of the ancestors that you might have that served in the American Revolution, you would be able to find some papers there, or some lineage there, so it's always worth the resource.

And the other thing is, like, if you're looking in a particular area for someone, and you're striking out, you do wanna cover lineage societies.

The SAR has a national library that, a lot of it's online.

Not only that, you have the daughters of the Civil War, the union vets, they have resources.

The Daughters of Colonial Dames also have a resource.

And then the Colonial DAC, the Daughters of American Colonies, also.

So if you can think of an organization, you're gonna find some research help on different topics, that you might be into that period with.

- Probate records are an excellent source.

Sometimes you, those are online, but sometimes you still need to visit a courthouse to get access to those.

Land records are also a really wonderful source, that a lot of people don't use, because I think they don't think they have much family history information or they don't understand how to use 'em.

So land records are another really valuable source.

- One of the key things that I like to do is when we have like a brick wall is expand out that research.

And maybe this isn't a big secret, but a lot of people don't do it.

Don't just look for your guy, look for his brothers and sisters, see what you can find.

Look at the neighbors who are living next door.

Elizabeth Shown Mills, she's a well-known, well restricted genealogist, called it the fan club.

Your F is for friends, A is for associates, and N is for neighbors, and if you can expand to the fan club, you can break down a lot of brick walls that way.

Think outside the box, think about the friends, think about the neighbors.

Think about the ways they might have misspelled the name.

It's just knowing what's available, and making sure that you leave no stone unturned.

(upbeat music) - What I think is important, which is why before I got to your paternal line, I wanted to focus on your maternal line.

- Mhmm.

- Right.

Because, you know, we're looking here at your mom, your grandmother, your grandfather, and your great-grandparents, right?

So now we have gone back on this side with these documents, but I wanna look at your paternal side.

And here I wanna share with you something that we, that we were able to find just this year, okay.

So in the 1950 census, was released April 1st, of this year, okay?

Genealogists went crazy when it came out.

So we probably crashed the site.

But in the 1950 census, you know, we all want to find our family, right?

We were able to locate here, as you've highlighted, into 1950 census.

Can you see there where it'll say a Charles Jones.

- [Richard] Jones, yeah.

- [Kenyatta] So this is your father.

- [Richard] Right.

- [Kenyatta] And we know he was born in Tennessee.

- [Richard] Okay.

- Based on this 1950 census.

Now, if you think about it, your last name is Jones.

My last name is Berry, there are a lot of us.

So in trying to locate Charles Jones, it's been somewhat of a challenge, right?

But we know that you didn't know much about him before.

And did you even know his name was Charles?

- I knew his name was Charles.

- Charles, okay.

- I have a brother named Charles.

- Okay, okay, yeah, so we've tried to get back on that side.

And this brings up something, that we find in African American genealogy.

When you're working with a name like Jones or Barry, but then you're working with a name like Majority, right?

It becomes easier to distinguish or actually say, this is my relative, this is the person, right, that I'm related to.

So I think with surnames that are unusual, like Majority and surnames that are common, like Jones presents a challenge for us in our research.

- Right.

- But I think doesn't mean we can't do it.

- [Richard] Right.

- It doesn't mean we can't do it, just means it might be take a little bit more time.

It might be harder for us.

So here we have a copy of your family tree.

Based on the information that we have so far, we still have more digging to do to get you, you know, further on that Jones line.

- [Richard] Right.

- Right, a lot of African Americans have a lot of people in general, African Americans sometimes have lopsided trees.

I know on my mom's side, I know so much more about her family than I do on my dad's side.

So with these documents today, I wanted to kind of give you some visuals, right?

To maybe fill in the blanks to give you, to let you know there are documents that represent your father, your mother, and your grandparents, and great-grandparents.

And there's other stuff to be discovered, as well in your family tree.

So in, in understanding, getting this information, you know, how does it feel to see this based on, you know, the stories that you've heard and verifying things, sort of, how does that make you feel having another layer, especially with the Majority side of the family?

- It's good to see documentation.

They were not historians, but, they used to tell stories and other than the 6888 battalion or something, I thought my mother was, what do you call 'em?

Nurses aid.

I thought she was a nurse aid at D-day, but I didn't know anything about her working for a postal service.

- Well, that's good, good to walk away with that information.

And I think the thing is with documentation, right?

As you know, as an attorney right, with documentation, this really helps prove those stories or disprove the stories, right.

And that's what we do when we have family history, oral history.

- Right.

- [Kenyatta] So really kind of do that.

So I think, you know, we'll give you additional information that we found, especially with the Majority side of the family, but there's still more out there, to find on the Jones side, right?

- Yeah.

- It just, some people wanna be found, some don't.

That's the way I look at it, so.

So I wanna thank you so much for reaching out and, you know, for coming today to, and to let me walk you through, these documents and help you uncover more about your family history.

- Okay, well, I appreciate the reach back, that you guys did and, and it gave me this jumpstart.

And so I'll get like, now that I have more time, I'll just see if I can't scare up some more information.

- Yeah, you'll get the genealogy bug soon enough, right?

- [Richard] Yeah.

- And find out more.

So, and then you can share your story, right?

Your own personal story about what you're involved in, when we started talking about protesting and things like that, and your decision to become an attorney and sort of now what you know, about this side of your family, maternal side, and then more that you find out about your paternal side as well.

- Mhmm.

- [Kenyatta] Okay.

- All right, thanks a lot.

- [Kenyatta] You're welcome.

- [Narrator] Following this interview, genealogist Barb LaClair continued to research Richard Jones' family history.

One of her discoveries was that Richard's father, Charles Jones, is buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas.

- Now that you have these, you know, family trees in front of you, that have taken you back nine generations, given you some starting points for research, we as genealogists love to continue going back, going back, going back right down that rabbit hole, and also down a rabbit hole.

But I am kind of encouraging you to write it down.

- Okay.

- To write it down, right.

Because when you write down your family's story, not only is it carried on through your family, right.

By sharing it with your son and others in your family, but now folks who may be distantly related to you.

- [Christine] Yes.

- Or cousins can pick up on it, and you get to meet new people.

- [Christine] Yes.

- You know, and you get to share your research, right?

And having a genealogy buddy is important.

Someone who's as obsessed as you.

(laughs) - Right, exactly.

- [Kenyatta] Because, they're hard to find, right?

- Yeah.

- [Kenyatta] Right, you're the crazy one in the family, so I get that.

So that's why I encourage you to really kind of take the information that we've given you so far today, and to build on that, the additional stuff.

- Okay.

- That we've given you.

So how do you feel, you know, kind of knowing this and this experience?

- Well, and I, this is exactly what I came for.

These names I've never even, I've never even known.

And then of course these couple generations back are deceased and so, we cannot get that knowledge from them exactly what I was looking for.

- Well, I'm glad, I'm glad, you know, the research is still a lot of work, and I feel like, you know, we as a team, especially talking to another genealogist, can't wait to see how far back you go.

- [Christine] Right.

(laughs) - How you fill in these gaps.

And I'm glad that you were satisfied with the results.

So thank you so much.

- Yes, thank you, I appreciate all the work everyone did for this.

- [Christine] Yeah, yeah.

- This is great.

- It's a lot of information.

- [Christine] Yeah, it is.

(laughs) - I know, and it's so much, and it's just, you know, not being able to speak Spanish myself, right?

I wanted to be able to rattle off all the names to you.

- I know.

(laughs) - [Narrator] But I was like, that's not gonna happen.

- Right.

- So yeah, I really kind of think it's just a great starting point for you and a new set of records.

- [Christine] Yes.

- That you get to look at.

Because a lot of times we get so stale in the research that we do that we don't, you know, we get stuck in our things.

Oh, I've seen a natural actualization record, I've seen this birth record, but it's not in Spanish, you know, or we think everything's online, but you know, that's not the case.

- [Christine] Right, right.

- But now you enhance your skillset as a genealogist, just through this work, so I think I'm excited for you.

- I am too, this was great, it's great.

- Yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad, good.

Well thank you, thank you so much.

- Yes, thank you.

(curious music) - So how you're connected to the early pioneers, in Connecticut, is that here I have a photo of Thomas Chittenden and he actually, was the first governor of Vermont.

So actually through Vermont and Connecticut.

But these are deep New England roots.

So you were the second cousin, seven times removed, to this person right here.

Now the other part is, we talked about railroads before, right?

- [Royce] Yes.

- And we talked about Patrick, well, one of your other relatives, Edward Alonzo Chittenden entered the railroad business in 1864, and he became director of the Vermont Railroad.

So now you have railroad ties, both in Vermont as well as in Kansas.

- And, my dad, in Oklahoma.

- And your dad in Oklahoma.

So you have a long history of folks in that, working in that field.

So knowing these things about your family right now, coming in today, now you have your Mayflower.

Now you know that even as genealogists, sometimes we can't crack that mystery.

And then you have your deep New England roots, and one of the things where it's really small, but this is your nine generation family tree.

And this takes you all the way back, all the information that we discovered on your ancestors.

- Wow.

Lots of little print.

(laughs) - Lots of little print.

But that's because your family tree, is so rich and your history is so rich.

- So Thomas Chittenden's on there somewhere?

- Yes, Thomas is as well, because you're the second cousin, seven times removed to him, okay?

That goes really far back.

- [Royce] Yes.

- And one of the things, I always say in genealogy is everyone has a story, right.

No matter if it's, we can't find Patrick.

That's still part of the story, from what you know.

Your Mayflower descendants here, your early pioneers, both in Connecticut and Massachusetts, right?

In Oklahoma, right, where you live today, right?

- Yes ma'am.

- So you're part of that.

And Nebraska, Kansas as well, and also Kentucky, if I didn't mention that, so for you, Royce, I think in the things that I've learned over the 20 years in doing genealogy, your family touches all parts of American history.

And so I think you should be proud of that, and have now, you know, this rich history that you didn't know before you came to "Identity Quest."

You have photos here, you have the names, and then you have the applications already, here, that have been filled out for you.

So the hard work is already done, so you can immediately become part of the Mayflower Society.

- So- - Go ahead.

- So the application for the Mayflower Society.

- Has been completed for you.

- Okay.

- By the genealogist.

- Wow.

- They're very excited about it.

- It's all mine.

- I know, I mean, it's something that everyone wants.

Right, at some point they want to be part of that.

I mean, it's a big deal on genealogy, so.

- I was a history major in college.

- [Kenyatta] Oh, okay.

- Always had an interest in history.

So to be part of the Mayflower... Wow.

(laughs) - I know, I know, yeah.

And you definitely, and as you said, being a history major, and then you can share this story with your family, right.

And it's just, as I said, part of American history, and part of your history, your family's story, okay.

So this is, as I said, these are gonna be your colonial ancestors.

- [Royce] The two that are highlighted.

- The two that are highlighted for the Mayflower Society.

- Okay.

- Right, and so those are the folks, that have been traced back.

- And, I recognize this name.

- Oh, you do, okay.

- Well, the last name, the family name.

- Right, the family name.

- Not the particular individual.

- Right, right.

And so with that, that document you're holding, that's part of this family tree over here.

- Okay.

- [Kenyatta] But we wanted to point out here, like kind of how your connection is to the Mayflower Society.

- Okay.

- Right, right, which is why they're highlighted, now you have the information.

- [Royce] Yes.

- And the application done for you.

- So what do I have to do?

Do you make that?

- We'll give you the information, you know, that and the application.

- [Royce] Okay.

- That we've completed.

And then we'll take the next steps after there.

- Okay.

- And then you'll get a nice little book and I think it's called The Silver Book or something like that.

And then you could tell all your friends.

- I see, a lady's name here named "Thankful."

- Thankful, yeah.

Yeah, that's an interesting name.

- [Royce] It is.

- They always had those, I think I've run across that more, in kind of in New England as well.

- Well, in the mid 1700s, when she was born.

So that was more, probably more of a traditional name at that time.

- Yes, for sure, for sure it was, yeah.

- And, I guess I can say I'm thankful that you've done.

- Yes, well, you know what, this is what I do, and I love doing genealogy and our team does too.

And you know, I'm happy to be able to give you this information about your family, right.

And you know more now- - Yes.

- [Kenyatta] Than you did when you came in.

- Okay, good, appreciate it.

- Oh, you are quite welcome.

- It was a very interesting, satisfying, she gave me some ideas, gave me some avenues to look at, might fill in some of the hole.

- Well, I came to a dead end on my great-grandfather, which wasn't, that wasn't solved.

But as a genealogist, you're never done.

There's always somebody else you wanna look for.

Definitely some new information, I had no idea, my ancestors went back to the Mayflower.

- I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was exactly what I thought I was gonna get, or I was hoping to get, which is to go back as many generations as someone could find, that I didn't have the means or time to be able to.

And that was the best part.

I have more names added to my family tree than I do love.