Knowing Your Family History Well Enough to Learn More

How many of you know and remember your family history well enough to be able to learn more if the opportunity presented itself? Let me tell you what happened to me recently. I was actively posting the flyer for the Rose Hill Plantation presentation, Easily Finding My Union County, SC African American Ancestors, when I received a private message from Thomas Stokes.

He said he was the grandson of Aughtry Stokes. I immediately thought about what I knew from my documentation on George Epps Tucker:

You see Aughtry Stokes was in the will of George Epps Tucker (1859-1927), and so was my great grandfather, George Anderson Tucker (1882-1932), who you see listed right below him. So therefore, I am really happy to meet Thomas. I know that there are things that we can discuss to bring me up to speed with my great great grandfather.

I immediately friended him. He has offered to give me a tour of where George Epps Tucker worked at the bank that I found a record of last year and his grave at Kelley's Chapel Cemetery. The church he says is no longer standing. I am excited especially to see the bank. Even though I told Thomas about it, he has told me he will show it to me for which I am grateful. It means the world to me that he grew up knowing this information and can share it with me.

I need to talk to you about something else. I love everybody. The dead whether they were enslaved or enslaver I love them both. The living whether they are white or black I love them both. If I want the information or knowledge from the Lord that I am seeking, I must be true to this.

George Anderson Tucker was the son of Martha Sim Talley (1855-1936) and George Epps Tucker. George Anderson Tucker appears on the will of George Epps Tucker.

I know Thomas can help me to fill in some of the missing pieces about George Epps Tucker and his grandfather, James Anderson Tucker (1801-1885). I love Thomas. It feels as though our ancestors are happy that we have met and we will compare notes.

I was so delighted to receive this:

It is a store sign of George Epps Tucker.

When I did the presentation, I was supposed to meet Thomas, but I found out the nephew to my grandmother was in rehab. A cousin came to the presentation, and we went out to eat and took us to where the cousin in rehab is. That cousin is doing good. He was glad to see me. I will have to plan a trip back to the area to meet Thomas.

These people have come to life for me. There are so many leads that I can follow. I am truly grateful to have been given the opportunity to meet Thomas. I am grateful to have been given the right state of mind that I do not judge any man. I just want to know more about my people.