My Ancestors from St. Helena, La to Niger, West Africa

Antoinette Harrell in Ingall, West Africa

 Sitting at home and gazing out of the window, I found myself reflecting on my ancestral trip to Niger, West Africa. I asked myself today, what is so special about this moment that reminded me of Niger, West Africa? A country that is landlocked in Western Africa, and named after the Niger River. The Sahara desert covers eighty percent of the land area.  Niger is surrounded by Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Niger was colonized by the French and gained it independence from France in 1960.

 After spending several years conducting genealogy research in Tangipahoa and St. Helena, I ran into a brick wall and I couldn’t go any further, that's when I turned to African Ancestry for their help.  I was hoping that their records would lead me to some knowledge of where my maternal female ancestors came from. “The chances of me finding the records were slim to none.”  I took the African Ancestry DNA test on July 4^th in Kentwood while visiting with friends. I waited patiently for my test results to come back. Three weeks later—I received my test results and found that my maternal lineage matched with the Tuareg people in Niger.

Moussa Albaka and Antoinette Harrell

The Tuaregs are nomadic people who were the first inhabitants of the Sahara region.   The Tuareg, Fulani and Hausa people established themselves in the region that is now called Niger.  In the hot summer of 2004, I set out on my maternal ancestral expedition. I wanted to explore Niger to learn about the people, history and culture— in the two short weeks I was there. 

The first day I arrived in Niamey, the family of Moussa Albaka, greeted me with opened arms and lots of hugs.  I did not feel like a stranger in a land that maternally connected to.   Moussa and the governor of Niger, appointed a translator to help me communicated with the people. French is the official language of Niger. The following day, the governor made arrangements for me to come to his office for a history lesson about Niger, the people and culture. 

The Niger River

The Governor and Moussa arranged for me to travel to nine regions in Niger. Ingall and Agadez were two of the main regions I visited. The region where the annual Cure Salee festival of Tuareg and Wodaabe celebrate the end of the rainy season every September.  This festival attracts thousands of nomads, officials, and tourists every year. 

One of the main attractions in Ingall are the paleontological digs and the remains of Petrified Forest dating back 135 million years. Jobaria tiguidensis was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in the current day Niger during the middle Jurassic period. The native people of Ingall greeted me with; songs of welcome home long lost daughter, the sound of Tuareg music, food, dance and conversation.  The people of Ingall and Agadez are beautiful people.  The Governor arranged for the Wodaabe men to give me a concert. The very men I saw on National Geographic mesmerized me.  This was one of the fascinating travel experiences I’ve had.

Harrell Genealogical Research in Pike County, Mississippi

Derius Harrell conducting genealogy research

It's  has been well over ten years since my distant cousin Derius Harrell and I conducted genealogical research in Amite and Pike County, Mississippi. Derius contacted me after reading something I posted online about the Harrell's in Mississippi and Louisiana. We arranged to meet and discuss our Harrell genealogical research and compare our notes.

His Harrell lineage connected him to Amite County, Mississippi and Pike County. Both of our families came down to Mississippi and Louisiana with Levi "Fat Old Levi" Harrell from Darlington, South Carolina in 1803. I remember the first day I met Derius, I couldn't stop starring at him because he resembled my first cousin Rodney Harrell. After telling him how much the two of them resembled each other, he then told me that he knew Rodney. He met Rodney while living in Houston, Tx. Not only did I find that they resembled each other, but they smile a like and have just a beautiful way about themselves.

Derius and his father Melvin are the one's in their family who research and preserve the family history for their family. I was astonished to see a young man like him wanting to know about his family history. Sometimes you may not find as many men who want to know about their roots. When you do find one who wants to know, you want too teach them as much as you possibly can.

Slave Inventory of Samuel Harrell, Amite County, Ms

Well we set out to find what we could in the county clerk's office of public records. Derius located marriage records, succession and probate records and land deeds. This was his first trip to the county clerk of courts looking for records about his family.  He was so excited about his finding.  One of the statement he made was so profound about the importance of genealogy for young black men. If young men knew their family history it would help to restore pride, dignity and self-worth in these young men.

Using the county map, he tried and trace the migration of his family. Looking at land boundaries, and where they lived and worked. Did they live along the river? After slavery did they own any land? If so, how much did they own? Is the land still in the family? If not, what happened to the land? These are questions that we ask if we found that our ancestors or family owned land.

Two summer ago I was invited by Derius's father to attend their Dillon family reunion in Amite County, Mississippi. I got a chance to meet some of his elderly relatives who were in their 90s. I wish I had more time just to sit and talk with them. It was good to see family talking, sharing photographs and family history with each other. The younger generation were listening to the elders speak before they found their way to the dance floor.

Grandchildren of Purdell Dillon
Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Some of the elders were the grandchildren of Prudell Dillon a woman of Indian descent. Prudell Dillon was born July 14, 1868 and died October 18, 1938. She was the mother of Walter Beasley, Robert Dillon, Wren Jones, Eli Lucas, Trudie McGhee, Emma Swinginton and Price Wilkinson

The descendants of Prudell recalls the days of growing up in their grandmother's house. They talked about how hard she worked in her garden and how she canned food and made their clothing. What a way to celebrate family!