Tracing Their Steps by Bernice Alexander Bennett

Bernice A. Bennett

A visit to her grandmother's house in New Orleans, a bowl of gumbo and a table full of memories open the door for Bernice Alexander Bennett's adventure to verify that her 2x great grandfather owned a lot of land in Maurepas, Louisiana.  Maurepas is an unincorporated community in the southwestern area of Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Livingston Parish is one the Louisiana Florida Parishes. 

Tracing Their Steps is a Memoir about a journey to show how the power of oral history can serve as a guide to capturing a beautiful family history. You will learn how an African American man born before the Civil War managed to acquire over 159 acres of land during the 19th century under the Homestead Act of 1862. Bennett's research has proven without a shadow of doubt that African Americans were homesteaders. 

This compelling story will keep the reader fixated on how each step and, the many twists and turn in the journey links closer to verifying that the land did exist and further clarifies what happen to this land in the 20th century. Bernice is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the popular Research at the National Archives and Beyond Blog Talk Radio Program. She is also the first recipient of the  Ida B. Bennett had documented her African America roots in the Orleans, St. Helena and Livingston parishes of Louisiana, as well at the Edgefield Greenwood counties of South Carolina.