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| Karran Royal Harper and Henry Harrell DNA Testing |
My great-grandfather, Alexander Harrell died in 1914, his youngest son Jasper was only two years old when his father Alexander passed away. Alexander was born to the union of Robert and Dinah Harrell. He had several siblings; John, Anow, Marrietta, Millie, and Margaretta.
My mother Isabell is one of the daughters of Jasper. She said she recalled her father talking about family members in Clinton, Louisiana. Her family didn't visit Clinton, Louisiana because they didn't know their great uncles and aunts. But she and her brothers knew that we had relatives in Clinton. A lot of the family members want to know who are the other family members. Thanks to my Uncle Henry Harrell, who agreed to take the Ancestry DNA and 23 & Me with his newly found cousin Karran Harper Royal a couple of weeks ago. I asked my uncle did his father Jasper ever talk about the family members in Clinton. He told me that he didn't remember his father talking about the Harrell family in Clinton.
Uncle Henry is first cousins to Karran's grandmother Marion Harrell Harper. Marion, father Shelton Harrell, Sr and uncle Henry's father Jasper were brothers. Karran and uncle Henry met for the first time at the Jackson, Gordon, Harrell, Richardson and Temple family reunion.
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| Jasper Harrell, Sr |
Since I started tracing our family history this had been one of those unsolved mysteries. Who are they? What is the genetic resemblance, what did they do as an occupation? Where are they now? Karran and I want to know.
Stephen Harrell, Sr. is a police officer in New Orleans, Louisiana and his roots are connected to Clinton. He is the offspring of Beauguard Harrell and we want to know if we are related. I met another young man by the name of Darius Harrell fifteen years ago, who's family lineage connects to Amite and Pike Counties, Mississippi. Because of social media, I meet a woman named Carolyn August-Robinson, who had Harrell family roots tied to Clinton, Louisiana as well.Are related, only the DNA can tell us at this point. After hitting a brick wall, utilizing DNA may help get the answers we are looking for.
Alexander and his family lived in Amite, Louisiana. After his death, no one in my immediate family went to Clinton to find out anything about his brothers and sisters. Finding our long lost relatives is what Karran and I want to do. Hezekiah Harrell, the son of Levi Harrell, migrated down south with his family, livestock and slaves to East Feliciana and Amite, County, Mississippi. The mostly settled in the 7th Ward in East Feliciana.
"We want to know what happened to Alexander's brothers and sisters, did they stay in Clinton, or did they move to Tangipahoa Parish with their mother and father?" Using DNA to locate them will help us to build family ties, find other photographs, gather new oral history and extend our family trees.
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| Alexander Harrell |
Karran, Stephen, Elton and I searched the Clinton Courthouse for marriage records and other records that could be helpful to our Harrell research. While in Clinton we stop by an auto mechanic repair shop to talk to a man named James Harrell who was the descendant of Beaguard Harrell. Stephen's brother Albert kept looking at James." He looks just like one of my uncles," said Alton. James got on the phone and call some of his cousins and they came over and confirmed that they were the descendants of Beauguard as well. Everyone was overjoyed to meet each other and make a new family connection.
We can't wait to get the results back to see if there are any family trees and connections in Clinton, Louisiana that will help us locate our long lost family member. The Harrell family would like to thank my uncle Henry Harrell for volunteering to help us solve this mystery.
