Teaching Family Members How to Conduct Genealogy Research in St. Helena Parish

Monteral and I are first cousins, and both were given the gift of preserving family history. Her father, the late Raymond Harrell, Sr., passed away and left her a rich collection of family photographs. She had shared this collection with me for various reasons. Several of the images are in the newly published book entitled " Images of America" African Americans in Tangipahoa and St. Helena. These rich images help tell the stories of the lives of African American people in the two Florida Parishes.  Her father took pride in preserving the collection and so does Monteral. 

Last summer, she and I packed lunches for my grandchildren and her daughter, and we took the four and a half hours to drive to Union Parish to research our Randall and Priscilla Blackburn Harrell. When we reached the courthouse, the lights had just gone out, and we were astonished. We waited about for a couple of hours before heading back. 

 

Last week we went to the St. Helena Parish Clerk of Court for more research. That was the first time that Monteral went inside the vault and researched for slavery records. She found one inventory of a mother and her three children being sold in St. Helena Parish. That was somewhat emotional for her. 

In the pictures above Wanda Knighten, Glyniss Vernon Gordon, Thomas Cook, and Monteral Harrell all are related and have family ties to St. Helena Parish. Everyone found something that day and was very happy with their research. 

Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Two First Cousins Are Double Related

Last week my brother Thomas joined me for his paternal genealogy research in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. Several family members joined me at the Amite Genealogy Library and the St. Helena Parish Courthouse to research their paternal and maternal side of the family. For the most part, I have done a lot of research on the Harrell, Vining, Richardson, and Williams branches of our family. Thomas decided to look at his Tucker and Cook family lines. Thomas's mother, Isabell Harrell Cook, and Wanda's father, Jasper Harrell, Jr., were brother and sister. 

Our maternal first Cousin, Wanda Harrell Knighten, joined in to research her maternal family lineage. I learned that her grandmother Lillie's mother's maiden name was "Hitchens," and they were from Hillsdale in St. Helena Parish. Lillie was born around 1907 to John and Ellen Tucker Hitchens. 

Thomas and Wanda are also related through the Tucker lineage. Thomas's paternal grandmother was named Pearl Tucker Cook. This makes the two of them double related. Through Wanda's maternal great-grandmother Ellen and Thomas's paternal grandmother Pearl comes through the Tucker lineage. 

Ellen was born around 1889 in St. Helena Parish to Thomas and Lizzie Coleman Tucker. It's fantastic to see family members make the connection of family relations. "My mama knew all about the family lineage connection, "said Wanda. 

The day was exhilarating to have family members researching their lineage in the courthouse and library. It seems like the genealogy bug is biting new people. During this COVID-19 pandemic, genealogy research something that we all can do to keep our minds occupied. If you haven't set up a free Family Search account to use as one of the many tools out there. Please do so, and happy ancestors hunt. 

Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Here is a link to family search. 

https://www.familysearch.org/en/

Eady Bates Appraised Eady for Twenty-Five Dollars in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana

Eady Bates Appraised for Twenty-Five Dollars 

Whenever I go into a courthouse to conduct genealogy research, I never know what I may find. In the case of Eady Bates, age 80 years old, appraised for $25.00. Montreal Harrell, my assistant and I were looking in the Bates family files, and we came across the enslaved belonging to Ephriam Bates, 1829. 

His inventory consist of two tracks of 640 acres of land; 13 enslaved people. His total inventory valued at $14, 569. Eady stayed on my mind all that day. She was the same age my mother was when she passed away this year. It made me sick to the stomach to know they treated her with no dignity and respect. Somehow today, I feel that Eady's story will be told. When I open the files drawers, I don't know who's story will come to the light. I just know that the ancestors do not want me to forget them. When slavery was abolished, Eady were deceased due to the fact that she was eighty-years old in 1829. I hope that I can find her offsprings if she had any. 

Just imagine Eady worked all of her life, most likely give the Bates family everything she could, not be sold with the livestock and furniture. And in the end, they showed her just what they thought about her. She was only worth $25.00. The old horse saddle was twelve dollars let then what Eady a human being appraised for. 

As a matter of fact, they could have sold her for much less than twenty-five dollars. The inventory said she appraised for and not sold for twenty-five dollars. Recently I learned that my paternal third great-grandmother was Rebecca Bates Williams. The Bates family were from Amite, County, Mississippi. Some settled in McComb, Mississippi and St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. Well that's a whole new story for my paternal genealogy research. That's was Monteral's first time finding such a record. Holding and reading a record of someone being sold was a little emotional for her. 

Dr. Antoinette Harrell and Monteral Harrell Climmons 
researching at the St. Helena Parish Courthouse
Photos Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr. 

Special Thanks: St. Helena Parish Courthouse