Tag: Black Ancestry
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A Race Against Time: The Quest for a Living Descendant
Vincent Flowers at Messiah Academy, Courtesy of Messiah College Archives Vincent Flowers, Rachel’s brother passed away in 2002. Edna Wiggins, Rachel’s sister-in-law, died in 2004. About seven years later, Paul Stevenson passed away in 2011. He was Rachel’s nephew. A great amount of history is lost with each death that occurs within the Flowers’ family. I…
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The Family Poet: Mrs. Geraldine Wilson
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture holds the largest archival holding of information regarding the Flowers family, particularly letters between Rachel and her niece, Geraldine, and documents and artifacts Geraldine collected throughout her lifetime. This includes her academic writings, personal collection of newspapers, personal writing, and even her poetry collection. The next few…
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Reintroducing the Flowers Family
If you are new to this blog, you might be wondering, Who are the Flowers?. Since 2012, I have been conducting research on this family’s history beginning with Rachel Helen Flowers, the first African American student to attend my alma mater. Uncovering her biography led to an even greater story of her family’s vast and…
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What Became His Wife’s War: The Battle for Civil War Pension
I am a researcher, yet some days I wish I were not. You see, I dive into multiple topics within African American history from slavery to the present encountering countless historical figures and seeking to learn their stories. The issue comes with time, a luxury I do not have. Despite this fallback, there exist a few stories and historical…
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Slave Schedules, Take Three: Harry Flowers
What do we know about Harry? Well, he was born on February 23, 1845,at times I list his birth year as 1846 because of his Civil War enlistment record, but I need to start using the date from his death certificate completed by his daughter, Rachel, in 1928. For all other information, I use the 1880 United States Federal…
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The Journey in Finding Mrs. Rachel Ellerbee
I have been researching Mrs. Rachel since 2012. For the past two years, I have discovered and learned an endless amount of information about this beautiful courageous woman and her family. Despite this journey with the Flowers, there obviously remains missing pieces in their story, particularly Rachel’s story. It never ceases to amaze me of…
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My Grandfather: Dr. Rufus Graham
The Flowers’ research will resume soon. If you are searching for more of the Flowers post please view older post or the family’s website, flowersfamilyproject.wordpress.com. Another disclaimer, this blog post is way overdue. I initially finished last night; however, Windows Live Writer malfunctioned leaving me with a two day ago edit. Then I realized that…
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It is All in the Name
So, you all know that my name is Christina. I was named after a fictional character in a novel my mom was reading while I was “baking in her oven”. I have no complaints about my name; it simply fits me. As with life, I have been called numerous nicknames. We have Chris, Christy, Tina,…
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Letters From Rachel
In Geraldine Wilson’s unprocessed collection, there are numerous letters between her and her Aunt Rachel. This is my first encounter with Rachel’s handwriting. Transcription: Dear Jerry, You had said over the phone that you would contact me when you returned to New York. I did not contact you because Harry told me you were…
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Harry Flowers and the 21st United States Colored Infantry
“Bermuda Hundred, Va. African-American teamsters near the signal tower,” Library of Congress Print Divisions (This image is not of the 21st USCT) Photo Source Each week I collect all the data I have on members in the Flowers family. Last week, the first two members were Harry and Nancy Flowers. This post will feature all…
Diary of a Historian 