Tag: pennsylvania
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Look Out to Look In: The Search for a Living Descendant
Henry Sams (1915-1975) b. Jacksonville, Florida d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Half-brother of the Flowers children Born to Henry Sams and Nancy Sawyer Sams, Henry Sams Jr. spent his childhood in Jacksonville, Florida before his family’s migration to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Throughout his lifetime, he excelled in sports since his time at Overbrook High School. He also participated in pre-Olympic meets…
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Pennsylvania Death Certificates and the Florida Death Index, 1877-1977
Death certificate of Harry Florence Flowers (1845-1928) Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 Last April, the state of Pennsylvania made death certificates between 1906 to 1963 available on Ancestry.com. Again, if you do not have a membership with Ancestry, I will encourage you to do the two week free trial. Choose a period of time where you…
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Part Three: The Flowers Family and The Black Church
Harry Flowers —-/—-Nancy Sawyer | ———————————————————————————— Chauncey Fred John Rachel Theodore Vincent Gladyce Hilda Philadelphia In West Philadelphia born and raised…perhaps not the best introduction; however, the young women of the Flowers family did call Philadelphia home following their father’s death. For Rachel and Gladyce, Wesley AME Zion became their spiritual home during the late 1920s.…
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The Black Church and the Flowers Family (Part II)
Wesley Union AME Zion Church The image of this church was taken at its original location on the corner of Tanner’s Alley and South Street in Harrisburg. From Pennsylvania to Florida Reverend J.J. Sawyer was a powerful member within the Florida AME Church. He even introduced the Independent African Methodist Episcopal Church which was quickly…
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The Black Church and the Flowers Family (Part One)
This three part series will explore the Flowers’ religion and church affiliation beginning with Rachel’s maternal grandfather, Reverend Joseph J. “J.J.” Sawyer of North Carolina. If you are new to my blog, I encourage you to use this family tree as a helpful guide. It is too huge to recreate digitally, but I will try…
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A New Find: The Death Record of Nancy J. Sawyer
A few months ago, Pennsylvania released the state’s death records from 1906 to 1963. I must have overlooked the death record of Rachel’s mother, Nancy Sawyer, in my initial research…#iamafailure. This is a relatively short post, I just wanted you to see what I discovered about Nancy. 1. Her middle name–Throughout the majority of my research, I never had…
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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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Flowers in the PA Death Certificates Database
Recently, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission digitized the state’s death certificates from 1906 to 1944 onto Ancestry.com. At first, I was unsure of what to make of this. It is strange, in my opinion, for private records to be made public. I can recall the day I came across Hilda’s, Rachel’s sister, death certificate.…
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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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Chauncey Flowers Jr.
My final Fall semester is winding down; therefore, I will have the time to post more information about the Flowers I should probably be in bed right now to wake up early and study, but genealogy was calling my name. If you don’t know, this research has become my honors thesis which is continuing to…
Diary of a Historian 