Cecelia's Dig

                                                                     Yep.                   Gave my saliva up....twice. Waited forever it seemed, for my DNA Ethnicity Results. My Birth Certificate states I'm "Negro".....and my skin has been Black my whole life. "Colored", "Afro American" and "African American" are all boxes I've checked over the years .                                              No matter how often my designated label changed, one fact remained: the ink/pencil mark I left in the box was always Black, and THAT is what I call myself.                                                                                              It was time for my saliva to talk to me.            I wanted to have a Profile Photo (above) showing my Black face to my DNA "Matches"                                                                        Another reason?             MAYBE it would trigger some newly confirmed

                 A few years ago, it started with finding this on Ancestry.com.                             New Orleans, Louisiana, Slave Manifest Name: Major Perry Gender: Male Color: Black Estimated Birth Year: abt 1829 Ship Name: Phoenix Port of Departure: Richmond, Virginia Port of Arrival: New Orleans, Louisiana Date of Arrival: 17 Nov 1847 Age: 18 First Shipper/Owner: David Cume First Shipper/Owner Residence: Richmond Second Shipper/Owner: Nathaniel Matthews Second Shipper/Owner Residence: New Orleans Record Type: Arrivals (Inward Manifests) My maternal 3rd great Grandmother Amanda Perry's father was named...Major Perry.                                                Her Death Certificate reflects this                         Months later I received an email from an associate of Nancy Jordan,                              a  volunteer affiliated with Olivewood Cemetery in Houston, Texas                                      

                                                                              Summer of 1977 was when I first heard about brothers Harmon and Jake Marshall, from their niece Vera Cook Steptoe, my paternal grandfather Vernon V. Cook's baby sister. She was called "Aunt Baby Sister" by the family, but not by me. I LOVED her name, "Vera"....and "Aunt Vera" was how I addressed her.  Over the years, I'd hear about them again from my dad's siblings. Harmon and Jake's parents, Cassius and Isabella Marshall                                          Harmon Marshall was born 1879, Overton, Rusk County, Texas. Jake was born to their parents Cassius and Isabella Mayfield Marshall in 1890, Houston, Harris, Texas. They had other siblings which I'll feature in another blog.                                           What blows my mind about these two is their GUMPTION to hobble..yes, HOBBLE on down to the WWI Registration Office, and sig