Area genealogy group getting a s

Area genealogy group getting a strong start
By SABRINA WILSON
DAILY GAZETTE staff writer
© 1999. Xenia Daily Gazette, Xenia, Ohio. Monday, August 16, 1999. Permission to reprint granted by The Xenia Gazette.

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YELLOW SPRINGS
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There's an old saying that is to the affect "You have to know where you come from before you know where you're going."
Robert Harris, of Yellow Springs, has decided to help African Americans in the Miami Valley, try and find where it is they come from by starting an African American genealogical group.

The group had its first meeting on July 31 and to Harris's surprise, the turn out was great with 60 people attending. He had expected from 10 to 20 people to show. He was further astounded at the turn out considering the heat wave.

Harris said he was just as impressed by the excitement in the room as well.

"It wasn't just the numbers but the intense enthusiasm," Harris said.

Enthusiasm is an important trait in such a group considering tracing one's lineage can be a tedious and painstaking task, especially for African Americans.

According to Harris, African Americans usually run into a road block when tracing their family line around the year 1865.

From present until 1865 African Americans can use census records just like any other eager seeker, but in the years prior, before the emancipation proclamation, African Americans--the majority of whom were slaves--were not counted in the census. Therefore, those seeking their family history must use wills and slave records.

One of Harris's main goals in starting the group is to help
African Americans learn how to overcome those road blocks.
"The goal is to help others to be successful in tracing their genealogy," Harris said.

To help encourage attendees,Harris invited Art Thomas of Springfield to the meeting. Thomas, who has been able to trace his maternal line to 1785, told the tales of his years of endless research, and his unique findings.

Through his persistence Thomas has traced relatives from the tri-state area to Canada. One line he followed uncovered his relation to owners of a world-famous circus.

Also addressing the group was Jonas Bender, the group's publicist, who hasn't been searching as long as Thomas nor has he traced his lineage nearly as far..

However, having members of such varying levels of success is exactly what Harris was hoping for.

"Another goal is to educate and share our findings," Harris explained.

Something else the three shared were how they got started in researching their own genealogy. They found that they and many others began by following oral traditions, stories their parents and grandparents told them about relatives throughout the years.

Harris told that four years ago he decided to organize a family reunion. He explained that the only time he and other extended family members gathered were for funerals.

He began writing down what he had been told about his relatives and then sent a copy of it to his sister. She then added what she knew and remembered and passed it on to aunts and uncles
and the process continued.
From there Harris became even more curious and began his formal search, using census records, library resources and genealogy Internet sites.

Thomas's search was fueled by oral tradition also, wanting to prove or disprove an old family story that a relative was captured by a Native American tribe--which he proved to be true.

Bender follows suit as well. He too was interested in organizing a family reunion. He obtained an unofficial family tree from an elderly relative, but never pursued it any further, storing the paper away. Before he could get back to it, the relative passed away--making Bender regret his lack of action.

"Every time an elderly person dies, a library is lost," Bender expressed.

All three have found older relatives to be extremely helpful to their genealogical searches and strongly encourage others to use the living resources.

Harris and the other members of the group hope to help other African Americans make sure the libraries or legacies don't die by teaching them the skills necessary to trace and record their genealogy for the next generation.

"My feeling is that everyone should keep a legacy for their family," Harris said.

For more information about the group or the next meeting time and place, contact Robert Harris at (937) 767-1949.