Anita Talks Genealogy - Answers Show - Who Do You Think You Are?

   As a Professional Genealogist, writer, and researcher it is pleasure to see a show such as Who Do You Think You Are. The show is entertaining, however it does not show the hard work,  which goes into doing research. There are people behind the scenes pouring over records, and charting the family history of celebrities. Our family lines go deep in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, and are a mixture of African, Native, and European. Like Emmett Smith there was race mixing in my family in Virginia, find his ancestors in Virginia. Although things are changing, there is resistance to my connecting my lines to Historical figures like, George Washington and James Monroe.

My female DNA test proved a relationship to George Washington’s Grandmother Mildred Warner-Washington through her mother Elizabeth Lewis-Warner. Those who do not want me mentioning the connection, do not attack my research, they attack me. Their attacks are not to me personally, but behind my back. I let my research speak for itself, and am no prouder of links to Washington and Monroe, then I am to my Great-Great Grandmother brought here as a slave from Guinea. My Native Ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, and proved themselves many times over, before being shipped to Reservations in Oklahoma.

Lisa Kudrows' story was heart wrenching and I felt her pain and joy at finding answers. The difference is that I did my research on my own, and each line that was proved, required hours of research. This was especially true when I traced my female Lewis line back through England and the Royal Family. There were no cheers, or recognition of my research skills. The satisfaction I received came from holding the history of my ancestors in my hand. That is a feeling that is hard to describe, but the look on Emmett Smiths’ face, and Lisa Kudrows face told me they shared my journey. It feels good as an African American to be able to prove the naysayers wrong, and trace my family beyond the Civil War.

My Virginia ancestors, like Emmett Smiths were mixed raced, and were related to  George Washington and President James Monroe. They were Native, Africans, and Europeans, who managed to skirt the laws and create Mulatto children. In Westmoreland County Virginia, I proved lines to my oldest European Ancestor, Lydia Hilliard. She was born about 1690, and was a servant to William Monroe. She had a child, named Mary, about 1710, by an unknown Negro man. That child was the subject of a suit against Reverend Shropshire by William Monroe Senior. The suit claimed that Rev. Shropshire was holding the child illegally. William Monroe Senior stated that the child was Indentured to him, since her mother, Lydia Hilliard was his servant. William Monroe won the suit, and the child was sent to live in his household.

By 1730, the child, now Mary Monroe, was a young woman, and in a marriage to William Monroe Junior. However, when she had a daughter (Mary Bowden), she was summoned before the Grand Jury on a charge of Bastardy. The indictment against Mary Monroe was thrown out, but the marriage did not survive. The courts stated that Mary could not enter into a legal marriage with William Monroe, because she was Mulatto and he was White.  In 1737, Mary Monroe was deceased; and William Monroe Junior was married, thus making the daughter, Mary Bowden an orphan. She was, at that time living with her Uncle Thomas Chilton,  who was also a relative to the Westmoreland County Monroes. William Monroe Senior was the Grandfather of President James Monroe. Mary was indentured to Augustine Washington Senior, the father of George Washington. Our family will gather at George Washington Birthplace on June 19, 2010, to celebrate the life of Mary Bowden. She remained at Pope’s Creek for almost forty years after frequent runaway attempts.

The above was only one of the many lines I have traced, there are many more, some of which go back over thousands of years. I was accepted into the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (in 1998), after proving lineage to Charles Lewis. I am a member of the Monacan Indian Nation in Amherst County Virginia after proving my native lineage. I traced an African Ancestor, to Guinea West Africa, and to the Malinke Tribe there. They have welcomed us as descendants of their loved one who was enslaved in 1830. There are lines in Pennsylvania (Native/European/African), which were proved after much hard work and diligence. Maybe someone will come up with a show for those of us who are the Grunts, to share our stories. In the meantime, Kudos to the show, “Who Do You Think You Are?”

My books, Notes and Documents of Free Persons of Color, and Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family, are available at Amazon.com. They are a must-have for African Americans, researching mixed raced lines.

The Mary & Patty Bowden Foundation