The Wheeler Brothers of Barren County Kentucky

I believe it is important for us to know black history as a whole. But we should also know our personal family history whether you are black or not. I have traveled to Barren County Kentucky, Glasgow, several times to find family history and reconnect with relatives that are still there. I learned a lot about myself through them. I also had the privilege to see first hand the land where my ancestors lived after slavery. And I also had the privilege of walking on the land where they were enslaved. It was quite an impact with positive results for me. It was a closure and an acceptance of my personal history.

Here is an illustration of my latest research on the Wheelers from Barren County Kentucky

Annie and Harriel Ellis Barren County Kentucky

Part of American history as a whole for all people in America should be for us to research our ancestors and find the truth with verified documents. Living in the black community I have found two things blocking black people from doing this.

#1. The black church – The black church presents an idea of more fiction than reality and it promotes that your ancestors, other than black history month, are secondary to Jesus. Therefore, researching your family history is not important because it won’t get you into heaven.

#2. Ignorance – When Slavery is brought up as part of our history people don’t want to hear it unless the slave is portrayed as the lowly victim with no chance at any happiness. In most cases this was true. However, there are plenty of cases where this was not true. People were freed, bought their freedom, and helped others escape. But we don’t hear these stories during black history month because the narrative is not what people want to hear.

In researching my family history my eyes have been opened to how they lived, what they did, the challenges they faced with health, mentally and physically, and how they died was equally important. I am a descendant of slaves, and I have yet to find any death certificate where they were killed by a master.

Am I saying that no master ever killed slaves? No. I am saying that more slaves than not died of the situations and circumstances due to health and the environment rather than at the hands of a slave owner.

Below is an illustration of my latest research on my family. All sources were verified through ancestry.com, familysearch.org, the Kentucky Heritage Centerk, Roots.web, and Kentucky Vital Statistics.

The Life of Salle Jones Everett in Barren County Kentucky

Black history has been forgotten in many small towns. Barren County Kentucky has a lot of history that remains hidden or lost. As I research my family history I find forgotten stories and people lost in history. Today’s video focuses on my second great grandmother Salle Everett. Her story is unique because it has a mystery of a twist with oddity surrounding her death in 1911.

The Kinslow Sisters From Barren County KY

Vyond is the best thing that ever happened for me. I can now visualize my posts and add my sources into the video.

This video is about a set of sisters who were freed from slavery when they were still children. They are my great, great, great grandmother and her older sister. They lived in Barren County Kentucky and have been long forgotten until I found them in the census. One is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in a grave with a lost grave marker, and her grave has been overgrown by weeds and trees. We are unable to locate her exact location. Her older sister is buried in Louisville Kentucky in Greenwood cemetery. That cemetery was recently cleaned of all weeds, trees, and debris. She has been found.

Enjoy the video of these sisters.

Confederate Statue Removal/Erasing History

Thought number one.

History cannot be changed. It happened. A truth cannot be hidden. The truth always surfaces and stands strong.

Removing a confederate statue does not change history. The history is still there whether the statue is there or not. History and/or the truth is not always pretty to look at.

Here are my questions.

If there were no slaves could we have had a confederacy? Last I checked you cannot have a confederacy without having slaves.

If there were no slaves would we have had a Civil War? Last I checked the Civil War was about states rights which included the right to own slaves. And confederate statues were erected. Most if not all of the statues likeness were slave owners in the south.

If there were statues of freed slaves near the confederate statues would that have balanced the history?

For those of you who protest the confederate statues removal, would you have supported placing statues of freed slaves if the confederate statues were allowed to stay?

For those of you who are against statues of black people such as Martin Luther King, Barak Obama, Malcom X, Coretta Scott King, and other important black people. Jesse Jackson does not count because he is a fraud. My question to you is this.

Why is a confederate statue considered valid honorable history and should not be removed while statues of black people who have done great thing should not be erected?

As I said in the beginning history cannot be changed. It doesn’t matter how many confederate statues are removed, nor how many protests are against statues of black people being erected. Not one of us can change what happened in the past.

History is truth and the truth holds history. The truth cannot be changed.