Welcome to my journey

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 14 – “Great.”

The new prompt in the 52-ancestor series for 2021 suggests that we write about ancestors associated with the word- “great”.   I found it daunting to navigate around this word.  Going through my folders, I realized that in almost every family tree, one could see great deeds, outstanding accomplishments, and of course, several degrees of great-grandparents.… Continue reading 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 14 – “Great.”

52 Ancestors, week 5-in the kitchen

Memories of childhood, at times, center in the kitchen. For this prompt, I thought I would visualize my Great-Aunt Essie Houston Kitchen. She lived in a two-bedroom tenement on 140th Street up in Harlem, New York. We would visit her once a month after attending church services at the Transfiguration Lutheran Church on West 126th… Continue reading 52 Ancestors, week 5-in the kitchen

Week 4: Favorite Photo

Among the many events during the festive holiday season on St. Croix is that once the year ends.  On the first day of the New Year, it is a Virgin Island family tradition to get together to take that long scenic drive to the far east of the island to watch the first sunrise.  This… Continue reading Week 4: Favorite Photo

A Family Legend

Does Anna Heegard belong in the Bough Family Tree The Woman behind the emancipation of the slaves in the Danish West Indies. Growing up in New York City did not isolate me from Virgin Islands History/lifestyle.  My grandmother and family were always engaged in a discussion about life on St. Croix and the generations.  Their… Continue reading A Family Legend

Finding family along the Altamaha River in Coastal Georgia

#52 Ancestors Week 48 “Gratitude” Dozens of plantations lined the Altamaha River throughout many counties. All my father’s maternal ancestors were from Brunswick Glynn County, GA. They resided on the sea islands most likely as enslaved people. I discovered my 4th Grandfather, Israel White’s name on the 1874-1800 Tax Digest, Glynn County Georgia. The register… Continue reading Finding family along the Altamaha River in Coastal Georgia

Bough Breaks the Color Barrier

As the first Black History Month of this new decade, February of 2020, was commemorated at St. Francis College (SFC) Brooklyn Heights, NY,  the Athletics department kicked it off by honoring Al Innis, center with the 1955-56 St. Francis Terriers, who was the Metropolitan New York Conference Regular Season Champions with a 21—4 record. He… Continue reading Bough Breaks the Color Barrier

Something about Susan Caroline Bough

Not everyone has the luxury of scholars documenting the story of your ancestor.  However, Dr. Elizabeth Rezende discussed in a lecture, at the St. Thomas University of the Virgin Islands Campus, “Susan Bough, negotiating through a Man’s World of Business in the Danish West Indies, 1905-1920. Dr. Rezende, Adjunct Professor, taught Anthropology and Caribbean History… Continue reading Something about Susan Caroline Bough

Looking at Resilience

2019 marks the commemoration of 400th Anniversary of the African American Story in the United States.  The history includes the “forced migration” of Africans into North America.  Gloria Brown-Marshall, Associate professor at John J College, so eloquently described on cable network; what happen 400 years ago, that is, the separation of families, is the discussion… Continue reading Looking at Resilience