​On Saturday, May 20, 2017, Melissa Barker, the Houston County, TN Archivist, who is also a Professional Genealogist, will spend the day with members of the Tennessee Genealogical Society explaining how to navigate archives and how to best use them as part of the genealogical research process. Visitors are welcome.

In addition to her duties as County Archivist, Melissa also writes a blog, “A Genealogist in the Archives” . She is likewise a bi-weekly author for the vastly popular “Geneabloggers,” the virtual home and promoter for an enormous number of genealogy bloggers. Her column is known as “The Archive Lady.” 

​Melissa has been researching for over 26 years; imagine the huge amount of research knowledge she has to share with everyone!

Some of the topics she will cover include: “Vertical Files: What Are They and How to Use Them;” “Manuscript Collections: A Hidden Resource for Genealogists;” “Preserving Old Family Letters: Tips from an Archivist;” and “Scrapbooks: A Genealogist's Gold Mine.” Are there any of us who are family history researchers who haven’t needed more information on one or more of those subjects?

The all-day seminar, sponsored by the Tennessee Genealogical Society (TNGS), will be held at the Pickering Center, located at 7771 Poplar Pike, Germantown, TN 38138, right across the courtyard from the Tennessee Genealogical Society and the Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center (GRHGC).

If you are a member of TNGS, the cost of the seminar is $30.00. Non-members will pay $40.00. This fee includes four separate sessions of motivating research information (including hand-outs) from a renowned county archivist, as well as a box lunch and snacks.

You can register for this workshop three different ways:

1. Come by the Genealogy Center at 7779 Poplar Pike and register in person. You can pay with cash, check, or a money order.
2. Download the registration form found on the Society’s website (www.tngs.org) and mail it in with a check or money order.
3. Register online using a credit card or PayPal by clicking here.

Registration that Saturday will begin at 8:30 a.m. Come early, get a good seat (and maybe some coffee!), and mingle with a few other like-minded researchers. The first session will begin at 9:00 a.m., and the day will wrap up by 3:00 p.m.

Be sure to be on time – you really don’t want to miss out on anything as we learn all the amazing things that can be found in county archives.

Carla Love Maitland
​ Tennessee Genealogical Society Board Advisor

​Who Do You Think You Are? Is a television show hosted by the TLC channel that traces the ancestry of those in the movies and television. I have had the privilege of working on the following segments: Vanessa Williams and Jennifer Goodwin, and most recently Smokey Robinson.

On August 10, 2015, I received an email asking if I was available to assist on a research project. Once the paperwork and confidentiality forms were filled out, I was ready to begin the research on an amazing man’s ancestry. The work the show had already compiled was sent via Dropbox. Once I familiarized myself with the family of Smokey Robinson, we set out to learn more about his family. Here are some of the resources I explored:

• Freedman Records from the Memphis Benjamin Hooks Library on microfilm
• Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death records
• Differentiating between two Benjamin Smith’s, Smokey’s grandfather. Initially I found a white man that fit the profile, but then we found Benjamin J. Smith, Minister that was the correct ancestor. He was quite a mover and I had a time tracing him.
• Marriages and Divorces of Benjamin J. Smith
• I visited two churches:  Rock of Ages Baptist Church in Memphis where Benjamin preached and First Baptist Church in Bartlett where some of the family attended. I went and visited the churches; attended part of a service at Rock of Ages – great people and very helpful.  Reverend George Wilburn was a great resource for us.
• Researching the white Warr Family that brought slaves over to Rossville, Fayette County. Many African Americans kept the Warr surname and we had to figure who was blood related to Smokey.
• Arthur Webb special collection at the Memphis Library
• Probate for the Warr family members
• Maps and boundary changes for the county during 1850-1900s
• New Bethel Church & Cemetery
• Visits to the Tennessee Genealogical Society & Shelby County Archives
• NARA records
• City Directories
• Joy Rosser, historian for Fayette County, TN & the Fayette County Library
• Newspapers – Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Post
• FamilySearch, Ancestry, GenealogyBank, Newspapers.com, Archives, Courthouses, etc.

On one of my research visits submitted the following to the show:

1. Index to Freedmen's Bureau Marriages 1864-1865
2. Shelby County General Index Records (Deeds) 1821-1870
3. Index to Shelby County Wills (1820-1879) (1880-1900)
4. Index to Bounty & Pension Receipts for Veterans of the US Colored Troops, Memphis Freedmen's Bureau, 1867-1871
5. Index to Obits in "the Appeal" 1843-1894
6. Shelby Baptist Assn, TN 1903-1956
7. Shelby County Death Records (1848-1901) 
               Ellen Warr 5-10-1888 37 years
               Mary Warr 11-19-1886 51 years both women and black
8. Memphis Death Records 1848-1901 (same as above different book)
9. Warren County, TN Marriages 1852-1865
10. Warren County, TN Deed Book A 1808-1818
11. Warren County, TN Will Books 1-3 vol. 1
12. Warren County, TN Will Books 4-7, vol. 2
13. Warren County, TN Will Books 8011, vol. 3
14-18 Rock of Ages Church pictures – Rock of Ages also had an anniversary book that gave some history on the church and its pastors.
 
And
 
Roll 21 - Affidavits Provst Marshall of Freedmen's, 1865
Roll 23 - "   "  ", 1865-1866
Roll 33 - General Reports of the late Riots in Memphis, May 1866
Roll 37 - Affidavits to Memphis Riots, May 1866 
  
In September 2015, I was given the name of Smokey’s cousin, Lena Towner, who is also the family historian for the Warr Family. She was also in the midst of planning for the upcoming reunion. She had a wealth of knowledge on the family – pictures and stories. I could have stayed all day listening to her stories of Smokey and his family. One of the contacts we had was an elderly cousin named Bea from Detroit. She was in and out of the hospital, but I managed to talk to her a few times and it was amazing how sharp her memory was on the past. She said the family had Cherokee lines and most of the descendants came from “Old Man Warr”. (Note:  I could never really figure out if she was referring to Adam Warr the African American, or James Warr, the white slave owner). Some of the stories were too confidential to put on the show, but she helped me put a lot of the Warr family into the proper families, she and Lena knew the bloodline of Warrs to Smokey and those who had the same last name taken from when they were slaves on the Warr plantation. Most of the free slaves stayed in the Fayette and Shelby County areas to this day.
 
One of the highlights of this research project was a road trip I took with Lena Towner to Rossville, TN. I picked her up in Mississippi and we drove over to historic Rossville. We did some grave searching and with the help of two awesome men we met at a local church, we found the cemetery where the white Warr family was buried. It was in the middle of an overgrown forested area. There was no way I could have found it alone. The headstones were covered in foliage and were not in the best of condition. Pieces of the remaining old Warr house could be seen. There was an old barbed wire fence that family stories say was where the African American Warrs were buried. There was no way to prove this, so I feel this is why the show did not showcase it. It was an overgrowned area back behind where the house stood. The house was said to belong to Dr. A.V.Warr. Lena and I met the current homeowner of the home Dr. Warr lived in during the Civil War. The home has been renovated, but a lot of the features and charm were kept. The homeowners were very nice and gave us a tour of the home. Across from the home was a plaque, “The Skirmish at LaFayette Station. There were two old building there that were the fire station and old jail during the civil war.
 
In November 2015, I took a road trip to Somerville, TN to visit the library and the court house. I went through some very old books looking at marriages and land deeds. I had dinner at the Main Street Eatery, which at the time was closing and it was their last day. Upon looking today, it appears they must have reopened, which is great as their food was amazing. Joe Burns, past TN Genealogical Society President had recommended this place to me.

In June 2016, some of the producers of the show came to the Memphis area to scout out the areas they might consider airing. I met them at the Tennessee Genealogical Society and we went over the research. As I researched the Warr family, I kept thinking something was familiar. A couple years before this project I had a client who had the white Warr family that I researched. I was also currently doing a project for them, but due to the privacy clause, I could not tell them I was researching their family and its ties to the Smokey Robinson case. We found out that they owned the land where the Warr land use to be. At that point, we could discuss the project and it was ironic that I had a client that had ties to the research I was doing for the show.

It is hard to believe that research over a two-year period could be fit into an hour show. A lot of stories were not told due to the time restraints, but I learned that Smokey Robinson has a great family, especially those from the Warr side. Their ancestors struggle brought forth descendants of a strong close knit family, that gather together for reunions and have a deep sense of family unity. I am honored to have been a small part of it with other researchers.
For a full biography on Smokey Robinson, visit his website - http://www.smokeyrobinson.com/bio/

By Tina Sansone, Professional Genealogist
Social Media for TN Genealogical Society
http://www.pastpresentpathways.com

 

​On Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 10-12 noon, the Tennessee Genealogical Society will have its quarterly  business meeting. At these meetings the Board informs the membership of any news, financial matters and upcoming events. At this meeting the year's 2017 goals will be discussed and input can be given. 

After the initial meeting, a special presentation will be given by George C. Browder. He will present a program on his latest book,  "Reversal of Fortune: Germantown, Tennessee in the Civil War Era".  Dr. Browder is a long-time Memphian, who graduated from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) in 1961. While there, he received a commission in the Air Force.  After serving in the Air Force from 1961-64, he attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and received an MS and a PhD in Modern European History.  He was a Professor at State University of New York in Fredonia from 1968-2000.  He is the author of two books and numerous articles, essays and encyclopedia entries dealing mostly with police and security agencies of Weimar and Nazi Germany. He has also authored educational materials for Western Civilization and European history courses.

The meeting is open to the public and membership is encouraged to attend. The Tennessee Genealogical Society is located at 7779 Poplar Pike in Germantown, TN. Refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!