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00:07I was born and raised William Robinson, Jr.
00:10My Uncle Claude used to take me to the movies,
00:12and we'd go see cowboy movies all the time.
00:15And he had a cowboy name for me, which was Smokey Joe.
00:18I guess that was too long and drawn off,
00:20because they dropped the Joe off, and I became Smokey.
00:24When I was a kid growing up, I wanted to be a singer.
00:27And when I was about 11, I guess,
00:30the paperboy on our street was a guy named Ron White.
00:33He liked to sing, so we formed a group.
00:36We recorded our first record in 1958,
00:39and that's when we became The Miracles.
00:42And the rest is history.
00:46Going in the studio or writing songs or doing that, I love that.
00:49I absolutely love it with a passion.
00:52The fact that I get a chance to do this, it's just... I'm blessed.
00:58My dad's name was William Robinson.
01:01My mom's name was Flossie.
01:02Flossie Mae Smith.
01:03And my mom and dad got divorced when I was three.
01:05Although my dad came around all the time,
01:07my dad and I were very close.
01:09But my mom was my closest friend.
01:12My mom passed away when I was 10.
01:15It was so unbelievable to me.
01:18I knew my mom was sick,
01:20but I never thought that my mom was going to die.
01:22The world stopped.
01:24That was it.
01:26So, um...
01:27But anyway, my oldest sister came back to live in the house,
01:31and she raised me.
01:33When my mom passed when I was a kid,
01:35and so we hadn't had any conversations
01:37about the family tree on my mother's side.
01:39But, uh...
01:40I do know she was born in Memphis, Tennessee
01:45in 1907.
01:49And, um...
01:50I knew my grandmother really well.
01:53And my mom and I would go to Memphis to visit her.
01:55Her name was Ella Rivers.
01:56I know nothing about my mom's dad.
01:59Um...
01:59Nothing.
02:00I heard stories about the name
02:02The War Family.
02:04The War Family is on my maternal side.
02:06And I...
02:07That's all I know about them.
02:09So that really sparked my curiosity.
02:12I just want to know who these people were
02:14because I just want to know where I came from.
02:27So, I'm about to meet genealogist Joseph Shumway
02:30at the Los Angeles Public Library.
02:33I sent him what little I know about my mom's family.
02:37Smoky.
02:38Hi.
02:38How are you?
02:39Good. How are you doing?
02:40Good. I'm Joseph.
02:40Hi.
02:41Welcome.
02:42Have a seat.
02:43Okay.
02:44Well, I've been able to do a little bit of research
02:46with the information that you knew to start with.
02:48Okay.
02:49And found a document here
02:50that I think gets us off on the right foot.
02:52Okay.
02:52So I'd love to have you take a look at it.
02:58This is my mother's death certificate.
03:03Right.
03:03And, um...
03:04It gives us her date of birth.
03:06It was September 23rd.
03:08Okay.
03:091907.
03:10I've never known the day.
03:12I knew my mom was born in September,
03:13but I didn't know the day.
03:14So this is great, too.
03:15And she was born in Tennessee.
03:18I see down here a father's name, Benjamin Smith.
03:21Right.
03:21Yeah.
03:21This is my grandfather.
03:22I never knew his name.
03:24I never met him or knew him at all, period.
03:27And, Ella, here, this is my grandmother's name.
03:31I didn't know my grandmother's actually maiden name was War.
03:34So the next step that we would want to do
03:36is to look in the census records.
03:38So when we look at the census,
03:40we actually want to probably look for your mother's name
03:43since she has a less common name than Benjamin Smith.
03:45Oh, okay, okay, good.
03:46Yeah, all right.
03:47The first census that she would have appeared on as a child
03:50would have been 1910.
03:51There it is.
03:52This is the one here.
03:53Because my grandmother's name there is, you know, Rivers.
03:56I see my Uncle Dewey and my Aunt Matt.
03:59No, I'm just wondering.
04:00I see where my grandmother's the head of the household
04:02and where has Ben?
04:04I want to know where he was.
04:05Your grandmother's obviously listed as the head of the house.
04:07Yeah.
04:08But your grandmother is listed that she is married,
04:10so she's not widowed or divorced.
04:12But back in those days, there's no telling where he was.
04:15He could have been working and off on some job
04:18or could just have threw his hands up and said,
04:20that's it, and walked away, you know.
04:22We got to find him, man.
04:23We do.
04:26If Dewey is Benjamin's son, he's nine,
04:30your grandparents are probably married
04:32somewhere around 1900, perhaps.
04:33Mm-hmm.
04:34And so the next step, I think,
04:35is for you to visit the Shelby County Archives,
04:38which is in Memphis.
04:40I'm really on the hunt for my grandfather
04:43to see why he wasn't in the household
04:46with my grandmother and my mother in 1910.
04:49And I hope that the documents that we uncover
04:52will give me some insight as to who Ben Smith was.
04:57Hi.
04:57How are you?
04:59I'm good. How are you?
04:59Good.
05:00OK, the first thing I have, you can read through it.
05:08September term, 1914.
05:11Let me see.
05:12This is a court record.
05:14OK, I see that this says B.J. Smith here.
05:16This is your grandfather?
05:18Yes.
05:19Um, Ella Smith.
05:20That's my grandma.
05:22It says this calls case on to be heard
05:25on the bill of complainant for divorce.
05:29This is a divorce decree.
05:31Yes.
05:31I see.
05:32It's from 1914.
05:34So I guess they did get divorced.
05:36Ben is the one who is filing for the divorce
05:40and that my grandmother Ella is the defendant in this.
05:44That the defendant willfully, maliciously deserted plaintiff
05:48and remained away from him for two whole years
05:52without a reasonable cause before the filing of the bill.
05:55So, in other words, she left him.
05:57Well, this seems rather kind of suspicious to me.
06:01And especially knowing my grandma like I did, you know.
06:04For him to say in here that she maliciously deserted him
06:08and he didn't know where she was or any of that for two years
06:13that doesn't even sound like my grandmother.
06:16So, maybe perhaps he had to say something like that
06:18in order to make this divorce seem righteous
06:22or something because he wanted to get out of it.
06:24In 1914, the early 1900s, there's no such thing as a
06:29we're going to get a no-fault divorce.
06:32Somebody has to be at fault.
06:34She left him.
06:35That's what he's trying to prove.
06:37I see.
06:37Okay.
06:38Yeah.
06:39Maybe she wanted out, too.
06:40We can't know, based on the records,
06:42what's been going on in this household.
06:44Is there a way to find any of that out?
06:46Well, I have another document that we're going to look at.
06:49Okay.
06:50This is the census report from Tennessee, from Shelby, Tennessee,
06:54the County of Shelby.
06:55This is from 1900, June 1900.
06:59So, this is 14 years earlier, before he divorced my grandma.
07:03Benjamin.
07:03Here it is.
07:05Smith.
07:06Ben J.
07:07Okay.
07:08He's 22 years old.
07:09Mm-hmm.
07:10Relationship.
07:11What does this say right here?
07:12I can't make that word out.
07:13It says head.
07:14That means that he's the head of the household.
07:16That's his wife.
07:17Okay.
07:18But I don't recognize that name.
07:20Eudetia or something.
07:21What is that?
07:21I think it's Eusatia or Eusalia.
07:24And they've been married for one year in 1900.
07:29I did find out that my Uncle Dewey was born in 1901.
07:34Yeah.
07:34But I'm wondering if Eusalia and my grandfather,
07:38they were married in 1900 and my Uncle Dewey was born in 1901.
07:42And that kind of says something that brings some curiosity into the picture.
07:47Yeah.
07:47I would like to find out something about Eusalia and how he hooked up with my grandmother after Eusalia.
07:54Okay.
07:55Let's see if I can kind of move you a step further and have right here on top.
07:59Wow.
08:00Look at this.
08:00These are the, some of the original documents.
08:04Now this is from the Second Circuit Court, a reference docket.
08:08And this is Eusalia Smith and Benny Smith.
08:12Okay.
08:13And this is divorce granted, May 23rd, 1902.
08:18So this is the divorce decree between his first wife, Eusalia, and Benjamin.
08:24Let's see how this whole thing starts.
08:28Your petitioner endeavoring to discharge her marital duties as best she could.
08:35But the defendant has refused or neglected to provide her support
08:42and spends his time and earnings with women of ill repute.
08:48Wait, was she talking about grandmother?
08:50Somebody has to get this divorce.
08:53Yeah.
08:53Just like with the other one.
08:54Yeah.
08:54And there has to be some charges.
08:56So in this case, Eusalia, you know, is saying,
09:00he's been hanging around with this other woman.
09:03Because I'm such a fine, upstanding member of the community.
09:06This woman has got to be a woman of ill repute.
09:10And about the time they were getting divorced is about the time my Uncle Dewey was born.
09:15Maybe he had a child with her while he was still married to this woman.
09:18Very interesting.
09:19Yeah.
09:19So this is 1902.
09:21He had divorced my grandma in 1914.
09:24But in 1910, on the census for Shelby County, Tennessee, he was not in the home with my grandmother or
09:32the children, my mother and her siblings.
09:34So I'm just still curious as to where he was.
09:38Okay.
09:38Let's just kind of move to the next set of documents.
09:43Okay.
09:44So we're in 1910 again.
09:46Right.
09:46This is from the city of Birmingham?
09:49That's in Alabama?
09:51Yes.
09:51Okay.
09:52So this guy's in Alabama at this time.
09:55Okay.
09:56Here he is.
09:57Benjamin J. Smith.
09:58He was a boarder at somebody's house.
10:00Here it shows my grandfather listed as single.
10:02But I know he's still married to my grandmother since they didn't divorce till 1914.
10:07And he says he's a clergyman.
10:10I guess he's repenting.
10:14But this says that he is employed at a church.
10:17Mm-hmm.
10:17Well, that's where he was.
10:18And he was in Alabama preaching.
10:21My grandmother, she's still married to him.
10:24And she still has the kids.
10:26And she's in Memphis.
10:27And he is leading his own life at this point.
10:31But I wonder if he was a clergyman all along.
10:34Well, let me see if I can fill in a little bit of the information for those in-between years.
10:41This is the Memphis City Directory for 1908.
10:45Okay.
10:46So if we go maybe kind of like halfway through.
10:49Here it is.
10:50There's a reverend, it says.
10:52Oh, it says right here.
10:53Pastor of Rock of Ages Baptist Church.
10:55Is a pastor.
10:56So pastor means that you're the top dude at that church.
10:58You are the person.
10:59Yeah, yeah.
11:00This is your church.
11:01This is your church, exactly.
11:02And this is 1908.
11:04Before he moved to Alabama.
11:05Yeah.
11:05Is the Rock of Ages Church still around?
11:07It is still around.
11:08It's a historic black church, so.
11:10I would love to go there.
11:13I am very confused about Ben, my grandfather.
11:16His life is all over the place.
11:18Even though he was a minister, I think that he was a player.
11:23He was a pastor, but he was a player.
11:26I think that he had a lot of women, you know.
11:28And my grandmother just happened to be one of them.
11:30And then he divorced my grandma saying she deserted him when he was the one who left.
11:39So I'm meeting historian Dr. Andre E. Johnson, who tells me he's uncovered more about my grandfather,
11:44Benjamin Smith.
11:45When your grandfather, of course, was pastoring here in 1908, this structure wasn't here.
11:53There was no structure.
11:54This building wasn't here at all?
11:55No.
11:56The congregation owned the land and they met outside.
12:00Had an altar.
12:01People came out to worship, wanting to hear your grandfather preach and pray and sing.
12:08There's a beauty in that.
12:09Yeah, that's beautiful.
12:10Outside.
12:10After emancipation, the church was just so important to black communities.
12:17The church became refuge.
12:19Imagine this.
12:21Every day, Monday through Saturday, you are called names.
12:25You're called the N-word.
12:26You're called boy.
12:27You're called girl.
12:28You're never given any type of respect.
12:31But Sunday morning comes.
12:33Yes.
12:33And you're brother.
12:34Yeah.
12:34And you're sister.
12:35And everybody respects you.
12:37That was so important, just that alone, just to help me get through what I got to get
12:43through when I leave this place because it's going to be a hard road to hold, as they say.
12:48But Sundays are coming.
12:49Sundays are coming.
12:50That's it.
12:51That's it.
12:52So with your grandfather, the congregation here felt so moved probably by his preaching
12:59and by his teaching that they called him to pastor the church in 1908.
13:04That says something.
13:05But according to the records that I saw yesterday, he had gone to Birmingham, Alabama.
13:11Mm-hmm.
13:12At a church there in 1910.
13:14I was just wondering about all the movement that he did, if he was really an evangelist.
13:18Yeah.
13:18Because when ministers travel like that, they are evangelists.
13:21Mm-hmm.
13:21Or if he was seeking a church, looking for a church to pastor.
13:24We have something.
13:26Oh, great.
13:26That kind of might help us out here.
13:30Let's see here.
13:34Wow.
13:35On January 25, 1925, the first service of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church was held in the home of
13:44Reverend B.J. Smith.
13:45And on Saturday, December 5, 1947, the church debt was liquidated.
13:51By this time, Reverend Smith's health was deteriorating.
13:56On March 4, 1951, he resigned after serving 26 years.
14:00My God.
14:00Okay, so he did find a church.
14:02Yeah.
14:02And he did pastor a church.
14:04Mm-hmm.
14:05Wow, this is really something.
14:07And that church bloomed and prospered.
14:11And as you saw there, it's still going today.
14:14Yes, that's incredible.
14:16It's just a good thing to know that my grandfather, whatever else he was, he was a man of God.
14:22Mm-hmm.
14:22So I would have loved to have gotten to know him.
14:25Mm-hmm.
14:26And just see what he had to say.
14:29You know, like I knew my grandmother.
14:31Yeah.
14:32You read in 1951 that he retired because of health reasons.
14:38His health, yeah.
14:40Tell me what you see there.
14:43Oh, this is the death certificate.
14:46The date of December 12, 1957.
14:50Boy, okay.
14:51He was still around when I was a teenager.
14:55Father's full name unknown.
14:57Mother's name unknown.
14:58Gosh.
14:59Wow.
14:59Wow, that's a drag because I wanted to go further back than him.
15:04Yeah.
15:04And if I can't find his parents' names.
15:07Yeah.
15:08Then that kind of stymies me.
15:11Well, I do have my grandmother's maiden name, which is War.
15:17Wow.
15:17Unlike Smith, it is not a very common name.
15:20Yeah.
15:20So you may have some luck.
15:23But before you leave, it is Sunday morning and the church is open.
15:29This is today, David.
15:30This is tonight, David.
15:30I'm living in my father's house.
15:33It is my spirit!
15:51Today I'm going to meet with a genealogist and I'll talk about the war side of my family
15:55when my grandma was at war before she got married.
15:58Well, I think I found something
15:59that might be able to help you out.
16:01Oh, great.
16:02Why don't you take a look at that
16:03and see if any of that makes any sense.
16:07OK.
16:08This is a death certificate.
16:11Right.
16:12For my grandmother.
16:13Right.
16:13Mm-hmm.
16:15Ella Smith Rivers McCurry.
16:16Yeah.
16:17She died January 6 of 1954.
16:21Wow.
16:22Oh, man, her birthday is on here, too.
16:24Oh, she was born July 16, 1889.
16:28Mm-hmm.
16:29And it says my grandmother was born in Tennessee.
16:33Oh, her father's name is on here, too.
16:36Oh.
16:37Adam War.
16:39His wife's was Sarah, but her maiden name is not on here.
16:42And that's the first time you got here, both of their names?
16:45The first time, yeah.
16:46Right.
16:46OK.
16:47OK.
16:48OK.
16:48Yeah.
16:48Is there any way to search Adam War
16:50and see as much as I can find out about him, any way to?
16:53Sure.
16:54Absolutely.
16:54He was probably born before the Civil War.
16:57The majority of African-Americans were enslaved in Tennessee and other places in the South.
17:01And so what we can do is we can go back to the 1870 census.
17:05The 1870 census was the first one taken after the Civil War when the majority of African-Americans
17:11that were enslaved show up by first name and surname on the census.
17:14Here we are.
17:16OK.
17:17He's right on top.
17:18He's the first one.
17:19OK.
17:19Right.
17:20At this time, he was a field hand.
17:21Right.
17:22He was working on a farm.
17:23He was working as a laborer for somebody else.
17:26And it also shows that Sarah, his wife, is also a field hand, so they were working on
17:30the field together.
17:31Mm-hmm.
17:31He's living in the county of Fayette, state of Tennessee.
17:35Fayette County is adjacent to Shelby County, where Memphis is.
17:40Oh, OK.
17:40I just wonder what Fayette County was like for black people back, you know, when this
17:45census was taken even, 1870, you know.
17:47What was Fayette?
17:49Well, it had been pretty rough.
17:50Yeah.
17:51You know, as you see here, he was a field hand.
17:53Yeah.
17:53So you had a lot of people coming off plantations, but they were still doing the same thing they
17:57were doing as enslaved.
17:59Yeah.
17:59And now they got the right to vote, but then the white people didn't want them to vote.
18:05And so...
18:06Like now.
18:07Exactly, exactly, exactly, exactly.
18:09Yeah.
18:10So it was a real rough situation, you know.
18:13Tennessee was a rough place.
18:14The Ku Klux Klan started in Tennessee.
18:16Yeah.
18:16And they were really rough on black folks after the Civil War.
18:20Yeah.
18:20So it wasn't easy, even though they were, quote, quote, free.
18:23Mm-hmm.
18:24Do you think any of these people are related?
18:26There's a possibility that when the census enumerator came around, he looked at a person
18:31and he knew he came from so-and-so's farm or so-and-so's plantation, and he would put down
18:36their name with the surname of that farmer who owned them.
18:39Yes.
18:39Or where they worked.
18:40So what's...
18:42Where do we go from here?
18:43I mean...
18:43We could try to look for a white person named War to see if they could have owned slaves.
18:50Okay.
18:50In that community.
18:51So let's look at the page right before then.
18:57Can you make up whatever his name is?
18:59That's James.
19:00Oh, James War.
19:01James War.
19:02He's James War.
19:03Oh, he's white.
19:05Mm-hmm.
19:05He's a farmer.
19:07So it looks like $10,000 is the value of their estate.
19:12Right.
19:13Just their real estate.
19:14Yeah.
19:15$10,000 is a heck of a lot of money.
19:17Yeah, absolutely.
19:18He very well could have owned a lot of enslaved people.
19:20Is there any way that we can find that out?
19:22They're federal records of slave owners.
19:24Yes.
19:24The original records are at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
19:27Thank you so much, man.
19:28I appreciate it.
19:29Yeah.
19:29Really.
19:30Really appreciate it.
19:31Oh, you're welcome.
19:31You're welcome.
19:32Good luck.
19:32Have fun.
19:32To find out about the wars, Adam and Sarah, who were my great-grandparents, I feel like
19:36we're making progress.
19:37But I'm not satisfied by any means.
19:40I've gone back as far as the 1870s, and I'm going into slavery now.
19:43And I expected to go into slavery, uh, being black, you know.
19:47Slavery definitely comes into play on me finding my ancestry.
19:50You know, even when I started to perform and to go to places in the deep south and stuff,
19:56where I couldn't stay in the hotels or use the bathroom or, uh, catch the bus or...
20:03Segregation was very heavy.
20:18So I'm going to meet historian Dinah Berry.
20:20I've asked her to see if she can uncover any more information on my great-grandfather, Adam War,
20:24as well as James War, who may be his slave owner.
20:28I've spent a lot of time trying to find your great-grandfather.
20:30Adam War in records on slavery, and I kept hitting some dead ends.
20:34So I decided to back out a little bit and do what we do as scholars of slavery,
20:38was we look at the whites that were connected to them.
20:41Okay.
20:42In the Court of Claims, uh, December term 1885, your petitioner, America's War...
20:50Uh, was his name America's?
20:52Mm-hmm.
20:52I haven't heard this name yet, okay.
20:53America's War was one of James War's sons.
20:56America's War respectfully represents that he is the executor of James War.
21:02Um, is this deceased?
21:04Deceased.
21:05Okay.
21:05So, after the Civil War, people would file claims for their property that was lost during the war.
21:11Okay.
21:11Family members would file claims.
21:13They were receiving compensation for property loss? The slave owners?
21:16Mm-hmm.
21:17From who?
21:18From the federal government.
21:19Oh, boy.
21:19Okay.
21:20So, you see here that there's about $2,000 worth of, worth of property, $2,621.
21:26Yes.
21:27Okay.
21:27That's a lot of property that they lost during the Civil War.
21:30Okay.
21:30Yeah.
21:30What were the chances of them recovering the property?
21:33Slim to none.
21:34You know, the war ends in 1865.
21:36This family was trying to claim their property for 20 years.
21:40So how would, how, how were they able to prove that this is actually their losses?
21:44They had to get affidavits from other people that were there that were witnessing what was lost during the war.
21:48Oh.
21:50Oh, boy.
21:50Okay.
21:51State of Tennessee, Fayette County, personally appeared, Adam War.
21:56That's my, that's my great grandfather.
21:58Yes, it is.
21:58Okay.
21:59That's amazing.
22:00Uh, what does this stand for?
22:02C-O-L-D?
22:03Colored.
22:03Oh, colored.
22:05Who testified in the case of A.V. War.
22:08Mm-hmm.
22:08It's America's V. War.
22:09Mm-hmm.
22:10America's V. War.
22:11So Adam War was testifying for A.V. War to get the property back.
22:16Yes.
22:16Okay.
22:16And this is extremely rare.
22:18He's using your great grandfather to testify on his behalf.
22:23Wow.
22:24I am 40 years of age, about.
22:26It's something how people really didn't know their, their accurate ages.
22:30Exactly.
22:31Just approximate.
22:32Yeah.
22:33Am a farmer.
22:34Have lived all my life where I now live.
22:37It is the war place.
22:38Mm-hmm.
22:39Owned during the time of the rebellion by old man James War, my old boss.
22:44I belonged to him.
22:47Wow.
22:49This is incredible to, to, to have the proof that I was looking for, really, to find out
22:57whether or not Adam was actually a slave.
23:00Mm-hmm.
23:01He was a slave and, um, this is very enlightening.
23:06Yeah.
23:10Uh, he turned his hands loose.
23:14Oh, his hands, that means the, the slaves that he had.
23:16Mm-hmm.
23:16But he, he's turning them loose, which is a term that a lot of enslaved people use to talk
23:21about how they were given their freedom.
23:23Yeah.
23:23And told us to take the place and the stock and make a living for ourselves.
23:30So, uh, what, what, what does that mean?
23:32It could mean that, um, they were, they were told that they were free and they could stay
23:37there and live there.
23:38But we don't know exactly when your great grandfather was turned loose, as he, as he put it.
23:42We don't know whether or not this happened during the war, after the war.
23:46Um, it could be that it was required.
23:48We just, we just, we don't really know.
23:50Sounds like Adam didn't want to leave.
23:52Mm-hmm.
23:53Mm-hmm.
23:53Mm-hmm.
23:54And, and the farms and stuff that they were working.
23:55So, yeah, we now see that he's there 20 years later, right?
23:59Yeah.
23:59A lot of, a lot of African Americans stayed.
24:01Yeah.
24:02Because they wanted to connect with family that was lost.
24:04Mm-hmm.
24:04Some of them stayed because it was where they knew.
24:06They knew the land, they knew the people.
24:08But it's also, they need a place to live and, and live in freedom.
24:11Yeah.
24:12So, let's see what else this says.
24:15I saw horses, mules, corn and fodder taken by the Yankees from James War.
24:22So, Adam War is testifying about property that was lost during the Civil War.
24:28Okay.
24:28Okay.
24:29Uh, this property all belonged to Mr. James War.
24:33Don't know that he even got any receipts or pay.
24:39It, it seems to me that, uh, that my great-grandfather, uh, Adam, he, he, he was either in a
24:45position
24:45where, uh, James War had been good to them or he was up under the hammer.
24:51Mm-hmm.
24:51And, you know, he had to say this to, to save himself or to save himself from being further,
24:56uh, abused or his family.
24:58Right.
24:59The time period, the 1880s.
25:01Yeah.
25:01Um, I mean, lynchings were happening.
25:04If they're asked to testify, are they gonna, are they gonna say no?
25:07Exactly.
25:08Exactly.
25:09It's a very challenging time.
25:11Sure it is.
25:11Mm-hmm.
25:12Well, whatever it is, the beauty of this is the fact that this is in his words.
25:16Mm-hmm.
25:17This is in my great-grandfather's words.
25:20Mm-hmm.
25:20And, um, that, that's, that's great.
25:23Mm-hmm.
25:25So let's look at another document.
25:27Okay.
25:28Oh, okay.
25:29So let's see what this is.
25:30Mm-hmm.
25:32We've seen a bunch of these.
25:33Mm-hmm.
25:34County of Fayette in the state of Tennessee.
25:37He was aging 80.
25:38Mm-hmm.
25:39Let's keep scrolling and see if we can find your great-grandfather.
25:43Here he is, right here.
25:46Adam Moore, wife Sarah, and, uh, their children.
25:50Right.
25:50Of course, my grandmother's in here because she wasn't even born yet.
25:54And, uh, we, we have also that some of them, uh, were schooled and they were literate.
26:00Okay.
26:00So that's huge.
26:01Yeah.
26:01That's huge.
26:01Yes.
26:02That was one of the main things that African Americans tried to do when they became free,
26:06was to get an education.
26:07Adam Moore, we know, wasn't literate, right?
26:10Right.
26:10So he's trying to make sure his kids have an education in this new space.
26:15Uh, well, it's progress.
26:16Yeah.
26:16Oh, that's incredible.
26:17Mm-hmm.
26:18Okay.
26:19And his wife, Sarah, is keeping house.
26:22So, um, the, the documents that I saw before this, they were listed as field hands.
26:27I guess they were picking cotton or something out there, you know.
26:29But it tells us that within 10 years, they had progressed to the point where she could
26:32then go keep house, help raise the children, help make sure the children received an education.
26:37And she no longer has to work in the fields.
26:39And that's, that's like a graduation day for a former enslaved woman.
26:42That's amazing.
26:43And then Adam, by this document here, he's a farmer.
26:47Exactly.
26:48So he's probably renting the land from the war family, his former owner.
26:52But I have found the property that he lived on, um, and part of the land that he probably
26:58worked.
26:59Oh, you have?
27:00Mm-hmm.
27:00It's right outside of Memphis.
27:01Okay.
27:02Mm-hmm.
27:02Oh, that's wonderful.
27:04Yeah.
27:04Yeah.
27:05I was really proud when I saw the fact that after the Civil War, that my great grandfather
27:11progressed.
27:14And he utilized the land and he went forward.
27:18And even in as much as getting three of his children educated, I'm very proud of him for
27:24that.
27:28I'm so excited to see that land and to see the land that he tilled and how he supported
27:35his family.
27:44It's amazing.
27:45I'm standing here where he worked, my great grandfather, and raised his family and all that.
27:57And I admire him so much because he was a hardworking man who finally made it to emancipation.
28:09And when James Walsh said to him, okay, Adam, you are free.
28:13Free probably was a word that he never even dared to dream.
28:19I'm just overcome with, um, with joy because standing right here where my great grandfather
28:28stood and worked this land, this is a privilege.
28:32The fact that I got the chance to do this is just incredible.
28:51To be continued...