Genealogy Just Ask, LLC by Robin R. Foster

Last week, we talked about my third great-grandmother, Lucy Nelms (B. 1805). David and Lucy were in Presley Nelms Jr. (1767-1841) will.  We know from last week that Lucy Nelms (B. 1805) had gone to Mississippi. This family was separated before 1843.  Now, what became of her husband, David Nelms and Andrew, her son?

My Uncle Buddy was Robert Foster (1919-1990), these are the details that I learned from him:

-Ora came from Desoto County, Mississippi

-Her parents had been enslaved.

-They came from North Carolina with enslavers during enslavement

-The enslaved died in the US Civil War.

-The enslaver's brother took possession of Lucy.

-This brother already owned Hence.

-Hence and Lucy were married, and they both were Nelms.

Come and listen to Robin tell where the details led her.

Our family used to live in Greenwood, SC which is Greenwood County. I was passionate about a few cemeteries. One was Fairview Cemetery.

The efforts to restore Fairview Cemetery in Greenwood, South Carolina and identify those whose graves lie under the debris was hard. The grave of infant, Myrtle Greg was discovered in a fenced off section in the cemetery. She died on December 2 of 1911 or 1914 which is at any rate before death certificates were first recorded in 1915. It is common to find a headstone of a person that is not listed in any record.

The names of her parents were inscribed on her headstone: Rev. E. R. Burgess and C. L. Burgess. It remains yet a mystery as to why Myrtle had a different last name than her parents, but after a little research, we have discovered more about Rev. E. R. Burgess and his wife.

We had been working hard to research to document each person. By searching South Carolina Death records, 1821-1960 at Ancestry.com, I was able to find the death certificate of Rev. E. R. Burgess.

Notice that the death certificate names the places he is buried: Sodom Cemetery. We discovered that Sodom Cemetery is a previous name for Fairview Cemetery. In the process of looking for death certificates of those who have headstones in Fairview Cemetery, we have noticed that some of the earlier death certificates say Sodom Cemetery or New Cemetery, so with that information, we know that Rev. E. R. Burgess is probably buried in what is today Fairview Cemetery.

Next, I went to Newspapers.com to look for an obituary and Card of Thanks: Card of Thanks:

I discovered the E. in Rev. E. R. Burgess stands for Elisha, and his wife in 1920 was named Carrie. They also both appear in the 1919 Greenwood City Directory.

We found the death certificate for Carrie Lee Burgess, Myrtle's mother. Her obituary also has Sodom Cemetery which we know that is a former name for Fairview.

On May 14th, 2022, Jamestown Foundation was giving their African American Genealogy Workshop. I gave a segment explaining who a maroon was and the need for African Americans to include them in their research.

My phone rang. It was Dr. Mildred Chang. A participant from the workshop had called her. I could not believe it. We had not even left the parking lot.

We talked as Ellis drove home. Dr. Chang had authored her dissertation on Leeward Maroons from Jamacia. I was so excited she spoke of wanting to expand her research to include Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

I interviewed Dr.  Chang. I could listen to her all day. She has a broad perspective on the "Brave runaway Africans who went seeking freedom."  They went deep into inaccessible regions.

This is Dr. Chang's first interview. My hope is for those who have African ancestors that runaway or are missing they should consider they might be maroon.