African American Accesses Ancestral Records Thanks to Freemen's Bureau Initiative
Rodger Vaughn found records of his emancipated-slave ancestors thanks to the Freedmen's Bureau Project initiated by FamilySearch International. (Ron Rock) By Brenda Noland Church News contributor
For the LDS Church News
Published: Thursday, June 2 2016 5:05 p.m. MDT
Updated: Friday, June 3 2016 10:28 a.m. MDT
History Channel supports Freedmen's Bureau Project in commemoration of 'Roots' TV series.
Thanks to the global voluntary indexing effort of thousands, a southern California African-American man, having knowledge of only a few family names including his beloved grandmother’s, yet having a desire to find his roots, accessed the Church’s free website where he found multiple records of his ancestors.
His search culminated in his finding a 1700 ship’s manifest he believes to contain the name of his great-great-great-grandfather, the first man in his family to travel from Africa on a slave ship.
Following through on a friend’s suggestion, Rodgrice (Rodger) Vaughn of Murrieta, California, logged onto FamilySearch.org and began a computer journey that took him on an . . .
For the LDS Church News
Published: Thursday, June 2 2016 5:05 p.m. MDT
Updated: Friday, June 3 2016 10:28 a.m. MDT
History Channel supports Freedmen's Bureau Project in commemoration of 'Roots' TV series.
Thanks to the global voluntary indexing effort of thousands, a southern California African-American man, having knowledge of only a few family names including his beloved grandmother’s, yet having a desire to find his roots, accessed the Church’s free website where he found multiple records of his ancestors.
His search culminated in his finding a 1700 ship’s manifest he believes to contain the name of his great-great-great-grandfather, the first man in his family to travel from Africa on a slave ship.
Following through on a friend’s suggestion, Rodgrice (Rodger) Vaughn of Murrieta, California, logged onto FamilySearch.org and began a computer journey that took him on an . . .
At Harveston Lake Park in Temecula, California, Dayle and Charles Morgan visit with Rodgrice Vaughn about their individual ancestral searching efforts. (Ron Rock) emotional roller coaster.
Florida-born, Mr. Vaughn, a former Marine who served two tours to the Western Pacific and currently coaches two youth basketball teams, said that seeing his ancestor’s name, Carolina Pauling, who stepped off an African slave ship into Port Charleston, South Carolina, was emotionally overwhelming.
“I’ve always had thoughtful dreams about tracing back my extended relatives,” he said. “I have been a historian. When I find my people and learn their names, I put myself in their shoes and try to imagine what they were like.”
Speaking of the man he believes is his great-great-great grandfather, Mr. Vaughn paused.
“In that small amount of time, I honestly felt as though I knew him personally and that we actually shared a long-lasting relationship,” he said.
In 2015, The LDS Church officials obtained copies of post-Civil War records created by the Freedmen’s Bureau, an organization that was formed in an effort to help 4 million freed slaves acclimate to society. The bureau solemnized marriages, provided housing, food, clothing, education and medical care. The Church’s initiative digitizes records with the help of volunteers so that people such as Mr. Vaughn can have access to these records free of charge.
In 2015, FamilySearch joined efforts with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and the California African American Museum. Their goal is to take the raw historical records and have them completely indexed in time for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture which takes place on Sept. 24.
Click on the following link to see more.
History Channel supports Freedmen's Bureau Project in commemoration of 'Roots' TV series.
Florida-born, Mr. Vaughn, a former Marine who served two tours to the Western Pacific and currently coaches two youth basketball teams, said that seeing his ancestor’s name, Carolina Pauling, who stepped off an African slave ship into Port Charleston, South Carolina, was emotionally overwhelming.
“I’ve always had thoughtful dreams about tracing back my extended relatives,” he said. “I have been a historian. When I find my people and learn their names, I put myself in their shoes and try to imagine what they were like.”
Speaking of the man he believes is his great-great-great grandfather, Mr. Vaughn paused.
“In that small amount of time, I honestly felt as though I knew him personally and that we actually shared a long-lasting relationship,” he said.
In 2015, The LDS Church officials obtained copies of post-Civil War records created by the Freedmen’s Bureau, an organization that was formed in an effort to help 4 million freed slaves acclimate to society. The bureau solemnized marriages, provided housing, food, clothing, education and medical care. The Church’s initiative digitizes records with the help of volunteers so that people such as Mr. Vaughn can have access to these records free of charge.
In 2015, FamilySearch joined efforts with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and the California African American Museum. Their goal is to take the raw historical records and have them completely indexed in time for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture which takes place on Sept. 24.
Click on the following link to see more.
History Channel supports Freedmen's Bureau Project in commemoration of 'Roots' TV series.
