Genealogy, A Passion of Mine

What motivates my passion goes back about 36 years to my mom naming me. My first name, Sukari was given to me because of it meaning, Sugar. Sugar is the nickname given to my grandmother by her father shortly after her birth. My second or middle name Tatunisia means inquisitive, both names sum me up in a nut shell, however it is my middle name that I believe keeps me wanting to know more. For the past nine years my passion has been genealogy, not just my family's history but anyone's family history fascinates me. The trekking through cemeteries in remote areas, talking to strangers and the long hours at libraries and back rooms of court houses fills me with an adrenaline much like that of a race car driver. Their pit stops are like my finding new information both of which keeps you moving toward an ultimate goal.

The motivating factor that keeps me searching is the hope that I will be able to find something new. In 1996, I made my first attempt at researching my family history. Now that I look back I'm not sure exactly what prompted the initial desire to know about my ancestors but that is when it began. Being that my maternal lineage was from Alabama and I was in Northern California, resources for doing such research were scarce. I didn't accomplish much then. Not knowing what questions to ask, the only information I had to go on were the names of my great grandparents.

In 1998, the devastation of all devastations occurred, my maternal grandfather passed away. Daddy, as I lovingly called him, was the man that had raised me as his own, stood at the black iron fence during my outside time and tried to console me as I cried for him to take me home when I was in preschool, walked me to the corner store for Big Stix and Sweet Prunes and laughed at the things I said. Before his passing, I wanted to know more. After his death it became an urgency, it became my passion.

By the summer of 1998, I was ready to begin again, having moved to the South myself; I now had the resources necessary for such research readily available to me. I began spending more and more time in Mobile, there I was able to sit and talk to my grandmother about his life, his parents, and even how they met. Through these inquiries I found out that my great grandfather died about ten years before I was born, the same year my grandparents moved to California and my great grandmother died when my grandfather was only four years old. The lady I had known as Grandma Hannah was his stepmother.
Through a cousin living in Mobile I found out that the city had a Genealogy Library where I could further my research. From that first day at the library, I was hooked! With the information from my grandmother to get me started, I was able to find an obituary in the 1961 Mobile Register Newspaper and A book titled Black Churches of Choctaw County both of which my great grandfather, were included in. It was great to have this library available to me but I'd soon find out this was just the beginning.

By the summer of 1999, I had gathered as much information at the genealogy library as I could. So after taking down an A encyclopedia off the shelf, writing down the directions to Choctaw County, Alabama, and convincing my husband of my urgency to find more, we began our journey. We arrived in Butler, Choctaw's county seat about noon the next day. Upon our arrival into town we stopped at a convenient store to ask for directions. There I told two clerks the area I was looking for and my family names, surprisingly one knew not only the area but the family names as well. By the clerk's directions, I soon arrived at a house with several people standing outside talking. Two of the people turned out to be Michelle my third cousin and Ernest my first cousin once removed. Cousin Ernest not only showed us around but invited us into his home for the remainder of our stay. It was Cousin Ernest that drove us to meet one of my oldest living relatives that insisted upon being called Cud'n Julia and taking me to cemeteries where my ancestors were buried. Being able to read the head stones helped me to fill in the blanks and be able to continue my search for my family's history. Trekking through cemeteries may seem somewhat creepy but it provides much needed information when researching ones family history.

I have found my great great-great grandparents on my grandfathers maternal line dating back to 1799, my great-great-great-grandmother on my grandmothers maternal line dating back to the 1830's. I've been able to show my grandmother that her mother's school teacher they called Aunt Louise, really was her aunt and not just called that out of respect. I've even located my great-great-grandparents Jane and Denson's 1887 divorce documents and Denson's court documents describing the case against him vs. the County of Choctaw for shooting a gun on a Sunday. These types of documents give detailed information that will not only help me as I prepare my family's memoirs but also helps me put into perspective the obstacles and triumphs they faced during their lives.

Thanks to my inquisitions, I now know that my great grandmother Mallie was of a feisty nature, one that loved to dance, and very seldom held her tongue; my great grandfather Ellis played in a band, farmed and gave my grandmother her nickname Sugar for whom I was named; and that my great grandfather Frank walked with his hands clasped behind his back and anyone could tell it was him from a mile away because his arms weren't swinging at his side. The desire to know more increases with each new finding, and so I search for my family, the ones still here and those long gone. Because of all that I have been able to find, it is my sincere belief that it is my ancestors that guide me, lead me to new findings.