About Tarheel Roots
Please sign in to see more. Hello! This tree began as a result of researching my paternal Yarboro/Yarborough, Dunstan and Green(e)roots in Franklin County, North Carolina, and has grown to include my maternal ancestors who were BROWN, ROSS, and DAVIS families in and around Littleton, NC. I've been fortunate to have found many names, but I am still hoping to get more actual family stories and history, so if you know anything, even the tiniest, most seemingly insignificant story, about anyone in this tree, please do share it with me by sending an email.
The Yarboro/Yarborough branch of our family begins with Calvin and Priscilla, whose parentage I haven't yet discovered. However, I have verified, by viewing their 1866 cohabitation (marriage) record, that they were both, indeed, "formerly enslaved". Priscilla was a Shaw before she married Calvin. Interestingly enough, Calvin, who was born about 1839, is actually listed at one point (1860)as a former teacher, which would be quite unique for someone who was enslaved.
As for the Greens, we begin with Anna, who, according to oral history, ran away (either alone, or with her mother) from her Perkins(on) family (owners) in either Tennessee or Virginia. Anna somehow ended up in Franklin County, NC, and became a Green.(It is said that Anna's mother was a "full-blooded Indian", but I have yet verify that.)
Anna was in a long-term relationship with Nathaniel Hawkins, and bore several children, which began our Green line. There are many mysteries to be solved about this branch of the family, since some (beginning with Anna's son, William), who passed for and lived as white, separated themselves and moved north to New York. Another interesting fact is that Anna's grandson, William Lawrence Green, added an e to the end of the surname, thus changing it to "Greene". To this day, his family line carries that spelling, while the rest of Anna's descendents still use, "Green".
The Dunstans were FREE blacks, who were listed as such and were tax-paying citizens as early as the mid-1700's. They are listed as one of 37 "Free Black Families in NC" and there is no evidence that they were ever enslaved. It appears that they were descendents of a white woman, who was most likely a servant,and may have migrated to NC from Virginia. This is one branch of my family that I've never met anyone from. They seem to have left the Franklin County/Louisburg area sometime in the early part of the 1900's. I'd love to know what happened to them and where they are now!
Unfortunately, all three of these family lines are very disconnected, and it seems that we've been that way, historically. It is my hope and dream that through this project, I will be able to connect some of our family and give our children some much needed information about who they really are, and where they came from. Though I've done the footwork, and compiled the information here, I haven't done this alone. I'd like to thank the "elders" who have supplied me with names, places, and tidbits of information which, though they thought them insignificant, gave me just enough to go on to be able to confirm my findings, and in many cases, instigated my investigation of yet another link in our very broken family chain. To all of you who have shared your memories of the oral history that was passed on to you, and to the many cousins who have provided me with data about our future generations -- I THANK YOU.
I hope you'll enjoy this site. It is being constantly being updated (almost daily), so check back, often. I'd appreciate it if all visitors would please sign the guest book. Thanks!
|