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Hi Bill. Long time no post, hehe. Well, I’m way late on the details of my trip to Brevard, but it couldn’t be helped. About a week after I got back from the day trip up there, and before I could update the thread (I got a little busy), I gave myself a mild concussion. And, just when I recovered from the headaches from that, I had to go into the hospital and have major surgery on my lung (June 3rd). So, I’ve been recouperating and gaining my stamina back and trying to jump back into my classes, and catch up on everything. Whew! But, anyway, I’m back and I have tales from my trip.
Well, I found the house just fine. Found out that it was built, by hand, by my g-gpa Moses and his brother (who the census said lived next door…but it was actually the next property over, and up the hill that is on the back of the property). The house was added on to over the years, but the craftmanship was so good that the only thing that’s been done to that house is a new roof back in the 1960s! It’s showing it’s age, but I dare anyone to find a newer house that can last that long, LOL.
I got to see the videos I wrote about earlier. One of them was of my g-gma recounting her family history. There were two others and they were birthday celebrations for her. The b-day celebration for her 107th birthday was fantastic! My 107 year old g-gma was a huge wrestling fan and had a thing for The Rock (how cute is that?). So, as a surprise somebody got in touch with the WWE. They sent her a taped b-day personal greeting from two major wrestlers…that ended with a greeting from none other than The Rock, himself (I started screaming and jumping up and down in the sofa cushion cuz I love me some Rock, too!). And, the cameraman/crew who was filming the celebration was sent by The Rock. Then, the next day The Rock personally called my g-gma and wished her happy birthday!
Among other things like old family pictures, I learned that Gertrude’s parents had come to NC from LaFayette, GA… in a COVERED WAGON, and that was where that side of my family originated. I learned that Gertrude’s parents George Orr and Jane Orr (maiden name Patton) were both bi-racial. Jane’s mother was full-blooded Indian and her father was an Englishman. George’s mother was black (don’t know if she was mulatto) and his father was an Englishman, too.
I found out that LaFayette, Walker County, GA was Cherokee and Creek country, and that lots of Englishmen and other European men had come into the area (Patton is a solidly English surname..don’t know about Orr). I also learned, thru my research, that LaFayette had been a “depot”, I guess you could call it, where Cherokees/Creeks were detained until the Trail of Tears started. So, it’s a good bet that Gertrude’s mother’s family was either Cherokee or Creek, or both.
But, that still leaves me needing to find out about Myrtle and the Saponi/Durham, NC ties…because she did definitely say she was a Blackfoot. But, that’s part 2 of my search, LOL.
More to come…
Originally posted by Bill Childs
That IS amazing ! I’m happy you found your family !
Please let me know if Katie and Myrtle on that census turn out to be yours.
Bill
Rosalind, you have made some AMAZING discoveries! 🙂
How wonderful to actually have found pictures and videos!!
I am having the time of my life with this! 🙂 And, the best part is that more and more pieces of information keep surfacing. I talked with a cousin (her mother and my g-grandma Gertrude were sisters, but her mom was 4 years older, I think) and she knew the names of Gertrude’s grandmother and grandfather. So, now I know who my ggg-grandma (Mina Stewart) and ggg-grandpa (Jackie Patton) are, too!
But, the story turns out to be a little different than I thought. Mina Stewart and Jackie Patton weren’t a family. The Pattons owned and ran a boarding house, and Mina was either a slave or a servant. I don’t know which. Family lore says that the child they had together (my gg-gma Mary Jane) was the FIRST free-born black child in Transylvania County (March 1866), which could lead a person to think Mina was a slave of the Patton family.
But, Mary Jane being the first free-born black child in the county could still be possible, even if Mina wasn’t a slave. I’m sure that the first black child born free of the institution of slavery – PERIOD – in that small area was a moment to be marked and remembered. And, there’s the evidence that Mina didn’t take the Patton last name, which she would have done had she been a slave. I found Mina in the 1870 federal census under her own name (but oddly Mary Jane, who would have been 4 yrs old, wasn’t listed in the household). Unless she married the Stewart, whose household she was listed under in the 1870 census. But, being that the family migration story is a fact, everyone listed in the Stewart household in the 1870 census could have been related.
There’s a lot more to be learned, and it’s a good thing that I’m only an hour away from where all of this happened, and where these families still reside to this day.
Originally posted by Patty
Rosalind, you have made some AMAZING discoveries! 🙂
How wonderful to actually have found pictures and videos!!
I was raised knowing my mom was adopted. When she was in her early 30’s she went on a search for any biological family she could find. She stared with the adoption agency Lutheran Social Services in Detroit, MI. This is what the unidentifiable information they gave her was…
My Mom:
Given birth name= Barbara Lee Munch (changed to Gretchen Marie Wacke by her adoptive parents)
Birthdate= 3-4-1953
Birthplace= Detroit, MI
Adopted at age 6 wks.
Her Biological Mom:
Birthplace= Shinnston, WV
She was 26 or 27 at the time of the adoption.
She was divorced from her husband and their children lived with him. 2 boys that were 3 and 6 yrs. old at the time of the adoption.
She dated and then got pregnant by a Brakeman from the DTI Railroad. Decided she didnt want to keep the baby and hid the pregnancy from her ex-husband. ( They were supposedly trying to reconcille). At her 6month review with the adoption agency, her and her husband were together again but not remarried.
Her mother’s mother was a full blood Blackfoot.
Unknown as to how she ended up in Detroit.
(We are unsure as to how my mom got the name Munch. Since her mom was divorced adds a third possibility. It was either her biological father’s name, her birth mother’s maiden name or her birth mother’s married name. We arent quite sure what was the procedure back then. But seeing as how she wanted to hide this from the husband she was trying to get back together with i dont think she wouldve used his name. But that is just my logic.)
Her Biological Dad:
French decent.
Brakeman on DTI (Detroit, Toledo, Ironton) Railroad.
Age Unknown at the time of the adoption.
Sister with a club-foot that lived or lives in Flatrock, MI.
I know this seems like alot of useless information. Ive been reading the posts from Bill Childs and it seems to me that he really knows what he is doing and was just wondering if he could tell me where to pick-up where my mom left off. The part that interests me most is that i allegedly have Blackfoot decendants. I would really like to know how to find the truth in that. And im sure my mom would appreciate any information i could give her by searching myself. Even if its just history in WV about the tribe.
Any help would be great!!!
Hi, Kelly, Welcome to the forum,
Sorry I didn’t see your post right away.
With your Mom born in 1953 and her Mom 26-27 at the time, your grandmother would then have been born in about 1926.
On the 1930 West Virginia census, there are only 8 MUNCH people indexed, in 2 households. One household does have a daughter named Mary who was born about 1926.
They were all in Charlestown (Kanawha County) in 1930 and Shinnston is in Harrison Co., just north of Clarksburg, but in 20 some-odd years, they could have moved.
Do you know the names of your Mom’s biological parents?
Bill
Hi Bill,
This is Kelly’s mom. She told me about this website. I do not know my biological parents names. A couple of extra things: My mother had 6 brothers and sisters, the youngest one died. I dont remember if she died when she was one or three, and I don’t know what year that would have been. My mother’s mother (my Grandmother) was a full blooded Blackfoot. The only other thing the adoption agency told me was that she had long black hair. Fron what little research I have done, I found out that alot of people migrated north when the coal mines closed. This may be how she got to Detroit. She did not graduate, but did go to a secretarial school. Thats about all the information I do have. I have sent away for a copy of my non-identifiable information, and the lady I spoke with said she would review my file and make sure she didnt exclude anything. If I get any further information I will pass it on to you.
Thanks,
Gretchen Graham
Welcome to the forum, Gretchen,
Any additional information you come across would be appreciated. Your people are in sight but just barely, so any little tidbit of information, even if you don’t think it matters, would be helpful. I hope I can help you and we’ll see what we can find.
Welcome to the family.
Bill
Gretchen,
I’ll soon post the census data that I mentioned. It’s likely that you’ll have to do some leg-work to tie up the loose ends.
Bill
Gretchen and Kelly,
There is only one MUNCH family indexed in 1930 West Virginia, who have children.
1930 Kanawha Co., WV; District 26 Charleston, 2nd Ward.
Pg.66A. Address: 808 Orange St.
Dwelling # 7.
Family visit # 8.
MUNCH, Edgar E.; Salesman, Refrigeration Store.
Owns house. Real Estate Value $9000.
Male. White. 38 yrs old. Married at age 23. Born in N.Y.
Father and mother born in N.Y.
……….also in this residence…..
Munch, Mary; wife, f, W, 40, M’d@25, b. WV, both parents b. WV.
(ditto), Lewis E.; son, m, W, 14, WV.
(ditto), William F.; son, m, W, 12, WV.
(ditto), Kennah N.; son, m, W, 8, WV.
(ditto), MARY E.; dau, f, W, 4 yrs 8 months old, b. Ohio*******
………………….
Just an f.y.i…. the second MUNCH household is also in Charleston, 4th Ward, at 210 Randolph St:
MUNCH, George H; Foreman; m, W, 45, M’d@35; Pa., Pa., Pa.
(ditto), Alma; wife; f, W, 40, M’d@30; Pa., Pa., Pa.
(George was a Foreman working in Telephone construction.)
………………….
Bill
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