My Family History
By Patsy Williams
As with many African Americans family, unearthing family history beyond the 20th century is extremely difficult. Records were not accurately kept; hence, the spoken history has been paramount in passing generational information forward. However with extensive research and contemporary resources, it is possible to find significant information about one’s family. Over the past several years, members of my family and I have tried to compile pieces of our history.
According to family records and shared information, I’m able to trace my family ancestry back to Percy Lee who was borne a slave around 1853 in the Louisiana Delta. We still have significant research to determine further back than 1953. We do know that it was the Louisiana bayou because my mother told me so many stories from her grandparents. She would often talk about Bayou culture of voodoo and the belief in potions. She told us that older people would cast spells on younger people if they were disobedient to them and these people didn’t have to be a relative or parent. My mother always taught us to be kind and obedient to older people to avoid any thing of that nature, but not only that she believed that it was the right thing to do. read more