Phoenix, Arizona is my current city of residence, but I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Ever since my pre-teens, I have been enthralled with history as well as genealogy. I have been at work tracing my family tree since the 1970s. I started doing this genealogy work at a time before technology and DNA testing. A time when many African Americans were told it was impossible to trace our family trees because of slavery.

It has indeed taken me a while, but over the years I have been able to successfully find and verify my direct ancestal line on my mother's side of the family...all the way back to a Greatx3 Grandmother, Jane Johnson, who had lived 50 years in the area of Mobile, Alabama which is now known as the Church Street East Historical District. She came there from Virginia in the 1830s. I am her direct descendant through Joe and Louisa Bates. It is my desire and intent to find, verify, and honor all of my ancestors on both sides of my family, in and out of Mobile.

When I'm not busy shaking my family tree, I stay busy as a mom, a grandmother, and working in municipal government.

Phoenix, Arizona is my current city of residence, but I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Ever since my pre-teens, I have been enthralled with history as well as genealogy. I have been at work tracing my family tree since the 1970s. I started doing this genealogy work at a time before technology and DNA testing. A time when many African Americans were told it was impossible to trace our family trees because of slavery.

It has indeed taken me a while, but over the years I have been able to successfully find and verify my direct ancestal line on my mother's side of the family...all the way back to a Greatx3 Grandmother, Jane Johnson, who had lived 50 years in the area of Mobile, Alabama which is now known as the Church Street East Historical District. She came there from Virginia in the 1830s. I am her direct descendant through Joe and Louisa Bates. It is my desire and intent to find, verify, and honor all of my ancestors on both sides of my family, in and out of Mobile.

When I'm not busy shaking my family tree, I stay busy as a mom, a grandmother, and working in municipal government.