By 1920, Big Ma is listed as a widow on census records. I spent weeks searching for a death record for her husband, Cebron Benton. Gone...

Harriet Gore is listed as the mother of Big Ma on her death certificate (witnessed by her daughter Almeta Campbell Ray Mason Bunting)....

Carroll is Big Mama's maiden name. J.C. Carroll or John Carroll is listed as her father in multiple records. I started with Ancestry.com...

Finding proxies who are willing to share access to their DNA kits has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated. My parents, my...

I currently have found no direct records for Carrie Carroll before 1900. I used various records from multiple sources to garner the...

I am the woman with the black black skin I am the laughing woman with the black black face I am living in the cellars and in every...

My mentor, Nicka Smith Sewell, challenged our Patreon group to use DNA research to break through a brick wall. Part one of the "Case...