I believe that when our ancestors want to be found, they will lead the way. That has happened so many times in my search for their stories. I could find very little on the parents of Patience Perkins over the years that I searched. I found Rose, Patience’s mother, in Newport from about 1900 until 1911, and then she disappeared. Patience’s father was also hiding. I knew he was from North Carolina, and that was it. A few years ago, I searched again for records on Rose, and found her death certificate! Woohoo! From the information on the certificate, I verified where she was born; found out her maiden name, her husband’s name, and the daughter that she lived with the last few years of her life. She was ready to be found! From that information, I was able to find both the Perkins and Grimes families in North Carolina, and began to learn their stories.

Slavery is part of the history of most African-Americans. However, actually finding those connections, and looking at the slave schedules and knowing that this is probably the family I am looking for is sobering and disturbing. The Perkins and Grimes families are from Pactolus in Pitt County, and Little Washington in Beaufort County, North Carolina. Continue reading “David Perkins and Rose Grimes Families” →