WELCOME TO THE HARRIS, RICHARDSON, AND ALLIED FAMILIES HISTORY BLOG!

It All Began With This Book! 

Remember the Harris Family Reunion, November 28, 1980 in Chicago? Friday night's gathering was at big sister, Mildred's house and Saturday at Mary's.  Basement parties were the bomb back in the day and we wore both of them out that weekend!

After all the great food, fun, and catching up with kinfolk, a copy of my research was given to each of my siblings: Sam, Mildred, Mary, Jacob, Ellen, Jeanette, George, and Alfred.  I called it Black Seeds because it was my first attempt to write a family historical and I was hoping to discover more.  And Boy did I!!

It's 40 years later and I'm still untangling roots and making discoveries, not only about our family but Black American History (things you won't learn from school textbooks).  And guess what?  We've got a family story to correspond at every juncture!

Along the way, I became a little more adept in my research. I joined IAAGG, a local genealogy  support group and began to attend workshops and conferences to hone my meager skills.  I plugged into Family Search, MyHeritage and subscribed to Ancestry.com.  Alfred and I even took a DNA test.  

 I'm still looking for someone to catch the fever (I know you're out there!) to help pass down our history  to future generations. Hopefully, this blog will whet your appetite!  Maybe another family reunion will do it!!  The one in 2012 gave me a bit of a push after a hiatus of a few years!   

A HARDBACK COPY- NEW AND IMPROVED!

July 2011,  Mary transitioned earth and left me matriarch of the Harris, Kees, Smith family.  Last year,  Jacob passed the title of patriarch to Alfred and now we are the surviving children of Alfred Jacob Harris and Josie Mae Kees Harris, your fore parents.

At the 2012 Harris-Smith Family Reunion in Aurora, IL,  the eldest child of each of our remaining siblings were given an updated copy of the family history.  Co-written with me and taken from a quote by Alfred, it was entitled:  A History to Write...A Future to Live.  Hastily compiled with less than perfect editing we made the deadline for the reunion, but even before the ink dried, more discoveries were being made.  Eight years later, it is in real need of a revision.  

From our Thanksgiving family Zoom Call, I see there's still a bit of interest.  I have no more copies of the book and I don't plan to do another.  But I'm passionate that you  know your family history.   This blog is my  humble offering.  I will post interesting highlights from what has already been recorded and keep you updated on new discoveries.  

You can subscribe to this blog and receive it free by email whenever I post.  But you need to plug in your email address in the space to the right of this post: Follow by email. You will get an invitation to join from Feedburner - check your junk mail if you don't see it to complete your subscription.  It will ask you to confirm you want to subscribe and verify you're not a robot (I know for some this may be a bit of a problem! 😆) 

I've got a lot to share from our Mississippi, Missouri, and Military history: two civil war veterans, three slave owner families, a family member cited in various historical  including a museum regarding KKK violence, and just quirky, family stuff!  This is your history - read it!  If you have some you'd like to pass on - share it!  Pictures, can be posted here or on our Family Facebook Page.  

Contact me with questions and if any of my Sister Nieces are interested in a blog I post regarding spiritual matters, subscribe to my other post entitled: Seriously, Can we Talk?  (You can read a sampling: alittlewiser63@blogspot.com  or just google)  Would love to read your comments on either of these postings!!!

A HARRIS FAMILY QUOTE and QUESTION:

What is the background of this 1950's quote:  "The Cat Came back and So will You?"

Love to All, 

Your Family Griot - Carolyn Harris Betts