I just wanted to recognize a few things about the Letter we got from President Obama in Celebration of our 43rd Ike Ivery Family Reunion.
We celebrated in Orlando, Florida with over 400 Descendants of Granddaddy Ike, his 3 Wives and 23 Children. On July 14th - 16th at Westgate Spa and Villas.
The Orlando Reunion Committee gave my Family a Wonderful Hosted week of Enjoyment.
This Letter will always be Special to us. Family Heirloom.
There are 3 things of Note to pay close attention to in the Letter we received from the White House from President Obama.
The day it arrived, my Post lady was so nervous. She hand delivered the Envelope to my door and was very careful. She said you got a Letter from the White House and I wanted to make sure it got t0 you okay. I would of been shaking like a leaf myself.
1. The Embossed Presidential Seal.
2.Dated Envelope from the White House.
3.December 1st, 2015 - 50 Years after Rosa Parks sat down on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
How was the timing on that? Very Significant.
4. I knew we would need this in 2017. So I tried to time when my Letter would arrive and the time it takes for them to return back. I made sure
I added 2 years on to the 2015. In 2017 it would be 43 Years of Celebrating. 43 was the magic number. If you know Ivery FamilyHistory 8 of the remaining 23 Children for Granddaddy Ike started the Reunion in 1974. For our 2017 Reunion we got our 43rd Year of Celebrating our Family History dated in 2015.
When I was able to read the letter aloud during our Banquet, I said I have a Letter from your President!! The room went still....The air was let out of the room like a deflating balloon, until I said; from your 44th President Barack H. Obama!!! The Family roared and clapped. The Committee was able to put the Letter in our Reunion Program Book so everyone would have a keepsake.
This will be a Historical Note of Interest for our family one day. I'll have this Blog Post to explain. Why and How did we get our 43rd Years of Celebration dated in 2015 for 2017. How did this all happen? With a Blessing of December 1st, 2015 - 50 years to the date of the arrest for Rosa Parks who Sat so we could have the right to ride the bus with full dignity in 1955.
A video I put together for our Memorial Vigil. We Light 23 Candles every reunion.
LORD, I PrAiSe YOU! I Thank You for Guiding Me : for Holding Me: for keeping me in your Hands : All Day and All Night : I lie my Faith in nothing but You: above all else,You are my STrengTh! With You all This is Possible. Thank You for that "Quiet Place"......
I THANK YOU!
To: My Entire Family...There are so many that take my calls, my email, my text at any Given hour. You all know who you Are. I'm Grateful for you all taking time to help me. Thank you for all your Prayers & Encouragement. Please know that every Word and Picture I place on my Blog is because you have Contributed.
I don't Do My True Roots alone.
My Friends - Fellow Bloggers - My Genealogy Community - My BelovedBlack Pro Gen LIVE! Family.
You, My Readers the most faithful of them ALL, have stuck by me - encouraged me - prompted me - gave me criticism when needed - advised, taking my Hand and Walking with Me all the way through.
I do this Work of Recording our Family History and Genealogy because of them. They unashamedly taught me so many lessons that will carry me through Life. They poured so many stories and documents from the Ancestors onto me. I was the Vessel. I'm Grateful that they took the time to answer so many Questions from my inquisitive mostly nosey self. Always questioning this and that. I wouldn't have half of what I can write to you if it wasn't for them.
Thank You Everyone!
Thanks for stopping over and reading about my Family History for the last 4 years. It's Very Much Appreciated! Thanks for all your Comments and NoTe's! and simply taking the time. Please keep coming by as I grow. It's been a Very Great 4 years with all your Support.
My True Roots has German Roots. Strong German Roots.
There is a reason for me blogging about my German and Irish Roots. Usually you see me writing on my African American Lineage. On February 27th I took an additional new DNA test, my 4th all in the name of Research, called Living DNA. Results take 10-12 weeks, it's almost time! It gives you personalization of your DNA on 80 World Regions including 21 in Britain & Ireland. I wanted to see another view of estimates on my European roots and learn the different regions with a visual and see if I can maybe trace my own research to a specific location that they provide. This is were Grandfather Andrew comes in at so you can see how my German roots fits in with myself and my DNA. There is a German Project on Living DNA. I don't qualify as all my 4 Grandparents were born in the United States on my Mother's line.
BIO
Andrew is my 2nd Great Grandfather. Born: October 28, 1829. Died: August 14th, 1914.
1880 - 1900 - 1910 Census's I have for him. Halifax, Pa. His Father was David Sweigard. His Mother was Anna Cassel.
He had a farm in Powell's Valley, Pa.
Andrew's Will was given to me by my Cousin Cheryl.
Grandfather Andrew Sweigard Will Page 1 of 2.
Cheryl's Father and Mom are 1st Cousins. They are the Grandchildren of Ephraim Sweigard his Father was Andrew. I'm appreciative and thankful for Cousin Cheryl giving me all these photos and documents on our Sweigard line. Mom didn't have this information. Cheryl gave me a great start! There is more to blog and share with you later. I have yet to visit Halifax, Pa. I'm going to be overwhelmed, but I look forward to taking it all in and sharing that with you all too. This is just a taste.
Sweigard Files
How I met Cousin Cheryl .... she was friends with my friend. I saw her name mentioned in a thread on Facebook. I said OiO! How ironic? I asked our common friend Do you know Cheryl personally? She said yes. She was my best friend in High School. I said, are her Parents still living? She said yes! I jumped! No way! I said.
She said YES! I talked to her and she wants to call you! I yelled and tried to breathe and calm myself down.
I remember Cheryl telling me the 1st time we talked. She kept asking her friend excitedly, How is she related to me!? How is she related to me! I gotta know! That is how me and Cousin Cheryl met over Facebook. We were like giddy school kids. My Mom finally when to visit her and more Cousins for the first time and exchanged stories. This blog piece is for her and in Remembrance to her Daddy who passed. Cheryl was able to share the knowledge and research on to me. I'm so glad he had a interest in family and history and his work was able to be passed on. He passed the torch and now our Sweigard line continues to be Living History.
This is what me and Momma's DNA tells us.
My Momma's German Irish and British - 23&Me
Me - True's German Irish and British - 23&Me
If there are any Genetic Genealogists out there who would like to take a stab at analyzing this German Chocolate Girl's Results when they come in June, give me a holla!
Andrew J. Sweigard Tree
My 5th Great GrandfatherJohn Peter Schweigart (Sweigard) was supposedly to have Came to America in 1725
My True Roots is hoping this will be a Random Act of Kindness.
I hope they have a Story to tell about Ms. Clara! I have a Clara Ivery Simmons in my Family Tree. Her maiden name has Issues. Dixon is not one of them. I used this Death Certificate to rule out a lot of Questions I had in the beginning when searching for my Clara Ivery Simmons. I found one person searching for Mrs. Clara on Ancestry and I'm awaiting their reply if they need this death certificate for their Records. In Alabama they look like this online at Ancestry. I was also able to click the "Find Others" who are researching to see who all had Ms. Clara in their Tree.
Clara Dixon Simmons
My Clara Ivery Simmons Death Certificate still remains to be seen. It's still on my List of to Do Things for my next trip to Alabama Department of Archives & History . I ordered these when Suzette Cook was doing them for 5 dollars back in the day. I asked her to send it along with others I was ordering. What the heck, I was a newbie and knew one day it would be for me or someone else in the long run. I see the person knows it exists but they don't have the detail like this Death Certificate shows, unless they have it in their records and not on their online tree. Either way, I hope this helps someone in their Quest for Family History. I'll be glad to return this Ordered Copy to a Family Member. Hopefully there will be a follow up story one day for both Clara's.
Last year his #MyColorfulAncestry went VIRAL! we were all ripe for the picking! It was on Fire. Crista Cowen suggested the hashtag and we Lit the Internet up with our Versions of My Colorful Ancestry. You can see more of his Genealogy Community My Colorful Ancestry on Pinterest That's how I came up with my Map from Paul.
I manage 8 kits in my immediate circle, 4 Generations. Soon to be 5 for my Great Aunt! I've tested myself at all 3 major Company's to include Living DNA. So this map shows me where and how I need to be strategic in whom I get tested to find out the Haplogroup Assignments or wait till my Matches come in to confirm the lines. I had a doozy of a time doing mine. My Friends in Genealogy have their Versions, so I hope this will Inspire you to do the same thing. This way you can keep track of your Family Haplogroup Assignments as you go on this Journey to find the Origins of your Ancestors. I have a lot of work ahead of me and from time to time I will update this Map of Haplogroups in my Lineage.
I am True Lewis.
My Blog is my Personal Diary of Family History on my Slave Granddaddy Ike Ivery! & Lewis-Miles-Daniel Family, Along with my Mother's European Heritage. My Ancestors come from Bullock County, Midway, Alabama and Houston County, Georgia. With Strong Roots in Cumberland County, Newville, Pennsylvania. I'm glad you stopped by to read some of my NoTes To MySeLf that I have written along the way here at My True Roots. I appreciate your Company, Leave a "NoTe" or "Comment" to let me know you stopped by!
MyTrueRoots®
2012-2024
