February 16, 2025 • 28 mins
In 1879, Islay Walden, born enslaved and visually impaired, returned to North Carolina after a twelve-year odyssey in search of an education. It was a journey that would take him from emancipation in Randolph County, North Carolina to Washington, D. C., where he earned a teaching degree from Howard University, then to the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, in New Jersey. Along the way, he published two volumes of poetry and founded two schools for African American children. Once ordained, he returned Randolph County, where he founded a Congregational church (Strieby Church) and common school. Despite an early death at age forty, he would leave an educational and spiritual legacy that endures to this day. Born Missionary uses Walden’s own words as well as reports from newspapers and church publications to follow his journey from enslavement to teacher, ordained minister, and community leader. Margo Lee Williams is a graduate of Marquette University, and has her M. A. in Sociology from Hunter College, and an M. A. in Religious Education from The Catholic University of America. She is a frequent lecturer for the Family History Centers in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area, and a former editor of the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. She is particularly interested in the community and family histories of people of color in the southeast, especially those in North Carolina and Virginia. Born Missionary is her third book. Opening Music: Sweet Mellow Spice by AK Alexander Productions
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Block Radio.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome to Research at the National Archives and Beyond blog
Talk Radio. This is your host, Bernice Alexander Dinnett, and
joining me today is the award winning author Margot Lee Williams,
for a discussion about her new book and research, Born Missionary,
(01:28):
The Isley Walden story. Born Missionary uses Walden's own words,
as well as reports from newspapers and church publications to
follow his journey from enslavement to teacher, ordained minister, and
community leader. Margo is a frequent lecturer for the family
(01:56):
history centers in the Washington d C. Baltimore area and
a former editor of the Journal of the Afro American
Historical and Genealogical Society. She is particularly interested in the
community and family histories of people of color in the Southeast,
(02:18):
especially those in North Carolina and Virginia. Born Missionary is
her third book. So let me just give a warm
welcome to Margot Leave Williams to the show. Welcome Margo, Well,
thank you, Bernize.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's great to be able to talk with you again.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm just so excited about this new book and your research.
So help us understand who is Isley Walden.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, most people who do know about him, know him
as a nineteenth century African American poet. He published in
his lifetime, he had published two volumes of poetry. One
is called Miscellaneous Poems and the other is Sacred Poems.
And so he's often referenced in English literature in American
(03:14):
literature for nineteenth century African American poetry, but not as
many people know him as the missionary and teacher that
he was. That was actually his passion. Teaching and preaching
the gospel were his real passions in life.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So what about his life? Or maybe I just start
off with how did you learn about Walden.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well Issley? Walden was the founding minister of the church
in my maternal family's community in Randolph County, North Carolina,
not too far about thirteen miles outside of Ashburo, which
is the county seat, and that church is called Streamy
(04:08):
Congregational United Church of Christ Church m HM.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And so what inspired you about his life that you
wanted to write about him?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Well, one of the things I realized was that although
he was being written about as a poet, most of
the biographical paragraphs that were written about him had really
very little background information and frequently had misinformation and as
(04:47):
I began to sort of look around to learn about him,
I discovered there was so much more to his story,
even though there is not in many ways, there's not
a lot lot of information about him, but there's so
much more than had been written about him. And so
I wanted to make sure he didn't say it into obscurity,
(05:10):
and that I brought out his real passion, which, as
I said, was teaching education and the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But Margo, you said, okay, there was some if there
was information, it was misinformation about him. Yeah, so help
us understand your research journey to correct the misinformation and
find new information on him.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Well, among the first things I found on him were
many articles referencing his work at our church in a
journal from the that from an organization, a missionary organization
that functioned in the nineteenth century primarily, but into the
twentieth century as well, i'll call the American Missionary Association.
(06:03):
And they were very big in education in the South
among people of color, both before and after the Civil War.
And so because he had signed up with them to
come back to North Carolina after getting after being ordained,
(06:25):
I began to see these articles, and then I began
to pursue, well, what about when he was where he
went to school? And I knew that he had gone
to the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
And I discovered, you know, just sort of by doing
(06:45):
Google searches and ancestry searches and newspaper dot com searches,
that there were many, many newspaper articles written about him
in the newspapers in New Brunswick that basically followed the
things that he was doing while he was in seminary.
(07:06):
And the last thing I really discovered was that if
I really read his poems carefully in the volume Miscellaneous Poems,
I realized that they were more like a journal in
poetic forms. And so he was telling you about the
people he met, about the things he did, about the
(07:29):
places he went, certainly about the things he thought, but
they weren't just idle thoughts. These were about things that
were going on historically around him and the people he
was meeting, including President Grant. He had an opportunity, and
I have not had an opportunity, and I would love
(07:51):
to someday maybe sort of get into the Grant papers
and maybe the poem that he gave Grant has survived
somewhere in those papers, but that would be a really
extensive research effort. But I have high hopes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, I hope that you do find what he wrote
to President Grant. So let's talk about Isley just a
little bit more. What did short learn about his family?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, that was particularly interesting because everywhere that you see
information about him, it says that he is the son
of a freeman of color named William D. Walden, and
family members his sister, who he did not have descendants.
(08:46):
He and his wife did not have children, and he
died really about three years after they were married, so
you know, they really didn't have a chance to have children.
But his sister did have children and has just said
is living primarily in the Cincinnati area. And they all
(09:06):
said that the father was William Walden, And so I
went to look for information about that. I really didn't
find anything conclusive. It seemed possible. But what really struck
me was that there were several references where he himself
(09:29):
said his father was a completely different person by the
name of Branson Walden. And in a very extensive newspaper
article written in a New York newspaper at the time
he was ordained that said he was the son of
(09:51):
a former enslaved, formerly enslaved person who self emancipated on
false papers to our to the Midwest. So that sort
of made me wonder exactly what was going on. And
I also found also in his obituary in the American
(10:16):
Missionary Association magazine said his father was Branson, although they
used the name of one of his enslavers, and that
was he was born on the Garner plantation.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And so while you're doing this gathering, because it's really
interesting that first of all you became interested in Isley Walden,
but then you went through a search process of well
how do I find this man? And it's probably something
that anyone would ask a question when you're looking, where
(10:53):
do you look? And you mentioned the missionary journals and
what have you. So you're talking about a man and
who was born and slaved, and from there you're trying
to connect all of the dots. Who was his father,
where did he live? And so take us through your
(11:15):
let's say, take us through your research process. Maybe that'll
help people like me and others that really want to
connect the dots to somebody that they've heard a lot about.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Well, you know, I wish it was a straight line,
but it tends to be rather circuitous. I would say
that I really started looking for him because I knew
he was with the American Missionary Association. I began looking
in those papers for information about his about his life.
(11:51):
I also then from from there, I began, oh my,
I think i'd be and looking at records in the county,
and I found the deed from when he bought the
property for the church. I then, I don't remember exactly when,
(12:20):
I looked at every reference to him in literary magazine,
literary journals, and poetry anthologies that referenced him. I then
looked at I'm not I found information showing I knew
that he had gone to because it referenced in these
(12:41):
places that referenced that he was a graduate of Howard University.
So I went looking for him. I went looking for
information on that, and there there are published school classless
of students, and I was able to find him on
some of those class lists in the years that he
was attending the university, and including some references to him
(13:07):
as an alumna of the school, and then newspapers. I think,
really I began looking for newspaper articles, and that really
seemed to be quite the treasure trove. There were articles
in Washing in newspapers in Washington that referenced how he
had started what were known as Sabbath schools. These were
(13:31):
schools that were often held on Sunday afternoons or Saturday
evenings for working people and for children to teach them
reading and writing, and that apparently it was a very
successful school. And there was a newspaper article that referenced
him in eighteen ninety two. Now he he left Washington,
(13:56):
d c. In eighteen about eighteen seventy six after graduation
from Howard because then he went on to New Jersey
to study at Seminary. And here even in eighteen ninety
two they were remembering the work that he had done
with the Sabbath School, and in again newspapers in New
(14:20):
Jersey there were reference after reference to the work that
he was doing again with students in the New Jersey area.
In fact, the Seminary published a letter that was online
in their digital archives that referenced where he said that
he had to ask, he had to beg for more
(14:41):
money to pay for his schooling because he had basically
used all of his scholarship money to help with the
student mission, as the Sabbath School was called, which I
thought was fascinating, that, you know, please give him more
money so that he can pay off his school debts,
because you know, I won't let you graduate if you
(15:01):
hadn't paid all your debts, and so that he would
be able to graduate because he had spent all his
money on the school. Then I found a newspaper article
that he wrote himself when he was headed back to
North Carolina, where he talked about his trip and how
(15:23):
he had stopped in Goldsboro in North Carolina part way,
you know, part way back to Randolph County, and he
talks about his trip and the people he met there
and how fascinated he was with what was going on
in Goldsborough and he was actually sort of somewhat enticed
to potentially stay there, but he ultimately did not. He
(15:46):
then went back to Randolph County. I found, indeed, in
I looked in the deeds because I wondered I had
seen that he might have his own property, and discovered
that by the time he died, he had about one
hundred and ninety four acres of land. Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, and we're talking about a man who was partially
blind as nessarecy, but he learned how to read and
write and became a very well known poet. Yes, what
a fascinating journey. How long did it take you to
(16:30):
find out the information on mister Waldon?
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Oh my, I would say that I began. I began
gathering information on him. I really began gathering information on
him in earnest around two thousand and eleven twenty twelve,
(17:00):
about seven years.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Then, how does this information from your perspective, just add
to what was happening in your community and the Streebee Church.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Well, from the community's point of view, they're very excited
because there again the information that had come down to
them in the community had really gotten very garbled because
of a cousin who came to take over after he died.
When he died in eighteen eighty four, there was a
(17:43):
cousin that then stepped into help with the teaching. He
wasn't a minister, so another minister came to do the
actual pastoring. But this cousin took over the school and
so because his last name was also Walden, and he
also became well known as a teacher and pastor. People
thought they were one and the same person, and so
(18:05):
they were quite surprised to really have that information fleshed
out for.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Them, and they are very set the record straight.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yes, yes it is, it really is. And to go
back to the family information, because you know, now having
found this Branson information, and there was I even discovered
that he was married before he was married to the
wife that everyone know about, and it was clearly a
very brief marriage. But I found the marriage record in Raleigh,
(18:41):
North Carolina, and again he mentions his father as Branson Walden,
so so clearly the people that he was talking about,
so the white man that he was talking about. When
I began to look into that more or not the
excuse me, he wasn't white. He was a freeman of color.
But when I began to look into that man's information,
(19:05):
I realized there was no way in the world he
was going to be the father, because in fact, he
wasn't old enough to be the father. He would have
been I don't know, like seven years old or something
like that, but it was. But by sort of working
through the genealogy information, it was very likely it was
(19:26):
his father who was Branson's father, and that and over time,
as often happens in family, the story gets conflated and
they were confused about what generation, who was whom. So
at the back of the book, in the appendix, I
(19:47):
have given.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
My my genealogy an essay that explained how and why
I came to the conclusion that I get a proof
argument that certainly someone could come along and have found
information that would dispute any of my conclusions.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
But I do think I'm unreasonably solid ground with and
some other Walden family researchers agree with me that I'm
pretty good solid ground. I have tried to find mister Branson,
but I haven't found him, so I don't know what
happened to him. He may have changed his name, you know.
(20:35):
I had hoped that maybe I could find him living
like in Illinois or Indiana or Ohio. But I haven't
found a good candidate, so I don't know what happened
to him.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Right, And you mentioned the proof argument, And as far
as you're a concern, your proof argument is solid.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I believe it's solid. But you know, because is a
proof argument and argument as opposed to you know, the
the the the documents with the you know that someone
has literally told the specifics to.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It's the It is a.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Solid proof argument, and I have given all of the
the documentation that I believe supports it. But it's it
can always. I'm sure it could. Someone could come up
with something that they discover somewhere somehow that refused it.
I never you know, one can never be, but so
(21:43):
sure in genealogy there are always things that suddenly appear
and you go, wow, where did that come from?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Right? Well, you can always go back and rework it.
That's well, how can individuals go ahead on?
Speaker 1 (22:03):
No?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
No, no, I can individuals connect with you? And uh, for
those who want to learn more about mister Walden, how
can they find your book?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Certainly? Well? Uh? Right now the book is available on
Amazon as under my name obviously is the author Margot
Lee Lee Williams. There are there are several other authors
named Margot Williams. Is that Margot Lee Williams and uh
again born Missionary the Isley Walden Story. It's available both
(22:43):
in paperback and as a kindle And you can contact
me on my website Margot Lee Williams Books, All one
word dot com, Margot Lee Williams Books dot com. And
that's Margot without let's e M A R G O
L E. E. Williams with books dot com. And you
(23:08):
can also find me on Facebook as Margotlie Williams and
Instagram as Margolie Williams and so yes you can. I'm around.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
M Margot. Do you have any clothes and remarks for
anyone that may find themselves wanting to do similar research
when they find someone that they're really interested in and
they want to just research them as you have done
with mister walden.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Well, I think one of your taglines is one of
the best things to say. You have to follow the
clues people have left clues. Sometimes it's very difficult, sometimes
the clue. Sometimes you don't have a lot of clues.
(24:04):
Other times you get a bonanza. But you have to
keep following and it can take many years. I do
have other other stories where I have one story where
it took me forty years. I know that's not encouraging,
but it took me forty years, but I finally did it,
so it is possible. You have to just keep going,
(24:27):
don't give up, but follow the clues and look in
all the places that you can think of. In newspapers,
in vital records where they exist, in the deeds, in
the probate records, in tax records. I mean, there are
really many places that we can find information in our
(24:49):
church records. As I've shown, there are many places where
we can find information. And there are many online courses
and webinars and seminars that are available for people to
learn how to do genealogy research. And I see and
(25:09):
I strongly suggest you know, attending some of those. Some
of them are free, some of them costs, but the
cost is usually well worth it because you just learn
so much that you can take into the future. One
coming up shortly is Maggie the Midwest African American Genealogical Institute,
(25:32):
and you know, again these are wonderful opportunities.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Well, thank you so much for mentioning Maggie, and registration
is almost up, so please consider registering for Maggie. Well,
I want to thank you for coming on today, Margo
and sharing with us your research and the fact that
(25:59):
you've took your research to the next level by putting
it in a book. And this is one of the
things that you know, we want to encourage people to
share those stories so that others can be inspired, just
as you have inspired us with born missionary and remember everyone,
your ancestors left footprints. Margot just shared with us all
(26:24):
of the footprints she found in newspapers and a whole
lot of other resources. So you just need to follow
the clues that are presented to you. So, Margot, I
want to thank you so much for joining me today
and everyone else. I look forward to you joining me
next week. This is your host, Vernice Alexander Bennett. Goodbye everyone,
(26:49):
Bye bye Margot.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Thank you much. Must doubt
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Clut
Block Radio.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome to Research at the National Archives and Beyond blog
Talk Radio. This is your host, Bernice Alexander Dinnett, and
joining me today is the award winning author Margot Lee Williams,
for a discussion about her new book and research, Born Missionary,
(01:28):
The Isley Walden story. Born Missionary uses Walden's own words,
as well as reports from newspapers and church publications to
follow his journey from enslavement to teacher, ordained minister, and
community leader. Margo is a frequent lecturer for the family
(01:56):
history centers in the Washington d C. Baltimore area and
a former editor of the Journal of the Afro American
Historical and Genealogical Society. She is particularly interested in the
community and family histories of people of color in the Southeast,
(02:18):
especially those in North Carolina and Virginia. Born Missionary is
her third book. So let me just give a warm
welcome to Margot Leave Williams to the show. Welcome Margo, Well,
thank you, Bernize.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's great to be able to talk with you again.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm just so excited about this new book and your research.
So help us understand who is Isley Walden.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, most people who do know about him, know him
as a nineteenth century African American poet. He published in
his lifetime, he had published two volumes of poetry. One
is called Miscellaneous Poems and the other is Sacred Poems.
And so he's often referenced in English literature in American
(03:14):
literature for nineteenth century African American poetry, but not as
many people know him as the missionary and teacher that
he was. That was actually his passion. Teaching and preaching
the gospel were his real passions in life.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So what about his life? Or maybe I just start
off with how did you learn about Walden.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well Issley? Walden was the founding minister of the church
in my maternal family's community in Randolph County, North Carolina,
not too far about thirteen miles outside of Ashburo, which
is the county seat, and that church is called Streamy
(04:08):
Congregational United Church of Christ Church m HM.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And so what inspired you about his life that you
wanted to write about him?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Well, one of the things I realized was that although
he was being written about as a poet, most of
the biographical paragraphs that were written about him had really
very little background information and frequently had misinformation and as
(04:47):
I began to sort of look around to learn about him,
I discovered there was so much more to his story,
even though there is not in many ways, there's not
a lot lot of information about him, but there's so
much more than had been written about him. And so
I wanted to make sure he didn't say it into obscurity,
(05:10):
and that I brought out his real passion, which, as
I said, was teaching education and the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But Margo, you said, okay, there was some if there
was information, it was misinformation about him. Yeah, so help
us understand your research journey to correct the misinformation and
find new information on him.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Well, among the first things I found on him were
many articles referencing his work at our church in a
journal from the that from an organization, a missionary organization
that functioned in the nineteenth century primarily, but into the
twentieth century as well, i'll call the American Missionary Association.
(06:03):
And they were very big in education in the South
among people of color, both before and after the Civil War.
And so because he had signed up with them to
come back to North Carolina after getting after being ordained,
(06:25):
I began to see these articles, and then I began
to pursue, well, what about when he was where he
went to school? And I knew that he had gone
to the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
And I discovered, you know, just sort of by doing
(06:45):
Google searches and ancestry searches and newspaper dot com searches,
that there were many, many newspaper articles written about him
in the newspapers in New Brunswick that basically followed the
things that he was doing while he was in seminary.
(07:06):
And the last thing I really discovered was that if
I really read his poems carefully in the volume Miscellaneous Poems,
I realized that they were more like a journal in
poetic forms. And so he was telling you about the
people he met, about the things he did, about the
(07:29):
places he went, certainly about the things he thought, but
they weren't just idle thoughts. These were about things that
were going on historically around him and the people he
was meeting, including President Grant. He had an opportunity, and
I have not had an opportunity, and I would love
(07:51):
to someday maybe sort of get into the Grant papers
and maybe the poem that he gave Grant has survived
somewhere in those papers, but that would be a really
extensive research effort. But I have high hopes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, I hope that you do find what he wrote
to President Grant. So let's talk about Isley just a
little bit more. What did short learn about his family?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, that was particularly interesting because everywhere that you see
information about him, it says that he is the son
of a freeman of color named William D. Walden, and
family members his sister, who he did not have descendants.
(08:46):
He and his wife did not have children, and he
died really about three years after they were married, so
you know, they really didn't have a chance to have children.
But his sister did have children and has just said
is living primarily in the Cincinnati area. And they all
(09:06):
said that the father was William Walden, And so I
went to look for information about that. I really didn't
find anything conclusive. It seemed possible. But what really struck
me was that there were several references where he himself
(09:29):
said his father was a completely different person by the
name of Branson Walden. And in a very extensive newspaper
article written in a New York newspaper at the time
he was ordained that said he was the son of
(09:51):
a former enslaved, formerly enslaved person who self emancipated on
false papers to our to the Midwest. So that sort
of made me wonder exactly what was going on. And
I also found also in his obituary in the American
(10:16):
Missionary Association magazine said his father was Branson, although they
used the name of one of his enslavers, and that
was he was born on the Garner plantation.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And so while you're doing this gathering, because it's really
interesting that first of all you became interested in Isley Walden,
but then you went through a search process of well
how do I find this man? And it's probably something
that anyone would ask a question when you're looking, where
(10:53):
do you look? And you mentioned the missionary journals and
what have you. So you're talking about a man and
who was born and slaved, and from there you're trying
to connect all of the dots. Who was his father,
where did he live? And so take us through your
(11:15):
let's say, take us through your research process. Maybe that'll
help people like me and others that really want to
connect the dots to somebody that they've heard a lot about.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Well, you know, I wish it was a straight line,
but it tends to be rather circuitous. I would say
that I really started looking for him because I knew
he was with the American Missionary Association. I began looking
in those papers for information about his about his life.
(11:51):
I also then from from there, I began, oh my,
I think i'd be and looking at records in the county,
and I found the deed from when he bought the
property for the church. I then, I don't remember exactly when,
(12:20):
I looked at every reference to him in literary magazine,
literary journals, and poetry anthologies that referenced him. I then
looked at I'm not I found information showing I knew
that he had gone to because it referenced in these
(12:41):
places that referenced that he was a graduate of Howard University.
So I went looking for him. I went looking for
information on that, and there there are published school classless
of students, and I was able to find him on
some of those class lists in the years that he
was attending the university, and including some references to him
(13:07):
as an alumna of the school, and then newspapers. I think,
really I began looking for newspaper articles, and that really
seemed to be quite the treasure trove. There were articles
in Washing in newspapers in Washington that referenced how he
had started what were known as Sabbath schools. These were
(13:31):
schools that were often held on Sunday afternoons or Saturday
evenings for working people and for children to teach them
reading and writing, and that apparently it was a very
successful school. And there was a newspaper article that referenced
him in eighteen ninety two. Now he he left Washington,
(13:56):
d c. In eighteen about eighteen seventy six after graduation
from Howard because then he went on to New Jersey
to study at Seminary. And here even in eighteen ninety
two they were remembering the work that he had done
with the Sabbath School, and in again newspapers in New
(14:20):
Jersey there were reference after reference to the work that
he was doing again with students in the New Jersey area.
In fact, the Seminary published a letter that was online
in their digital archives that referenced where he said that
he had to ask, he had to beg for more
(14:41):
money to pay for his schooling because he had basically
used all of his scholarship money to help with the
student mission, as the Sabbath School was called, which I
thought was fascinating, that, you know, please give him more
money so that he can pay off his school debts,
because you know, I won't let you graduate if you
(15:01):
hadn't paid all your debts, and so that he would
be able to graduate because he had spent all his
money on the school. Then I found a newspaper article
that he wrote himself when he was headed back to
North Carolina, where he talked about his trip and how
(15:23):
he had stopped in Goldsboro in North Carolina part way,
you know, part way back to Randolph County, and he
talks about his trip and the people he met there
and how fascinated he was with what was going on
in Goldsborough and he was actually sort of somewhat enticed
to potentially stay there, but he ultimately did not. He
(15:46):
then went back to Randolph County. I found, indeed, in
I looked in the deeds because I wondered I had
seen that he might have his own property, and discovered
that by the time he died, he had about one
hundred and ninety four acres of land. Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, and we're talking about a man who was partially
blind as nessarecy, but he learned how to read and
write and became a very well known poet. Yes, what
a fascinating journey. How long did it take you to
(16:30):
find out the information on mister Waldon?
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Oh my, I would say that I began. I began
gathering information on him. I really began gathering information on
him in earnest around two thousand and eleven twenty twelve,
(17:00):
about seven years.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Then, how does this information from your perspective, just add
to what was happening in your community and the Streebee Church.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Well, from the community's point of view, they're very excited
because there again the information that had come down to
them in the community had really gotten very garbled because
of a cousin who came to take over after he died.
When he died in eighteen eighty four, there was a
(17:43):
cousin that then stepped into help with the teaching. He
wasn't a minister, so another minister came to do the
actual pastoring. But this cousin took over the school and
so because his last name was also Walden, and he
also became well known as a teacher and pastor. People
thought they were one and the same person, and so
(18:05):
they were quite surprised to really have that information fleshed
out for.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Them, and they are very set the record straight.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yes, yes it is, it really is. And to go
back to the family information, because you know, now having
found this Branson information, and there was I even discovered
that he was married before he was married to the
wife that everyone know about, and it was clearly a
very brief marriage. But I found the marriage record in Raleigh,
(18:41):
North Carolina, and again he mentions his father as Branson Walden,
so so clearly the people that he was talking about,
so the white man that he was talking about. When
I began to look into that more or not the
excuse me, he wasn't white. He was a freeman of color.
But when I began to look into that man's information,
(19:05):
I realized there was no way in the world he
was going to be the father, because in fact, he
wasn't old enough to be the father. He would have
been I don't know, like seven years old or something
like that, but it was. But by sort of working
through the genealogy information, it was very likely it was
(19:26):
his father who was Branson's father, and that and over time,
as often happens in family, the story gets conflated and
they were confused about what generation, who was whom. So
at the back of the book, in the appendix, I
(19:47):
have given.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
My my genealogy an essay that explained how and why
I came to the conclusion that I get a proof
argument that certainly someone could come along and have found
information that would dispute any of my conclusions.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
But I do think I'm unreasonably solid ground with and
some other Walden family researchers agree with me that I'm
pretty good solid ground. I have tried to find mister Branson,
but I haven't found him, so I don't know what
happened to him. He may have changed his name, you know.
(20:35):
I had hoped that maybe I could find him living
like in Illinois or Indiana or Ohio. But I haven't
found a good candidate, so I don't know what happened
to him.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Right, And you mentioned the proof argument, And as far
as you're a concern, your proof argument is solid.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I believe it's solid. But you know, because is a
proof argument and argument as opposed to you know, the
the the the documents with the you know that someone
has literally told the specifics to.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It's the It is a.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Solid proof argument, and I have given all of the
the documentation that I believe supports it. But it's it
can always. I'm sure it could. Someone could come up
with something that they discover somewhere somehow that refused it.
I never you know, one can never be, but so
(21:43):
sure in genealogy there are always things that suddenly appear
and you go, wow, where did that come from?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Right? Well, you can always go back and rework it.
That's well, how can individuals go ahead on?
Speaker 1 (22:03):
No?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
No, no, I can individuals connect with you? And uh, for
those who want to learn more about mister Walden, how
can they find your book?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Certainly? Well? Uh? Right now the book is available on
Amazon as under my name obviously is the author Margot
Lee Lee Williams. There are there are several other authors
named Margot Williams. Is that Margot Lee Williams and uh
again born Missionary the Isley Walden Story. It's available both
(22:43):
in paperback and as a kindle And you can contact
me on my website Margot Lee Williams Books, All one
word dot com, Margot Lee Williams Books dot com. And
that's Margot without let's e M A R G O
L E. E. Williams with books dot com. And you
(23:08):
can also find me on Facebook as Margotlie Williams and
Instagram as Margolie Williams and so yes you can. I'm around.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
M Margot. Do you have any clothes and remarks for
anyone that may find themselves wanting to do similar research
when they find someone that they're really interested in and
they want to just research them as you have done
with mister walden.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Well, I think one of your taglines is one of
the best things to say. You have to follow the
clues people have left clues. Sometimes it's very difficult, sometimes
the clue. Sometimes you don't have a lot of clues.
(24:04):
Other times you get a bonanza. But you have to
keep following and it can take many years. I do
have other other stories where I have one story where
it took me forty years. I know that's not encouraging,
but it took me forty years, but I finally did it,
so it is possible. You have to just keep going,
(24:27):
don't give up, but follow the clues and look in
all the places that you can think of. In newspapers,
in vital records where they exist, in the deeds, in
the probate records, in tax records. I mean, there are
really many places that we can find information in our
(24:49):
church records. As I've shown, there are many places where
we can find information. And there are many online courses
and webinars and seminars that are available for people to
learn how to do genealogy research. And I see and
(25:09):
I strongly suggest you know, attending some of those. Some
of them are free, some of them costs, but the
cost is usually well worth it because you just learn
so much that you can take into the future. One
coming up shortly is Maggie the Midwest African American Genealogical Institute,
(25:32):
and you know, again these are wonderful opportunities.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Well, thank you so much for mentioning Maggie, and registration
is almost up, so please consider registering for Maggie. Well,
I want to thank you for coming on today, Margo
and sharing with us your research and the fact that
(25:59):
you've took your research to the next level by putting
it in a book. And this is one of the
things that you know, we want to encourage people to
share those stories so that others can be inspired, just
as you have inspired us with born missionary and remember everyone,
your ancestors left footprints. Margot just shared with us all
(26:24):
of the footprints she found in newspapers and a whole
lot of other resources. So you just need to follow
the clues that are presented to you. So, Margot, I
want to thank you so much for joining me today
and everyone else. I look forward to you joining me
next week. This is your host, Vernice Alexander Bennett. Goodbye everyone,
(26:49):
Bye bye Margot.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Thank you much. Must doubt
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Clut
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