Martha Brown had seen photos of her great-great grandmother before, but the one she found on the database run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a shocker
The picture of her ancestor, Liza Anderson, who lived in Carrollton, Miss. was the splitting image of Brown’s older sister, Levearne.
“It was just wild,” said Brown, who works as a human resource manager for Wal-Mart. Brown and her family have been able to trace their ancestry back five generations. “Everybody wants to know where they come from, but sometimes money plays a part in people trying to find out their past.”
Brown will be among volunteers helping others start that research. It’s all at no cost to genealogy sleuths.
In honor of Juneteenth, the federal celebration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened free family research booths at locations across Georgia, including metro Atlanta.
Some sites were open Saturday and others are open today.
Although the event is being held in commemoration of Juneteenth, it’s not limited to African-American history of the United States. Anyone seeking to learn more about their roots can attend and get help.
People need to bring the names of their parents and/or their grandparents with their dates of birth.
Once informally known as the Mormons, the Church of Jesus Christ has one of the leading genealogical programs in the world with 217 million site visits in 2022.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
There are 44 FamilySearch International Centers in Georgia, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ. The denomination has more than 89,000 members in Georgia and 164 congregations.
Charvis Buckholts organized the Juneteenth celebration at historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta on Saturday.
“I hope people will get some closure to their roots, and Oakland Cemetery is the perfect setting,” said Buckholts, who added people often come to the cemetery seeking answers and looking for the graves of their loved ones. “People don’t know who they’re connected to.”
Elder M. Andrew Galt has used the records to trace his lineage back eight generations to relatives living in Scotland, Denmark and Ireland.
Gathering and preserving genealogical records has been important to the Church of Jesus Christ since its founding in 1830. FamilySearch’s predecessor, the Genealogical Society of Utah, was formerly established in 1894.
Today, find the FamilySearch family history booths at Juneteenth events at the following locations:
Monday
Athens: Ebenezer Baptist Church West, 205 N. Chase St.,12-2 p.m.
Augusta: August Common, 836 Reynolds St., 12-9 p.m.
Forsyth County: Forsyth County Family YMCA, 6050 Y St. Cumming, 5-8 p.m.
Fayetteville: Fayetteville County Historical Society Fayette County Courthouse, One Center Drive, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Midland: Pierce Chapel African Cemetery, 5213 Pierce Chapel Rd., 10 a.m.
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