On June 5th I will travel to Brookneal, VA to participate in a remeberance and dedication of a slave cemetery at Red Hill, the plantation of Patrick Henry, My genealogical research led me to find my 3rd Gr Grandfather, George Henry, who was born in 1821 and enslaved at Red Hill in 1864. By 1870 he and his family were farming nearby and he was a school teacher. From a research perspective, the breakthrough was finding a list of slaves living on the plantation just at the end of the Civil War. This list was in the plantation inventory papers and I suspect, used to document labor but Has been key at helping to identify several enslaved family units.
The more I learn about Grandpa Henry and his family the more thankful I am for what he had to endure and sacrifice that allows me to be here today. So many lines were cut short but the ones that made it, are strong and we can proudly say our ancestors names.
I expect a very emotional weekend awaits.
