Fifteen-year-old Jari Honora proves that family history can be "kid stuff."
At just 15 years old, Jari Honora has already traced his family tree back to 1801 - discovering the stories of his once-enslaved African-American ancestors. "At times, I've thought that some branches would never be traced prior to 1870," said Jari.
Yet Jari was able to find Arthur and Angelina Braud in the 1870 U.S. Census. From there, he traced Angelina's side of the family and discovered that she and her mother Elizabeth had been freed in 1851. "Angelina's and her mother Elizabeth's emancipation gave me the name of her owner," explains Jari. He learned that Elizabeth's grandmother was born in 1801 and had been enslaved to the great-grandfather of Elizabeth's owner.
Jari's journey back to 1801 uncovered other family stories, including great-great-great-grandparents the Honorable John and Hettie Pierce. John was a politician in post-Civil War Louisiana. Hettie lived to be 115 years old and was featured in several newspaper articles, which Jari found on Ancestry.com. "I can fully say that finding your African-American ancestors is possible," said Jari, "as it has been for me, a 15-year-old."
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