Recently, in preparatio
n for a family reunion, a few family members and myself have decided to do genealogy research on our family. Imaginably, it's become somewhat of challenging process. I presume, when taking on a project of this sort, African American families come to "road block" much sooner than others. See, as African Americans, we are aware that our family has lived in the U.S. but because of previous times, little records are found on them. During our search, our only savior in this quest was the "red book" or, the recordings of the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.
-history break- Louisiana during the antebellum period, being considered "A Catholic State", required all slaves, natives and settlers to be baptized Catholic and catechized.
-/history break-With that being said, our search was made a
little more easier! See, in these books there was the Name, D.O.B. (birth and baptism), and Parents Name.
In an effort not to bore the bajeezus out of you... I'll cut this short. Below is a photo taken out of the "red book", between the years 1860 and something. The named underlined is the name of my Great-Great Grandfather...The name is parenthesis is that of his parents. The name underlined below that is his brothers name.
We were then later, able to find census records on ancestry.com :)
Catholicism of course was passed on through my family and 140+ years later, I was confirmed into the catholic church. Although I was raised catholic, baptized and catechized, I had yet to be confirmed.
Long story church, whether pressured to be Catholic or by choice, I am that my ancestors were because a piece of them will be stored forever and the books held by the Catholic Church. My great-great grandchildren will also be able to find me in records, just in case my memory gets lost in a world controlled by time.
a bientôt. 
(my grandmother, myself, and my late grandfather on the day of my first communion. Love you pawpaw)
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