Vanpool, who lives with her husband at the U.S. ![]() Jackson’s sister, Evelyn, by email and Facebook. Both women embraced and cried over their families’ unfortunate connection. Robert was born while Northup was enslaved at the Epps place. Vanpool came up to her and introduced herself as a great-great-great-great-niece of Robert Epps - the youngest son of plantation owner Edwin Epps. Jackson was a descendant of Solomon Northup. Kellina Vanpool was in the Clerk of Court’s office doing family research when she overheard Judge Billy Bennett saying Ms. “Strangely, it didn’t move me half as much as seeing those documents in my hand.”Ī chance encounter at the courthouse also made the visit especially memorable. “I had wanted to come here and go to the Epps Plantation where he lived and worked,” Ms. It was released on video under the title Half Slave, Half Free. That PBS production, Solomon Northup’s Odyssey, aired in 1984 and again in 1985. “I had seen a movie about him in 1984 with Avery Brooks playing Solomon,” she said, “but it hadn’t really impressed on me the desire to know more.” “That’s when I became proud to be one of his descendants,” she said. They unveiled a marker commemorating his story, so she read the annotated version of Twelve Years a Slave by Dr. It wasn’t until 1999, when she attended the first “Solomon Northup Day” observance in his native Sarasota Springs, N.Y., that she got interested in his story. Jackson said she had heard a little bit about Solomon Northup when she was growing up, but not a lot. with a visit to Epps Plantation site on Bayou Bouef with Mayor Mike Robertson and then proceeded through other stops on “The Northup Trail.” Ms. She was a guest of honor at the Solomon Northup Symposium held in Bunkie on Oct. She was the first descendant to ever return to Avoyelles since her ancestor was freed here 161 years ago. Jackson, 59, lives in Alta Dena, California, near Los Angeles. The subsequent publicity and interest in Northup resulted in his descendants wanting to visit Avoyelles. His story was resurrected and brought into the limelight with the recent Academy Award-winning movie. He was finally freed at the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse in 1853.īecause Northup was educated, he was able to write the story of his experiences in his autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave, which gives one of the few firsthand accounts of slavery from someone who lived as a slave. He had been kidnapped in Washington D.C and sold into slavery in Louisiana, spending 9 of his 12 years of bondage in Avoyelles. Jackson was in Avoyelles to visit important sites in her famous ancestor’s 12 years as a slave. She apologized for breaking up, saying she did not expect to get that emotional. “This is making me shiver,” she said as she read sat in the Clerk of Court’s office in the courthouse in Marksville and read the motion concerning Solomon Northup. Learn from these men-from their stories of triumph over tragedy-victory over adversity, for the wisdom of others blows where it wishes-like a Louisiana Wind.Holding in her trembling hands the document detailing the legal order that led to her great-great-great-grandfather’s release from slavery in Avoyelles Parish, Eileen Jackson could not contain the tears. They’re good stewards of His creation, the land. Their words are their bond, a handshake their contract. ![]() They’re taught to honor and respect their parents and to share both blanket and bread. It starts with an abiding reverence for the Good Lord. There’s a code they live by-it’s their way of life. “The best men I’ve known have been cowmen. Generations later two of their descendants fell in love! But I’m getting ahead of myself. They were later contemporaries in the small village of Plymouth Colony, in the New World-America. Both were Separatists because they separated from the Church of England, ruled by a king. ![]() John Willis and William Bradford were born in England in the 16th century. To better understand this saga, it will help if you know a little about my ancestry dating back to 1575. It is the story of two great nations and Randy Willis's ancestor’s struggle from tyranny-religious and political. ![]() Grandchildren, for you know, it is written, "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~ Randy Willisĭestiny is now available on Amazon Kindle for only $2.99īeckoning Candle is a sweeping family saga that spans four centuries. I've learned much from seeing the world through the eyes of my 7 minutes long with several periods of silence
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