RELISHING THE PAST AND ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE | LADIES OF HIVE CONTEST #14

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@ladiesofhive
Ladies of Hive Community Contest #14

The Ladies of Hive Community is an awesome group dedicated to supporting and empowering all ladies of Hive. To keep the Community alive and buzzing, we're able to participate in contests that are completely voluntary. It's a great way to engage with each other within the Community and get to know one another through our content. I've participated in a few contest so far.

Upon reading the requirements for Contest #14, I decided to participate because I love family history and also dreaming about new home designs.

  • Tell us about your family tree and show us some pictures!
    Or
  • What is your dream house or favorite room? What things are in it? Photos, collages, and drawings are welcome!

MY FAMILY TREE

Being of African-American descent, tracing family history through the generations is not an easy undertaking. This is due to the overall history of slavery in the United States.

I won't go into the painful history of forced slavery of millions of people for the purpose of economic gain in the way of free labor and the cultivation of power and control over a culture.

For the vast majority of African Americans, the farthest that their family history can can be traced back is the mid 1800s.

When the slaves were freed in 1865, the U.S. allowed them to be listed on the 1870 Federal Census.

When working with the 1870 Censuses, I've have been able to work backward and discover some valuable information. If a person is reporting they are a certain age, then I just subtract their age to determine the year of birth. Of course, this is not always reliable because the majority of the former slaves don't actually know their age, year or date of birth. They rely on hearsay from other family members are friends who may have known the family or lived nearby.

What I found interesting and disturbing is that the older the ancestor got, the more sketchy their information became. Some would give totally different information on the next census 10 years later, such as age, and date of birth. The younger the person I feel, the more reliable their memory.

I have been researching my family history for over 10 years.

I want to focus on my material second great grandmother, Lucy. As far as I can determine, Lucy, was born in 1841 in the state of Louisiana.

Lucy was the daughter of a Caucasian trader. She is reported, by oral family history, to be of Native American descent. I'm still attempting to determine whether this information is correct.

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The photo above is the only known image of her in family members' possession.

Information on her mother is unknown. A fascinating oral history is that the trader, on route to Louisiana to live, purchased Lucy's mother from an Indian tribe.

Once grown, Lucy married Lorenzo. He is reported to have been born in Alabama circa 1830s. To this union four children were born. Lorenzo passed away and Lucy remarried twice. She had two more children from her second marriage. Both Lucy and Lorenzo are interred in a cemetery in northwest Louisiana.

Lucy's and Lorenzo's fourth child married and from that union 14 children were born. The 4th child was my grandmother.

I do know their lives were hard as many occupations were farming. During those time, families were close. They usually lived next to each other, not moving away to another parish.

Obtaining information in Louisiana is a bit difficult because it is a closed-record state.

WHAT MY DREAM HOME WOULD BE LIKE

This is my dream home. A beautiful rustic log cabin. Of course, it would be located in the woods not too far from a town. My cabin will be my future true retirement home. It has 4 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 10 guests. It's a two-story designer home built in December, 2020. It may look small from the exterior, but it spacious and beautifully decorated.

Exterior

A well-manicured front and back yard is the first thing you'll gaze upon once you enter my estate. My cabin contains a wrap-around porch. I love to sit outdoor in the morning for breakfast. This will be perfect, as it's built off the ground so no animals can intrude.

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Image by shonflair from Pixabay

The wrap-around porch will lead to the backyard where it will provide entry to one of the outdoor entertaining areas:

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Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Interior

I decided I wanted a rustic decor and ambience throughout the house. I read about the philosophy of Feng Shui in the placement of items in in your home to maximum serenity positive vibes.

Here's how I envision each room:

Living Room. I will actually have two separate living areas. One will be facing the west side; the other, the east. Each will be furnished differently, but the style will be chic rustic.

Starting in the large, main living room, the decor will have an old world style country vibe. I love the color of orange blended into all the patterns. Surrounded by my favorite books, the walls will contain built-in shelves and coves. This room is where I will entertain my guests, even those from Hive.

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Image by GerDukes from Pixabay

In my hallway on on various walls, I'll display my wall art. It will definitely include African historical figures:

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Image by ArtsyBee from Pixabay

My second, smaller living room will feature a more quaint atmosphere. I will probably spend most of my time here relaxing and reading with the quiet after selecting a good novel and a spice tea to keep me company.

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Image by 1778011 from Pixabay

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Kitchen. Now this is my idea of the perfect kitchen. It will certainly inspire me to cook those Southern and Cajun recipes from my youth. I must have two ovens; one full-sized range, the other can be combined with the microwave as shown in the image below. The color has to be a deep mahogany wood grain. I love the color of the granite countertop against the wall. The same granite spills over onto the island that contains a double sink. Additional cabinet space is underneath. Room exists over the wall counter to display my beautiful coffee cups and antique glassware I collect.

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Image by Fran Hogan from Unsplash

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Bedrooms. My cabin will include a master bedroom for my private time. Again, keeping with the decor, I will have sloped wood rafters. My idea of the perfect bedroom is to have enough space that it's a small living room with a bed. That way, I can relax in my recliner before bed.

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Image by Laura6 from PIxabay

The ensuite will be a bit different in design. I love the concept of an open space such as this, but perhaps I may need to consider some window coverings:

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Image by Fran Hogan from Unsplash

Next, the guest bedrooms will each have a different look and feel. Each will have their own entrance and exit to the wrap-around porch so they won't disturb anyone else.

Here is a sample:

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Image by shonflair from Pixabay

Thank you for reading my family history and for touring my dream home.

LADIES OF HIVE COMMUNITY

Please join me in this awesome contest?

To make sure that your entry is valid, and can not be missed for the contest, please make sure that you follow the RULES:

  • Blog must answer at least one of the questions (or more, if you wish!)
  • Blog must be submitted before Sunday, JANUARY 24th, 2020
  • Blog must be published in Ladies of Hive community
  • Blog must be original in order to win
  • Blog must be 200+ words
  • Blog must invite another woman to the community

I'd like to invite the following lady on Hive to join me in the awesome Community: LADIES OF HIVE:

@parchi-guaya
Welcome back after a long absence. Good luck on your second journey on Hive.

IMPORTANT: IF YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO JOIN THE LADIES OF HIVE, just click the Ladies of Hive banner below to join in the fun at their Discord.

👇

Thanks,
@justclickindiva

Happy rest of the week everyone with whatever your endeavors.

SOURCES:

a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines.

Your Personal Terminal Discord Invite

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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 41 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
!BEER
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Hi dear my compliments for the c]blog, and the fact that you told us about the family history and the fact you have been,a king the family tree and doing the research for over 10 years. Lucy and Lorenzo are history that you want to explore, to have as much knowledge as you can get. And the fact you are the 7 th ( I think ) generation is great. I am so sorry that the last year you lost so many family members.

And than the house , thank god for the fact that I can come to visit because you have spare bedrooms for the visitors. And I love a great porch and die for a great kitchen!
I would have thought that you would have choosen a camper hahahahah

Thank you for this blog
Tomorrow there one will be up
B

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Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, I have been doing research for a long time.

As far as my my dream home, can't you just imagine my beautiful RV parked nearby. All I have to do is sit on my wrap-around porch and enjoy looking at it. Then I can go inside it, and see my cabin. This would eliminate paying rental each month for a place for my RV to rest. Of course, I'd have to build some type of overhead garage to shield it from the elements. Best of both worlds.

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Well this was such a great idea and so beautiful I think this comment and story screams a part two of the dream home and extras hahahaha
Happy weekend

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You've been researching for quite some time, I love this familiar field of research. Very beautiful space to really enjoy it. @justclickindiva

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Thank you for the invitation!!! Of course I'll join 😍

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That's good of you to consider. Just click on the Ladies of Hive banner in my post. When you reach the discord, let them know it was by invitation. Thanks so much.

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