Mapping Miles from the Antebellum South to Freedom with Tanisha L. Watson

Research at the National Archives and Beyond

A Ruse, A Railroad, A River - Mapping Miles from the Antebellum South to Freedom Fearlessness and the clever escape from enslavement taken by Miles Eason, 3x Great Grandfather who used the Civil War as ruse for escape, inevitably breaking the color barriers of the Coal Mining boom of Philadelphia. Tanisha is content creator and microblogger behind Ancestral Bequest, a bespoke and inclusive community that is dedicated to genealogical exchange and education. Penned by her peers as The Rebel Genealogist™️, she is driven to tell compelling stories of the lives of her ancestors beyond the databases they’re often confined to. We have to be the ones to tell their stories and honor them with pride. Tanisha joined the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society – New Jersey Chapter in November of 2019 and is an alum of the Midwest African American Genealogical Institute where her focus has been Genetic Genealogy and DNA Analysis. Ms. Watson is her families historian since she was 8 years old, often telling family stories and impersonating the elders. Through her research she has been able to trace back to the 1790’s making connections to her ancestors from Norfolk, Virginia to Gatesville, North Carolina. Music: Sweet Mello Spice by AK Alexander Productions