"I Am Because We Are"
As a young girl growing up and attending school in rural Ohio, Tracy was underwhelmed by the representation of African Americans in history books. African Americans were usually depicted as people who voluntarily worked as servants and to be African American was to be without pride and self-worth. Even at the age of nine, she had an inkling that these depictions lacked truth and lacked substance. Her great-grandmother, Nanny, always told her fascinating stories about the family members who were posed distinguishably in the framed photographs in her living room. The contrast between her family stories and the stories portrayed in her history books ignited a curiosity in Tracy. She felt compelled to learn the truth about her history and her family. The more she learned, the more she became enthralled. Little did she know; the goal she set in grade school was the beginning of a lifelong journey.
Cornute Research, Walker/Woodson Research, Personal Family Lines
When George met Tracy, Tracy was running into roadblocks, as to be expected with genealogy research. She had journals filled with mostly leads and some family stories. As he developed his career as a communication systems engineer and businessman, he developed the technical skills to help find the answers she were missing and to digitally document her research. Also, being a seasoned traveler, he was able to help her make trips to places where they could find more information. They spent many nights scouring the internet for answers, and many days traveling across country to meet with historians and newly-discovered extended family members. Through all of this, a history bond was formed between them. Today, George is arguably just as passionate about Genealogy as Tracy. Success with her family research has inspired him to produce several forms of media through which they share their discoveries with the family. He has also become inspired to research his own family from the West Indies.
Cornute Research, Layne/Simmons Research, Personal Family Lines
In addition to documented research, a large part of our research is inspired by family memories and stories. Piecing together a family story is much like a quilt; each story and memory is a patch we piece together to build our complete family history.
Genealogy, also known as family history, is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. The Family Historians as Cornute genealogists used oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, inputs from family members and other records to obtain information. This information allows us to build the historical and current view of the Cornute family structure while showing kinship and pedigrees of the family.
In 2013, our research on the Cornute line was confirmed and validated by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. As a result, Tracy and other family members were granted membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
We document our research for those interested in the Cornute’s rich family history. Contact us with any inquiries about the Cornute family lineage and we are eager to share what we know. Future publications include a novel based on our Cornute family research. See Future Projects for updates on Legacy: Born of Slaves.
Genealogical data can be represented in several formats, usually as a pedigree or ancestry chart. Pedigree and genealogical tree diagrams are proven tools to visualize genetic and relational connections between family members. Family trees are often presented with the oldest generations at the top and the newer generations at the bottom. The tree typically documents names, dates and places for the usual life events (e.g., Birth, Sex, Age, Death, Marriage, etc.).
We have established an extensive family tree showing the relationships between family members of greater than twelve (12) generations of the Cornute family.