Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 0:02

It was a lot of emotions that I've never felt before and it was strange to have so much emotion for someone that you've never met. But when you listen to the story and hear the story, how could you not?

Crista Cowan: 0:15

Stories that Live In Us is a podcast that inspires you to form deep connections with your family, past, present and future. I'm Cr Krista Cowan, known online as the Barefoot Genealogist. I've spent my whole life discovering the power of family history and I know that sharing the stories that live in you can change everything. On March 3rd 1865, the Bureau of Refugees, freedmen and Abandoned Lands was created and instituted in 15 southern states at the end of the Civil War. Now, the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau was to direct provisions, clothing and fuel for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and children. Basically, it was the first of the US social services at a time when this country desperately needed help rebuilding, and there were people who needed education, they needed medical services, they needed provisions, refugee camps needed to be coordinated, people needed to find jobs. All of that were services that the Freedmen's Bureau provided for those who had just been emancipated from slavery to reconnect with their families, and so one of the things that you sometimes find in Freedmen's Bureau records are letters. Ancestry had the opportunity to publish some of the Freedmen's Bureau records online, and when those records were being placed online, a team of researchers at Ancestry was digging into the records to understand them, trying to figure out what existed, and one of the things that came to light was one of those letters. This letter was from a man by the name of Hawkins Wilson. He was enslaved in the state of Texas but he had been born back east, and in this letter he wrote to the Freedmen's Bureau asking them to deliver another letter written to his sister about connecting with this family that he had been sold away from as a child. In the process of uncovering this letter and realizing that this letter was actually kind of famous in and of itself, it had been used in universities, it had been used by the National Archives in explaining what records existed in the Freedmen's Bureau collection, but one of the things that had never been done was identifying the descendants of Hawkins Wilson and also finding out if that letter had ever made its way to his sister, if her descendants knew that it existed. And so we at Ancestry undertook a more than a year-long project trying to make some of those connections and answer some of those questions. Today on the podcast, I am joined by Kelley Dixon-Teeler and her mother, M marie Jenkins. Kelley and Miss Marie are descendants of Hawkins Wilson and they were part of a documentary film project that we got to work on at Ancestry that tells the story of Hawkins and enables Kelley and Miss Marie to tell their stories, and so I wanted to invite them on the podcast so that we could have a little bit of a behind the scenes look at that documentary film and also get the rest of the story. If you would like to watch the film before listening to this episode or after, just click through to the show notes. We'll have a link there. The film is called A Dream Delivered: T the Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson, K elley, M miss Marie, thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to dive in and talk about this story and this journey with you.

Crista Cowan: 4:29

Kelley, you are the one, as I understand it, that very first started exploring your family history. Do you want to tell us a little bit about why you chose to do that, what that beginning part of that journey was like for you?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 4:46

Sure, and thank you guys for talking to us. I'm just so giddy about it. I couldn't sleep last night but because I wanted to continue the legacy or learn more about my grandparents of side of the family. My grandparents were like second parents to all of the grandchildren and you know, I just wanted to learn more about them. And when my grandfather was alive that's kind of what spearheaded all of this is when he was alive he had told us, you know, about his upbringing and his original last name and I go, wow, okay, so I started taking notes and, you know, trying to do a deep dive and you know, once he died again, just to really learn more about that side of the family and thanks to Ancestry, I have learned some things about it ancestry.

Crista Cowan: 5:48

I have learned some things about it, so I'm so excited, yeah, so. So what inspired you to start the tree was just this these stories and this information from your grandfather.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 5:54

Yes, that's correct. And and just so you know, I guess we're clear and know that my grandfather it's the story of Hawkins is really from my grandmother's side. So I dove in wanting to learn more about my grandfather's side of the family and that's an interesting side as well. But what we learned was actually from my grandmother. So I kind of got two treats in one.

Alva Marie Jenkins: 6:46

Right and, miss Marie, were you supportive of this? Were's speaking of about his side of the family, because we used to visit his family every summer in Shreveport, louisiana, which I hated it like going there, but anyway. And then you know other information that we found out from you, know from my mother, but I was excited that Kelly was. You know she wanted to really dive in to find out about the family.

Crista Cowan: 7:07

Fantastic, I love that. And so you started a tree and, unbeknownst to you, in the background there was some forces conspiring to deliver family history information to you based on that little family tree that you had started, information to you based on that little family tree that you had started. Tell us a little bit about the experience of being contacted by Ancestry and this whole unfolding of Hawkins' story.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 7:34

Well, you know it's funny and I recall telling this story to an audience last year that I believe you guys tried to contact me through the Porter of Ancestry the messaging part of it and I thought it was spam so I ignored it. And I believe there was email sent and I ignored it. And I believe there was a message and I don't know if this is before or after, but I recall seeing it Someone from Ancestry contacted me or looked me up on LinkedIn and I ignored it. And so I got a FedEx letter from Ancestry and I read it and it was like, hmm, this is interesting.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 8:25

My family's name is on here and I did recognize the names that was in the letter, but I put it up and walked away from it. And one day I never checked my email, I never checked my voicemail. And one day I decided to check the voicemail and it was a message from Ancestry and I go huh, that name sounds familiar. So I ran and grabbed the letter and it was the same name as the person who was on the voicemail and I called back.

Crista Cowan: 9:00

And the rest is history. I love that. I didn't know all of those details. There was something at work there to make sure that you got, we got. Your attention wasn't there. Yes, and maybe it was Hawkins right. Maybe his legacy and the importance of the story that he wanted told and that he wanted you to be a part of that.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 9:18

I think that I think there's something to that, maybe to that maybe you know now I'm getting emotional just even hearing that part again. You know, because I do know that other people were contacted and it was me who finally said let me just give them a call. Once I talked to Lisa and, you know, listened to everything she had to say and then I did more and she gave me, you know, information to research. I was like, okay, game on, and I'm ready. So I am so honored to be here, to be on this platform to tell, continue to tell. A story is so, so beautiful.

Crista Cowan: 10:01

If people haven't watched the film. Kelly, could you, in just like a few sentences, just give us a rundown of exactly who Hawkins is and his story briefly?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 10:11

Sure, hawkins Wilson was an enslaved man who was set free June 19, 1865. Hawkins was in Virginia as a six-year-old boy, sold because the landowners couldn't keep up with their debt. So from Virginia to Texas, hawkins was here in a search of his family members For 155 years. We could not connect with his letters with his family members, could not connect with his letters with his family members. But because Hawkins is a persistent individual, he was able to write letters to the Freedmen's Bureau in search of his loved ones and 155 years later we were able to make that connection for Hawkins Wilson.

Crista Cowan: 10:59

His story itself is so powerful. But, Ms Marie, I would just love to hear in your own words if you had to tell Hawkins' story in just a few minutes, how would you share that?

Alva Marie Jenkins: 11:10

It's kind of hard to put myself, you know, in his place, since he was basically a child, you know, when he was separated from his family and me, being a child, that was, you know, close to my parents I just could not imagine, you know, being separated from them, you know, at such a young age and I just, I don't even want to imagine that, you know, being separated. So I'm sure it was devastating to him, it was devastating to his family, as it would be devastating to me, you know, to be separated, you know, from my family because we, you know, we were close-knit family, we lived next door, you know, to my grandparents' Hawkins family, and so we all, the cousins it was six of us and seven of them, it was 13 grandchildren and we lived, you know, right next door and to be separated from them at a young age, I would be devastated and wouldn't know where my life would be today. If that had happened to me, I don't know if I could have done what he did.

Crista Cowan: 12:20

So, kelly, tell us a little bit about what he did and where he ended up, and a little bit about the letters.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 12:28

Yes, absolutely, I'm emotional.

Crista Cowan: 12:31

Me too.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 12:32

My mom did it, my. So Hawkins is a man that pressed on in spite of you know, I am still trying to figure out that gap between the age of six and when he wrote his letters. I would assume I think he was maybe in his thirties I forget the age right now, but in his mind he probably retraced, you know, his upbringing and the love that he had and going off of everything, my mother said I would think that he, day in, day out, pictured that. But most importantly is that throughout that time period Hawkins stayed close to God and made sure that that was in the center of him.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 13:22

And when that opportunity came and he wrote those letters to see where he was right this is a young boy, six years old, pulled from his family, but yet have thousands that follow him, it's amazing right. And then to be a minister that traveled you know, I don't know everywhere he traveled, I'll just say probably all the South, maybe you know parts of the U? S. But to have that magnitude that you did not allow what happened to you to hold you down or hold you back. He pressed on and to me that is just such a beautiful story of someone that, despite everything that's happened to him. He pressed on and I'm honored to have to have learned it and to see that about him.

Crista Cowan: 14:22

Yeah, there's. He's such a remarkable man and when we learned his story at Ancestry, lisa was so captivated by it, by that, by the whole story of the whole concept of these letters that he had written trying to find his family, trying to reach out and make that connection and bridge that gap, that she went on a more than a year long search with several other genealogists trying to find descendants of his, trying to find descendants of his family, trying to find descendants of his, trying to find descendants of his family. She reached out and connected with you, as you've explained, but then she also reached out and was able to connect with some descendants of his other relatives and you had the opportunity to meet them, ms Marie. What was that moment like when you walked up and met those other descendants of Hawkins' family?

Alva Marie Jenkins: 15:16

I was extremely to find family, to be able to. Well, ancestry found family that we never knew existed and I was emotional, I was excited, I was really happy, you know, to meet them and they're still. You know, they're still in our lives. So I'm grateful to Ancestry, I'm grateful to the Lord that he's bringing my family together.

Crista Cowan: 15:48

Yeah, that concept of gathering and connecting is something that is so important to me, and I can hear that it's important to you as well. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. So then, kelly, like since you've had that experience, since you've learned this information, it sounds to me like you've continued to dig to learn more about him and about his legacy.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 16:08

When Ancestry talked to me about Hawkins and that Hawkins died here in Houston, in the historic fourth ward area of Houston. There is a tour for four here. So I reached out to that, that group of people, that genealogists, and I'm getting emotional. So she called back and said oh you, I've heard your story. Yeah, let's meet, let's talk. And we talked and we spent hours on the phone together and she said I would love to do what Ancestry did for you, but here in Houston. And so they basically redone some research and found out about Hawkins' son, osborne, cirilla Hawkins' daughter, and where they lived and the different addresses that are found, you know, in An in ancestry through the census. So they and she marked them and saved them and we I met them over in that area and we walked and I stood on the land where Hawkins lived. I stood on the land where Osborne, where Osborne taught school. I stood on the land where Osborne taught school.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 17:50

Again, I frequent these places often and would have never known that my family was there right. And so that same day we went to the grave site, olive Wood, and it is known that Cirilla Hawkins' daughter is buried there, but not 100% known if that's where Hawkins is, but everyone, they was like, no, I know he's here and the moment that I stepped foot on that graveyard number one, I hate graveyards, like what am I doing? That's number one but I went and I stepped foot on that graveyard, it's almost like I was embraced with love from even the groundkeeper. He was almost like family members. It was again that emotion, those words that I really just can't fully articulate. But to know that I am here, where my ancestors lie, that I knew exists, is beyond words for me. And to have this group of people take on this story with me they took on the story, they took on the emotions, like we were all like a hot mess and just crying and just telling the story and just talking through it. It was the most, one of the most beautiful experiences. It was a lot of emotions that I've never felt before and it was strange to have so much emotion for someone that you've never met. But when you listen to the story and hear the story, how could you not?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 19:33

I have a picture of his letters and his letters and then myself with the letters when we last year we were able to speak about this at the Holocaust Museum and part of my dream for him is to continue his legacy but to also have his letters displayed here in Houston in a museum. So part of that had come true. So I am trying to continue his legacy by continuing his story, but also I'm wanting to. I'm in the it's in its infant stage and unfortunately last year I kind of had to put a pause because I was overwhelmed with tasks, with different things going on in life. But I started up a nonprofit in his name to continue his legacy and to give scholarships to students that want to pursue history and that have like community service hours. So his name, his legacy, can continue on. You know, beyond just when we announced everything a couple years ago.

Crista Cowan: 20:38

So if people want to know more about that, if they want to contribute in any way, how do we find out more?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 20:44

Sure it's HawkinsWilsonLegacycom.

Crista Cowan: 20:48

Wow, that's amazing and what a legacy for both of you. That's incredible and what a legacy for both of you. That's incredible. Miss Marie Hawkins was connected with Galveston and I understand, not only during the filming of the movie, but also since then you've been able to visit Galveston and connect with him in that place.

Alva Marie Jenkins: 21:15

Can you tell us a little bit about that? And to stand on the beach to look out at the waters and imagine that slave ship coming to Galveston, and so it's sort of part of it was a little bit of anger, but part of it was extremely emotional that a baby had to go through that. But then he, as Kelly was saying, as he grew, obviously the Lord had put him with good people because he started a ministry, he was part of a church there and he had, you know, many followers and he had many followers. And so, just to look back on that, and we had an opportunity to go to Galveston on June 10th Was it last year, kelly, june 10th of last year? And I let Kelly finish that part, but it's just exciting because we didn't know that he started in Virginia but then ended up in Texas and Galveston.

Crista Cowan: 22:18

Kelly do tell the rest of the story.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 22:20

Yes, I will. So Hawkins was a superstar and we didn't even know it. I connected with a genealogist. It's funny, you know I was trying to be so humble about you know. Hey, I was on the answer, didn't you see me? I was on CBS. But I was really trying to be humble with my approach to the genealogist here in Houston who connected me with genealogists in Galveston and I was able to first, here in Houston, trace some of his steps the most beautiful his steps and his children. That was the most beautiful experience I could ever imagine. I cried the whole time, but so the genealogist in Galveston invited us to really chapel you know the birthplace of Juneteenth, and she was like Hawkins was the first I've known about Hawkins.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 23:19

I too have been trying to find Hawkins descendants. We have all these articles on Hawkins, and would you please come to our Juneteenth celebration and be the keynote speaker on this. And to be able to? And we walked the path of the for when they gave the order that the slaves were free. So we did that. The most beautiful experience you could ever imagine being able to trace the footsteps of your ancestry and then knowing that he too was part of the very first Juneteenth. I am 49, 49 years old, 48 at the time, and never knew that he had that much impact on that amount of people, but yet part of part of a Texas history that we celebrated that I never knew that my third great-grandfather was part of. I mean phew.

Crista Cowan: 24:24

Yeah, and it's so interesting because I think all of us have these stories in our past of people who persevered and survived and made an impact in the world, however big or small, and that lives in us, but we don't always recognize it. And so, when we start on this journey of discovery to uncovering those stories, tell me a little bit, kelly, about how that's changed your perception of yourself and whatever stopped me from progressing forward.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 25:03

I shared this story with my mother, but also it helps me think of maybe some of the trials that Hawkins may have gone through.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 25:13

I was recently in a graduate program and this one course was kicking my butt and I quit like several times, mom, I think.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 25:28

Mentally I was like I can't do this, I can't, and I'm tired, like I don't even know why I'm doing this. This is just so unnecessary, right? But think about Hawkins of how many times like hurdles or barriers came in his way where he think he probably thought he couldn't progress. Right, I thought he couldn't make an impact, but he pressed on in spite of and that was some of the things that I was like I can do this, I know I can do it, and I prayed and I pressed in and I did it and I'm done and now I have my graduate degree. So the same with him, right? I use those stories to parallel my own life, because I know that he had struggles and, as he stated in his letters, that times were hard. Well, here I am today, right, and I look at some of the things that I've done over you know, my years, and I pressed on, and here I am today, leaving that mark, leaving that legacy, and I'm just trying to be like Hawkins.

Crista Cowan: 26:39

No but better to be like Hawkins. I love that. That's beautiful and what a great opportunity to use that story and move forward in your life. Thank you for sharing that. Miss Marie, you're a woman of faith and I've heard some beautiful things from Lisa about your faith and your expressions of faith. Lisa about your faith and your expressions of faith. How has your faith been strengthened or how has your outlook on faith changed since learning more about Hawkins and the fact that he was also a man of faith?

Alva Marie Jenkins: 27:13

I often wondered, you know, when I came to the Lord. I came to the Lord. You know, people sometimes can be kind of hardheaded and want to live their own life the way they want to live their life. So did that at the beginning, and so I made things hard for myself and then finally I just gave. I just gave in, just gave up. So all right, okay, my life is yours, I give myself to you, and so.

Alva Marie Jenkins: 27:39

But as I progressed in my walk with the Lord, I often wonder, because I mean my family, they were, they believed in God and they believed in the Lord, jesus Christ, but it was never a life where it was really expressed in our day-to-day life. So I often wondered how did, why did the Lord pick me to be the first one, you know, in my family, one that was afraid of, or really afraid of, my own shadow, you know? And then to learn this story about Hawkins that he was a man of faith. Then I said now I understand I'm continuing something that he started and you know he was a man, man of faith, and he was a strong man of faith. And I want you know, because I, as I said, I was afraid of my own shadow and would barely talk to people. But then there was a boldness that came in in me, where you know, I would talk to you about the Lord, whether you want to hear. Hear about him not.

Alva Marie Jenkins: 28:43

And I became an ordained minister, which I'm not really doing that now, but I'm still vocal for my faith. But I was thinking the other day that we mentioned that my son is a minister, but I forgot that there were other ministers in my family. My one of my cousins in California, her son was an ordained minister. He's, you know, he's deceased now and I only met him once. It was when my grandmother passed away and they all came to Houston, but he was a man of faith. Then I have another cousin whose son is a minister even today. He's been a minister for 25 years. So the legacy of Parkinson's is weaved through all of my family and we didn't know that it began with him.

Crista Cowan: 29:42

Wow, that's amazing. There's something about family narrative that has always been fascinating to me, this idea that these threads of story get passed down, sometimes consciously, sometimes maybe even unconsciously, and that they start to weave together and that we can step back just enough. You see the pattern of it, that this and it sounds like that's what's happened with the faith of hawkins as it has come down in threads and different branches of his family tree, and now you have the opportunity, because you know his story, to step back and look at that and see the pattern so clearly. You know now that you're kind of in retrospect, kelly, thinking back to that first little family tree. You started on Ancestry right Like back then you kind of had this idea of what you wanted. But now, knowing where that journey took you, what, like do you have advice for other people as they're involved in family history, or how people should approach this?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 30:41

This journey all started because one I was curious and it all started from a conversation and then taking conversation with my grandfather, and then taking that and jotted it on notes. But then of course it all really stemmed from a tree, from ancestry, and I built on that tree and then would step away and came back, Um, so I was able to make these beautiful connections through ancestry, through, you know, my third great grandfather, and it doesn't, you can't make these connections if you don't start right.

Crista Cowan: 31:31

Start that conversation, start taking notes, but, most importantly, you should invest in you know your family by starting that family tree. But the process of making those discoveries is, I think, part of the process of internalizing those stories and figuring out how we use them to move forward. It's also the process of how we make those connections. I think back to that beautiful moment in the film where you and your new cousins met at that church and had that opportunity to make that connection. And then you've mentioned that you've continued those relationships. What does that look like?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 32:08

I still talk to both Cousin Linda and Cousin Val. Last year, some of this year, I've spent some time with Cousin Linda. I took vacation not vacation, it was kind of like work some vacation to the Virginia area, so I was able to, you know, connect with her and we continue to talk through text messaging, you know, especially around the holidays, but even going, you know, beyond them, I'm still looking for relatives and uncovered new relatives, you know, from my grandfather's side. So it's definitely again a journey, as you stated, just trying to. It's definitely again a journey, as you stated, just trying to one get people to respond, you know, without seeming like a weirdo, like hey, it's your new cousin, but so it's a test and a journey to continue to, you know, bring new relatives to the forefront of all of this.

Crista Cowan: 33:01

So what I'm hearing you say is people should read and respond to their ancestry messages. Kelly.

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 33:05

Please. Yes, I stalk people on Facebook. I'm like should I? Is this weird, but I hadn't reached out on Facebook.

Crista Cowan: 33:17

Right, I love that. Well, miss Marie, if you could hope one thing for the future, knowing what you now know about Hawkins and his story and some of the other discoveries that y'all have been able to make through this journey, what is that hope for the future of your family?

Alva Marie Jenkins: 33:46

connected because, if we remember Hawkins, he was separated from his family and he was not able to connect with any of them. So he started, you know, his own, his own family. So my hope is that you know with this younger generation that they would want to stay together and not lose contact, you know with, with family, because family isn't, isn't part of it.

Crista Cowan: 34:03

That was beautifully said. Thank you, kelly. What about you? What's your hope now that you have this knowledge, now that you have these stories? What's your hope for the future, for your family?

Kelley Dixon-Tealer: 34:13

Well, I mean, I think my mother said it all you know, and but also you know hoping to continue his legacy and if that is through, you know, the connection of family or continuing his name, but so it's one of those or it's both of those, not one of those, it's both of those Staying connected as a family. But also, how can we continue to say his name and continue his legacy beyond where it is today?

Crista Cowan: 34:45

So I love that, thank you. Thank you both so much for being here, for spending time with me, for sharing your perspective on the whole beautiful saga of Hawkins Wilson's life and his legacy. You represent him beautifully, thank you.