How Tribulation Led to a Treasure

There are several members of BFGHS who have ties to the state of New York and the city of Buffalo. The mass shooting that took place in Buffalo at Tops Supermarket on May 14th of this year sent chills up my spine for several reasons.
 
The racially motivated massacre had me mourning the loss of lives and fearing for the safety of my family members who reside in The City of Good Neighbors. I placed a call to one of my cousins, knowing that she could provide a full report on my DNA kin who live and work in the city. Judy let me know that they were all fine and safe. She shared with me that the Tops Supermarket was “her store.” It was just a couple of miles from her home. It was a business that transformed a food desert into a community-friendly destination for acquiring proper groceries.
 
More chilling was the fact that my cousin had planned to visit Tops for a few items on May 14th but was not feeling up to leaving her home. In hindsight, her issues with her knee may have saved her life. My call, meant to be a quick check on my cousins, turned into a conversation about the history of our Boykin ancestors.
 
Whenever Judy and I talk, I ask about discussions that she had with her mom (my dad’s sister) about our grandfather … the man Judy calls Granddad and I call Grandpa Boykin, Hargie Aaron Boykin, Sr. During this conversation, my cousin mentioned that she had come across a program from our grandfather’s funeral. In the program was an obituary. I asked Judy if she could take screenshots of the pages and text the information to my cell phone number. I was hoping and praying that I would soon have a stepping stone that would take me deeper into the lives of our Boykin ancestors.
 
Minutes after our call ended, I heard the text alert “swoosh” on my phone announcing the arrival of the latest information. There they were, blurry yet legible pages from Grandpa Boykin’s funeral program. I went straight for the page containing his obituary. Fingers on my phone screen, I expanded the view, and with a magnifying glass in hand, I reviewed the copy. Much of the information was familiar to me, but there were nuggets of gold awaiting my inspection. The obit held the following information that was “new to me”:

• My paternal grandfather “confessed a hope in Christ” at the age of nineteen [6, Sept. 1906], at New Hebrew Baptist Church in Arkansas.
• Rev. J. T. Hayslett was the pastor of New Hebrew Baptist Church at that time.
• When he moved to Memphis, Hargie joined St. Stephen Baptist Church where J.L. Campbell was pastor.

• the name of the informant providing the information contained in the obituary.
• the county and city where New Hebrew Baptist Church was located, in 1906?

• if New Hebrew Baptist Church is in existence today? If so, where is it currently located?
• where did Rev. Hayslett live and move to, because that may tell me where the church records of New Hebrew landed.
• if St. Stephen Baptist Church is in existence, still? If so, where?
• where Rev. Campbell lived/moved to?

• After signing into FamilySearch, going to the “Search” drop down, then selecting “Research Wiki,” I navigated to information on the counties of Lee and Cross in Arkansas and the city of Memphis, in Shelby County, Tennessee. The information that I obtained is helping me to create my locality guides. As I search online, I am copying the URL details for future citations of my sources. I always say genealogical research is a marathon, not a sprint. I have a long research road ahead of me, but I know that staying focused and steady will allow me to come out as a winner.                                    

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November 12                                                        
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• December 1st - Start drafting the Q1 2023 newsletter
• December 6, 2022 - Executive Board & Committee Meeting - 7pm
• December 7, 2022 - Membership Committee Meeting - 7pm
• December 8, 2022 - Efficient Gen. Research - "Write it Up" - R. Matthews - 7pm
• December 10, 2022 - General Meeting - Swearing in of Officers & Holiday Event - 10am
• December 21, 2022 - DNA SIG - P. Grimes - 6:30pm
• December 22, 2022 - African American Lineage - Year in Review - R. Matthews - 7pm