I
was excited to complete research on Dr.Archibald Wallace and research the roots
and ancestry of Dr. Alex Haley. It took several days to do thorough and in
depth research in ancestry.com on Dr. Archibald Wallace because he is not
listed in any history books. However, I spent considerable amount of time also
researching the background and roots on Dr. Alex Haley. Doing research is inspiring
because the more I learned about the people the more I was motivated to learn
more.
Once I was finally able to find Dr. Archibald
Wallace’s death certificate than I was capable of researching information from
the certificate. On the death certificated it indicated that he died from
tuberculosis of the lung and throat in 1910.
As I investigated his death of tuberculosis according to the death
certificated it stated that it was caused by him going in out of a cold shed
while working as a veterinary. However, as I further investigated into his
history and lifestyle it was proven that he join the military and was station
in Kansas City, Kansas in 1903. During that time
there was a great flood that caused the
communities to face problems and deadly illnesses. “There were dead animals and
standing water that caused the threat of disease” (The flood of 1903). I
concluded with my research that there could be new evidence that caused his
death from tuberculosis. I determine while he was station in Kansas City,
Kansas it could have been a factor that contributed to him getting tuberculosis
and died in 1910 which was only seven years later.
Dr. Alex Haley from Henning, Tennessee a wealthy and famous author
inspired me to research through ancestry.Com searching for any
information that would have been helpful to prove or show evidence that the
Haley family and the Maclin which is my family may have the same relatives. I
assume that with a small town’s population everybody would have known each
other. I learned that my great father lived in
Henning, Tennessee during the same time period that Alex Haley was there.
However, I did not find that they were related. As I continued my research I
wanted to see if they had any other things in common. It was stated that my great grandfather Prince
Maclin was born in 1918 and Haley Alex was born in 1921, According to
ancestry.Com I did observe that both my great grandfather and Alex Haley’s
great grandfather worked as farm Laborer in Henning, Tennessee. Alex Haley and
my great grandfather were buried in Henning, Tennessee. Alex Haley was buried
in Alex Haley’s Boyhood grounds in 1992 and my great grandfather was buried at
El Canaan M.B. Church Cemetery in 1984. My great grandfather lived on Henning
Lane and Alex Haley lived on South Church Street. According to google.com the
streets are “3 minutes away from each other which is 0.5 miles apart”
(google.com). That is an indication that they lived in the same neighborhood
and they could have been play mates or visit the neighborhood store at the same
time. Although, I could not find any information linking them together. I expand my research by going on the
website to Alex Haley novel about ‘Roots’
to inquiry about Chicken George who according to Caswell County
Historical Association real name is George Lea (Caswell County Historical
Association, George (“Chicken George”)
Then I went to ancestry.com to research his
name but unfortunate there were no family members who I could associate with my
family. However ancestry.com stated that George was born in “Caswell, North
Carolina in 1806 and died and was buried in the Bethlehem cemetery in Henning,
Tennessee in 1890” (Findagrave.com). I also observed that according to
ancestry.com that most of Alex Haley’s ancestors were not born in Henning,
Tennessee but they migrated to Henning, Tennessee and they were all buried
there.
Peer Review was exciting because it allowed me
the opportunity to observe and review other students’ research and the way they
navigated through their research in order to find information that was not
obvious. There were some information that was really hard to determine if it
was the right person that was being researched. It was interesting because some
of the people had several different last names but all the other information
matched. I recognized that in order to find the right person on ancestry.com
that the research must be expanded and must go in depth for further information.
Advanced
research is essential in order to keep up with modern technology while progressing
in knowledge when trying to seek something new. To succeed in the 21st
century with confidence it is necessary to know how to investigate and evaluate information. Therefore
while researching information I concluded that critical thinking along with
skills and abilities was an important part of investigating a subject and facts
on a person whether it was current information or documentation.
