Founder’s Testimony
I was born December 28, 1999, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I have always been a family guy and have always enjoyed listening to family stories and visiting the gravesites of my relatives.
The journey behind the Institute
My work crosses generations, states, record types, and some of the most difficult periods in American history. It follows my family through slavery and emancipation, military service, landownership, migration, church life, marriage, death, changing racial classifications, and the everyday choices that created a legacy.
I was introduced to genealogy when I discovered Dane Calloway on YouTube in about 2020, and I have been conducting extensive research ever since. Uncovering the history of relatives known and unknown is very exciting to me. It ignites a deeper connection with who I am and what I am bound to accomplish.
Researching one’s genealogy is a lifelong affair that most people never take the time to entertain. In reality, most people know nothing past their grandparents and have no clue where to start looking—or even why they would want to know. But once documented facts are placed in front of you to explain things you may have wondered about, curiosity may be piqued.
I developed the National Heritage and Research Institute because genealogy, to me, is more than a family tree. It is a journey through the ancestral abyss—a deep-dive look into the landscapes and laws of the jurisdictions affiliated with your family, and an understanding of the events taking place in history while your ancestors were living.
All of these things make up the world and the people we interact with today. So let’s say Yay to Genealogy.
Pedigree progress
This is a selected progress view, not yet a complete parent-to-child proof chart. It shows how far the founder’s research has reached using records currently presented by the Institute. Additional relatives and exact connecting generations will be added as the testimony and pedigree are completed.
Rex, North Carolina → Bridgeport, Connecticut
1962 death notice and family networkConnecticut, New York, and Virginia
Baptism and marriage evidenceUnion Vale, New York and Coweta County, Georgia
Civil War and marriage recordsNew York and Georgia
Land maps, deeds, and an 1865 labor contractResearch principles
See the evidence
Explore the founder’s confirmed family documents and the source-by-source explanations that show how NHRI approaches genealogy.