Re: Roziers of black or Native American anc- AN UNTOLD STORY
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In reply to:
Re: Roziers of black or Native American anc,
2/05/02
I have been looking for your ALL for a long, long time.Growing up, I was sick with asthma and spent much time with my great grandmother and a step great-grandfather(while both my parents and grandparents worked). I was blessed to have had 5 generations in my life. My great-grandmother spoke of leaving her family in NC to work for as a domestic worker for a white family in VA. The family was the Rozier family. She had 3 children by the son in the Rozier family.Her children (my grandmother, great aunt, and great uncle) all were light skinned with blue, bluish-green and hazel eyes. My great grandmother eventually somehow moved to DC. My great grandmother and I had a very close relationship and spent many hours together. I asked her anything and everything, and she told me much. I hear everyone, including my grandmother and mother, calling Mr. George and wanted to why. That's when my great grandmother told me he was my step great granddad. I asked about the blue, bluish-green, and hazel eyes which my brother had and now my identical twins have. My great grandmother never told me about being a descendant of native American, but my aunt did. I vividly recall her with high cheek bones and two long white braids on each side of her head. Here is what my great grandmother told me that she was a child of about 12 years of age when a white family (Rozier family) "rented" her from NC to do domestic work for her in VA. She was the oldest sibling and her family needed the money.There was a promise that the Rozier family would send back money to her family in exchange for her labor. She always thought that she would return back NC, but that never happened. She could not even remember what part of NC she came from. Years went by, and she stayed with the Rozier family. She was an early teenager when was became pregnant with her first child by the son of the Rozier family, and later had two more children by him. Her children names were: Nellie Rozier, William Rozier, and Ethel Rozier (my grandmother who was the last to die in 2003). On the other hand, my grandmother did not speak much to me of being bi-racial even when I would asked about here bluish green eyes. She appeared to be ashamed of having a white father. The only thing that she said to me was sometimes, when she as a youngest, they would go to this huge picnic in VA. There were whites on one side and her mother and siblings. She remembered an occasion when a white woman came over to her and was very nice and said to her "see that man [who my grandmother described as white, small built and frail] that's your daddy." As my grandmother and siblings became older, they lost contact with the Rozier family in VA. From these accounts of the Rozier family and longing to find out who I am, who my ancestors are, and where they are, I researched in elementary school and found the ROZIER descendant who was a French helium balloonist. BUT I LONG TO KNOW MY ROZIER FAMILY FROM VA. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION, PLEASE RESPONSE TO THIS MESSAGE. MANY THANKS.