"Josephine" daughter of Louisa Boxley

Josephine has been a seven year research project for me and the missing link to my GGGG Grandmothers children.  To tell you how exciting this find was for me... well I'm speechless.  My search for Josephine has been intensive, continuous, mind boggling and yet so rewarding.  I have just recently found a family member that is a descendent of Josephine, his name is "Kelvin Smith" and he has assisted me in completing this chapter in my search for finding my lost, but not forgotten ancestors.

Josephine was born into Slavery in 1847 in New Orleans, LA according to documented sources. It is not clear when she came to Refugio, TX, but it appears that she left Refugio sometime after 1880 and moved to Goliad Texas, where she started her family.  It is documented in a 1884 church program (pictured above) that Josephine was one of the original founders of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, also pictured above.  (The dates on the photos tell me that Josephine relocated to Goliad between 1880 and 1884 because according to the 1880 Census she was living in Refugio as a domestic servant.)

Grandma "Jo" as she was called was the Mother of 11 children of which 10 were living in 1900.  I have been told that her descendents still attend annual anniversaries at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Goliad, where she was Co-founder, but I'm not not sure if it is the original building. I truly feel honored and blessed to have found this connection because it a branch of my family tree.

Ora Dec. 21, 2010