Bridging the Gap, One Kit at a Time: Successes, Challenges, and Digging Deeper into My Roots

When I first started my internship with the Illinois Family Roots Pilot Program, I thought it was just going to be a standard customer support gig. I wasn't particularly interested in the genetics side of family research, but out of sheer curiosity, I decided to become a participant myself. On Valentine’s Day 2026, my husband and I submitted our DNA kits together at a local event in Champaign County, Illinois.

That was the moment everything changed.

Staring down the anxious wait for results and watching the science unfold completely shifted my perspective. I fell absolutely in love with the knowledge, the history, and the profound realization that I was a part of something truly GREAT. Today, I’m not just handling your support tickets; I am a sister in this journey who is energized to help you bridge the 150-year gaps in your own stories, one DNA kit at a time.

The Successes: Unlocking Centuries of Resilience

Joining this program gave me the tools and the terminology to dive deeper into my own history than I ever thought possible. By combining genetic insights with platforms like FamilySearch and Ancestry, I’ve been able to map out a legacy of faith, leadership, and survival that spans generations.

My absolute favorite part of this entire journey has been physically building my own family tree and watching these two powerful Mississippi branches unite:

🟦 The Paternal Line (Grandfather Oscar’s Side)

This branch represents a legacy of faith and community leadership that moved from rural Mississippi up to Kansas City during the Great Migration.

• The Post-Emancipation Foundation: My 3rd great-grandparents, William R. Taylor (b. 1844) and Mourning Mariah Taylor (b. 1853), survived slavery and established our roots in Yazoo County, MS.
• The Migration West: My 2nd great-grandparents, Milton Taylor and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Crave, pushed into Sharkey County by 1910, opening up new ancestral ties to Alabama.
• The Spiritual Pillars: My great-grandparents, Reverend Joseph Taylor and Anna Newsome (from the historic Mound Bayou area), brought our family to Kansas City in 1961. Reverend Joseph became a massive community anchor, pastoring the Second Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church. This line passed directly down to my grandfather, Oscar Taylor Sr.

🟪 The Maternal Line (Grandmother Cleora’s Side)

This branch traces through the agricultural heart of the northern Mississippi Delta, anchored by an incredible piece of photographic history and profound oral traditions.

• The Matriarch & The Photograph: My great-great-grandmother, Rose Dewberry Taylor (b. ~1854), lived through the Civil War as a child. Not only do we have a rare, preserved physical photograph of her, but her unique surname opens up fascinating ancestral origins.
• The Delta Roots: Her son, Dave Taylor (Great-Grandfather), was the foundational patriarch who settled this branch in Tallahatchie and Sunflower County, passing it down to Elmo and Alma Taylor.
• The Manning Plantation Connection: It was through my grandmother Cleora’s rich oral history that we knew our family lived and worked on the R.W. Manning plantation in Drew (Sunflower County), Mississippi. She even remembered playing with the Manning children as a little girl. By digging deeper, we found the paper proof: both Elmo and Blanton Taylor listed R.W. Manning as their employer on their WWII draft cards, confirming our family rented housing there between 1935 and 1940. In an incredible twist of history, this R.W. Manning connects directly to the ancestors of the famous Manning football family!
• Grandmother: Cleora Taylor (b. 1933): Born in Mississippi, she is the daughter of Elmo and Alma. Her marriage to Oscar Taylor Sr. beautifully joined these two deep-rooted Mississippi Taylor branches.

When my grandmother Cleora married my grandfather Oscar Taylor Sr., they beautifully joined these two distinct Mississippi Taylor branches—a union that directly led to my father, Oscar Taylor Jr., and ultimately, to me.

The Challenges: Facing the "Brick Walls" and Late-Night Rabbit Holes

Of course, the road to discovery isn't without its hurdles. In African American genealogy, we constantly hit massive brick walls—the 1870 census barrier, fragmented records, and missing links disrupted by generations of displacement.

There were times I found myself up all night, completely lost in the intrigue of the investigation. You tell yourself you're going to look at just one more record, and suddenly it's 3:00 AM because the puzzle is just so captivating. That late-night obsession is exactly how I managed to connect the dots on our family's history in Drew, Mississippi, tracking down those 1940 census records and WWII draft cards until the history finally clicked.

It can be exhausting to hit wall after wall in the middle of the night, and the waiting period for DNA results only adds to that suspense. I felt that exact same impatience while waiting for my own kit.

But navigating those midnight hurdles is precisely what makes the victory so sweet. Understanding the terminology and having the right tools provided by the program transformed my frustration into fuel. The challenges didn't stop me; they just made me want to dig deeper.

Behind the Support Desk: Helping Others Bridge the Gap

Now, I get to take everything I’ve learned from building my own tree and use it to empower our community. When participants reach out to the support desk with questions about timeframes, data processing, or technical glitches, they aren't talking to a computer system. They are talking to someone who has stood right where they are standing.

I am incredibly excited to:

• Clearing Up the Confusion: Unpacking the hard-to-read terminology so the process feels friendly and easy to follow.
• Ease the Anxiety of the Wait: Reminding people that a rolling "ongoing" status means their data is being handled with the precise care it deserves.
• Co-Create Family Trees: Walking hand-in-hand with participants to help them piece together their records and DNA connections, because I know firsthand how beautiful it feels to see your tree come alive.

We are actively rebuilding broken links. If you are currently waiting on your kit, look at my family tree as a testament to what is waiting for you on the other side. Your history is there, the science is moving, and we are right here to help you bring your ancestors home.