Or, a nice surprise close to home.
Visited: Rex, GA
Weather: Sunny, hot.
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S6 mobile phone.
Notes: A one-off on my way to a barbecue with colleagues and friends. Over a decade ago, I’d pass through Rex occasionally, on the way to an ex-girlfriend’s family. The one-lane bridge was the only road through back then, before the new bypass was built, and I remember a man would be set up by the bridge selling socks by the dozen from his truck. The town was tiny then, but lively, at least in my memory.
Rex offered an odd continuity from my trip the day before - Melvinia Shields. Melvinia Shields was born into slavery in 1844, and was moved from South Carolina to Rex, GA when she was 8 years old. By age 16, she had a son, Dolphus Shields, whose descendants would later settle in Chicago. His great-great-granddaughter, Michelle Robinson, married Barack Obama, taking his last name and becoming the first African-American first lady in history, and the first with a clear line to slavery.
Melvinia eventually moved to Kingston, GA, where she is buried today. And Kingston, GA built a monument to her, as did Rex, GA, to honor her and the journey of her descendants. And somehow I ended up at both monuments, back to back.
Learn more at https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08genealogy.html.