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Click a Family Member's Picture ABOVE to Begin Surfing the Williams-Rivers Family Tree From That Point. |
Our Living LegacyWelcome to the Genealogy Site for the Descendants of Mandi: The Williams-Rivers Family. Our family traces it's origins back to a 16-year-old girl who was abducted along the West Coast of Africa in 1821--ripped from her family of 13 brothers and sisters--and brought to America via Charleston, South Carolina. We do not know what her original name was, but, during processing for sale at the slave auction in Charleston, she was asked to give her name, and she responded with "Mende" the tribal name of her people in West Africa. Her name was recorded as "Mandi," a phonetic approximation of the word she had spoken to signify the name of her people. Life in slavery was transient and harsh. Mandi was sold several times to white families with the names " Rayner," "Williams," and "Thum." After emancipation, she and her family adopted Williams as their last name. They settled in Haywood County, near Brownsville, Tennessee where her family flourished. Because she was strong and endured, today the descendants of Mandi Williams number more than 1,000 individuals who can trace their lineage directly to her. Over the years, many family members have conducted research into our family history and African American Genealogy. Click one of the links below for more historical background or for a list of descendant names and then click on any name to begin browsing. |
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Family Tree, History and Other Info for Williams-Rivers Family | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Are you a descendant of Mandi Williams? Don't see your name here? Or maybe you can correct or update our tree.
E-mail Eric J. Williams and help us as we fill out the branches on our the family tree.
Descendants of Mandi / An African American Genealogy Website created with GEDitCOM for Macintosh. / Exported using 'Pedigree Website' style and 'Standard Website' style. / Date: 13 May 2005 / Initial gedcom files were built with Family Tree Maker 2005 for Windows / Date: 4 May 2005 / GEDCOM File: Williams-Rivers2.GED / © 1978-2006 Williams-Rivers Family Association / Last Update: 25 August 2007 / Bibliography of this Website's Sources
WebMaster: Eric J. Williams
This sight shows respect for living family members by not posting their personal information.