The Joseph In My Family Was Named "Sarah"

Scenic route Pope County, AR

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Everyone knows I'm addicted to genealogy.  I love to discover stories about my family and hopefully discover some old family photos.  I was talking to a friend not long ago and she told me that she didn't want to research her family tree because of what she might discover.

It is not always easy to find out the truth about your family, but with genealogy it is about the good, the bad and the ugly.

For me it is about breaking generational curses.  Do not be afraid to seek the truth.  Believe me once the family secrets come to light you will begin to understand why this relative or that relative acted the way they did or why there were so many whispers during family gatherings.  Hopefully if there is anything bad in your family history you can come to understand it and prevent it from happening to your children and future generations.  We do not have to keep paying for something someone did 50 or 100 years ago just because we share the same name.

Now there are good things that have been carried down generation to generation.

When God decided to come to earth he chose his human parents, Mary and Joseph.  It was Joseph who had to be convinced that everything was going to be all right with being the adopted parent of Jesus.  He had to understand that he was chosen by God to do God's will.

We all have a "Joseph" in our family.  Someone who was chosen by God to claim and raise someone else's child.  It may to you.

In my family it was Sarah Vaughan Brashear.  She was born in 1817 in Tennesse, married in Arkansas in 1837 and died in Pope County, Arkansas in 1891.  In 1845 she gave birth to her 4th and 5th children, twins.  A boy and a girl.  The little girl, Abay, did not survive. 

While Sarah was raising her children her husband was busy doing other things.  Sarah's maid and friend, Polly also gave birth in 1845 to a son whose father was Sarah's husband.  I don't know if Polly gave the child to Sarah or if Polly died.  Sarah raised Polly's son "A" as her own.  Sarah had six more children with her husband.  On census records "A" is listed as Sarah's son.

Sarah did what she could to raise "A" as her own, but it was a small town and people knew the truth.  Unfortunately "A" could not escape his generational curses and he was murdered in 1905.

However, the good in Sarah continued to her daughter-in-law, Nancy Brewer Brashear who raised some of her grandchildren.  Sarah's granddaugther, Maggie did not live long enough to raise her own children, but Maggie's daughters continued the tradition of raising their grandchildren, nieces and nephews. 

Sarah had to be fearless to walk through town hearing the whispers of the town folks.  I can see her holding "A" hand, his skin a different color than hers, holding her head high and calling him, son.

Joseph did the same thing.  He held his head high and took care of Mary and Jesus.  God gave Joseph the strength to be fearless.

Who is the Joseph in your family?

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”   

Matthew 18:20-21 (NIV)

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Territory Mom