Hey y’all
I tuned into the latest episode of Monroe Today and I do declare it was a mighty interestin’ one. My good pal Ms. Gilda Stanbery sat down with a local resident named Percy Freeman to learn more about his new book Time Passages. This sensational story follows Mr. Freeman’s journey to discovery. Y’all should know the drill by now, so fix yourself somethin’ delicious to snack on while I recount some of the best parts from this episode.
Where His Story Begins
Mr. Freeman’s story begins with a little three room house on a dirt road in Juliette, during April 1956, where he was born. His mother was just 16 years old at the time and had come back from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1960, around three years after Percy Freeman was born, his mother, R. Louise Freeman tragically passed away from third degree burns. She was tryin’ to start a fire in a wood burning fireplace with kerosene which accidentally ignited her clothing. From that day on, he was raised by his grandmother, Mary (Freeman) Boozer and step-grandfather (Johnny Boozer) in Juliette. He grew up in houses without indoor plumbing and electric lights. Livin’ in the country in the 1960’s, he relied on the outdoors for fun and entertainment. He and his friends rode bikes or walked and went fishin’ and swimin’ He picked peaches and had a job at Bowdoin Grocery Store before he was 12. At age 14, there was mandatory integration of the Monroe County School System, and he got to attend football camp under Coach Pitts. Football was a great escape from his home life. After runnin’ away at 16 to live with friends and neighbors, Mr. Freeman finished high school in 1974 and joined the United States Air Force. He worked at the Varsity in Atlanta waiting to be called up. He served as a Missile Systems Specialist and Technician for five years and even played semi-professional football in the Northern Italian Football League for two years. Once his active-duty service ended, he earned a a bachelor’s degree and a certification as a Private Investigator. During that same time, he joined the Georgia Air National Guard and served with them for 27 years. What’s truly remarkable about Mr. Freeman is that he never let anything stand in the way of the life he wanted.
A Search for the Truth
Now that y’all are familiar with Mr. Freeman, let’s get into one of the reasons he decided to write his book. During the late 1990s, Mr. Freeman got involved in efforts to change the Georgia State flag and started studyin’ Civil War history. He became curious to see if any of his relatives served in it. Mr. Freeman wanted to learn more about his family especially since he never knew his father. All he knew was that his name was Percy Heulett, but he didn’t even have a photograph of him. Mr. Freeman started his search by visitin’ historical markers around Georgia for any information but came up empty-handed. It was around this time that a DNA database was introduced by Ancestry.com givin’ folks the chance to trace their ancestry down to a specific African tribe. Mr. Freeman, of course, gave this a chance and slowly started researchin’ ways to find his relatives through DNA, newspapers and any other source of available information. He even put together a PowerPoint he coined Finding Your Roots in 2003 to help other people learn how to research their ancestors and find out where they came from.
Then, in 2008, National Geographic started The Genographic Project®, where they collected samples from individuals around the world to prove a theory that everyone can trace their ancestry to one place. Mr. Freeman participated and a few years later, Nat Geo sent a letter to everyone who was a part of this excitin’ project that a new DNA site could match people and if Mr. Freeman would like his DNA sent over. He was over the moon and once his DNA was transferred, he started seeing matches with people he’s never even heard of. One match in particular was with a family in California with the last name Wyatt. This piqued his interest, so he reached out. This one interaction would change everything for Mr. Freeman!
Discovering His Roots
The man that Mr. Freeman matched with was puzzled as to how they were closely related because Mr. Freeman was a black man, while Mr. Wyatt was white. As they got to talkin’ Mr. Wyatt shared that he didn’t know much about his family’s history beyond his grandfather. After searchin’ through records, they uncovered that his grandfather had changed his last name from Ledbetter to Wyatt. He had been born in Alabama and later moved to Walker County, Georgia, That is close to where Mr. Freeman’s mother was from in Chattanooga Tennessee. From that point on, Mr. Freeman was pretty much welcomed right into the family and was invited to the Ledbetter family reunions in Alabama. Other relatives at the reunions would share their family tree with Mr. Freeman, who helped him in his research, which is how he eventually discovered what happened to his father. Only 18 days before his mother’s passing, his father had been murdered in Chattanooga. With DNA technology continuing to evolve, Mr. Freeman is hopeful to discover more about his father and maybe one day find a picture of him.
Time Passages
Mr. Freeman’s book is almost like a collection of short stories that dive into his life story and his search for the truth. The title, Time Passages, comes from a song by Al Stewart that Mr. Freeman heard during his time in Italy. Fast forward, while on a smooth jazz cruise with his wife, one of his favorite jazz musicians, Peter White, was on board the ship. He discovered that Mr. White had co-written “Time Passages.” After introducin’ himself to Mr. White, Mr. Freeman asked him if he would write a foreword to his book since it was named after his song. Mr. White agreed and if you end up purchasin’ a copy, you’ll get to read the foreword!
Now, I could keep on talkin’ about Percy Freeman’s story until the sun goes down but I won’t keep y’all any longer. If you’re interested in gettin’ yourself a copy of Time Passages, head over to Amazon and snag yourself a copy. It is worth the read!
‘Till Next Time,
Your Storyteller