Sunday, June 16, 2024

Rosa McCauley Parks Ancestry, Family Tree, Ethnicity, DNA, Heritage by Mary Cummins, Genealogist

rosa parks, rosa mccauley parks, rosa mccauley, mary cummins, genealogist, ancestry, dna, ethnicity, heritage, african american, scottish, native american,indian, family tree

rosa parks, rosa mccauley parks, rosa mccauley, mary cummins, genealogist, ancestry, dna, ethnicity, heritage, african american, scottish, native american,indian, family tree

I researched Rosa McCauley Parks' family tree originally in 2010. I later uploaded it to Geneastar around the same time. Geneastar is a genealogy database of over 18,000 famous and historical people. Recently I was asked to do a presentation for The Rosa Parks Museum and Library with Rose McCauley Hampton who is the first cousin once removed of Rosa Parks. Hampton is generously donating historical items to The Rosa Parks Museum. I've since added to data base. Click any image to see larger.

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an "American activist in the civil rights movement, best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement"."

Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks's great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish, and one of her great-grandmothers was part–Native American. Rosa Parks is African American, Native American, Scottish, Irish and English. 

Paternal

Rosa Parks' father James McCauley from Library of Congress


Rosa Parks' grandfather Anderson McCauley from Library of Congress

Parks father was James McCauley 1886-1962 born in Alabama. "James McCauley was born in Abbeville, Alabama, the eldest son of Anderson and Louisa McCauley. He became a skilled carpenter and stonemason like his father. James met schoolteacher Leona Edwards while visiting his sister Addie in Pine Level, Alabama. They married on April 12, 1912, at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pine Level."

Paternal grandfather was Anderson McCauley 1850-1917. "Anderson McCauley was born in Georgia, the son of Ghiogee, a Creek Indian, and Charles McCauley, a soldier of Irish and Cherokee descent. Around 1884 he moved to Abbeville, Alabama, and ultimately acquired more than 500 acres. Anderson and his wife Louisa became parents of seventeen children. He worked with his sons building houses across Alabama’s Black Belt region."

Paternal grandmother was Louisa "Lou" Collins 1850-1941. "Louisa Collins was born in Georgia, the daughter of a mixed-race slave. She married Anderson McCauley, another mixed-race Georgian. Ten of their seventeen children survived to adulthood. All ten were literate. The eldest was Addie (b. 1884) and the youngest was George Gaines McCauley (b. 1904). Rosa lived with her grandparents as a toddler."

Maternal

Rosa Parks' mother Leona Edwards from Library of Congress



Parks mother was Leona Edwards 1888-1979 born in Alabama. "Leona Edwards was born in Pine Level, Alabama, the youngest of Sylvester and Rose Edwards’s three daughters. She attended Payne University in Selma but did not earn a degree. Leona became a dedicated rural school teacher, and her meager salary was the main source of the family’s income. She instilled in Rosa the importance of faith, self-respect, and education—values reinforced by her grandparents and the teachers at Miss White’s School, a school that Rosa would attend at age eleven."

Rosa Parks family bible maternal



Maternal grandparents were Sylvestor Edwards 1858-1923 and Rosena Percival 1859-1929. "This Bible register partially charts Rosa’s maternal lineage. Accordingly, her great grandfather James Percival, an indentured servant of Scots-Irish descent, married Mary Jane Nobles, an enslaved African. Their daughter Rose married Sylvester Edwards, the son of white planter John Edwards and his enslaved housekeeper and seamstress. They had three daughters: Fannie, Bessie, and Leona Edwards, Rosa’s mother."

Rosena Percival maternal grandmother

Sylvester Edwards maternal grandfather



Rosa Parks' brother Sylvester James McCauley from Library of Congress



Rosa's brother was Sylvester James McCauley. "Sylvester James McCauley, Rosa’s only sibling, was born on August 20, 1915, in Pine Level, Alabama. When their mother became seriously ill, Sylvester left school to help support the family. During World War II he served in the Army in the European and the Pacific theaters. While on leave he met his wife, Daisy, at a restaurant in South Carolina. After the war they moved to Detroit and reared thirteen children. Sylvester worked for the Chrysler Motor Company and did carpentry jobs on the side."


Genealogy of Rosa McCauley Parks

Rosa Parks has a diverse genealogical ancestry. On her father's side her ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, Native America and Africa. On her mother's side her ancestors came from Africa and most likely other nations. Sadly the records for those of African ancestry don't exist with any certainty past the fourth or fifth ancestral generations born in America because of slavery. People stolen from Africa and brought to the Americas were given different names. The slave trader gave them one name generally a first name only. The slave buyer/owner then gave them another name sometimes adding the last name of the slave owner. When the slaves were finally freed they sometimes gave themselves a new first and last name. Soon after emancipation many ex-slaves used the last names of Presidents such as Washington, Jefferson even if that wasn't their previous name. This makes it difficult to do genealogical research based on written documents. Native American records don't exist with certainty for the same reasons and more in this case. In this case the ancestors were African and Native American slaves/servants and indentured Scottish/Irish servants. DNA records would be valuable to ascertain a more reliable ancestral lineage for those parts of the family.

There are at least reliable records from the paternal McCauley line. The McCauley lineage hails from Scotland and Ireland. Park's McCauley family first came to the US in the mid 1600's in North Carolina. They ultimately became involved in agriculture and land sales. They had slaves and paid servants. As was sadly common with slave owners some had children with their slaves and servants. This is why most African Americans today are of mixed heritage. 

If you look at the underlying genealogical records you will notice a few things. Names are generally misspelled. This is because the census and record takers wrote them phonetically based on how they sounded to their ear. There is also a wide variance in the census records as to race/color. For instance one person is listed as "black" in one census, "mulatto" in another" and "white" in yet another. There are also differences in places of birth, dates of birth. The census taker generally asked whoever was at home for the information. It could have been a young adult who did not know all of the information. As long as basic name, age, place of birth, family members match, it is the same person. This is why one needs multiple documents to try to confirm identity.

Famous distant relatives

I added Rosa Parks to famous people genealogy website Geneastar as part of my initiative to add African Americans, Mexicans, Latinos, Jewish people, women and others who are vastly underrepresented in the famous family tree database. I went a step further and linked Rosa Park's tree to other famous people in history. Every time I add an important person in history I try to find the route so we can all see our relationship to the person. There are many others in Geneanet working to connect famous people. Special thanks to Timothy Dowling who is one of the best and has helped me tremendously.

King Charles is a 14th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley via King James V of Scotland.

Link to relationship


President George Washington is a 12th cousin of an ancestor of the 6th generation  (12th cousin 6 times removed) of Rosa Louise McCauley.


President Thomas Jefferson is a 10th cousin of an ancestor of the 8th generation of Rosa Louise McCauley. 


President Abraham Lincoln is a 15th cousin of an ancestor of the 5th generation of Rosa Louise McCauley.


President Barack Obama is a son of a 15th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley


and not so famous Mary Cummins is a granddaughter of a 18th cousin of Rosa Louise McCauley. 

We are all related. It's just a technical matter of figuring out the route to someone's family tree to determine the degree of relatedness. As Kahlil Gibran stated, "Every man is the descendant of every king and every slave that ever lived."  

References

I made these trees and resources public to further public education about Rosa Parks. They include newspaper articles, photos, census records, birth certificates, death certificates and more. You can use them to figure out your relationship to Rosa Parks.



All data is based on best research practices. Data cannot be guaranteed due to the nature of genealogical records, lack of DNA data and human nature. I'm using Wikipedia and Library of Congress images because they aren't copyrighted.

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Genealogist at Geneanet and Geneastar
https://en.geneanet.org/profil/marycummins
 Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter
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 Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser
http://www.marycummins.com
 Mary Cummins
http://www.mary.cc
 Mary Cummins Biography, History in Wikipedia format
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