When asked to research the ancestry of a mixed-race woman, I thought it would probably be a short search as records for African Americans tend to disappear before the Civil War. I was totally wrong. At least two lines of MeShawn's ancestry were Free-Blacks who lived above the Mason-Dixon line. They owned businesses, some were ministers, and were an important part of their communities. Another line, ending up in Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina was Native American from the Oconeechie/Saponi tribe and well documented in the land and probate records, marrying into African-American lines. Two lines were 'mulatto' (mixed white and black) and traced back to white slave owners who'd had children with their female slaves. Their lines were traced back to the time of the Crusades in Great Britain and Europe to the Kings and Queens of England and France and beyond. Among her ancestors were Crusaders, Knights Templars and even King Philip the Fair of France who had outlawed the Templars. Her mother's lines traced back to Anna of Arimathea and the Kings of Wales. Family history is an amazing gift for any person, letting them know of the people who came before; their struggles, their courage, and the lives they led. We should always remember that "they were, so we could become."