Jacqueli Finley
Recently I have been able to prove with Autosomal DNA the Lee descendants of General Robert E Lee and his slave Nancy Ruffin, adding their lineage proudly to our Lee’s of Virginia descendancy from Col Richard Lee and Anne Constable. I am forever grateful to my Lee cousins who came to me asking for my assistance and trusted me to help resolve this rumor and prove up the truth. For hundreds of years, the Lees of Virginia descendants of Col. Richard Lee and Anne Constable have been denied their heritage, denied their birthright by historians and scholars that refuse to allow the truth to be known all because of past speculation that was considered as truths, prejudice and opinions that were published as facts by outdated references that have no proven documentation or bearing on the truth.The denial of what I now call the ’Lees of Virginia Lost Lineages’ continues, even in these current times. All done because of false Lee Y-DNA Project claims that are promoted and on the ’majority rule’ genealogy sites even though the internet has opened new frontiers of knowledge, as Federal Census records and documentation that were previously blocked from our view are now accessible - including birth, marriage, and death publications - making it more possible than ever to prove the existence of these lineages. We Lee descendants do live on - through the thousands of GEDCOMs and family tree files available on genealogy sites worldwide, through passed on family oral histories, updated public use of DNA matching and ’family finder’ DNA tools - and even though the facts are there, the denial of proud Lee descendants goes on.This is where I have focused my genealogy studies and research for many decades on righting these wrongs for my Lee cousins from these various lees of Virginia lines. I seek out the truth on our Lee genealogy and ancestry, and now with DNA, confirm these lines not only to help clarify and promote the truth but to encourage recording our lineages for our future generations.I have always been met with resistance regardless of how many facts I present. All I can do is keep trying to promote the truth as it is the right thing to do for all of us concerned. For me this is my conscience effort to right the egregious wrong doings done to our Lee history and ancestry for there are hundreds, if not thousands of Lees of Virginia cousins that have been denied their family truths. This is not one line that has been disconnected, but many. We all know who we are and from where we come from, we all know the truth, and our truth should not be considered offensive, and in telling these truths should not be considered being antagonistic or creating drama. It is just telling the truth about who we all are, regardless of the pressure on us to ignore the facts.I just wanted you all to know what I am about and my ’agenda’. This is no secret; I am very transparent about my belief in righting the wrongs. This is not about me, what I have and will continue to do, but it is about US. All of us from every race, religion, background. As a genealogist, with integrity, I just see and report the facts as I find them as our shared ancestry, blood, and DNA, is our evidence we that are related and exist.Thank you, Jacqueli Finley
