Personal History

When a person thinks of their personal history it often starts with where somebody is from because people are products of their environment. Each country, region, state, city or town will generate a diverse spectrum of people. Those originating from the Northern region of the United States tend to be known as aggressive and standoffish while those from the South are polite and friendly. The knowledge that you are where you came from does not pertain to me because I am a military child. This entails that I have moved a total of nine times and lived in seven different states and one foreign country due to my mother and father's occupation in the United States Army. This fact ensures two things , first when I reply to the question “Where are
you?” it is a complex answer and second the start of my personal history will require background information. When I came to college the question of where I was from continuously came up. My polite mannerisms,friendly actions, and slight accent when pronouncing certain words associated my origin from somewhere in the south which brings people to confusion when I claim I am from Virginia. This is because Virginia is where I currently live however, the family I have been surrounded by my whole life mostly originates from the Southern region of the United States. Although both of my parents families are from the south my father’s family is the only one who remains in the south.
My father, Landis Maddox, grandmother, Deborah Tanner and grandfather, William Chandler were all born in Greenville, South Carolina.
My father shares my grandmother’s maiden name “Maddox” instead of my grandfather’s last name. Later in life, after my father was born, my grandmother remarried explaining the differences in last name. Through my grandmother I learned that some of our ancestors on her side were sharecroppers in South Carolina and her grandmother was full Native American. When my father was ten my grandmother left South Carolina and moved to Texas where she currently resides. This moved majorly shaped my father’s life as it brought him to football which then lead him to play college football at West Point. This was a gateway to his military career and his present life. Although, my grandmother lives in Texas and my father claims Texas they both can be traced back to South Carolina where my grandfather still
lives.
It was my father’s southern roots where I obtained my facial shape, leadership skills, and polite mannerisms. On my mother’s side I gained numerous other contributions to my personality and physical features. My grandmother’s ancestors were a combination of Native Americans and sharecroppers. This explain the fairly light skin that runs throughout my mother’s side of the family. My grandmother, Leola Bullock, and my great grandmother both currently live in Syracuse, New York but, they both originate from Florida. Once again exposing me to southern roots. Both my grandmother and great grandmother display the true meaning of southern hospitality even all the way in Syracuse, New York.
The other side of my mother’s family, her father, also originates from the South.
My grandfather, Walland Bradford, is from Auburn, Alabama. His family, which was composed of twelve children and his mother and father, lived an obstacle filled life. However, his father prevailed and accomplished his goal of purchasing land. When he died he gave the land to his children in his will. The land is located in Auburn, Alabama and is composed of several acres that presently house my living great aunts and uncles. The land has a special inheritance that my great grandfather wrote into his will. It states that the land cannot be sold to anybody unless it gets approved by all generations of the family this includes my grandfather’s living siblings, my mother and her four siblings, and all of their children. This special clause ensures that land does not leave the Bradford family. This tie to Alabama further proves that I have a southern background even though my grandfather later moved to Syracuse, New York.
The both sides of my family are from the south and have had an ancestor who first was a slave then a sharecropper. This is because of the history behind African Americans as a whole. All of our ancestors were natives to Africa but, they were brought to the Southern colonies as slaves. Hence why most African Americans ancestry traces back to slaves and sharecroppers from somewhere in the south. Personally my history originates back to Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. I am the
product of hair stylists, nurses, policemen, teachers, and military officers and I am proud of my history.