I am from a relatively small group of African Americans with several branches of my family tree converging and taking root in California around the time of the Gold Rush, slightly before the intercontinental railroad was completed.  I have traced branches of family members on census records from 1850 forward.  This picture shows my paternal grandfather. (back row, second from left) on a negro baseball team.  His family settled in San Francisco and survived the great San Francisco earthquake.

My paternal grandmother's side includes early Californians who made their living as railroad porters and catering business owners.  Her grandfather was a Talbot, born in Canada.   Arthur's father Zebedee Dunbar Talbot, a freedman, left his birthplace of Washington D.C. and migrated to Canada, where Arthur and his other children were born.

My paternal California ancestry can be traced back to Washington, D.C., Ohio, and West Virginia.   My maternal side, also very interesting, includes black Cape Verdean seaman who jumped merchant vessels illegally and became stevedores on the Sacramento river.