He Fought for the Freedom of Black People in the South

Chinyere Watson discovered a true hero in her family.  

After her father passed away, Chinyere Watson was eager to learn more about his lineage to honor him and preserve memories for her entire family.

Using census and military records she found on Ancestry^®, she went back in time generations to learn the remarkable story of her 2nd great-grandfather, John Wesley Thompson.

Thompson volunteered to fight for the freedom of his friends and family—even as a free man himself—and was dispatched to North Carolina with his regiment in the U.S. Colored Troops.

“The most amazing thing was to actually read the record of his military time to see that he was dispatched to hospitals, he served as a nurse, he helped take care of the sick…It also listed how much he was paid, what his wages were, all the way down to the date of the time that he ended his time in the military, which I believe was in 1865. So it was just pretty amazing to find.”

No one in Chinyere’s family ever knew this story. And she was thrilled to share it with them.

Watch her story—and maybe you’ll be inspired to search for the heroes in your family. Get started with a free trial.