My Family History

1
My Family History

• By Gerrod Cleburn

2
The Beginning

• Sometime in the 1920s, just after World War I,
  my fathers great-grandfather migrated from
  Poland to the Northeastern part of the United
  States.

3
Perhaps a Change of Name?

• After a stint in the Northeast, my grandfather
  and his family slowly found their way to
  Oklahoma. Here, my great-grandfather and his
  family found it very hard to find work because of
  their strong accent and obvious Polish last name.
  At this time, my great-grandfather shortened
  their name from Rosenettaskosky to Rosenetta.

4
Grandpa Grew Up!

• Once my grandfather, Charles Rosenetta, was old
  enough, he acquired a job as a roughneck working
  in the oil fields.
• While doing this job, he was invited to church
  and began to attend on a regular basis. This is
  where he met my grandmother.

5
The Long Trek

• My grandmothers story starts much different than
  that of my fathers story. My great-great
  grandfather on my mothers side was forced to
  move from his home in North Carolina to Oklahoma
  under the Indian Removal Acts passed by President
  Andrew Jackson. My great-great grandfather did
  not survive the trek.

6
Conine and Solomon

• My great-great grandmother raised two daughters
  alone. These daughters names were Conine and
  Nanny. Conine married outside the tribe. She
  married Solomon Harris. Together, they had my
  grandmother, June Harris. Conine and Sumpter
  raised my grandmother to be a very devout
  Christian.

7
The Beginning

• It was at church that my grandmother and
  grandfather met. Soon, they began their new life
  together. Charles and June had two boys together,
  Joey and David, but as luck had it, the marriage
  didnt last.
• June soon met my grandfather Maxie and they got
  married in June of 1966.

8
My Dad

• Maxie, my grandfather adopted my dad, David, and
  Joey giving them their current last name,
  Cleburn. Maxie, a native of Ada, Oklahoma, took
  his family to Ada, and there my father spent his
  childhood. My grandmother, still a member of the
  church, took my father with her until he was old
  enough to go on his own.

9
My Mom and Dad Together

• At a youth rally in 1979, was where my Dad met my
  mom. In August of 1981, they got married. In
  September of 1983, my mom had her first child, my
  sister, Genelle. In July of the following year,
  she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, me.