The Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society will hold a virtual meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The meeting will feature a talk by Marvin Tupper Jones, “Juneteenth Soldiers of Northeastern North Carolina.” Jones’s presentation will take place on the eve of next month’s commemoration of the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth.
A release said that not only is Marvin Tupper Jones related to members of the United States Colored Troops who served in Texas at the time of Juneteenth, he has researched them and others. These include those who marched from Norfolk to North Carolina to conduct Wild’s Raid, a sustained action that freed 2,500 enslaved people and destroyed rebel camps and supplies.
Some of these soldiers took part in the Battles of Fort Pocahontas, New Market Heights, and other battles around Richmond leading to Lee’s surrender in April 1865. By June, thousands of USCT members were on their way to Brazos Santiago, Texas, not only to ensure emancipation but a...