Order a Certificate of Ancestry

Display Your African Ancestry

Order an exclusive, one of a kind, Certificate of Ancestry. This certificate contains the African ancestry DNA results for three lineages. Printed on textured linen cloth and framed, this 5x7 certificate is a must have for all Toomer family members who descend from Henry Toomer and Bertha Walker. For those who descend from Caroline Toomer, there is a custom certificate representing this individual DNA result. Use the items for sale form to order. $5.00
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Certificate of ancestry for Toomer Family members.
Purchase for only $5.00, while supplies last.

Order Now!

Toomer Get Your Papers In Order

PASSPORT: First step in getting to Africa

Of course, now that we know who we are, there is more desire to visit the great continent of Africa. Cousin Katherine Pointer Baylock and husband Edwin Baylock, frequent visitors suggest that we get our passport in order. Family get your papers in order. Whether you need to get a passport for the first time or renew your expired passport - don’t wait. Do it now. (Camden County citizens can apply at the County Store in Echelon Mall.)

Visit the Passport web site for more information

Passport Home
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

First Time Applicant
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_832.html

Passport Renewal
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/renew/renew_833.html

Ride the West African Time Machine

By EduNetConnect.com


Toomers now that you have more knowledge of who you are as an African, take a moment to jump onboard the time machine. This ride will begin 700 years ago in West Africa and end 250 years ago. Learn about the lives of your people, the Songhay and the Fulani.


700 Years Ago in West Africa
The Songhay Empire

…Mali went into decline after the death of the great king. The subject city of Gao rebelled in 1375 under the Sonni ("king") Suleiman-Mar. Around 1400, Gao was strong enough to raid the Mali capital itself, and about 50 years later became the centre of the new Songhai Empire, which now became the most powerful state in West Africa. In 1468, Sonni Ali (picture on the left) conquered Timbuktu. Sonni Muhammad Toureacute (1493-1528) made Islam the state religion of the empire…
View full 700 years ago passage....






400 Years Ago in West Africa
The Songhay Empire

The Songhai Empire reaches its peak under the successors of Muhammad Toureacute, what is called the Askia dynasty. Leo Africanus, a writer and traveller, reported that Timbuktu in 1513 was a sophisticated and prosperous city. King Askia Daud ruled from 1549 to 1582 from his capital city Gao. During the reign of his successor, Askia Ishak, the Moroccans under Sultan Ahmad El Mansur invade Songhai in 1591. A huge battle is fought at Tondibi northwest of Lake Chad. The Moroccans, well equipped with muskets, defeated the Songhai forces who had only a few firearms and still relied on the charge of lance-armed horsemen. The Moroccans did not permanently occupy the Songhai lands, and soon withdrew back north, but the power of the empire was fatally weakened. The increasing demands of the trans-Atlantic slave trade further destabilized Songhai.
View full 400 years ago web page...




250 Years Ago in West Africa
The Fulani People

…The Fulbe people (also called the Fulani) create three new states around the Senegal and Gambia rivers--Senegambia--near 1700, following the collapse of Songhai…

…Slaves were not considered property in the Senegambian states. Slaves used to farm land were more like the feudal serf in Europe, farming their own small plots and giving a fraction of the produce to their masters. Royal slaves were often used to lead armies (they had no claim to throne and were considered safer than members of the royal family or other nobles), and thus became very important people. Some states had no slavery at all…
View full 250 years ago passage...

2006 Toomer Items for Sale

Order While Supplies Last

2006 Toomer Reunion items are now available. Visit the Toomer Store at ToomerFamily.com. Use the Sale Items Form to order.

• Reunion tee shirt ($14-$16)
• Reunion sweatshirt ($30)
• Khaki Africa hat with green Toomer ($20)
• Cookbook ($15)
• Certificate of Ancestry ($5)
  

Tee shirts and sweatshirts must be ordered by September 18th.

Tee shirt
Youth sm, med ($11)
Youth large ($14)

Adult sm, med, lrg, xl ($14)
Adult 2xl, 3xl ($16)

Sweatshirt
Adult sm, med, lrg, xl ($30)

Visit the Toomer Store
Sale Items Form

Toomer Past Items for Sale
Lite green Sweatshirt with Emblem
Khaki hat with green Toomer
3xl Emblem tee shirt

Toomers Meet Other with Songhay DNA

West African Exhibit in Haddon Township, NJ

Less than two weeks after learning of our Songhay DNA results, I learn that a person with the same results will be in Haddon Township. Miami Herald journalist Leonard Pitts Jr. and Philadelphia Inquirer photographer Sarah Glover visited Africa and were now coming to our county to talk about it. I could not believe our luck. Floyd and I read his article online days ago.

Floyd M. Riley and Leonard Pitts Jr. at the West Africa Exhibit, held at the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission in Haddon Township. January 14, 2006. Their mother's DNA trace back to a present day Songhay of Niger.

View Leonard Pitts Jr.’s article on his trip to Africa Seeking a Heritage in Africa

How do you feel Songhay, Fulani, Akan?

Toomer DNA Results Revealed

Now that you know, how do you feel? How do you feel to know that your DNA matches that of a present day Songhay in Niger, a Fulani in Niger, and an Akan in Ghana?

Leave a comment and let us know How you feel.

Below is my response to the African Ancestry DNA forum topic, “How do you feel now that you know?”

• sjordon Posted December 27, 2005 12:05 PM
  We are doing tests as a family. This will be the 2006 reunion surprise. I just happened to check my mail on Christmas day, on my way out to deliver my home baked cookies and brownies. My mailbox was packed. A big thick white envelope was the culprit. When I saw that the return address was from African Ancestry I think that my heart skipped a beat. Then I did the African jump back to my car and called my cousin immediately. Then I cut the cookie drop off from 10 stops to 1stop.
  
  When we read the results we were just numb. Not really knowing what to do. Frantically we searched the internet looking for information. Soon I left and went to my own home to search the internet. I was awake until 1030am the next day. (One of the searches was on TripAdvisor, to learn the cost and flight patterns.)
  
  Using Dee Palmer Woodtor's title, it felt like "Finding A Place Called Home" Now, the history of the land now known as Niger is not just African history, it is my history.
  
  Then I felt pain and sadness as I eyed the African continent, from Niger to the west coast. My eyes well up now just thinking about it. This distance, in itself, is very far. Very far from home. How many family members were lost during this journey. Then the ocean and the darkness.
  
  Soon my spirit lifted and I thanked my ancestors for surviving the journey. I thanked them for their strength.
  
  I believe this test will probably do more for African/ African American relations than other efforts specifically design to promote Pan Africanism. Also, knowing of our Muslim past may foster tolerance amongst our strongly Pentecostal and Baptist family members.
  Posts: 9 Location: New Jersey Registered: December 25, 2005

Leave a comment and let us know how you feel.


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