The Chief Engineer

The picture above is a 48 year old woman from the City of Harrisburg. Her name is Melody Ann Williams Vines. She is a Civil Engineer, working for VE Engineering Inc.  You may not know her but you know some of her work. She has worked on the roads off of I-83 down by Bel Air, Maryland. Melody was the boss, sending crews out to do road construction in several states. She also prepared bids for presentation to local and state governments.

She had her hands in the construction work to widen the roads around Harrisburg and Hershey, Pa.  Melody has four grown sons. This Civil Engineer was a cheerleader at William Penn High School, graduating in 1981. She went on to graduate from Howard University in 1985. After that she worked in and around Washington, DC until she relocated to Harrisburg. 

 Civil Engineer Melody Ann Williams Vines

I had the pleasure of going to see Melody’s cousins when I was in Culpeper, VA. a few weeks ago. The Cooks live near my x-wife’s family. Her cousin, Reva Cooks and her husband Eugene took Melody and me out to lunch for the holiday. Melody has not seen her cousins since she was a child. We also went to visit her cousins near Flint Hill. As many times as I drove Rt. 522 through Flint Hill, I never thought that Black people lived in that area.

Just up the road is Front Royal. Harrisburg Council Woman Susan Brown Wilson’s people lived in this area.  Melody is a distant cousin of Harrisburg City Council President Wanda Williams as well. It seems like many Blacks around the time of the Industrial Revolution moved away from Central and Northern Virginia and moved to the Harrisburg Area.  Their Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren live in the Harrisburg area today.

 

Reva pulled out her family pictures and showed me her ancestry. Reva, a direct descendent of the Western Cherokee nation is also a direct descendent of President John Tyler. John Tyler (29 March 1790 – 18 January 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845), after being the tenth Vice President of the United States (1841).  The President was married but had 5 mistresses. Reva is a product of one of these mistresses.  

My family is also near Culpeper and Stoney Point, Va. around the roads of Rt. 522, Rt 15, and Rt. 29. I noticed that Melody looks a lot like our relatives. My father’s (William J. Williams II); father’s (William J Williams); Father (Williams J. Williams father) was a full blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma (Cherokee Strip).  Reva is descended from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Melody has Native American Ancestry. So I wonder! Is Reva and Melody related to me or are they not?