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Joseph Whitley
Professor Raymond
UWRT 1104
15 February, 2017

Exploring Relatives

For this genealogy project, we will be researching the history of our families. I have

always been interested in who my family is and where we came from. Thinking about how my

family traveled and what my familys legacy is can be very intriguing. One relative I have heard

about my whole life is Billy Graham. My parents have always talked his relation to us and I am

curious to research further and find out.

According to my mom and dad, Evelyn Owens, my great grandmother, was cousins with

Billy Graham and they grew up together (Catherine Whitley, 2017). Her father was brothers

with Billy grahams father making them first cousins. My great grandfather, Banks Massey, also

grew up with Billy Graham and they spent time with each other working on a dairy farm in

Charlotte (Mike Whitley, 2017). I also vaguely remember my great grandfather talk about the

times him and Billy spent together before he passed away.

Billy Graham was born in 1918. He was born in Charlotte just like my great

grandmother. Throughout his life he has been an evangelist. He is known for many things, but

some stand out the most. He has preached the gospel to more live audiences than anyone in

history, standing at nearly 215 million. He has been a spiritual advisor to multiple presidents and

has met twelve total, the most recent being Barack Obama. Other accomplishments include 33

books he has written and multiple radio shows. In todays time Billy is a 98 years old white

Caucasian who has gray hair (Graham, n.d.).

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References

Billy Graham. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

https:/billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

Whitley, Catherine. (2017, February 15). Telephone Call.

Whitley, Mike. (2017, February 15). Telephone Call.