Dr. Tamiquia T. (Wilson) Simon

My name is Dr. Tamiquia T. Simon, and I am the founder of Roots of Return Genealogy, a research practice committed to reconnecting African American families with their ancestral histories through rigorous research, oral history, and healing-centered storytelling.

I come from the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, where nearly three-quarters of my lineage originates, and where each branch of my family tree often leads back to another. I am the sixth great-granddaughter of Gideon Gibson, Jr., a free man of color and a leader in the 18th century Regulator Movement. That legacy of resistance, truth telling, and community accountability is woven into everything I do.

Though my roots are Southern, I was raised Up South, in New York City, inside a Southern home that never let me forget where I came from. I grew up in a multigenerational household that included my great-grandmother, Allean Burch Robinson, whose stories, faith, and lived wisdom shaped the very core of who I am. My mother, too, was a genealogist in her own right, gathering names, tracing lines, and preserving the histories of those who came before us. Somewhere along the line, my roots called me back. What began as a return became a mission.

I am a lifelong genealogist, with the past 15 years being the most intensive and professionally focused. I research both my own family and the families of others, working to recover narratives that have been buried, silenced, or forgotten. I specialize in African American genealogy, with deep experience navigating the unique challenges of enslavement, emancipation, and migration. While this is my focus and passion, I am well versed and fully competent in genealogical research across a range of backgrounds and time periods. I incorporate DNA evidence when it is available and useful, but I do not consider it a requirement for uncovering rich, well documented family histories. My work centers traditional records, land and probate research, oral testimony, and historical context, always with a commitment to honoring the humanity behind the history.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Elementary Education, a Master of Arts in Education in Educational Management and Innovation, and a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership and Change with an emphasis in grounded theory. These academic qualifications have sharpened my ability to analyze complex data, identify patterns in oral and archival sources, and present findings with clarity and care. Grounded theory, in particular, has trained me to center lived experience and let evidence tell the story, skills that are essential in both historical research and community based genealogy.

I currently serve as the national chair of programs and education for the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), where I help shape national programming that equips researchers, uplifts community knowledge, and celebrates Black ancestral legacies. I am also actively pursuing Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) credentials to further deepen the professional and ethical standard of my work.

For me, genealogy is more than a profession, it is a calling. A sacred return.

Welcome to Roots of Return. Let’s find your people.

Dr. Tamiquia T. Simon

Professional Genealogist/ BCG Candidate

My Roots, My Why

My first genealogy project wasn’t for a client or a class, it was for my own family. The spark was lit long ago, at the feet of my great-grandmother, the late Allean Burch Robinson. Grandma didn’t just tell stories, she resurrected them. With her words, the past breathed again. Through her voice, I came to know the people who came before me. I could see them, hear them, feel their joys and heartaches as if I had lived them myself. Her stories planted something sacred in me, a calling I couldn’t ignore.

As I got older and began to search the records for myself, I was amazed to find how much of what she said was true. Census pages, death certificates, land deeds, they didn’t just tell a story. They confirmed one I had already heard. Reading those documents felt less like discovery and more like reunion. I already knew these people. They had been introduced to me long before I found them on paper. What made this journey even more profound was that three-quarters of my lineage traces back to the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. Tracing one family line would often lead me straight into another. Cousins would appear where I expected strangers, and lines I thought were parallel turned out to be deeply entwined. My roots weren’t separate, they were braided.

In uncovering these roots, I also learned of my connection to a powerful legacy—I am the 6th great-granddaughter of Gideon Gibson, Jr., a free man of color who made his home in the Pee Dee and stood among the early South Carolina Regulators. His defiance, courage, and determination to protect his land and his family live on in the stories we tell and the lives we lead.

My mother, the late Theresa Wilson Lacey, also carried a deep reverence for our family’s story. She had a quiet gift for research and the ability to turn findings into narrative. It was she who first uncovered that not all of Maggie’s children were fathered by H. Frank Fleming. That truth, once whispered and then confirmed, caused waves in our family. At first, it created more questions than answers. But over time, through documentation, oral history, and DNA, what once caused confusion gave way to clarity, healing, and eventually, acceptance.

This work began in love, with the voices of women who made sure I never forgot who I am. And it continues because I believe our stories still deserve to be told, reclaimed, and remembered.