Did you know that Star Jones, former co-host of “The View,” is a descendant of George Washington Baucom of the Madison Grove Church community in southern Anson County?
About eleven years ago, a genealogist was commissioned to trace her ancestry and posted information from my Anson County Genealogy Services website regarding her ancestors on “The View.” Some of the data included from my website was the December 1879 jury trial that included George Baucom and eight other black men who were members of the jury.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “Star Jones (previously Star Jones Reynolds; born March 24, 1962) is an American television personality, known for her role as a co-host of the ABC weekday morning talk show ‘The View.’ She was one of the contestants taking part in the fourth installment of Celebrity Apprentice, coming in 5th place.
“Born Starlet Marie Jones in Badin, North Carolina, Star moved to Trenton, New Jersey as a child where she graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She earned a B.A. degree in The Administration of Justice at American University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was initiated in the Lambda Zeta Chapter at American University
“Jones was recruited by Court TV in 1991 as a commentator for the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and spent several years as a legal correspondent for NBC’s Today and NBC Nightly News. She left NBC in 1994 to host her own court show, ‘Jones & Jury.’ Although the show was canceled after one year, Jones quickly was signed up as chief legal analyst on ‘Inside Edition’ where she was assigned to lead the coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial and was the only reporter to interview Simpson during his civil trial. In 1997, Jones joined ‘The View’ as a co-host, a role that increased her public exposure significantly.”
Steve Bailey is employed with the Anson County Historical Society and has specialized in local African-American family history for 20 years.