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Updated September 9, 2026. His family-held driver’s license and Social Security card establish the full spelling Clarence Douglass Sanders Jr.; the death certificate uses D. All 21 ID-packet pages were visually reviewed, with no birth certificate or parent information found. Clarence Douglass Sanders Jr. (June 11, 1952, Ocala, Florida – December 27, 2025, Cortland, New York) was married to Catherine Sanders. His death certificate names his father Clarence D. Sanders Sr. and mother Gloria A. King, but does not give his father’s dates or birthplace. The Westfield alumni leader of Chicago remains an identity candidate, not an established match to that father. A 2016 family obituary lists a Chicago Clarence Jr. with spouse Cheryl; the difference across 2016 and 2025 requires marriage-history evidence and does not itself exclude a match. Newly recovered alumni publications identify the Westfield Clarence’s wife as Lucile Johnson, their marriage as November 21, 1953 in Bessemer, and his sister as Alma Sims. A FamilySearch marriage index agrees on the couple, date and place and names groom’s parents John Sanders and Roxie Lee Hutcherson; the original image still needs comparison. A 1950 census index places Clarence with Alma, Edna and a widowed mother indexed Robie L Sanders. These are substantial leads for the Westfield family, not yet proof of Barklee’s great-grandparents. Birmingham Public Library’s September 9 reply confirms it holds no Westfield yearbooks and refers to the alumni group. Earlier claims of no FamilySearch records and an unusable Library of Congress newspaper service are superseded: records were found, and Chronicling America migrated to loc.gov in 2025.

The strongest hypothesis links Gloria to Buster King and Lizzie Finley of Marion County, Florida. Same county, surname, race, and timeframe. Pattern of confirmed children: Theola (1922), Bernice (1928), infant (1933). Gloria would be (1936). HOWEVER: Gloria is absent from the 1940 Census AND 1950 Census (ED42-21, all 42 pages OCR-searched) with the Buster/Lizzie household. She is also absent from Buster's 1985 funeral record survivor list (Entry #6216), though that list is demonstrably incomplete (confirmed children Freddie and Theola are also absent). Eddie M. King (b. 1935) and Willie King (b. 1939) share the same double-absence pattern. All OCR-identified 'Gloria A.' leads in Marion County 1950 Census have been ELIMINATED (Gloria A. Glass in ED42-11 is White; Gloria A. Davis in ED42-15 is White). CUNNINGHAM FUNERAL RECORDS READ (2026-03-22): Using the UFDC Patron API (api.patron.uflib.ufl.edu), all King family funeral records were retrieved and scanned images transcribed. DEFINITIVE FINDINGS: (1) Eddie M. King's parents are 'Ounce Dunbar' (father) and 'Willie Mae Hay' (mother) -- NOT Buster/Lizzie. Eddie is from an entirely different King family. (2) Willie King's parents are 'Jewel(l) King' (father) and mother's maiden name 'Mitchell' -- NOT Buster/Lizzie. Another separate King family. (3) Clifford C. King's father is 'Ivory Lee Walker' and mother 'Mae Grownes' -- NOT Buster/Lizzie. Informant described as 'half-sister.' (4) Original Cunningham record 2311 re-read September 9, 2026: Samuel King, born August 12, 1879 in Monticello, Florida, died December 24, 1968, age 89. Bertha Williams is labeled granddaughter and signs the agreement describing him as grandfather. No Buster is named on the three pages. The earlier Buster-as-son and Georgia readings are withdrawn. (5) Buster’s Florida death certificate (State File 85-030223, obtained September 2026) and his 1985 funeral record (re-read September 18, 2026) both name his father Zack King and mother Martha Johnson; the earlier “Jack King” reading was a transcription error. Zack matches Zachariah (the 1910 census parent and Samuel Z. King’s middle name), but both documents share one informant, Bernice King, so the SS-5 remains the independent test. (6) Original pages re-read September 9, 2026: Bernice King Daily is explicitly labeled daughter and Benjamin Daily son-in-law. Beulah C. Davis is named, but no relationship is specified; the previous confirmed-daughter claim is withdrawn. The purchase agreement also describes Buster as the father of the arranger, signed Bernice King. Gloria is not named on the three pages examined; that absence alone cannot resolve her parentage. The hypothesis remains WEAKENED but NOT DISPROVEN. Eddie, Willie, and Clifford are DEFINITIVELY ELIMINATED as Buster/Lizzie children. PROBE 2026-08-24: FamilySearch (signed in) Florida Deaths 1877-1939 lists Ebo King + Lizzie Finley as parents of a child King (fits the 1933 infant). NUMIDENT Gloria King b.1936 Florida principal: 5 fuzzy hits, none Gloria / none 9 Oct 1936. GAP ANALYSIS 2026-09-18: no primary document links Gloria to Buster. The instruments that could, in cost order: Gloria’s 1936 Florida Birth Index entry (the mother’s-maiden-name field) on FamilySearch or Ancestry, behind sign-in; Bernice King Daily’s August 1998 Star-Banner obituary (siblings list) — the August 20–23, 1998 issues exist in the Google News Archive (nid=hXZnTIgIr50C; August 21 has 62 pages) as image tiles without text search; and Gloria’s own SS-5 when eligible. A Find a Grave search scoped to Faith Memorial Gardens on 2026-09-18 found seven King memorials, none for Buster, Bernice Daily or Theola (positive control: Lizzie #72557876).

Catherine was adopted and raised as Catherine Mary Sullivan (full name confirmed on Barklee's certified birth certificate and Clarence Jr.'s certified death certificate); 'Sullivan' is her adoptive family's surname, not her biological birth name. MOTHER IDENTIFIED (September 19, 2026): the family named Estelle Lorraine “Stella” Laliberte (December 3, 1938, Lebanon, NH – September 20, 2008, Bronx, NY) from her 1956 Lebanon High School yearbook page. Four independent records agree with each other and with the DNA: the e-yearbook OCR of The Parrot 1956 (p. 20, “32 Young Street”); the 1950 census household of Ovide L. and Louise E. Laliberte at 32 Young Street with four children, Estelle among them; Estelle’s Rutland Herald obituary (parents Ovide L. and E. Louise (Adams) Laliberte; survivors a brother and two sisters, living and not named here; husband Matthew Barrett, predeceased; governess, then 25+ years at Macy’s in New York); and Find a Grave (Estelle 190391454, Ovide 187156588, Louise 187156613, with grandparents born in Lowell, MA, Rouses Point, NY and Canada). The two 23andMe great-aunt matches are Estelle’s sisters, and the grandparent birthplaces they report match her grandparents exactly. This SUPERSEDES the 2026 working model that placed the family in Clinton County, NY under the name “Liberty”: the Rouses Point ancestor is Estelle’s maternal grandmother, Eugenie Louise Lafleur; the Laliberté line itself is Lebanon, NH, with Québec roots through Evelina Gatien. Earlier Sullivan, Wallace/Reid/Pittman, Thomas/Wade and Raynor/Wood/Kelchburg leads were already withdrawn. STILL OPEN: (1) no record names Estelle as the mother; the link rests on family knowledge plus the DNA fit, and the New York City pre-adoption birth certificate is the document that would settle it; (2) the biological FATHER: on September 19, 2026 a pairwise 23andMe analysis isolated his family (one match shares 15.5% with Catherine and nothing with any Laliberté relative; a 25% match is Estelle’s other daughter, Catherine’s maternal half-sister), the record trail behind those matches converged on François Dozois and Émilie Thibeault of Québec, and the DNA places Catherine as a granddaughter of their daughter Marie Hermine and John Edward Quinn of Sainte-Barbe. On September 20, 2026 a relative in Canada told Catherine her birth father was “John Quincy”; tested and read as John Quinn, that names John Joseph Quinn (1919–2002), the only John among Hermine’s sons, now the WORKING IDENTIFICATION of the father — Strong Signal on documentary identity (four independent records, including his death certificate received October 1, 2026) and unproven on biological paternity (see the separate question on the father’s candidate family); (3) Matthew Barrett has no located record: the New York City marriage index 1950–2017 (all boroughs) has no Estelle or Stella Laliberte and no Laliberte–Barrett licence, and a 1965 Charlestown, NH marriage of an “Estelle Cecile LaLiberte”, aged 21, is a different woman. Individual living relatives are withheld here for privacy.

WORKING IDENTIFICATION (Sessions 17, 22–24 and 42–43, September 2026): John Joseph Quinn (1919 to 2002), Strong Signal on documentary identity. HOW THE FAMILY WAS FOUND (Sessions 11 to 13, September 19, 2026): every measurable match on Catherine’s paternal side except the first-cousin-level anchor was traced down from a documented ancestor; four of the five sub-clusters meet at François Dozois and Émilie Thibeault of Québec through three daughters, Marie Hermine (1884 to 1977, married John Edward Quinn at Sainte-Barbe in 1907), Rose (Rivard, Detroit) and Adeline (Bastedo, Buffalo). The strongest match, 2.63%, is Hermine’s great-great-granddaughter, a share that fits Catherine best as Hermine’s granddaughter, the daughter of one of five sons: Edward Joseph (1909 to 1970), Albert Joseph (1911 to 1982), John Joseph (1919 to 2002), George Antoine (1920 to 2014) or Michael Delvani (1921 to 2002). A Philadelphia family that a merged FamilySearch profile attached to Edward was excluded on the 1910 census (Session 12). HOW THE BROTHERS WERE RANKED (Sessions 15 and 16): every candidate father was dead by 2014 (George’s obituary). Only John Joseph has a United States Social Security record (all 327 Canada-born Quinns born 1905 to 1925 read, then a 57-search sliced sweep of 7,281 rows, each with controls). Per-brother timelines from the Huntingdon Gleaner, the St. Lawrence Sun, La gazette Valleyfield-Beauharnois, the 1931 census and United States indexes put Edward, unmarried, at his mother’s Valleyfield home until his death in 1970, and Albert, Michael and George at home in Québec and Ontario with family events within a year of the window; John Joseph, refused entry at Niagara Falls twice in 1951, was unattached after his first wife’s April 1960 remarriage in Florida, held an Illinois Social Security number, and is on no record between April 1960 and his June 1971 visit home “from Washington” (a Seattle passenger list cited in Session 13 was withdrawn as a different man). The conception window is Christmas 1961 to New Year 1962; the 38 issues of the three Québec papers for that window hold one Quinn item, Albert on a donor list. Ranking: John Joseph, then Edward, then Michael, George and Albert. THE FAMILY’S ACCOUNT (Session 17): a relative in Canada told Catherine that her birth father was “John Quincy”. Tested as a surname, no John Quincy of the right age has any Québec, New York or New England tie in the Social Security NUMIDENT index (76 rows, 11 men), the Social Security Death Index (14 rows), the 1931 Census of Canada, the New York City marriage index 1950 to 1975 or Find a Grave, each search with a positive control. Read as John Quinn it names the only John among Hermine’s sons, already first in the ranking. The same session read his Washington residence chain (Lynnwood 1993 to 2000; Seattle 1993 to 2003, birth date matching to the day), excluded a 1977 Island County marriage as a younger John Joseph Quinn (1944 to 2019) of Oak Harbor, found him absent from Polk’s Seattle directories of 1975 and 1985 (controls present), found no divorce, burial or child (the NUMIDENT index holds only people dead before 2007, so a living child is invisible), and re-measured the DNA live: every value reproduced. The DNA is consistent with Catherine as a granddaughter of Hermine but cannot by itself pick John over his brothers; the family’s statement does that. The full record trail is on the Molecular Genetics page. SESSIONS 22–24 (September 22–24, 2026): the identity bridge is now federally attested. The National Archives NUMIDENT row (NARA AAD, RG 47, dt=3064, rid=3958592), read September 22, gives his signed 1956 Social Security application as JOSEPH JOHN QUINN, born June 10, 1919 at Sainte-Barbe, Québec, son of JOHN E QUINN and HARIJNINE DOZAY (legacy transcription of Hermine Dozois), original SS-5 cycle December 1956, client’s own signature; a FamilySearch NUMIDENT record (ark:/61903/1:1:6K31-3KS4), read September 24, independently corroborates the same name, birth, parents, Seattle/King County residence and July 25, 2002 death. The 1919 Sainte-Barbe infant, the 1956 applicant and the 2002 King County decedent are the same man. COVERAGE NOTE (September 24, 2026): the FamilySearch 1947 Quinn–Eiler search’s name index effectively ends around 1943; 1947 records exist only as unindexed images — not a non-existence claim. STATUS (updated October 1, 2026): the documentary identity bridge is Strong on four independent legs — his signed 1956 Social Security application (NARA NUMIDENT), the FamilySearch NUMIDENT corroboration, the Washington death index / Social Security Death Index entry, and his Washington death certificate, received October 1, 2026 (VitalChek #227405226): John Joseph Quinn, born June 10, 1919 Canada, died July 25, 2002 Seattle, occupation driller, residence 533 Third Ave W #906 Seattle WA 98119, cremated 8/24/02, informant Donna Quinn of Ocala FL. Biological paternity remains unproven — no record yet names him as Catherine’s father. The ~August 30, 2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer notice was never retrieved; only the indexed-only Findmypast blurb (US/TRIB/036486728) exists, naming no survivors, so that route is closed. What would make paternity Strong: a 1961 New York City marriage certificate in his name, Catherine’s sealed pre-adoption birth record, or a Quinn half-sibling among her DNA matches. The relative who supplied the name has not yet been identified to the research; living relatives are withheld. OCTOBER 2026 UPDATE: the King County Medical Examiner file for his death (case 02-1004) was received on October 15, 2026 (11 pages): he died at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, of small bowel obstruction/ischemia progressing to peritonitis and sepsis; certifier Michael K. Copass, MD; no autopsy, toxicology or photographs exist — the case was a next-of-kin notification and disposition case only. Disposition was by the county Indigent Remains Program: released August 23, 2002 to Wiggen & Sons Funeral Home (purchased by Bonney-Watson in 2000) and cremated August 24, 2002; there was no family cremation authorization. The file’s next-of-kin section documents Donna Quinn of Florida as his daughter, and its call log records a Rose Quinn of Philadelphia calling on August 3, 2002 — a separate memo names “Rose Brady, supposed sister”; whether Rose Quinn and Rose Brady are the same person is unresolved. On October 16, 2026 the Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the received file contains ALL existing 2002 records and that the disposition-program paperwork was destroyed under the six-year retention schedule (GS2011-184R4): the Seattle disposition trail is exhausted. Three further records were set in motion on October 15, 2026: a VA FOIA for his complete claims file (he is in the VA BIRLS Death File, so a claims file exists), a USCIS Genealogy index search (case GEN-10345594, $30 paid) keyed to his Alien Registration No. A010687101, and a Seattle Housing Authority tenant-file request for 533 Third Ave W #906 (Center West, SHA low-income public housing). His own SS-5 application (SSA-711) was also mailed on October 8, 2026 and remains in flight.

The genealogical chain connecting Charles King (1870 Census, Camp Izard) to Gloria King (born 1936) has been partially traced: Charles King (1870) to James King (1870, 1880, 1900) to Samuel Z. King (1880-1910) to Ebo 'Buster' King (1900 Census as child 'Ebo'). Gaps remain in the 1920 and 1930 censuses. Camp Izard was a U.S. Army fort (est. Feb 27, 1836) during the Second Seminole War, built along the Withlacoochee River approximately 20 miles SW of Ocala. Named for 1st Lt. James F. Izard, killed in combat with Seminole forces. After emancipation in 1865, the site became a freedmen settlement. The 1870 Census captured two Black King families there. The domestic slave trade route suggests Charles King's ancestors arrived via Charleston SC (48% of direct arrivals to mainland NA), then moved through the domestic trade to Alabama, South Carolina, and finally Florida. Barklee’s Y-DNA follows his direct paternal line and cannot establish the proposed King chain through his paternal grandmother Gloria. Barklee's chromosome painting data confirms: Copy 2 is 94.7% Sub-Saharan African. PROBE 2026-08-24: FamilySearch givenName=Ebo surname=King (signed in) returned 1900 Ocala (parents Samuel Z King, Martha King, sibling Beaulah), 1910 Kendrick Marion (parent Zachariah King), WWI draft b. 23 Apr 1896 Ocala, 1950 Marion FL. No 1920 or 1930 census hit in those results. Florida Death Index 1933 Ebo King Marion fits the infant, not Buster's 1985 death.

Updated September 18, 2026. Buster King’s Florida death certificate (State File 85-030223) and his Cunningham funeral record #6216 both name his father Zack King and mother Martha Johnson, but both were supplied by one informant, his daughter Bernice King, in 1985. The census identification (1900 Ocala: Samuel Z. King b. September 1868, wife Martha b. October 1875, married 1893, children Ebo b. 1895 and Beaulah b. 1900; 1910 Kendrick: “Zachariah King”, widowed, with son Ebo, 15) makes Zack King = Samuel Z(achariah) King consistent across four sources, including the 1902 Ocala Evening Star report of a Zack King of Kendrick and Beaulah King’s 1925 death certificate naming her father Sam King, but no single record carries both names. Martha’s maiden name is contested: Johnson (Bernice, 1985) against Pound (Beaulah King’s 1925 death certificate 2483, informant “B. C. King”, which also gives Martha’s birthplace as South Carolina where the 1900 census says Florida). Martha died between 1900 and 1910; Florida had no statewide death registration before 1917, so no certificate exists for her. Beaulah King (April 10, 1900 – February 8, 1925, Kendrick) is Buster’s sister in the 1900 household; the 1925 certificate is a candidate match to that child, not a proven one.

Lizzie F. King’s Cunningham funeral record #2268, read from UF Digital Collections’ 3250×2520 JP2 master on September 18, 2026, names her father Johnson Finley (clear) and her mother Eliza D—s (surname begins with D and ends in s; Deans, Dams, Dukes and Davis are candidates; the earlier “Langley”, “Hargley”, “Adams” and “Jones” readings from the 630 px viewer image are withdrawn). This is a single-informant statement. None of the twelve Finley records in the Cunningham collection, all read at full resolution the same day, belongs to this couple (the families found are Willie Finley Sr. and Odelia Mitchell of Shady Grove, James Finley and Philiday Wolff, Mage Finley and Matilda Cook, and others). Adolphus L. Finley (1904–1978, Cunningham Funeral Home, Faith Memorial Gardens) is not among them. The Ocala Evening Star of October 29, 1918 lists a Miss Bessie Mae Finley on the same Kendrick Liberty Loan roll as Ebo King, and its July 20, 1917 draft list names three Finleys of Kendrick whose given names were lost to OCR. A speculative naming-pattern lead only: the Evening Star’s Colored People’s Department reports an adult “Mrs. Lizzie Finley” of Ocala on July 8, 1903 (brother Phoenix Oliver) and April 19, 1904, a generation before our Lizzie (b. 1905) — possibly Johnson Finley’s mother or aunt, unproven.

SP4 Lewis King was killed in action in Vietnam on August 24, 1968. The 3/4 Cavalry KIA Booklet records his birth as June 29, 1945, and his death as August 24, 1968. His relationship to Ebo 'Buster' King and Lizzie Finley remains unconfirmed. The existing reading of his Cunningham funeral record (UF00040361) suggests 'Lora Mae' in the mother/informant information; the father field is unclear. The booklet lists Lincoln Memorial Gardens, Ocala, while Find a Grave memorial #65839806 lists Faith Memorial Gardens. RESOLVED 2026-09-18: they are one cemetery — Find a Grave’s cemetery 72190 description records that Lincoln Memorial Gardens, affiliated with Cunningham Funeral Home, was renamed Faith Memorial Gardens when the funeral home was sold to Clark Funeral Home, and BillionGraves cemetery 13008 independently lists it “aka; Lincoln Memorial Gardens of Ocala”. Buster King’s 1985 death certificate and Lizzie King’s 1968 funeral record also say Lincoln Memorial. The February 7, 1969 Tay Ninh after-action report describes the August 24 Scofield attack and lists interview materials, but does not independently identify Lewis among that action’s casualties. An Army HRC inquiry for his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) was sent September 8, 2026; response pending. Releasable casualty, burial and next-of-kin records may help resolve these questions. A DD-214 alone should not be assumed to name his parents or prove parentage.

The DS-11 passport application lists Barbara Just as Barklee's stepmother, but the current family tree does not yet place her. A 2019 Daryl Lynn Pace obituary places Barbara Just in a separate Pace and Douglas stepfamily cluster in Cortland, but no direct Sanders connection has been proven. RESEARCH BLITZ (2026-03-22): The Daryl Lynn Pace obituary (Cortland Standard, July 11, 2019) was re-read in full. It confirms 'her stepparents, Barbara Just and Steven Douglas of Cortland' as survivors. Daryl was born Nov 12, 1982 in Johnson City, NY; graduated Homer Central School Class of 2000; SUNY Cortland 2008. She was a firefighter for the City of Ithaca Fire Department. Daryl's mother was Rebecca Hopkins of Cincinnatus. Daryl's siblings: Anthony Pace (Solon), Jessica Bergeron (Homer), Alton Pace (Buffalo). Predeceased by brother Matthew Huff (2012). This places Barbara Just squarely in the Hopkins/Pace/Douglas family network in Cortland. The connection to the Sanders family likely runs through Clarence Jr.'s Cortland community ties, not through blood.

Clarence Jr.'s obituary names his stepfather David and sister Mildred as survivors. David was part of Gloria's later household. A possible identification exists from public-records research but has not been confirmed by any primary document. The candidate is a living private individual, so identifying details (name, address, date of birth, family) are withheld here for privacy. The lead remains unconfirmed pending a primary source. PROBE 2026-08-24: Wright-Beard funeral home obituary (HTTP 200) and WXHC reprint name 'his stepfather David' (given name only) with mother Gloria and sister Mildred; TributeArchive loads the same text in Chrome (curl 403). No surname on those pages.

Clarence Jr.’s Wright-Beard obituary names nine grandchildren (Anderson IV, Ahmari, Ahlijah, Joslyn, Jenna, Micah, Maybrick, Armani, Catherine Mary) but gives no indication of which of his ten children is each grandchild’s parent. The tree deliberately draws no parent links for the nine. “Catherine Mary” shares her grandmother’s full name; a namesake relationship is not proven. “Anderson IV” implies an Anderson III who has not been identified and is not inferred.

Catherine was adopted and raised as Catherine Mary Sullivan. Whether the Sullivan family had other (adoptive) children — Catherine’s adoptive siblings — is unresolved. A “sister in Canada” from family oral history remains speculative and may overlap with the confirmed biological maternal half-sister, who is living and is not named on the public site for privacy.

The 2016 DeGalynn Sanders family obituary names a Chicago Clarence Jr. with spouse Cheryl, while Clarence Jr.’s 2025 Wright-Beard obituary names his wife Catherine. Different spouses in 2016 and 2025 neither establish nor exclude a match without marriage-history evidence: it could be a prior marriage, or a different Clarence Jr. entirely. No marriage or divorce record has been located, and “Cheryl” is not asserted as a spouse anywhere on the site.

The Westfield/Chicago candidate carries 1934–2025 dates from alumni and memorial sources, but no death certificate has been ordered because the death jurisdiction is unconfirmed: a Chicago funeral alone does not establish where the death occurred. Without a death certificate naming his parents, the candidate cannot be tested against the FamilySearch marriage index (John Sanders / Roxie Lee Hutcherson) or linked to Barklee’s father.

A 2021 funeral-home listing for Lucille Sanders gives birth year 1935, differing from the 1936 year retained from earlier memorial research and from the FamilySearch marriage index’s implied 1935 (age 18 in November 1953). The discrepancy is surfaced on her card, not resolved by assumption. The full obituary text — survivors, service details, photo — has not been recovered.