Hank Kingi
Kingi in 2017, pic by www.prphotos.com/
Birth Name: Masao Henry Kingi
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: June 3, 1970
Ethnicity: African-American, one eighth Japanese, Creole [French, African]
Hank Kingi is an American stuntperson and actor. He is the son of Eilene and stuntperson and actor Henry Kingi (Masao Henry Kingi). His half-brother is stuntperson Alex Kingi.
Hank’s paternal grandfather was Masao Kingi (the son of Inomata Kingi and Genevieve Beckham). Masao was born in Florida. Inomata was Japanese, from Niigata. Genevieve was black, and was the daughter of Ephraim Beckham, who was African-American, from Alabama, and Mary E. Farinas/Farines/Ferinas, who was born in Pensacola, Florida, and was a Creole. She was likely of Spanish and African and/or Native American descent.
Hank’s paternal grandmother was Henriella D. Dunn (the daughter of Henry Maceo Dunn and Essie Lee Filhiol). Henriella was black, and was born in Illinois, to parents from Louisiana. Henry was the son of James Morrison Dunn and Zilla A. Morehead. Essie was the daughter of John Filhiol, who was a Louisiana Creole, of French and African descent, and of Ella Green, whose parents were African-American, from Georgia.
Hank’s maternal grandfather was named John Davis. John was born in Iowa, and was African-American.
Hank’s maternal grandmother was Lorraine F. Spencer (the daughter of Caliss Gilette Spencer and Frances Lizabeth McLemore). Lorraine was born in California, and was African-American. Caliss was the son of Henry Marshall Godfrey Spencer and Estella E. Porter.
Sources: Marriage record of Hank’s paternal grandparents, Masao Kingi and Henriella Dunn – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Hank’s paternal grandfather, Masao Kingi – https://www.findagrave.com
Hank’s paternal great-grandmother, Genevieve Beckham, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Hank’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Mary E. Farinas/Farines/Ferinas – https://www.familysearch.org
Hank’s paternal grandfather, Henriella D. Dunn, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Hank’s paternal grandmother, Henriella D. Dunn – https://www.findagrave.com
Hank’s mother on the 1950 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGH-DB7S
Hank’s maternal grandfather was John Davis.
Hank’s maternal grandmother was Lorraine F. Spencer (the daughter of Caliss Gilette Spencer and Frances Lizabeth McLemore). Caliss was the son of Henry Marshall Godfrey Spencer and Estella E. Porter.
His mother is also African-American (don’t know about both parents, but she, and her close relatives, are black).
African-American, 1/8th Japanese, 1/16th Louisiana Creole (French, African)
His father is said to have Native American (Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole) everywhere, but I couldn’t find any.
His great-great-grandmother Mary E. Farinas/Farines/Ferinas was the daughter of William Farinas and Sophia Pepper/Peffureache. Could anyone find anything more about her? What’s the origin of those strange surnames (Spanish)? Could she be the source of the Native American ancestry? The area that she was from was inhabited by many people of mixed Spanish, African-American, and/or Native American descent.
Would it be acceptable to use a term as an ethnicity that’s not commonly used?
It’s a little weird to not call his great-great-grandmother Mary E. Farinas/Farines/Ferinas something other than African-American, when the distinction is made for Louisiana Creoles. Mary was a Catholic with a Spanish surname from an area where a Creole population emerged as the Spanish colonizers mixed with African slaves and Native Americans; she was quite clearly from that group. More about that can be read here (towards the end of the chapter):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pensacola,_Florida#First_Spanish_period_(1559%E2%80%931719)
The people of this origin clearly identified as Creoles to some extent. Ephraim Beckham, her husband, was even called “one of the older creole residents” in his obituary (although I assume that’s because his wife was one and that he lived in that culture).
I haven’t found any established name for this group as of yet, but in my opinion, Florida Creole would be a fitting term. So that he would be listed as “1/16th Florida Creole (Spanish, African)”