The Tidewater, Virginia Watts Extended Family Lines -Perry-Edmondson-Wilson-Thompson-Morrow
Henry and Mary Hall Watts had a son, Jennings Watts, who had a son, Isaiah Watts whose daughter, Izie F. Watts, had son Isaiah B. Perry, who married Dr. Vera Elizabeth Edmondson. Izie F. Watts extended the Watts family line through her son Isaiah B. Perry and his children: Michele A. Perry-Coney (daughter), Rene A. Perry (son), and Martel A. Perry (son). Their children will extend the Watts-Perry-Wilson-Edmondson-Thompson-Morrow-Webb family lines even further through their children.
It is important that we provide insight into the history of the connecting lines to the Tidewater, Virginia Watts Family branches. Therefore, on this website you have the Perry Line History, and also on this page, we have the Edmondson, Thompson, Webb, Wilson, and Morrow family relationships that interconnect family lines of Thompson, Alamance and Orange Counties, North Carolina.
Dr. Vera Elizabeth Edmondson who married Professor Isaiah B. Perry (son of Izie F. Watts as stated above) her mother was from Thompson, Alamance County, North Carolina. Vera E. Edmondson's mother was Daisy E. Wilson, who was the daughter of John Alvis Wilson and Emily Webb Thompson Wilson. Daisy E. Wilson married John I. Edmondson ( https://wfnaatvhrpasfi.wildapricot.org/Watts-Edmondson/ ) who was from Lunenburg County, Virginia.
Vera Elizabeth Edmondson's mother, Daisy E. Wilson, whose mother was Emily Webb Thompson was first married to John Berry Thompson, and after his death, later married John Alvis Wilson, and because Emily was married twice, she had two sets of children: one set named Thompson; the other, Wilson.
As the story goes, John Berry Thompson and John Alvis Wilson farms were adjacent and connected. The two men were friends so when John Barry Thompson died, John Alvin Wilson married Emily Webb Thompson. John Alvis Wilson was already a widower.
Clearly, John Berry Thompson and Emily Webb Thompson children, Adelaide Thompson, William H. Thompson, Susan Thompson, Lourena Thompson, and Bertha Thompson are half brothers and sisters to John Alvis Wilson and Emily Webb Thompson Wilson's children, Armelia, Pearl, Daisy, and Vera.
Likewise, John Alvis Wilson's first wife Emelia Morrow Wilson's children are: Lucy Wilson, John Wilson, Mary Wilson, Henry Wilson, Grace Wilson and William Wilson, all half brothers and sisters to John Alvis Wilson's second wife Emily Webb Thompson Wilson's children: Armelia, Peal, Daisy, and Vera.
These marriages and offspring created a large and interconnected family which in the late 1800s joined forces to educate other African American families and children at the Cooper School. First African American School in Alamance County, NC. What is more, these families and especially John Alvis Wilson, gave land to build Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church in Alamance County, Mebane, North Carolina.
Below you will also find a narrative about how the Thompson, Webb, Morrow, and Wilson families got started and connected.
Thompson, Webb, Wilson, Morrow, family relationships and interconnectivity of family lines
I have been working on my family story for 30 years. And not until ancestry.com came about with their updates could I come close to finding out the story.
Even though I have been working on finishing the Thompson, Webb, Wilson, and Morrow family story I realized that as long as family members are alive the family story will never be finished.
The first place that we need to start when we are talking about the African American families in Alamance County and Orange Counties, North Carolina. We need to start with the plantation’s owners doing the 16th 17th and 1800s in those counties. Because of that I have provided a map of Alamance County below showing the plantations and farms of the white slave owners of that day.
It is not strange that most of the families who live in Alamance County from the 1800s to today have the same last name of Thompson, Webb, Wilson, Morrow, and Nash. And it does not make any difference whether the families are Black or White.
Alamance and Orange Counties have a very complicated race relationship history. First, as master to slave. Then over the years white fathers and mothers of African Americans (Mulattos). And it was difficult to have so many called Mulatto children in these counties living before and after the civil war and not be able to claim them as their children. Even more the white slave owners, slaves, and mulattos had relationships with the Indian tribal members that were resident in those counties which created a even more diverse and complicated social society.
For me to start talking about my African American family story in Alamance and Orange Counties, North Carolina. I need to begin with the white slave owner William Patterson Thompson. For you see my third great grandfather was William Patterson Thompson who was a white slave owner. And it has taken me 20 years to realize the importance of the stories that were told to me by my mother and cousins who lived in the Mebane NC during and after that period.
So, let us follow the facts. Below you will see that in the 1870s census record for William Patterson Thompson in Alamance County North Carolina. In that record you will find my second great grandmother and her husband John Berry Thompson were living in the same household as William Patterson Thompson with his wife and children.
You will also find William Patterson Thompsons will of 1871 that mentions John Barry Thompson living in one of his houses on his land which was left to his children. This house and land are the same house and land that John Berry Thompson and Emily Webb Thompson lived on in the late 1800s. It is also the same house that my uncle William Haywood Thompson lived in when we use to visit him in the 1950s. After his death the land was entrusted to his granddaughter. You can locate the family land by finding on the map below the Cooper School and draw a 3/4 of mile square which will represent the Thompson, Wilson and Morrow land in the 1800s.
Plantation slave owners can be located on the maps below. (William Patterson Thompson) Past the two maps you will find family source documents with family members names, connections, narratives, and other documents. I hope this will help family members in their own research. -Rev. Dr. Martel A. Perry -Blessings
Below you will see that in the 1870s census record for William P. Thompson in Alamance County North Carolina. In that record you will find my second great grandmother and her husband John Berry Thompson were living in the same household as William P. Thompson with his wife and children. Also, in that record you will see Emily Webb Thompson and child Adelaide Thompson living in that household. Adelaide Thompson name is spelled wrong in this record. (Adolado Thompson)
As the family story goes William Patterson Thompson, Sr. was John Berry Thompson's father. Which would explain the close relationships those two families had that I could remember when visiting Mebane and family members in the 1950s and 1960.s. And John Berry Thompson and his family living with William Patterson Thompson family in 1870. These family stories came from my cousin Alma Conley (Mebane, NC), mother Dr. Vera E. Edmondson Perry, and Aunt Betty Edmondson Young who stayed in Mebane, NC with their Grandmother Emily Webb Thompson Wilson and Uncle William Haywood Thompson in the 1920s.
Moreover, DNA of the nearest William Patterson Thompson, Sr. relative still living in Mebane, North Carolina indicates that Martrel A. Perry and Martel A. Perry are close relatives of theirs.
Detail Source
Name | William Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Age in 1870 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date | abt 1800 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dwelling Number | 87 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Home in 1870 | Thompsons, Alamance, North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Race | White | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Gender | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Post Office | Saxapahaw | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Farmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Male Citizen Over 21 | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal Estate Value | 250 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Real Estate Value | 600 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Inferred Spouse | Sullin Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Inferred Children | Elizabeth ThompsonSullin ThompsonJane Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Below is William P. Thompson Will in 1870. In that Will African American John Berry Thompson (Mulatto) is mentioned living in one of William P. Thompson houses on Thompson family land. After William P. Thompson died in 1871 his son Joseph Thompson and other family members gave John Berry Thompson the house and the land from his father's Will. This is the same house and land that Uncle William Haywood Thompson lived on and gave to Alma Thompson Conley to preserve.
In the record below you will see John Berry Thompson and Emily Webb Thompson marraige record.
John Berry Thompson
Detail Source
Name | John Berry Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Age | 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date | Abt 1850 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Home in 1880 | Thompson, Alamance, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dwelling Number | 113 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Race | Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Gender | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Relation to Head of House | Self (Head) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Marital Status | Married | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse's Name | Emily Webb Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Father's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Farmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cannot Read | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cannot Write | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Neighbors | View others on page | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Below is the Marraige Record of David Morrow and Sarah Ellen Svory Thompson. The father and mother of John Alvis Wilson first wife Emelia Morrow.
David Morrow
In the1870 Census record below after Margaret Robinson information you will find David Morrow's daughter Emelia Morrow Wilson living with her husband John Alvis Wilson in David Morrow household. John Alvis Wilson is my grandmother's (Daisy Wilson) father my mother's (Dr. Vera Elizebeth Edmondson Perry) grandfather. A year after this census was taken John Alvis Wilson had his own farm with a gift of land from his father-in-law David Morrow.
It should be noted that the Thompson, Morrow, Wilson, and Webb family extended branches of the Oaks Community off of Mebane Oaks Road, Mebane, North Carolina created a very productive community. Family members still go to Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church. They are all related and have family tries that date back to the early 1800s in Alamance and Orange Counties, North Carolina.
I am adding the information below posted my Margaret Robinson on Ancestry.com to show how large families were in the 1800s and how some of these family connections came about in the Oaks Community Mebane, North Carolina.
FRANK MORROW AND EMMALINE THOMPSON MORROW
(Information gathered and compiled in 1979 by the late Emma Ruth Morrow King)
I went as far back as I could - I found that Grandpa David Morrow and Granny Savory Morrow were the parents of 22 children - five of whom I have names. They are: Frank, John Sandy, Millie, Becky, and Gracie (who most of us knew her by aunt Dunnie). It has been noted that here were two sets of twins, and one set was named Mary and Eliza. It was also noted that Mary lived in Moncure, North Carolina area.
It bas been noted that Frank and John Sandy were saved from slavery and the Civil war by Granny Savory pitching them up into the attic, when she saw the men coming on horses. When she was asked by "these men" if she had any more sons?-with tears in her eyes, she replied, "no, they've taken them all away".
It is also noted that Grandpa David owned a lot of land in this community, which was inherited by his children. They both, Grandpa David and Granny Savory, attended church in the "Brush Arbor" in Oaks Community, which is now Mary's Grove Congregational Church. Grandpa David lived to be over 100 years old, and Granny Savor lived to be 113. They were both buried at Mary's Grove Church.
Frank was married to Emmaline Thompson, daughter of Tommy and Katie Ellen Thompson. She had one brother, Jahue Thompson and one sister, Mary Ann (possibly). It is noted that she worked as a cook on a boat that ran from Wilmington, NC to Fayetteville, NC. She died at a rather young age. Granny Katie and Grandpa Tommy lived to be an old age, and they too, were buried at Mary's Grove Church. .
Frank and Emmaline were 'married when she was 13 years old. They were farmers and lived in the Oaks Community Area, in OrangeCounty near Mebane, North Carolina. They had 15 Children- 11 boys and 4 girls. The children were: William Henry; Robert; Thomas, (who died at 2 months); John Goal; Louvenia; Mary Etta; Rollins; Roy; Jesse; Alex; Ralph; and David, (who died at age 23).
Both Grandpa Frank and Grandma Emmaline were members of Mary's Grove Church, where Grandpa Frank served as secretary and deacon of the church. Grandpa Frank died on January 15, 1931, at the age of 73. Grandpa Emmaline died on December 6, 1941, at the age of 81. They were both buried at Mary's Grove Church.
In the record below John Alvis Wilson was a widower his wife Emelia Morrow Wilson had died in 1883.
Detail Source
Name | John Alvis Wilson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Age | 35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date | Abt 1845 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Home in 1880 | Thompson, Alamance, North Carolina, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dwelling Number | 101 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Race | Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Gender | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Relation to Head of House | Self (Head) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Marital Status | Widower | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Father's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Farmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cannot Read | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cannot Write | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Neighbors | View others on page | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Record below is for John Franklin Wilson's son of John Alvis Wilson and Emelia Morrow Wilson. Many of the family members left Alamance County, NC and went to New York and Connecticut to work because of the difficult race conditions in Alamance County, NC after the Civil War and lack of jobs because of the collapse of the plantation system. In the record below they list his race as Black(White) because of the color of his skin.(Bright Mulatto)
Name | John F. Wilson | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Age | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date | Jul 1870 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Birthplace | North Carolina, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||
Home in 1900 | Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut | ||||||||||||||||||||
Street | Westreet Street | ||||||||||||||||||||
House Number | 118 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sheet Number | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation | 407 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Family Number | 517 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Race | Black[White] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||||||||
Relation to Head of House | Head | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marital Status | Married | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse's Name | Hester Wilson | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marriage Year | 1893 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Years Married | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Father's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Gardener | ||||||||||||||||||||
Months Not Employed | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Can Read | Y | ||||||||||||||||||||
Can Write | Y | ||||||||||||||||||||
Can Speak English | Y | ||||||||||||||||||||
House Owned or Rented | Rent | ||||||||||||||||||||
Farm or House | H | ||||||||||||||||||||
Neighbors | View others on page | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The record below is Royal Wilson son of John Franklin Wilson and Hester Mingo Wilson and Grandson of John Alvis Wilson and Emelia Morrow Wilson.
Detail Source Discover
Name | Royal Wilson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth Year | abt 1900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gender | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Race | Negro (Black) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Age in 1930 | 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birthplace | Connecticut | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marital Status | Married | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relation to Head of House | Son | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home in 1930 | Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map of Home | Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Street Address | Clay Street | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ward of City | Part of Ward 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
House Number | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dwelling Number | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family Number | 106 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lives on Farm | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Age at First Marriage | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attended School | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Able to Read and Write | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Father's Birthplace | North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mother's Birthplace | New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Able to Speak English | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Sweeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Industry | Post Office | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class of Worker | Wage or salary worker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Employment | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Neighbors | View others on page |
In this record you have John Alvis Wilson and his second wife Emily Webb Thompton Wilson and their children. Bertie Wilson listed in this record is really Bertha Thompson. A child from her first mariage to John Berry Thompson. In the record below all of John Alvis Wilson first set of children had moved out of their household by the 1900s Census.
Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church
Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church in Alamance County Mebane, North Carolina is the family church of the Thompson, Webb, Morrow, and Wilson families from 1883 and is still serving family members today. Below you will find pictures of Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church, history of the Church and some of the individuals (Family Members) buried in the Church Cemetery. John Alvis Wilson was one of the founders of the Church and donated land along with other farmers to build the Church.
John Alvis Wilson my great, great grandfather was a caring and generous man from the stories from my grandmother Daisy E. Wilson Edmondson. I hope family members will enjoy the information provided.
MARY’S GROVE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH FAMILY CEMETERY, MEBANE, NC
The record below is the listing of the persons who were in the Will of John Alvis Wilson. In this record they have the name of Emma T. Wilson that name a nick name of Emily Webb Thompson Wilson. It should have been Emily Webb Thompson Wilson. Emily is the second wife of John Alvis Wilson after John Berry Thompson died.
John Alvis Wilson Will
Additional Information is provided below that is associated to my great, great grandfather John Alvis Wilson first wife Emelia Morrows family. Julia Armstrong is David Morrow's mother and Emelia Morrow grandmother.
David Morrow's great grandparents: Thomas Bowden (1879-1955) and Ruth Burnett (1879-1952). Tom descends from 2 Patriots and Ruth descends from 3 Patriots.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Posted Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:20 am
Updated: Friday, February 11, 2022 10:09 amDavid Morrow
SUBMITTED PHOTO
IF YOU'RE GOING
When: Saturday, Feb. 19 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Zoom
Cost of attendance: free
By HANNAH McCLELLAN
News + Record Staff
The Chatham Community Library and Chatham’s Community Remembrance Coalition will commemorate Black History Month by co-sponsoring a virtual lecture about the contributions of Chatham’s free people of color during the Revolutionary War.
Given by David Morrow, a lawyer and writer based in California, the lecture — “Patriots of Color in Chatham County: Untold Stories” — will highlight his genealogical research that began with his own family tree, and expanded to over 6,000 names across multiple states and countries.
The program is free and will be held via Zoom from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19. To attend, register here.
Morrow was the first in his family to prove lineage to a Black patriot, as well as the first Black member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), where he now serves as secretary for the executive board. He is also the co-founder of the Facebook group “Native & Free People of Color of Alamance, Chatham, Caswell, Granville, and Orange Counties in North Carolina,” which has over 600 members.
Originally from Washington, D.C., Morrow now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Erica and their son David III. In addition to SAR, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Bachelor-Benedict Club of Washington, D.C., and the Diversity Working Group for the National Genealogical Society.
Morrow has been a speaker at multiple national conferences on issues of diversity in the legal profession, and was the inaugural director of the Men of Color Project for the American Bar Association. He has appeared on numerous 40 Under 40 lists with the National Bar Association and the Business Journal and was honored by the National Bar Association in 2013 as the Young Lawyer of the Year.
This week, the News + Record spoke with him about his research on patriots of color and his hopes for his upcoming Chatham presentation. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
David Morrow: The library is setting it up and asked me to speak. My family’s from North Carolina — my parents were born there. I actually wasn’t, I was born on a military base in Michigan, but most of my family’s still in North Carolina.
Chatham County [Community] Library had reached out, I told them about my research — I had attended one of their programs and I posed some questions and then they Googled me. Then I was like, “I’d love to do a presentation on patriots of color during Black History Month.” So that’s kind of how it all came about.
Growing up, my family always talked about their deep roots in North Carolina, and so I was really aware of family history — probably more so than the average African American out there — but I didn’t know the deep history that I ended up uncovering. My background is I’m a lawyer, I’m based out here in Los Angeles, but I am also a genealogist on the side. That’s one of my passion projects. I started that work back in 2007 — I knew that I had a unique family history, and so I wanted to just learn more about that and I uncovered even more than I was expecting.
That unique part was just about being descended from African Americans who were never enslaved, but living in North Carolina. Of the slave-holding states, North Carolina had, I think, the second- or third-largest free population of people of color before 1860. On my dad’s side of the family, multiple family lines of mine were from these different communities that were racially mixed — African Americans, Native American origin — and so I wanted to learn more about that. In that process, I learned about the number of people that were in my family tree, and from that particular community in Chatham County who fought in the Revolutionary War.
Being a military kid, I’ve always been fascinated with military conflicts, one being the Civil War, which is always interesting, but then the Revolutionary War, which is interesting, too. For me, I didn’t realize the extent that African Americans had played in that war. I think most people make false assumptions that all Black people were enslaved or that no one fought in that war conflict, when in fact, there were thousands of black soldiers commissioned then. What’s unique about North Carolina, and particularly Chatham County, is that there were at least 30-something black patriots in that community.
So as I was uncovering the four in my tree, because there’s about 30-plus families that all kind of married each other over a 200-plus year period, there were other folks in the community that also fought for independence. I’ve been trying to document and research those individuals and their families and share that with a lot of their descendants, who still live in Chatham, Siler City, and then Alamance County and Orange County — between those three right there, that’s pretty much where I would say 75% of my dad’s family still lives to this day, and they’ve been there since the mid-1700s.
I view this as untold history that’s pertinent to those still living in Chatham, and is just interesting about a certain community’s contribution to the founding of this nation. And then I like to share a little bit about the lives in which they lived during that time period because they walked a line, right? If you were a free person of color at the time, you had to walk around with papers all the time that said you were free or you could be thrown into bondage. So they had their white neighbors, they had the enslaved and then there was them, in the middle trying to figure it out.
African American history and race in general, especially in the South, is very complex and it’s not just one story.
But back then, I think it was unique for North Carolina, and particularly Chatham — the largest counties that had free people of color were down in Robeson and Granville and then number three was the Chatham, Alamance, Orange area. There’s no historical marker about this community. There’s churches that still exist right now that were built by this community, one being Burnett’s Chapel — there’s a lot of people buried out there, pretty much huge chunks of my family tree buried out there somewhere. Many of these families were landowners, and so there’s still parts of it being lived on by their descendants. So you have a continuous land ownership story for African Americans that reaches back almost 200 years in North Carolina, which also is very unique.
What will the event itself look like?
It will be me doing a virtual presentation from the West Coast. I’ll dive into my history and my connections to the community, and highlight these 32 men who fought in the Revolutionary War. I’ll go into some detail on certain ones — which regiments they fought in, which battles and where their descendants are right now, which is they’re all over that area in North Carolina.
Part of this is also important for me because, through my research, I’ve joined the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), which is a Genealogical Society similar to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). My hope is that this research could help other descendants of this community apply for membership into these organizations, because I think again, there’s a false assumption about African Americans in history in general. These organizations can have Black members; we fit the criteria.
Because it goes to the very heart of who’s American. There’s this whole thing when it comes to race, as if somehow we’re not part of this country’s origin, or current state, and the contributions that we’ve done to create the current version of America.
So I see these types of stories, and I see them in my own family tree, it’s like, “Oh, I’m clearly American. I mean, I’m definitely of African origin, but my family’s been here before America was America and during and after it became America, so what else could I be?” In the civil rights era, during the protest movement, signs would say, “Go back to Africa,” as if we weren’t already here. It’s such a funny thing to think, well, what does it mean to be American? Does it mean to only be white? Well actually, the fabric has been diverse from its inception.
I see these stories, especially in history from years ago. We learn about George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, but maybe we should learn more about Crispus Attucks, who was the first person to actually die in the war conflict, and he was a Black man. And then understanding that everyone has a piece of this history. It’s not just for certain people that can lay claim to our founding fathers or to what occurred 200-plus years ago.
What I’ll add on to that about the organization is that SAR has been super welcoming to me. I actually spoke at the California officers meeting out here in Anaheim about a week ago. I actually sit on the board for Los Angeles; I’m the secretary on the executive board.
I haven’t felt as if somehow I wasn’t wanted — I just think that for these organizations, the level of proof you have to show is sometimes hard to demonstrate if you’re a Black person, and the documentation may not be all that sound, or may not be there. You know, old family stories don’t count, you have to have an actual written record to demonstrate your connection to that period of time to join these types of organizations — that’s very easy for the white population. For African Americans, one, I think it’s only about 25% of Black people descend from those that weren’t slaves, so the vast majority of most African Americans’ trees are going to be that of enslaved people, which means you cannot go back before 1865 and the Civil War — that’s where your tree will end. For that other percentage, I think if you can demonstrate your connection to that period of history, then you should join these organizations and change the narrative.
They learn something about the area that they did not know. History is history because people write about it, but if you don’t write about it and you don’t remember it, how can it be actual history? So for me, it’s important to share this history, the documentation to say, “Hey, this is what Chatham County did during that time period. This is what the African American community contributed to the nation’s inception, and let’s not forget that.” Let’s not forget about the people in our own community. Let’s not forget about the people who are literally the families that are still living down the street from each other.
One goal is just education and making sure people remember this; the second one is, I would like to do a historical marker. I think this comes to that level where I think this county should lay claim to 30 individuals who fought in the war effort that were people of color. So those are my goals: one is education, a historical marker in Chatham somewhere near Siler City, and then to increase the roles of members of this community within SAR and DAR.
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @HannerMcClellan.