Beginning of a Milestone Year - 2015 In the Spirit of Freedom

This new year is the beginning of a milestone year!

150 year ago, the nation changed!
150 years ago, 4 million people found freedom on the soil of their birth
150 years ago the trajectory of the United States was altered, forever!
150 years ago, the ending of slavery would bring about the "Reconstruction Amendments".
150 years ago, with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, slavery was abolished.
  The passage of the 13th Amendment opened the door for the later ratification of the 14th and 15th.
    The 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave citizenship to those once enslaved.
    The 15th Amendment to the Constitution gave many the right to vote for the first time.
  Though ratified after 1865 the way was paved for these critical amendments in 1865.

So yes---this is a milestone year! But strangely there are no celebrations of this incredible year! I know that for the past five years we have seen all kinds of celebrations reflecting the events pertaining to the Civil War. From 2011 when there were events noting 150th anniversary of the first shots fired at Ft. Sumter in 1861. And over the years there have been re-enactments of various battles fought from Gettysburg to Olustee. A simple google search on the 150th Civil War anniversary will reflect that.

A screen shot after a Google Search on the 150th Civil War Anniversary

It is great that the Civil War's ending is noted by people today, But the war was not simply battles--the war was about people. As a genealogist, my job is to tell a story about those people, many of them my own people, and to place the ancestors on the proper historical landscape. My ancestors were there during the Civil War and I am obligated to tell that story.

Some of them were soldier, true freedom fighters. My soldiers on the Bass side served honorably in the 111th US Colored Infantry. They were captured and managed to escape from the notorious N.B. Forrest.

   

Civil War Service Records of 4 soldiers from Giles County who were captured and who escaped. Capture was at Sulphur Trestlein the fall on 1864, under N.B. Forrest.

Other ancestors were self-emancipated---when the chance came---they left. They walked a very hard walk from Mississippi to Tennessee. Upon arrival they were then taken to President's Island contraband camp.

From Civil War Pension File
Claimant: Amanda Young, Soldier Berry Young

And yet others stayed back home because they were not able to travel and in fact had been taken away during the war so they would not escape.

So, as  I look back at 1865 and I know that the legal status of my ancestors changed during that amazing year, and that my ancestors emerged as survivors of a heinous system.

As survivors they laid the foundation for my family to continue to thrive today. Therefore, I have a commitment to not only tell their story, but to celebrate the precious legacy of freedom. I am committed to honoring their own struggle for freedom and I am obligated to tell the story of how they found freedom. And of course I am committed to sharing data of the beginning of their lives finally lived out as free people.

My hope is that others in the genealogy community will begin to honor this sesquicentennial year as well. I leave the following suggestions for bloggers to explore, in the spirit of Freedom.

Find your ancestor's story of freedom
Learn the community's story--how were slaves freed in the town,in the county.
Extract the many stories of freedom in the many Freedmen's Bureau records, Freedman's Bank records, Civil War Military records, old newspapers. Search for them, read them--and share them!

An Ancestral Dinner The Book of Me Prompt #14

Collage representing ancestors

The Guests:
Lily Martin 
You died much too young when Tuberculosis swept the country in 1920. I look at your beautiful face and wonder what made you smile? What songs melted your heart? And what was your goal in life? I also want to know about you and your siblings, Uncle Leonard, Uncle Lem, and Aunt Viola.  Did Grandma Harriet tell you stories when you were a child and did you ever get to meet Amanda or Aunt Alice?

Council Martin
Ah, you are the silent mystery of that Martin line. You were the quiet neighbor who went courting the young lady Harriet next door whom you eventually married. What stories of the Martins did you pass to the family? Did Uncle Leonard's love of music come from you? And were you possibly a member one of the Mosaic Templars?

Sephus Bass
We almost did not find you. We heard you ran away to Texas, but thank goodness on a whim I decided to see if you were a soldier. You left so much in that pension file! You are my hero in so many ways--and your story of your escape from Nathan Bedford Forrest has amazed so many of us. And Uncle Sephus---would you believe it---I have found some of your descendants! Yes, your daughter Mary, had a daughter Josephine, and though they moved to Chicago---I later found the family living not too far away from me, in Washington DC. You would be so proud of them. One is an actor, and another one used to work for the President. Your legacy is far and wide, and we all embrace you for your courage, your sense of family, and your determination! It has defined us!

Braxton Bass
You are not forgotten. During the Civil War they saw something in you that promoted you to Sergeant. And you, like Uncle Sephus, escaped from N.B. Forrest. I am so sorry that you did not live very long, but I know that you had amazing skills as a blacksmith. And I know that your widow Fanny kept much of your own story alive as well. Because of you and Uncle Sephus and your nephews Henry and Emmanuel, a rich legacy remains.

Kitty Perry
Ah my matriarch from the Choctaw Perrys! I know you had a hard life, when they brought you from Mississippi, arriving with the Perry clan from Mississippi in 1831.  Did you ever speak about the time that the journey began? History says that the journey was made during the winter and I can imagine your heartbreak as you left those you loved and who loved you.

Did you stay with the Perrys after freedom? I guess there was not any place to go, as the old ones were long gone back in Mississippi, so Skullyville remained your home. And I suspect that you were one of those three ladies in the cabin when they came for your son, Jackson Crow. And I know that by that time, in your latter years, "Old Kit" as they sometimes called you, the heartbreak of watching the loss of your son, you eventually left this world shortly thereafter. I have looked for you in the census of 1885, and I found your daughter, but I did not see you, and know you were gone. I hope you and Jackson and Indiana, and Amanda and now Sallie and Davis are all together again, and watching over the rest of us.

Sallie Walton
Ahh the only one at this dinner whom I have actually met. I knew you and loved you, and though you left when I was a little girl, you were my heart and you are my heart still and even today I miss you. I only ask that you direct me to find some of the answers that lie buried in Skullyville, and other parts of LeFlore county Oklahoma. Just know that your imprint on my heart is still there.

Berry Young
Oh Berry---where did you go?

Amanda searched for you for so many years, and I have been looking among the soldiers for you as well. Is that your name on the Civil War monument? I know you had to leave Tippah County quickly, and could not return. I know you left right after the Yankees made their raid from Corinth. Did you join the army with the other men?

Or did you become a contraband like the others? I understand a measles outbreak took place in Corinth that year. Were you affected? I am glad that you had the courage to leave when the time came. Did father John make it back to you with warm clothes? And did son John find his way and his place? Your sacrifice did bring freedom and Amanda did manage to hold the family together after all. I wish I knew more and shall continue to search. And I know that some stories will possibly be told when I find your brother Henry Suggs. Your life made a difference and for that I am grateful.

Pleasant Barr
Ah dear sir--in spite of your own heartache, never seeing your son Bill Reed anymore, you found some solace in the last years of your life.

I can imagine how you felt looking back at your son Bill when that wagon pulled you away from Abbeyville, never to return. And being of mature age, you could not go back after freedom, but your eventual marriage to my Amanda soon after freedom helped to bring some stability to a family whose fabric had been ripped apart by war. You stepped in, and your sense of faith and your role in helping to establish St. Paul's Methodist Church in Ripley made a difference. And the church still stands today! You and Amanda and others became leaders in that small community of former slaves. And through faith you marched to a new life. Your son Elijah's story is the part still missing and but you can be glad sir, as your gr. gr. gr. grandson Melvin Collier and I both still search for Elijah's children, and are determined to find them.

St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Ripley Mississippi

Amanda Young Barr
What can be said, about the oldest ancestor I had continually heard of from childhood? My mother said many times how her grandma Harriet always spoke about "Mandy Young" of Ripley, Mississippi.

You know one day, my mom and I were at the library and she almost fainted when she picked up a book about Tippah County and saw the old slave master's name in it. She called me over, and was almost out of breath!! She heard her grandmother always talk about Tandy Young---and there his name was in a book, about Ripley Mississippi, mentioning his name! I most appreciate it that you never let the story of what happened to you, ever die. You told the story to your children and grandchildren, and they listened.

I found out that  you were the only one in all of Tippah county whose claim with the Southern Claims Commission, was approved! And you continued to work find out what happened to Berry. Because of your never ending search, I learned so much. And of course because you always told the stories, be glad that your granddaughter Frances is the one who told me about your memories of the "Night the Stars Fell". I see you now, not the slave in Mississippi, but the little girl in Tennessee awe stricken as the stars fell around her. I see your parents John and Martha, probably thinking about their own loved ones they were forced to leave behind in Virginia, when slave holders took them away. I know they were wondering if their own loved ones saw those stars falling too.

Thank you Amanda, for your steadfastness has taken me back the farthest in family history. There is still so much to learn, and know that the footprints you left behind are leading the way.

These are the guests at my ancestral dinner.

The Collage

The image at the top is a representation of the ancestors described in this piece. Some are true portraits and others are placed there symbolically. 

In the upper left corner Lily Martin appears above in an actual portrait of her made a year before she died. She is a maternal grandmother born in Mississippi who died in Arkansas. To her right is an image representing Council Martin. Born a slave in Tippah County, he died in Arkansas in the early 1900s. The next sketch represents Sephus Bass who was a Civil War soldier, and who later defended the family when attacked by night riders in Giles County Tennessee. He fled to Texas where he lived the remainder of his life. The next sketch of the Civil War soldier represents Braxton Bass, brother to Sephus. He was with the group that was captured by N.B. Forrest and who later escaped. The face of the elder lady, though unknown, represents a 4th gr. grandmother, Kitty Perry, enslaved by Choctaws, and taken to Indian Territory in 1831. Her granddaughter, was Sallie Walton,, whose actual portrait appears in the next image. Sallie, was also born a slave in the Choctaw nation, but was freed when a small child. Her life was spent mostly between Skullyville and western Arkansas where she is now buried. Berry Young was my gr. gr. grandfather. He was enlsaved by W. Tandy Young in Ripley Mississippi, and he left Ripley, when dozens of other slaves did . He left to join the Union army, but never returned, and his fate remains a mystery, but the image of the man leaving on the road with other self-emancipated slaves represents him. Pleasant Barr, was a man taken from his loved ones in South Carolina, who ended up in Mississippi. After the war, he found a new life, married my gr. gr. grandmother Amanda, and established a church that still stands today in Ripley Mississippi. The photo is an actual image of that historic church. The photo to the right of all of the others is a photo of a gr. gr. Aunt Frances Young Nelson. Her photo is there as she was a daughter to Amanda Young Barr, and some said she closely resembled her mother Amanda. So it is her face that was chosen to represent, Amanda. My Amanda was first married to Berry Kirk  Young, then to Pleasant Barr. Her search for her husband left a thick paper trail and through Amanda's telling the story of her life before and after freedom, I learned so much about this part of the family narrative. For Amanda, I am grateful that she told her story, and am honored that I have been so fortunate to have listened.

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Appreciating the Enumeration of Educable Children in Mississippi

Earlier, I had not noticed that Family Search had placed the Educable Children's Census online before. But it did catch my attention recently and I decided to look at this record set once again. I was not looking for any of my direct ancestors as I have used the list before and had not found any. But I did recall that I had found the children of one of my gr. gr. aunts, but with time, the document was either misfiled or buried in an older binder and yet to be easy to reach. So I decided to look at it again, and obtain the document.

The Educable Children's census was conducted in the state of Mississippi, and to my knowledge, is the only such recurring census of school students to be found. Other states don't have it. And within Mississippi, not all years have survived time, so there are many gaps in the collection of records to review. It is noted that some lists go back to the years before the Civil War, but of course of those that do remain, the years after the Civil War interest me the most, since formerly enslaved children are often found on those lists.

So I decided to simply browse the collection to see if I could find any of my ancestors from Tippah County, Mississippi. I know that the family at that time, lived in the town of Ripley, so I went to that portion of the 1878 volume and began to scan the many lists of names. The records do reveal the race of the chidren so I paid close attention to those pages that did indicated when the children were "colored."

   

Close up of page from Educable Children's List

Source: "Mississippi, Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-14208-38976-96?cc=1856425&wc=10918260 : accessed 12 Dec 2013), Tippah > 1878 > image 60 of 135.

As I examined the names of the children listed from the town of Ripley, one name caught by attention--that of "Counsalle Martin". I knew that name!! My gr. grandmother Harriet Young, married a man called Council Martin, and I have him in other documents, where Council was written as "Counsalle", and also "Counsille". There were no others with a similar given name. This was my gr. grandfather on the list of educable children! I had never looked for him before because I knew that he was already an adult in the 1870s and 1880s. But here he was on the record!

Council Martin's name appears as "Counsalle" Martin

I looked at the list more closely and noticed, that of all of the children on the list, he was the oldest. In fact he was no child at all. Then I thought about it, here was a young man, beginning his life as a free man. He was now free to move, to travel, and to find his way in the world. And here he was only a few years on his own and he would make his life much better with additional skills, particularly if he knew how to read and write. And to find him as a young man of 20, on the list of educable children, alongside others much younger than he, I was so touched.  This was in 1878, and that meant that he was most likely born while his own mother was still enslaved. He would have been a very young boy when slavery ended. But he wanted to read, and wanted to write, and there with others so much younger, was the young man "Counsalle" on the list of educable "children. 

School was so important to those who were once enslaved, and even among those men who were in the Civil War, one constant personal goal of many was to learn how to read and write. It was clear when noting that many of the students were older children, ages 17 upward. Seeing their names on these lists spoke to their earnest desire to have the chance to make advances in their lives. They wanted nothing else but to learn, for that would open the doors to a stronger future, in the hostile south, where they lived.

Image from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, November 17, 1868

I had found some collateral relatives earlier, and on an earlier occasion, I recall that legibility was a problem with the microfilm and I had not visited the list since that time. But this time, since I had found "Counsalle" Martin, I wondered if I could find others in the family. 

I decided to really study the town of Ripley's educable children. I recognized many surnames, Pates, Boyds, Edgertons and Spights. I also recognized the names of some of the white families connected to the town--the Falkner children were there. These were the Falkner's connected to William Faulkner the writer. My gr. gr. grandmother Amanda was the personal cook to Willam Faulkner's father, often called "The Colonel". And there were the Murrys and others from Ripley as well. Would I find any others from my family? I was not so sure.

Then suddenly, three names jumped off the page! There was my gr. gr Aunt Violet, and Frank her sister! Frank's real name was Frances, but she was always called Frank and Aunt Frank---not Frankie, through the years. And there was also Eljah Barr, their younger brother!

We often think that we have exhausted a resource, because we have already looked at it. But for me, the lesson is to revisit that old resource, when months and years have passed since the last scrutiny of the record was made. Even those records familiar to us, can often bring out names that were missed, or overlooked.

The rest of the task, is also to study every available census year that remains to be studied. Although the family was said to have moved to Memphis in the early 20th century, to be certain, additional years still deserved to be examined. 

(Note---the Enumeration of Educable Children is also available on the website of the Mississippi Department of  Archives and History.)

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