Photo by Dennis Cox
Let
me be frank. I cannot imagine going through life without having vast knowledge about
the accomplishments of my own ancestors, the people whose blood flows through my
veins. In addition to having knowledge
about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rosa
Parks, and many other noted African Americans who are often commemorated during
Black History Month, I want to know as much as I can about my past family
members who made a difference in their communities in their own ways. I’ve been
researching since 1993, and I realize that (1) I still have a lot to learn about
their accomplishments, and (2) researching to unearth those hidden and untold “jewels”
will be a life-long journey. Recently, Angela
Walton-Raji made these facts very evident!
While
attending the AAHGS conference in Little Rock, Arkansas in October 2011, Angela,
a renowned genealogist, historian, and my “genealogy buddy” for nearly 20 years,
became fascinated by the buried accomplishments and life of Madam Martha “Mattie” E. Danner Hockenhull.
Angela also happens to be the great-great-granddaughter of my
great-great-grandfather Pleasant Barr’s second wife Amanda Young. She had no idea that Mattie Hockenhull was my
maternal grandmother’s aunt, my great-grandmother’s sister. Instead of me sharing how researching Mattie
Hockenhull led Cousin Angela back to me, check out her blog post, “The
Search For and Discovery of Madam Martha Danner Hockenhull.”
I
first learned about Aunt Mattie from my late and dear cousin, Vivian Ivory
Jones, when I moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. Cousin Vivian shared how
Aunt Mattie had owned a beauty shop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas during the 1910’s
and 1920’s. Aunt Mattie’s only child, Isaac Hockenhull, married the late great
gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, in Chicago, IL.
That was all that was basically shared with me about her. Then, Cousin
Vivian, whose grandmother Frances Danner Howard was also my great-grandmother’s
sister, pulled out the following picture of her. Aunt Mattie was obviously a
lady of style and elegance.
Madam Martha “Mattie” Ella Danner Hockenhull
(1873 – 1937)
Yesterday,
I got a Facebook message from Cousin Angela. In addition to her findings that
she revealed in her blog post, she recently found more about Aunt Mattie! Not only did Aunt Mattie run her own beauty
shop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas during the early 1900’s, not only did she publish
a series of publications about beauty techniques in 1917 (see Angela’s blog post for pictures), not only was she the former
mother-in-law of Mahalia Jackson, but this elegant lady, who was born just eight
years after slavery near Como, Mississippi, also ran a correspondence school! This additional fact was discovered in a 1917
edition of the Muskogee Cimeter, a
black newspaper published in Oklahoma.
Excitingly, Angela also expressed the following, “Note that in 1917, she had a telephone! Most families did not get
phones till the 1950’s! She was ahead of her time!” I am so proud to claim
this lady as my great-grand-aunt! One
can only imagine what else will be unearthed, not only about Aunt Mattie, but
about others with whom I share DNA. The same goes for you, too!
1917 article from the Muskogee Cimeter newspaper; shared
by Angela Walton-Raji
Many Thanks to Angela!