There
on the Barr farm, just a mile north of Abbeville, South Carolina, Sue and her
brothers, Pleasant and Glasgow, labored together, laughed together, played
together, prayed together, and always looked out for each other. When Sue was
allowed to come back to the slave cabin at night, after working all day in the
big house, she couldn't wait to tell her brothers and their parents, Lewis and
Fanny, what the "white folks" talk about. She was good at mimicking
them, that it usually had everyone rolling on the floor laughing out loud.
Glasgow
and Pleasant looked after their only sister Sue. When a white-looking, mulatto young
man named Jacob, who was enslaved on the neighboring Leslie Plantation, wanted
her hand in marriage, he had to go through her brothers first. Glasgow and
Pleasant didn't make it easy for Jacob, either. Pleasant would often taunt him
jokingly, often making Jacob nervous. Nonetheless, the brothers soon realized
that Jacob was deeply in love with their beautiful sister, and they approved of
the marriage. They felt that their late father Lewis would have approved. With
every child that Sue was having (Sina, John,
Luther, Edmond, Cannon, Louvenia, Clay, Jacob Jr., Lewis, Joseph, Patsy, and Susie),
Glasgow and Pleasant waited with nervous Jacob as Momma Fanny delivered another
grandchild into the world.
In
the midst of bearing and raising children and being a wife to Jacob, Sue was
Mrs. Rebecca's prized possession, her trusted house servant. One night in 1859,
after a long day of helping Ms. Rebecca polish the silver, Sue ran back to her
mother's cabin in tears. Her heart was torn apart. Crying uncontrollably, she
was barely able to talk, but she managed these words, “They gonna sell Pleas!”
She
had overheard her "massa" William Barr Jr. tell his mother Rebecca
that a man named James Giles offered him $1,400 for his slave, Pleasant, her
brother. Giles was preparing for a move to Ripley, Mississippi and wanted extra
laborious hands to help him build his new farm in Mississippi. William was
planning to take his offer. He explained to his mother, “Mom, I really need the
money to help me buy the Wilson place in Pontotoc County (Mississippi).”
William Jr. was also looking to move to Mississippi. Rebecca nodded her head in
approval of the transaction.
The
next morning, Momma Fanny received a knock on her cabin door. William Jr. shouted,
“Fanny, open the door!” She nervously went to the door and opened it.
“Where’s
Pleas,” asked William Jr.
Fanny
responded, “He and Isabella is out in the barn milking the cows, massa.”
Babysitting
her grandson Bill, he looked up at Momma Fanny and asked, “Grandma, what does
Massa want with Daddy?” She immediately grabs Bill and hugs him tightly, too
hurt to tell him what was about to happen.
Entering
the barn, William Jr. hollered out, “Pleas, come here boy!”
Pleas
responded, “Please, massa, Please! Don’t sell me to Mr. Giles. I has a wife and
two young chil’ren. Isabella, Bill, and Mary needs me! My sister needs me!
Momma Fanny is getting up in age, and she needs me, massa! This is gonna break
their hearts!”
William
commanded, “Shut up, boy! Jim Giles just need to take care of some business in
Mississippi and needs your help. He will bring you back to Abbeville!”
Pleas
appeared somewhat comforted by his words, not realizing that William had just
told him a bold-faced lie.
As
Pleas was being placed on Giles’ wagon, Fanny, Isabella, and Sue run to the
wagon! Fanny yelled, “Nooooo!! Please don’t take my Pleas! Please, massa! His
young family needs him!”
Fighting
back tears, Sue grabbed her brother Pleas’ hand and held it tightly. With tears
streaming down her face, she looked up at Pleas and said, “Don’t worry my dear
brother. We will see after Momma. I’ll help Isabella with the chil’rens. I will
see you again. Yes, we all will. I love you, dear brother.”
As
the wagon exited off the Barr farm, loud crying can be heard in the air. Momma
Fanny’s heart was too broken, as her crying got louder and louder. Her boy was
being taken way, likely forever. His two young children were standing there, in
complete shock at what was happening, as they held on to their mother Isabella’s
long skirt. She herself was near fainting. This was reminding Fanny of when she
was taken from her own family in Virginia and brought down to Abbeville, South
Carolina in chains, where the late Rev. William Barr had purchased her at an
auction in downtown Abbeville in 1809. She was only 17 years old. She knew the
pain of permanent family separation. She also knew that she’ll never see Pleas
again.
Today,
as many celebrate National Siblings Day,
I was compelled to write this fictional story that is based on facts. It wasn’t
even a plan. Just a sudden urge and I started typing.
My
great-great-grandfather, Pleasant "Pleas" Barr, was in fact sold to a man named James
Giles in 1859, and Giles transported him to Tippah County, Mississippi. His
son, my mother’s paternal grandfather Bill Reed, relayed to his family years
later that Pleas was never seen again. Later the same year, in 1859, Pleas’ sister
Sue Barr Beckley, her husband Jacob and their children, and their mother Fanny
were taken to William Barr’s new farm in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Glasgow Barr
was left back in Abbeville.
Like
Pleas, many of our enslaved ancestors were sold away from their siblings, never
to see them again. I can’t even imagine the pain they endured. So on this
National Siblings Day, I want to pay homage to our enslaved ancestors who
suffered that pain. May DNA and genealogy research bring more of the
descendants back together! Factual details of this family saga can be read in
“150 Years Later” at www.150yearslater.com.
One of my Barr/Beckley DNA Matches in AncestryDNA! She shares 15.1 cM with me!
