The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross – Episode 2: The Second Middle Passage

Last night, the second episode of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross aired on PBS.  This episode, entitled “The Age of Slavery,” chronicled major events and activities that occurred after the American Revolution which greatly affected the lives of free and enslaved African Americans. One of those major activities was the invention of the cotton gin. By April 1793, an inventor named Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin; it was a machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. 

Hence, in 1793, the “Curse of the Cotton Gin” began.  Although it spurned a great economic boom in the South, I call it a “curse” because its invention resulted in the displacement of around 1 million enslaved African Americans in the Upper South to points southward.  Enslaved labor was needed for this booming industry. Thus, the Second Middle Passage began. More family separations occurred. More tears were shed. More blood flowed from feet and toes as a million enslaved people were sold away, transferred, or taken down south to work laboriously in those hot, infamous cotton fields. In many cases, these dreadful journeys were “walking journeys”. Imagine being forced to walk for weeks from Nash County, North Carolina to Leake County, Mississippi. That was the “walking journey” my great-great-grandfather Robert “Big Bob” Ealy had to take.

Once the million tired souls arrived at their Deep South destinations, the following is what many of them had to endure in those hot, infamous cotton fields, especially if they labored on large plantations.  Observing enslaved people in the cotton field on a large plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, Frederick Olmstead provided the following description of this extensive, back-weakening labor:

“We found in the field thirty ploughs, moving together, turning the earth from the cotton plants, and from thirty to forty hoers, the latter mainly women, with a black driver walking about among them with a whip, which he often cracked at them, sometimes allowing the lash to fall lightly upon their shoulders. He was constantly urging them also with his voice. All worked very steadily, and though the presence of a stranger on the plantation must have been a most unusual occurrence, I saw none raise or turn their heads to look at me. Each gang was attended by a "water-toter," that of the hoe-gang being a straight, sprightly, plump little black girl, whose picture, as she stood balancing the bucket upon her head, shading her bright eyes with one hand, and holding out a calabash with the other to maintain her poise, would have been a worthy study for Murillo.” [Frederick Law Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom (New York: De Capo Press, Inc., 1953), 432.]

Anyone researching Mississippi ancestors will immediately notice much evidence of the Second Middle Passage in their family trees.  In 1870, most of the older former slaves in Mississippi, as well as other Deep South states, were not born in Mississippi.  This is quite evident from the 1870 census.  Let me show you want I mean. 

I took a snapshot of the Lena community of Leake County, Mississippi, where Grandpa “Big Bob” Ealy remained after gaining his freedom. I wanted to see the birthplaces that were reported for many of his neighbors, who were enslaved just five years prior.  Only a few were born in Mississippi.  The following transcription just shows the oldest people in the household. I recorded these African-American households from pages 313-319.

House #	Names	Ages	Birthplace
802	Henson, Jeff	65	Kentucky
807	Henson, David	50	Tennessee
“	-------, Mina	45	Virginia
808	Hanson, Stephan	40	Alabama
“	------, Easter	33	Tennessee
809	Henson, Hannah	33	Mississippi
811	Anderson, Charlotte	40	Alabama
815	Ratliff, Samuel	35	Mississippi
“	------, Kitty	35	Mississippi
	------, Lydia	60	Georgia
816	Cherry, R.S.	75	South Carolina
“	------, Jane	70	Virginia
“	Harris, Emaline	50	Virginia
817	Dew, Benjamin	50	South Carolina
“	------, Eliza	48	Georgia
823	Simms, Scott	30	Mississippi
“	------, Lucilia	26	Virginia
832	Fickland, William	20	Mississippi
“	------, Jane	17	Alabama
“	------, Ann	60	Virginia
833	Turner, G.W.	50	Alabama
838	Mann, Tony	21	Mississippi
“	------, Hannah	23	Tennessee
839	Harris, Eliza	30	Virginia
“	Delvin, John W.	25	South Carolina
843	Parrott, John Armstead	32	Virginia
“	------, Jane	26	Mississippi
844	Reid, Rachel	36	North Carolina
845	Pettigrew, Mariah	45	Virginia
857	Wright, Hiram	57	Tennessee
“	------, Judy	55	Tennessee
	------, Mary	33	Tennessee
859	Ely, Robert    (“Big Bob” Ealy)	51	North Carolina
“	------, Jane	48	Virginia
863	Lindsey, Allen	25	Mississippi
“	------, Jane	27	Virginia
883	Hill, James	65	South Carolina
“	-----, Amanda	40	Virginia
“	Jones, Cutz	65	Virginia
885	Rice, Andrew	23	Mississippi
“	-----, Frances	25	Alabama
886	Kennedy, Nancy	45	Alabama
“	------, Malissa	25	Alabama
887	Washington, George	50	Georgia
“	------, Harriett	40	Georgia
	------, Charles	21	Alabama
	------, Jacob	19	Alabama
	------, Daniel	17	Alabama
	------, Edmond	12	Mississippi
888	Beaman, Jacob	60	North Carolina
“	------, Violet	50	North Carolina
889	Luckett, Calvin	65	Georgia
“	------, Nelly	75	Virginia

Source: 1870 Leake County, Mississippi Census, Pages: 313B – 319A; Image: 118 -129

Just within that small area containing the African-American households that were closest to Grandpa Big Bob’s house, the 1870 census-taker recorded Virginia as the birthplace for most of the older adults.  Alabama was second.  Even Grandpa Big Bob’s wife, Grandma Jane, had come from Virginia.  Her enslaver, William Parrott, had moved to Leake County, Mississippi shortly before 1840, transporting her and the rest of his slaves with him from Lunenburg County, Virginia.  I cannot even begin to fathom how tiresome all of their journeys were.  And for most of them, that journey was undoubtedly a sad one, as many of them left behind parents, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, grandparents, etc. whom they never laid eyes on ever again.  Oh, how far we have come!

The African American Blogging Circle is a group of genealogy bloggers who are sharing their family stories, seen through their own personal lens, from the PBS series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.  Click here for a list of the participating bloggers and check out their stories.

Watch Episode 2

The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross – Episode 1: From Africa to Virginia to Mississippi

On this past Tuesday, the first episode of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross series aired on PBS with great anticipation from many historians, history buffs, and genealogists.  The first episode was appropriately titled The Black Atlantic because it encompassed the historical experiences on the other side of the Atlantic – in our wonderful motherland of Africa – that led to the creation of the “African American.” Skip Gates highlighted historians’ claim that the first Africans that touched American soil arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619.  This episode also focused on Edward Ball’s remarkable research of a 10-year-old enslaved girl from Sierra Leone. She was stolen and transported to Charleston, South Carolina in 1756. After being purchased by planter Elias Ball, she was given the name “Priscilla.” These were just two segments of this first episode, but they will serve as the overarching theme of this blog post, From Africa to Virginia to Mississippi.

I recently became a resident of the state of Virginia.  As I explore the rolling hills of this beautiful state, I often wonder how many of my enslaved ancestors were transported here directly from West Africa or from the Caribbean via West Africa.  Transatlantic slave trade data, in which I will expound upon in this post, suggests that many were. In fact, most African Americans – descendants of enslaved people brought to American shores – had a number of family lineages that began here in Virginia.  Some of those lineages may have started back as early as 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia, but many of those lineages began later as enslaved Africans were most heavily transported into the state from 1676 to 1776.  In essence, my moving to Virginia felt like I was almost completing the circle, although the American beginnings were filled with austere hardships. My completion of that circle will come one day when I revisit a nation in West Africa, stand in the vicinity of where a known African ancestor was born, and touch the soil they were taken away from.

The matri-lineage of three of my Virginia-born ancestors has been linked back to West Africa via DNA analysis by African Ancestry, Inc.  My father’s great-great-grandmother, Caroline Morris of Warren County, Mississippi, was born around 1820 in Greensville County, Virginia.  Her matri-lineage matched the Tikar people of Cameroon.  Perhaps, my “Priscilla” was Caroline’s maternal grandmother or great-grandmother?  My mother’s great-great-grandmother, Fanny Barr, was born somewhere in Virginia around 1790. She was sold down south to Abbeville, South Carolina by 1810, and later taken to Pontotoc County, Mississippi in 1859, where she died at the old age of near 100.  Her matri-lineage matched the Yoruba and Fulani peoples of Nigeria. Perhaps, another “Priscilla” in my family tree was Grandma Fanny’s maternal grandmother?  My mother’s 4X-great-grandmother, Jenny Boyce, is believed to have been born here in Virginia around 1765. Jenny is my “mitochondrial (mtDNA) ancestor,” and my mtDNA matches the Fulbe (Fulani) people of northern Cameroon; their origins began in northern Nigeria.  Perhaps, my third “Priscilla” of many was Grandma Jenny’s mother and stolen from Nigeria? 

Was it coincidental that my three DNA-tested lineages from Virginia have been linked back to Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon?  My answer is not necessarily.  Why?  Well, let’s see what transatlantic slave trade facts and statistics reveal in a nutshell.

African Origins of Virginia Slaves

Historians have estimated that nearly 100,000 Africans were disembarked on Virginia shores; many were directly from Africa. Consequently, Virginia ranked second among the areas where slave traders imported at least 30% of all Africans that were imported into North America. South Carolina ranked first. The African “hotspots” where Virginia slave traders obtained most of their human cargo included the Bight of Biafra region, the Angola-Congo region, the Gold Coast region (Ghana), and the Senegambia region. The following chart gives the percentage of Africans imported into Virginia from identifiable African regions [Source: Philip D. Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969), 157.]:

 The Bight of Biafra (modern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon)

Senegambia (modern Senegal and the Gambia)

The Gold Coast (modern Ghana)

Bight of Benin (modern Togo and Benin)

Windward Coast (modern Côte d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast)

See a great African ethnic groups map at this link.

Other Virginia Facts:

The five river districts in Virginia that were the primary entrances where many enslaved Africans were disembarked were the following:

a.     the York River district

b.    the Rappahannock River district

c.     the South Potomac River district

d.    the Upper James River district

e.     the Lower James River district

(Map source)

By the time slavery ended in 1865, more than 500,000 enslaved Virginians had been transported to the Deep South states (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, etc.). Historians have estimated that nearly 350,000 of that 500,000 had been traded rather than being transported by their enslavers who relocated to the Deep South (Tadman, Michael. “The Interregional Slave Trade in the History and Myth-Making of the U.S. South.”, 11-46).  Grandma Fanny Barr was one of them.  Both situations resulted in the permanent separation from family members whose circumstances allowed them to remain here in Virginia. There’s no wonder that my DNA segments, as well as many others, are matching people whose immediate families are from Virginia.  In many of our family histories, Virginia, as well as South Carolina, is no doubt Ground Zero in America.

One of my mother’s Virginia-based DNA cousins from 23andMe who is currently anonymous.

The African American Blogging Circle is a group of genealogy bloggers who are sharing their family stories, seen through their own personal lens, from the PBS series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.  Click here for a list of the participating bloggers and check out their stories.

Watch Episode One

Joshua Marks, Our “Gentle Giant,” is Cooking for the Ancestors Now

 Source: JoshMarksCooks

On September 3, 2011 in Atlanta, my cousin Fairelma (Jean) Butler Hughes visited me at work. She was in town visiting her daughter Tiffany during the Labor Day weekend. I was overjoyed to see her, as I feel that she resembles my late grandmother, her great-aunt Willie Ealy Collier. Before Jean left my workplace, she invited me over to her daughter’s house for a Labor Day gathering. Her nephew, Joshua Marks, was in town as well, and he was cooking! Of course, I could not say no! I had already added my cousin Josh on Facebook, and I was very aware of his passion for cooking. The pictures he would post of his eclectic dishes on his Facebook page, JoshMarksCooks, would often leave my mouth watering. I believe I even licked the computer screen several times!

When I entered Tiffany’s house, Josh was there in his favorite place – the kitchen. Of course, the first thing anyone would notice about him was his height. Being 6’1”, I am often one of the taller people in the room, but Josh made me feel short. He was 7’2”, and like me, he too inherited the tall gene from our Ealy bloodline. But, Josh obviously inherited more of it. However, his greatest attribute, that was also very noticeable when meeting him for the first time, was his wonderful personality. As his nickname suggested, Josh was indeed a “gentle giant”; he was a joy to be around. His friendliness was inviting, and his cooking was beyond spectacular. As we stood in the kitchen talking, Josh was making one of his favorite dishes – shrimp etouffee. I doubt I will ever taste shrimp etouffee as good as Josh’s. Ever. If my Mom was present there, I would have jovially attempted to slap her, portraying the saying, “It is so good it’ll make you slap yo Momma.”

 Josh’s famous shrimp etouffee he made for us.

One of several great things I admired about Josh was his tenacity.  He was not afraid to pursue his goals and passion, even if it meant taking himself out of his comfort zone and out of his “temple of familiarity.” Unfortunately, that’s difficult for a lot of people to do.  Graduating cum laude from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi in 2009 and employed by the Army Corp of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Josh’s passion for cooking was greater than the joy of his career as a contract specialist. He did not allow anyone to downgrade his passion.  Kicking fear to the curb, he decided to try out for the Fox television cooking show, MasterChef, while visiting his family in Chicago. Josh impressed the judges and was selected as a contestant.  During the show, he wow-ed the judges with his cooking abilities, and his eclectic dishes were so delectable that he advanced to the final round against Christine Ha. I was very proud of him, as well as many other family members, even ones who had never met him.  I would often receive questions from a lot of family members asking me if Josh was their cousin, too. Many fans around the nation rooted for him on the show.

Unfortunately, the stress of the show was just too much for Josh. Mental illness surfaced and consumed my talented and gifted cousin. There were no indications of mental illness prior to the show, and I certainly didn’t see any during the time I spent with him – a time I will never forget.  Ultimately, mental illness led him to take his own life on this past Friday. A mentally ill mind pulled the trigger, not the nice, humble, and talented “gentle giant” that everyone knew or witnessed.  Many hearts are broken including my own. While dealing with the emotional pain of losing a child, his mother Paulette Butler Mitchell courageously shared details of Josh’s mental decline with the Chicago Tribune. Click HERE to read those details. 

Mental illness is something that should not be ignored. Stigmas need to be broken, and if you know anyone who may be suffering mentally, please urge them to seek professional help. Our cousin, licensed psychologist and life coach Dr. Rose Moten-Lang of Detroit, expressed the following, “Often times, when a person knowingly or unknowingly has a predisposition for bipolar or schizophrenia, the first episode usually follows a stressful life change and/or event. Even changes/events considered positive can trigger the first episode of a mental break.”  Undoubtedly, Josh’s legacy will be his accomplishments and his great attributes. I am optimistic that his and actor Lee Thompson Young’s unfortunate departures from this earthly setting will bring greater awareness about the importance of mental health and proper professional treatment, helping many of the untreated who are suffering mentally. I am sure Josh would want this.

R.I.P. Cuzzo. Your demise will not be in vain. Cook great meals for our ancestors!

Among many, the ancestors who are enjoying Josh’s cooking now include:

 His maternal grandmother, Lettie B. Ealy Butler (1931-2012), and his tall great-grandfather, App Ealy (1890-1966) of Leake County (Lena), Mississippi

His great-great-grandparents, Paul Ealy (1859-1943) and Adeline Kennedy Ealy (1861-1942) of Leake County, Mississippi