Vera Braxton, Raymond Williams

It is with great sadness that I announce the deaths of two members of the Williams-Rivers Family. Vera Braxton and Raymond Williams, both well-loved Descendants of Mandi

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Raymond H. Williams, son of R T Williams, died on 03/01/09. Raymond was the grandson of Dennis Williams and Luella Short and great grand son of Harriet Elizabeth Rayner and great great grand son of Mandi Williams.

Here is the announcement that was published after Raymond's death:

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Raymond Harold Williams
Born in St. Louis, Missouri on Dec. 10, 1942
Departed on Mar. 1, 2009 and resided in St. Louis, MO.

Raymond Harold Williams was born on December 10, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the ninth child born to the union of R.T. and Ina Elizabeth Williams. Raymond was educated in the St. Louis Public Schools and specialized in auto mechanics, and related fields. He also dedicated his work to the Terminal Railroad for 17 years.

Raymond accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour at an early age at Cleaves Chapel C.M.E. Church, now know as Murchison Tabernacle. He was also a member of the youth choir.

On August 25, 1973, Raymond married Delores Thompson. To this union a daughter was born, Joy. Raymond was a loving husband and devoted father to Joy, Franklin, Gerald, and Sharman. Raymond enjoyed spending time with his family and traveling.

The Lord called Raymond home early Sunday morning, March 1, 2009. His parents, three brothers, Roy, Wilbert, and Ronald Williams; and three sisters, Geraldine and Helen Williams, and Mildred Williams Mosley all preceded him in death.

He leaves to cherish his memory: a devoted and loving wife of 35 years, Delores; two sons, Franklin (Veronica) Terry of Arlington, TX; Gerald (Crystal) Terry of St. Louis, MO; two daughters, Sharman Terry and Joy Raenell Williams of St. Louis, MO; four grandsons, Joshua (Loriann), Jerald (Shemekia), Caleb, and Jerome; three granddaughters, Ashlei (Brandon), Harmony, and Frangelica Christina; four great grandchildren; two sisters, Eloise Tolbert of Atlanta, GA, and Ethel Brown of St. Louis, MO; one aunt, Albertha Williams of Tennessee; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends, as well as his church family.

Everyone loved Raymond. He was a very kind, loving outgoing man. He will be truly missed and remembered by all who knew and loved him.

Services were held at the
Austin A Layne Mortuary in St. Louis, Missouri

Layne Renaissance Chapel
7302 West Florissant Avenue St. Louis, MO US 63136
314-381-6900

Visitation to be held on
Sunday, Mar. 8, 2009
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Service to be held on
Monday, Mar. 9, 2009
12 Noon

Friedens Cemetery
8941 N. Broadway St. Louis, MO US 63137
314-867-5126

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Vera Braxton, daughter of Cullen Caldwell died on Thursday February 10, 2009 in Saint Louis Missouri. She had a daughter Valerie Braxton. Vera is the grand daughter of Albertine Williams, great grand daughter of Dennis Williams and Ella Woodson, and great great grand daughter of Harriet Elizabeth Rayner and great great great grand daughter of Mandi Williams.

Here is the announcement that was published after her death:

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Vera Celestine Caldwell
 was born on March 30, 1945 to Cullen and Greetel Caldwell in St. Louis, Missouri.

She received her education in the St. Louis Public Schools graduating from McKinley High School. Vera retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and was employed part-time as a Tax Professional at H & R Block.

Vera was born of the spirit of God on April 4, 1954 under the leadership of the late Rev. Sherman Glover. She joined the Rising Star M. B. Church and was baptized in the Mississippi River in August of the same year. She sang with her sisters in a group called The Caldwell Sisters and in the Young Adult and Junior/Intermediate Choirs. Vera was a very lively and talkative person and met no strangers. She always had a smile and was willing to help a person in need. She was well loved by her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her father, and sister, Sharon Gilmore.

Vera passed away at her home Tuesday evening, February 10, 2009 after a lengthy illness. She leaves to cherish her memory: a daughter ~ Valerie Braxton; her mother ~ Greetel Caldwell; one sister ~ Marilyn Jordan; two brothers-in-law ~ Conrad Jordan and Jimmie Gilmore; two aunts ~ Alfreda Burtis and Thelma Caldwell; four nephews ~ Michael Jordan, Darryl Gilmore, Anthony Gilmore and D-Juan Gilmore; one niece ~ Celeste Jordan; two grand-nephews; three grand-nieces; two play sisters ~ Valerie Farwell and Derilyn Williams; five God-daughters ~ Lana, Sue, Mattie, Kim, and Pam; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Services Entrusted To:

Granberry Mortuary, Inc.
8806 Jennings Station Road
Jennings, Missouri 63136
(314) 867-8837

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Please remember our beloved family members and their immediate families in your prayers tonight.

Juanita "Dean" Brown

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Juanita "Dean" Brown, our cousin in Detroit Michigan on Sunday December 21, 2008. It is the second loss for the Descendants of Mandi in a week.

She was born Juanita Jones and is the daughter of Albert Jones and Catherine McGhee (1916-2006). Her siblings were Ruthie Mae Jones, Aurthelia Jones.

She had five children named Llewelyn Brown, Michael Brown, Roy Vincent Brown (1956-2001), Phillipa Brown, and Malcolm Brown.

Catherine (Ted) McGhee was the daughter of Jesse McGhee and Luevester Williams and Luevester was the daughter of Dennis Williams and (first wife) Ella Woodson. Dennis was the son of Harriet and Harmon Williams and Harriet was the Daughter of Mandi Williams

My dad was contacted yesterday by cousin Ruth. He had visited with Dean just last week when he made a trip to Detroit. We don't have any other details yet.

Please join us in praying for the family.
 

Samella Caldwell Coates

It is with great sadness that Descendants of Mandi announces the passing of Samella Caldwell Coates on Sunday December 14, 2008 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Samella was the daughter of Samuel Caldwell and Albertine Williams, Samella Caldwell Coates was the wife of James Baron Caldwell and the mother of Nadine Coates and Marlene Coates.

Samella was the grand daughter or Dennis Williams and first wife Ella Woodson, the great grand daughter of Harriet and Harmon Williams and the great great grand daughter of Mandi Williams.

We received the folowing note from her grand daughter Rachel Washington (which I exerpt here)...

"Thank you so much for your prayers. My grandmother passed last Sunday (December 14, 2008). She had been diagnosed with demensia and cervical cancer. She told the doctors and her daughter, Marlene that she was tired and wanted to go home to be with her husband and daughter. She was in hospice only two days. Cervical cancer is very painful. We are happy she didn't suffer too long. The only other info to give you is the location of the celebration. Her daughter, Marlene Simmons can be reached at (Phone numbers in St Louis, Mo.)

The service and burial will take place all in the same day, Monday, December 22, 2008. Viewing is only from 10am- 11am with the service immediately after.

Murchison Tabernacle Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
7629 Natural Bridge Road
Saint Louis, MO 63121

Services intrusted to:
GRANBERRY MORTUARY
8806 Jennings Station Rd
St Louis, MO 63136"

Please keep the family in your prayers.

Sad, distorted images of Chicago, Trinity and Barack Obama in TIME Magazine

Okay...I understand that Descendants of Mandi is a genealogy website--but I hope that anyone who comes across this post will bear with me. I feel that I MUST comment on the media barrage surrounding Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which has been much in the news of late in connecion with it's most famous member, Barack Obama. You know things have gotten bad when the mighty TIME Magazine decides to join Fox's negative pile-on, slamming Chicago's Black Community and attempting to denegrade Senator Barrack Obama because of statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his (and Trinity's) former pastor. I've taken special interest in the growing media frenzy...mostly because Obama is my Senator and I have visited his church on many occasions. To call TIME's coverage shallow is an understatement. The article was written by Lori Reese, a reporter who seems to have very limited knowledge of Chicago.

Checkout the original post at this link.
CLICK HERE

The article, which I reproduce here without permission, appeared under photos of Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the headline read

A Visit to Obama's Chicago Church

By LORI REESE/CHICAGO

The Trinity United Church of Christ vibrated with cheers throughout the four-hour Good Friday service. When the last of seven guest preachers, Rev. Rudolph McKissick, Jr. unleashed his anger against the recent media storm that catapulted Trinity to global notoriety, the crowd rose to their feet. McKissick thundered: "Fox News, CNN, ABC ... they're so stupid that they don't even know the word 'damn' is not a profanity but a Hebraic proclivity, meaning God's curse will fall on all those who defy his love. They know not with whom they are messing. Jeremiah Wright might have retired in body, but just like Jesus, he's coming back more powerful than ever! Damn you! Damn anyone who messes with the anointed." At that, a TUCC member leaned over and said to TIME with a sigh, "Well, I guess that one's on the record."

Pastors and congregation members alike had reason to think that. Media outlets had brought cameras, flashbulbs and crass questions to Trinity's doors for days and shocked the congregation with commentary that branded Rev. Wright Jr. a leader of a "black supremacist cult." The day's overwhelming message: This church will continue its ministry work — no matter who's watching or what they say. And it brought shouts and tears from the pews.

Barack Obama's recent perils were featured in sermons, too. Rev. Lester A. McCorn compared the candidate's recent trials to Michael Jordans performance in the 1997 NBA finals, when the basketball superstar seemed debilitated by fever but nevertheless joined the game and, though sluggish, took the ball with 24 seconds left on the clock and scored the winning three-point shot. "Swish, Barack! You are back in the game!" McCorn shouted to great applause.

The sermons focused primarily on healing wounds inflicted during the past few weeks. "It doesn't matter how anyone portrays you, Trinity," Rev. McKissick continued. "You know who you are. No one can take away your power to write your own destiny." Preachers called out numerous institutions — not just TV networks. African-American rappers that glamorize violence and sexist barbs in the name of "keeping it real" were the subject of vitriolic tirades, too. "Why, they're no better than prosperity-pimping preachers!" shouted Father Michael Pfleger, a popular white Catholic priest, whose messages have raised eyebrows among his own Church's leaders.

The bulk of Trinity-goers are among the thousands living on Chicago's South Side, a sprawl of cracked sidewalks and boarded buildings that inspires fear among the city's middle classes, and even its wizened cabbies. "You won't find a ride back," the taxi driver told this reporter upon arriving at the church. For South Side residents, the best jobs are two hours away via public transport: a bus, an el transfer, and then another bus brings you to Hyde Park, the area's lone upscale community. The few city-planning efforts to assist South Siders only worsened the situation. The most notorious were the Robert Taylor Homes, prison-like warrens with barred windows, circling police and neglected facilities that often left residents without electricity, heat and plumbing housed thousands until they finally came down in February 2007. The majority of those who died during the 1994 heat wave that killed more than 700 people were South Side residents. Before Katrina, it was the deadliest natural catastrophe in the U.S. since the 19th century. The morgues ran out of room. Bodies were piled in milk trucks.

With outreach programs and ministries, Trinity succeeds in providing more for the South Side than any other church, government or private institution. Rev. Luke Watson, another Good Friday speaker, credited Wright for guiding him away from life of crime, which started early with an absent father and a mother addicted to crack. "I was like that thug, the criminal next to Jesus," Rev. Watson said. "I thought, what's that guy doing here? He ain't done nothing. I'm the real sinner." Wright had taught him that God loves sinners, too. "I learned that I wasn't born bad," and then he spoke on the passage in Mark, when Jesus turns to the thief next to him on the cross and says, "Verily ... though shalt be with me." Good Friday marks the holiest day of the year for many African-American Christians, according to Dwight Hopkins, a theologian at University of Chicago's Divinity School. The "strange fruit" that swung from Southern trees bears striking resemblance to Roman crucifixion.

Trinity's own Roman-like architecture is unfamiliar for a church, which might explain why some outsiders found it cultish and strange. The congregation meets in a theater-in-the round, designed after secular buildings like the Parthenon and the U.S. Congress. Stained-glass windows flanking the entrance feature images of African-American leaders, not saints: W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. There is also a glass sculpture of a man resembling Obama. Above it, light streams through block-lettered words: "VOTE. We need YOU." For now at least, Trinity may offer the only refuge for South Siders longing to experience the blessing of democracy.

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My response to TIME:

I emailed the following letter to the editors at TIME...since they probably won't run it, I decided to reproduce it here.

Leave it to TIME to describe my South Side Chicago neighborhood in such dismal terms that it is absolutely unrecognizable. Simply stated, your article made my blood boil, but believe it or not, it is one of the few I've read lately that made even a feeble attempt at balance. Is it really fair to characterize the South Side with a housing project that has been torn down for more than five years? Or heat wave deaths that are more than 12 years old and killed people all over the city and metropolitan area? Is it balanced to profile former a self-professed "thug" without mentioning the row upon row of college educated congregants who also share Trinity's pews? I'm a graduate of University of Illinois, with a Masters Degree from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. When I visit Trinity, I am surrounded by many people whose educational achievements equal or outstrip my own. The cracked sidewalks we walk upon have more to do with our harsh winters than our "underclass" status. Thanks for following Fox's lead and piling on. Now that your contempt is on the record, maybe someone can follow up with a little balance ...real balance would be nice. I suggest that you send someone who knows a little bit about Chicago next time.

Sorry for the digression, but some things need to be said.

Lucille Caldwell, 1916-2008

Descendants of Mandi are saddened to announce the passing of Lucille Caldwell, 91, of St. Louis, Mo., on March 1, 2008. Lucille was the wife of the late Elvis Caldwell (JUL 16, 1912 - DEC 23, 2001). Her service was held on Fri., March 7, 2008, 11 a.m., Murchison Tabernacle C.M.E. Church in St. Louis. Arrangements were by Wade Funeral Home.

Elvis Caldwell was the son of Samuel Caldwell (?-1986) and Albertine Williams (1889-1971). His siblings were Samella Caldwell, Minnie Lue Caldwell, Cullen Caldwell (1917-1998), Mattie Bell Caldwell, Alfredia Caldwell, Joe Dennis Caldwell, Richard Caldwell.

They had two children named Marvin Caldwell and Elvis, Jr. Caldwell.

Elvis' mother Albertine Williams was born NOV 1889 in Haywood County TN. She died 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of Dennis Williams (1862-1947) and Ella Woodson (?-1899). Her siblings were Luevester Williams (1881-?), Jim Williams (1882-?), Minnie Williams (1884-?), Ella Williams (1887-?), Burl Thomas Williams (1888-?), Annie Williams, Rozelle Williams (1893-?), Magnolia Williams (1894-?), Mattie Ester Williams (1896-?).

We ask that you all join us in prayer for the members of the Caldwell family at this loss.

The Williams-Rivers Family Reunion 2008

The notices have gone out to selected family members announcing the 2008 Williams-Rivers Family Reunion. I am reproducing it here at the Descendants of Mandi webiste for those of us who are not on the official family mailing list. It will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on August 1, 2, and 3 2008 at the Marriott Hotel (Details about the host hotel are forthcoming).

It has been 30 years since the first family reunion in 1978 and the theme of the reunion is "30 Years Later". According to the initial announcement, the reunion will include a get aquainted night with videos of years gone by and a tour of Nashville as well as a formal banquet on Saturday night.Sunday will include church with our Nashville relatives at the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church where Julius Williams and Cloreace Williams Eppinger are the assistant pastor and associate pastor, repsectively.

Registration fees are as follows: $100.00 for adults 16 years olda nd up, $50.00 for children 6 to 15 years old, and children 5 years old and under are free. Registrations are being sent to the following Family Members: Lenford Carr, 94 W. Maple Street, Humboldt TN, 38343 (731-784-5565); Bunice Robinson, 16714 Kentfield, Detroit MI, 48219 (313-538-8673); Julius Williams, 1182 Mt. Vernon Lane, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122 (615-754-9978). The Reunion Committee is asking everyone to register by March 15, 2008. They are also asking that photos be sent to Bunice Robinson by April 1, 2008. T-shirts are being offered at $10.00 or youth sizes and $12.00 for adult sizes (cotact Julius Williams for t-shirts).

The Family Reuinion Commitee consists of the following members: Lenford Carr, Chairman, Bridgett Hill, Marquita Patterson, Bunice Robinson, Julius Williams, Cloreace Williams Eppinger, Costella Williams, Alphonso Williams, Clinton Williams, Curtis Williams, Eric Dickerson, William Carr, Vincent Carr, Nana Kweku Carr Asante.

African American Lives 2 on PBS

One of the more fascinating and inspiring shows to appear during the Black History Month cycle on PBS is AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a show which focuses on African American Genealogy from the perpective of a dozen black celebrities. We saw an earlier version of this show in 2007 and were struck with how similar the stories are to those within our own family. Genealogy is not everyone's bag, but we highly recommend this show.

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a new four-part PBS series, explores roots, race and identity through the ancestry of remarkable individuals. Premiering February 6th and 13th.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/aal2

Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, rock 'n' roll legend Tina Turner and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests.