Daughter Alversa wrote this short account of the descendants of Great Grandma Mandi. In her imagination, she can visualize what may have happened over two hundred years ago somewhere in Africa. As a young girl in her midteens, Mandi was perhaps going about some daily routine or maybe participating with others in some village activity when she was set upon by scouts for slave buyers, captured, bound and brought to some place in South Carolina, leaving forever her parents and thirteen brothers and sisters.
[Mandi's abduction in 1821 is significant because the United States slave trade -- formerly centered in Rhode Island -- had ended in 1807, the first opportunity Congress had to address the question of abolition, as agreed to in the compromise between Northern and Southern states when writing the Constitution in 1787. It is no secret that after the "official" end of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807, Charleston, South Carolina became the "un-official" center for the continuing black market of newly imported African slaves. Check out the outstanding documentation available on South Carolina's Information Highway (SCIway) which details the harsh realities of the South Carolina Slave Trade--written by Michael Trinkley of the Chicora Foundation. Also, re-visit the horrors of the Middle Passage which had to be survived just to begin the life of slavery.--ejw]
She (Alversa) remembers Papa (Dennis) saying that she told them she was bought by a man named Rayner for $250.00. Being tall, dark and heavy, she was put to work in the fields. Later, as often happened to a defenseless slave woman, she gave birth to a half-white baby, after the master (or some other white man) had forced himself upon her. It was from this baby, named Harriet Elizabeth, that Mandi's lineage expanded.
[It is very likely that Mandi was mother to more than one child, but due to the cruelty of the institution of slavery which routinely broke families apart, Harriet was the only child that she was allowed to keep and raise. The 1870 census does later show Mandi living as head of household with another possible child named Ellen Williams. Because Ellen is listed as being 15 years old and Mandi is 65 years old, it seems unlikely that this is a natural child--it is possibly someone that Mandi has adopted and raised as a daughter--maybe another former "resident" of the Williams or Thum plantations.--ejw]
Sometime during the early 1840's, Harriet married Harmon, a light skinned man, probably of the same plantation. He was a man of large stature, very strong and proud. Papa said that he remembered his mother describing him as a very intelligent man with high ideals, and that in spite of the danger, he did not hesitate to speak out against the injustices placed upon them as Black people. He was a natural leader who found it difficult to accept the position forced upon him as a slave. It was because of his bravery and strong sense of manhood that he would later have to leave his family.
Grandma Harriet was a very quiet person. Aunt Alversa remembers her well since she was 8 years old when she died. She often played with them and talked about things that had happened. She liked to cook.
About the middle of the 1850's, a slave holder by the name of Williams from Henning, Tennessee (Lauderdale County) came to South Carolina and purchased them from Rayner. There were taken by a 7 or 8 wagon train caravan with their 2 small boys, Jerry and Wash(ington), and great Grandma Mandi. The Williams' owned a plantation and general store in Henning. There, at the big house, Grandma Harriet was the cook. Grandpapa Harmon and Grandma Mandi worked in the fields.
Grandpapa Harmon and Grandmama Harriet were the parents of three sons: Jerry, Wash(ington) and Dennis, and one daughter, Hannah. Another son, Burl, was born to Harriet later by another marriage.
After Harriet was born, it was obvious that she was fathered by a white man (probably the master). Grandpa Harmon, being the proud man that he was, apparently, in some way, protested this abuse of his wife. As a result, one day seven white men went to the field where he was plowing to whip him. Since he was a very strong man and also alert, he outwitted them, quickly took the single tree from the play, beat all seven of them off and ran away. He eluded the captors for many weeks, through fields and across the waters. Later news came that he had been over taken and slain near the Ohio River as he attempted to cross.
[We have since been told that although he was reported as captured and killed, it is quite likely that Harmon survived his run for freedom--especially since there was never any corpse brought back and displayed to discourage other would-be runaways. We are told that often when the posse sent out to retrieve the runaway slave was unable to find him, they simply waited a few weeks, and then reported back to the others that he / she had been caught at the edge of the Ohio River (the border of freedom) and killed. The fact that this is powerful negative symbolism is obvious. The psychological effect would be nearly the same as stringing up a body. It would discourage any further runaways and destroy any dreams his or her loved ones might have--imagining their runaway living free somewhere.--ejw]
In 1865, the Civil War ended and slavery was over. Harmon, the father and head of the family was now gone. Slain because of his rebellion against the degradation of slavery, he had missed the victory that was to come so soon after his death. Now freed, Harriet moved her family from the Williams plantation in Haywood County to a section called the "Watkins Quarter." They could now begin their lives as freedmen.
Sometime later, Harriet married a man named Rivers, the father of Burl. All of the four brothers and one sister lived to adulthood, married and lived full lives, raising their families by hard work and devotion. They were all farmers, although some possessed other skills as well.
Jerry, the oldest, was born in 1848 in South Carolina. He was a brown-skinned man of medium height and very stocky build. He was a member of St. John Baptist Church were he as a deacon and a devout worker. He married Sallie Miller on October 13, 1874 and they lived near Stanton, TN where they brought up their twelve children: Nellie, Liza Jane, Melissa, Emmaline, Anna, Mary Helen, Lucy Harriet, Sam, Eugene, Jerry Jr., Roger and Jasper. In later years, His children took him to Memphis where he died in October of 1923 at the age of 75. Although all of his children lived to adulthood, all are deceased now.
Wash(ington) was born in South Carolina about 1855. He was light complexioned, of average height and was well-built. He was a ferryman on the Big Hatchie River. He married Alice Short on October 13, 1874. She was the cousin of Jerry's wife, Sallie. They had four sons and four daughters: Willis, Dave, Joe, Ned, Zoda, Betty, Lucy and Parthenia. At the time of his death (between 1915 and1920) he was 59 years old. Two of his children, Dave of Jackson, MS and Betty King of Brownsville, TN, are still living. [As of the date of this writing in 1988 or so--ejw]
Dennis, (Papa, as his children called him) was born April 6, 1862, in Henning, TN. Aunt Alversa recalls hearing him saying that he was three years old when slavery ended. He was of reddish hue and of medium height and weight. A skilled and resourceful man, he was a timber contractor, sorghum mill operator and carpenter. He built his home, as well as two others, on his 95 acre farm for two of his children after their marriages. A philanthropist, he assisted other farmers in building their houses and helped others financially and otherwise. He was an active, respected leader of Koko Community (between Brownsville and Somerville) and belonged to the Order of Knights of Pythias. He was an outspoken man and an avid reader. He subscribed to various periodicals and newspapers, including Marcus Garvey's Negro World. He was a member of Prospect C.M.E. Church where he held various offices. He was a devoted family man and a good provider. He had a daughter, Lucy, whose mother, Leona Miller, died in childbirth. He and his first wife, Ella Woodson, were the parents of three sons and seven daughters: Luevester, Jim, Minnie, Ella, Albertine, Burl Thomas and Annie (twins), Rozelle, Magnolia and Mattie Ester. His wife died in 1899 when the youngest child was three years old.
He married Luella Short on November 19, 1904. She was the second cousin of Sallie and Alice, the wives of Jerry and Wash. To this union, 9 children, 7 sons and 2 daughters were born: Eodes, R.T., Donald, O.Z., Alversa, Valentine, Lemuel, Semuel and Harmon. Dennis died on July 12, 1947 at the age of 85. Of his chiidren, only 2 are still living - Alversa Lee, Memphis, TN [Alversa passed on October 09, 2007, at 96 years old--ejw] and Harmon, Stanton, TN [Harmon passed in December 1996, 5 days short of his 88th birthday--ejw]. The last house that was built there in 1905 has burned.
Hannah, the only daughter, was born in Henning about 1864. She was of such light complexion that she could have passed as white. She was short and heavy of stature. She was loved by everyone and was always kind and ready to do a good deed. She lived and raised her family near Koko and belonged to St. John Baptist Church which she loved and attended as often as she could. She and her husband, Green Perry, were the parents of 6 sons and 2 daughters: Trealeus (Trip), Jessie, John, Mattie, Tom, Arch, Leora and Granville. She died in 1939 in Brownsville at about 75 years of age. All of her children lived to adulthood, but are now deceased.
Burl was born June 10, 1870. He was darker brown skinned and very tall. An avid hunter and a sharp shooter, he would often go to the woods in the morning and bring back 15 or 20 squirrels. He was a trapper of raccoons and 'possums as well as a good fisherman. He was a jovial man, full of fun, often playing pranks on the children. He raised his family in Haywood County in a section called "Over the Creek". He belonged to Good Hope Baptist Church. Burl married Harriet Miller. To them 6 children were born--Four daughters and 2 sons; Evelyn, Mannie, walter, Willie, Alcester and Martha Ann. Later, he married Canzada Turner, one daughter, Edna was born to this union. In later years Edna took him to St. Louis to live with her. He died there in 1963 at age 93. All of his children reached adulthood and one is still living Edna Williamson, St. Louis, MO.
The children of Harriet and Harmon Williams' offspring have multiplied, raising their own children and those in turn their own, and so on; until now there are 9 generations since Mandi. These descendants have made and are making their contributions in many ways. Having inherited the spirit of resistance that fired the souls of our forefathers, some have made an impact on society as participants in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960' s, continuing the fight for the principles of justice and freedom. Some have entered such professions as: business, industry, law, education, ministry, farming, nursing, real estate, music, entertainment, social sciences, government services and other fields, carrying on the tradition of the family as a unit of strength and holding on to the values and ideals set forth so long ago.
Alversa Williams Lee
4th Generation
Daughter of Dennis Williams
[Notes by Eric J. Williams
6th Generation
Great-grandson of Dennis Williams
Great-great-great-grandson of Mandi]
Descendants of Mandi / An African American Genealogy Website created with GEDitCOM for Macintosh. / Exported using 'Pedigree Website' style and 'Standard Website' style. / Date: 13 May 2005 / Initial gedcom files were built with Family Tree Maker 2005 for Windows / Date: 4 May 2005 / GEDCOM File: Williams-Rivers2.GED / © 1978-2005 Williams-Rivers Family Association / Bibliography of this Website's Sources
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