DeWitty-Audacious is now officially in the history of Nebraska

DeWitty Marker

What a wonderful time we all enjoyed!  The fellowship was just so amazing!

Last Monday, April 11, 2016, the Historical Marker was officially installed that celebrates the importance of the DeWitty African-American Settlement in a ceremony attended by close to 200 people. DeWitty was the longest lasting African-American, most successful rural settlement in all of, Nebraska.

Parked cars lined the side of the highway. Elementary and college students stood with bright eyes filled with interest and wonder. Many traveled from the various Ranches of the surrounding areas including Brownlee, Seneca, and Thedford. Valentine residents also came to learn, share and enjoy the greatness of the occasion.  This occasion was a culmination of a lot of research, phone calls, fundraising and reaching out to the families of the homesteaders and the Sand Hill communities.

The great Ladies of Brownlee prepared a scrumptious midday meal to be enjoyed after the ceremony in the Brownlee Community Center.  Sonny Hanna spearheaded a tour of the Sand Hills taking many of the descendants to the land their ancestors once made their homes and many were still interned there.

 

Emanuel buriel ground
Emanuel Burial Grounds
Emanuel foundation
Emanuel Home Foundation
Walker & Hatter property
View of Hatter and Walker Homesteads
Grandson & NLoopRiver
Grandson walking the land of his Ancestors
North Loop Pam
Beauty of the Sandhills in April

 

DSC_4420 Rev.Khadijah Matin gave the invocationDSC_4417

Stew Magnuson, author of Hwy 83, “The Last American Highway”, was the master of ceremony and spearheaded The Descendants of DeWitty Team (Catherine Meehan Blount, Joyceann Gray, and Marcia Thompkins) in the making of this dream come to fruition. The great folks at the Cherry County Historical Society and the Nebraska State Historical Society quickly approved the application for the marker. And so it began, raising the money, buying plane tickets, gathering up old photographs as the excitement increased daily until 17 descendants came from all over the country to reconnect with a place that feels like home! They came representing the homesteaders who many traveled over 1700 miles from Canada and more from Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia to settle in the Sand Hills taking advantage of the Homesteader Act of 1862 and the amended Kinkaiders Act of 1904.

What is so important about this community is the bond between African American homesteaders of DeWitty and their white counterparts in Brownlee. The two communities were very isolated back then and despite differences of heritage and beginnings, they enjoyed a civil and caring relationship that continues up to this day. “Something the rest of America should learn from” stated local resident Shelley Christiansen. Ron Lee also voiced his opinion: “As far as race relations…I will say this..there was not one single person there at that dedication ceremony who was anything different than anyone else. We were just all people celebrating a time in the past where everyone worked together, And, though we’re not neighbors now, land-wise or ownership of the land-wise, we’re still neighbors. Lyn & Bruce Messersmith, Bree & Martin DeNaeyer, Byron & Mary Eatinger,and Ann Manning-Warren to just name a few of who open wide the doors of hospitality.

Lyn & Bruce Messersmith, Bree & Martin DeNaeyer, Byron & Mary Eatinger,and Ann Manning-Warren to just name a few of who open wide the doors of hospitality.

In the audience were some students that were taught by Goldie Walker Hayes, goldies-classroomcropped-goldie-hayes.jpga renown teacher throughout the area. She is our maternal grandmother. They expressed their fond memories and shared so many pleasing stories of her grace, beauty,  teaching ability and her kindness. This was so heartfelt and enriching for us who lost her while we were just small children.

Catherine, the granddaughter of Hester and Charles Meehan, spoke of the homesteaders struggles and delights and recited a poem her Dad wrote at age 17, speaking of an old footbridge across the North Loop River.

20160411_110421 Yours truly, granddaughter of Roy and Goldie Hayes reminded the crowd: “Although the town was reclaimed by the land the legacy of the homesteaders carries on for they were a success!  This town was not a failure. It wasn’t an experiment; it didn’t wither away because people couldn’t handle the weather – it was a testament to their vision. Which is to set roots down in a foundation for educating their children and giving them a chance at the American dream.”  

We found our great grandfather, one of the original homesteaders 

 WILLIAM PARKER WALKERWilliam P. Walker Grave Stone William P. Walker’s burial plot in the Brownlee Cemetery.

20160411_105631
  Mother & Daughter Sharing the Experience

 

 

Charlotte Woodson (Granddaughter of Charlotte Riley Walker) with her daughter, Marcia Thompkins granddaughter of Boss Woodson, Rancher and Fernnella Walker Woodson, also a teacher in the county districts expressed her joy: “It WAS an awesome day!      We, the descendants, made great connections, saw pictures we hadn’t seen before, heard more stories from the warm and welcoming people of the community that we hadn’t heard before, toured the land, found our ancestors resting places… I could go on and on! My life has been enriched beyond expectation, and I am forever positively changed!”

Decedants of DeWitty2016

 

BackRow: Delbert DeWitty, (nephew of the Postmaster), Hershel Riley, Byron DeWitty, Artes Johnson& brother Maurice, (Grandson’s of Corena Walker- Williams) Garland Miles (Riley)  Middle Row: Rev. Khadijah Matin, (Granddaughter of Roy and Goldie Hayes) Catherine Meehan-Blount, Jacob & Leah Ferrell, 3x Great grandchildren of William P. Walker, William Pegg, (Grandson of Roy and Goldie Hayes), Emerald Miles (Riley,) Phyllis Brown Denise Brown (descendants of Radford Speese, older brother of Charles Speese.) Joyceann Gray, (Hayes and Walker descendant).  Seated front Row: Charlotte Woodson (Granddaughter of Charlotte Riley Walker) and her daughter Marcia Thompkins.

Browlee Community HallAnd so we  met back up at the Brownlee Community Center and ate a delicious meal and chatted and shared while Ann Manning-Warren gave us a trip down memory lane!

 

Words from Lyn Messersmith, whose family opened their homes to us: 4/27/2016

The Lay of the Land

By Lyn Messersmith 

Build It and They Will Come

They got it backward, but it worked. A group of  Canadian-born Black families, former slaves, and their descendants came to a desolate and lonely region in the Nebraska Sandhills and built a community they called DeWitty, later renamed Audacious. Six hundred and forty acres seemed like a lot; surely enough to survive on, perhaps even prosper. Prosperity probably wasn’t a concept they dwelt on, so much as survival. That’s how it was in those days, and you didn’t have to be Black to know hard times in the hills. There were neighbors who understood that and welcomed them. The little town of Brownlee, a dozen or so miles downriver, had amenities that served the newcomers until they established businesses of their own, and interactions continued in the form of competitions at rodeos, baseball games and Independence Day celebrations. Brownlee had a community hall, and DeWitty had music makers, so there were dances too.

DeWitty residents were strong for education, which eventually contributed to the demise of the community. Young people went away to college, became doctors, teachers, ministers, and writers and the elders finally drifted away too, but memories of those years lingered around Brownlee and became the legend as I was growing up nearby. My dad and his peers spoke names like Speese, Riley, Turner, Hayes, and Woodson, with admiration and respect.

Stew Magnuson, an author with Sandhills roots, has traveled Highway 83 many times and chronicled the people and places along that route in a series of books. He became fascinated by stories about DeWitty, and recently spearheaded a project to raise funds for a historical marker about it.

On April 11, 2016, nearly two hundred people gathered at the marker for a dedication. Descendants of DeWitty came from both coasts and everywhere in between, and my family was privileged to host several of them. Sandhillers traveled more than a hundred miles to honor our common roots, and the ladies of Brownlee and surrounding communities put on a “Y’all come” feed in that old community hall. The rancher who owns much of the ground where DeWitty stood organized a tour for those who cared to see where their ancestors had settled, and others uncovered buried grave markers in the Brownlee Cemetery for family members to photograph.

As our guests departed for various destinations, they said the weekend had given them closure, and they felt like they had, in some sense, come home. I felt closer to my own family and more proud than ever of my heritage and neighbors.

Many people snapped pictures during that celebration, but I carry mine in my head; of women carrying more chairs to the community hall to accommodate overflow crowds, of a man with a shovel uncovering gravestones and a rancher’s plane sitting in a meadow near the marker. Of people walking half a mile back to their cars after the ceremony because of limited parking at the highway site, and children from a nearby school eating sack lunches brought along on the field trip.

DeWitty is gone, and Brownlee nearly so, but the spirit of neighborliness is not. There are memories of moments less proud in the minds of descendants on both sides, but healing is possible, and the marker celebration is proof of that.

A group of locals leaned on parked vehicles outside the Brownlee community hall and visited while waiting for the room to go in and eat. A thought came to me as we stood there, and as we drove away. It lingers now, as I look back on the event.

“If these walls could talk…”

 

(slightly edited by J.Gray)

Thursday, Elsie and Polly

            A few days ago, I was on my back porch, and I noticed a lovely butterfly landing on one of the plants. Wow, I wonder if she’ll stay long enough for me to go get my camera?? I dashed into the house, and, of course, the camera wasn’t ready. I had to stop and put the SD card back in. Feeling a bit deflated because I was taking so long, I just knew that the beautiful butterfly would be long gone. But I headed back out to where I saw it and low and behold she was still there!! As I snapped picture after picture I talked gently to her.

2015-07-08 09.22.27

 

2015-07-08 09.22.44

Black and beautiful as can be!

            She was just fluttering from plant to plant, then holding still at times and posing for me. I was so excited for I had heard that when butterflies come to you they are in fact your ancestors coming to say hello with a meaning we have to find. Then later that day I went out to get the mail and up from the small group of flowers at the base of the mailbox stand, came two pure white butterflies. They both flew all around me as I walked back up towards the house. I changed my mind and veered off the driveway towards my small vegetable garden to see what was growing. The White butterflies continued to fly around in front of me. I saw there were string beans and a large green tomato that I wanted to harvest, so I headed back towards the house to get a bowl. Those butterflies followed me right up to the front door. Of course (as usual), as I entered the houseI got distracted, I changed shoes and went into my office and sat down at the computer. On top of papers directly under the computer screen; was a form from the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center. My intention was to fill it out and request a copy of any records available for Polly Johnson, (paternal our great-grandmother). As I reached for a pen, I picked up the phone instead and called the number listed on the form.

            I spent almost an hour on the phone with a lovely young lady Katie, who guided my search through various links and what we found…well I just had to take a moment and breath….I didn’t realize until then that I had been holding my breath and gritting my teeth so hard my jaw began to ache. Finally, after getting my breathing under control, I said a prayer of thanks, both to God and to the Butterflies!

Freedmen records- Polly JohnsonFreedmen records- THURSDAY

            These two images are Polly Johnson’s enrollment card as a Creek Freedmen qualifying her for payment of 40 acres we found.  Sadly, though it states that Polly was not mentally well enough to speak for herself. Her cousin Sally Roberts gave witness on her behalf.  The back of her card (to the right) list Polly’s father; “Thursday” listed as a Seminole Freedmen, and her mother Elsie Doyle a full blood Creek. Other records support her mother’s bloodline.

                Now I believe I understand why I couldn’t find our names on the rolls. Polly born 1845, was registered on the 1865 Dunn rolls before her first child was born, by the time the Dawes rolls were put in place (1906-1907) Polly had seen such hardship we hesitate to imagine. Her husband had died,  left her penniless with five children, then her brother moved in as a widow, invalid and with two young daughters. As 1900 rolled in she was still struggling to make ends meet. Living with her extended family in a boarding house and washing clothes for 10-12 hours each day, seven days a week for so little pay. By 1903, Polly was in poor health, just plain worn out and with the help of Sally Roberts her cousin and other family members they moved her to Oklahoma nearer to her family. Her children were all grown and gone on to find their way in life, but she had her daughter Ida and many other family members to count on. Her oldest was John Grant Pegg, married to the former Mary Charlotte Page of Kansas, father, and a respected Republican in Omaha employed by the Mayor as the Weights and Measures Inspector. Her daughters Ida and Maggie both married and with families of their own. Not sure what happened to Robert but Bayless her second son by this time was up north with younger brother Charles homesteading on their cattle ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska. They eventually gave up the harsh life and Charles first moved to Illinois then onto Oakland, CA and Bayless moved to Chicago, IL.

Listed as a Freedmen was a mixed bag for many, it must have felt like being the ball in a ping-pong tournament First the mixed blood was accepted, and then the Five Tribes declared them noncitizens. This argument has continued to present day. Can the descendants of the mix blood and slaves of the Indians be counted as citizens of the Indian Nation, can they have the rights and privileges, voting and such?

So now what we do know is Polly Johnson’s father was Thursday and her mother Elsie Doyle and her cousin is Sally Roberts with a younger cousin Sid Kernel!     Not bad for a phone call on a hot afternoon!

There is much more to this story, please follow me and get my updates.

Mvto (Thank you) for reading my Latest News!

 Joyceann

Happy Birthday Wishes!!

January

This is a busy month for birthday’s of those with us and those of us that we honor and remember!

Jan 1, 1914 – Neal (O’Neil) Page                            Jan 2,  1843 – Dolly Ann Irvin

                                                                                         1922 – Albert Riley Jr.

Jan 3, 1882 – Catherine L. Travis                           Jan 5 – Ibrahim Matin

Jan 6, 1876 – Sara Elizabeth                                   Jan 7 – Clymtene M. Brooks

Jan 8 – Monique                                                    Jan 9, 1853 – George W. Hatter

              1920 – Zelma F. Riley                                        1893 – Gordon W. Shreve

              1921 – Harold Wm. Stith                                    1885 – Samuel H. Travis  

 1875 – Theodora Epps

1917 – Kenneth M. Hayes

Jan 11, 1910 – Richard L. Reed, Jr.                     Jan 13 – Jehan Mesidor

            1934 – Leonard D. Shreve                                    1844 – Mary E. (Eliza) Brown

            1903 – Baldwin W. Walker                                   1858– Charlotte B. Hatter

            1866 – Jeanette Watts                                          1913 – Vera Mae Robbins

Jan 15, 1849 – Lewis Thompson Forte                 Jan 16, 1909 – William T. Carter

Jan 17, 1912 – Dwight E. Stith, Dr.                                 1883 – Tipton Tip Fugate

1828 – Elizabeth A. Tofflemire

Jan 18, 1872 – Felix Franklin Shreve           Jan 21, 1872 – Charles W. L. Travis

             1891 – Dennis E. Walker               Jan 22, 1877 – Jasper R. Thompson, Dr.

Jan 19, 1878 – Ina Lizella Thomas              Jan 24, 1948 – Dexter Rodney Hatter

Jan 20 – Marilyn Morton                                         1849 – Matilda Hatter

Thornton Hatter                                                                    Jan 25 – Teddy Hayes

               1867- Mary Jane Brooks                                     Marcia T. Thompkins

1878 – Grace Dureen Fox                           Jan 29 – Derrick Vaughn

1873 – Wm. Nelson Searight                                        1867 – Lessie Mary Cason

                                                                                    1884 – Mollie Thompson

                                                                                    1866 – Elizabeth E. Watts

**   Honor and remebered (With No exact day in January)

1820 – Ephriam Kersey                                                        1879 – Mable Nixon

1832 – Sarah Ann Travis                                                      1880 – Abraham Shreeves

1836 – Richard Page                                                             1883 – Noomie Tillery

1854 – Mary Isabella Kersey                                                 1888 – Austin C. Proctor

1855 – Louis McDade                                                          1889 – Blanch Tillery

1857 – Phoebe Arlena Brooks                                              1890 – Henrietta McDade

1879 – Mable Nixon                                                             1891 – Ethel Tillery

1882 – Della Jones                                                               1892 – Maybelle Carter

1881 – John T. Mc Campbell                                                           Britton Mc Dade

1882 – Britton McDade                                                        1896 – Annie R. Hatter

Charles B. Woodson, Sr.                                           Mosella Brooks

1862 – Jacob Mc Intosh                                                                 Herbert Staten

                                    1898 – Eva May Carter

                                     1899 – Harer Johnston

Who are my cousins?

The following article was recently noted in Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. 

A term often found in genealogy is “removed,” specifically when referring to family relationships. Indeed, almost everyone has heard of a “second cousin once removed,” but many people cannot explain that relationship. Of course, a person might be more than once removed, as in third cousin, four times removed.

In short, the definition of cousins is two people who share a common ancestor. Here are a few definitions of cousin relationships:

First Cousin: Your first cousins are the people in your family who have at least one of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin: Your second cousins are the people in your family who share the same great-grandparent with you.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins: Your third cousins share at least one great-great-grandparent, fourth cousins share a great-great-great-grandparent, and so on.

Removed: When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. “Once removed” indicates a difference of one generation, “twice removed” indicates a difference of two generations, and so forth.

For example, the child of your first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. That is, your cousin’s child would be “almost” your first cousin, except that he or she is one generation removed from that relationship. Likewise, the grandchild of your first cousin is your first cousin, twice removed (two generations removed from being a first cousin).

Many people confuse the term “first cousin, once removed” with “second cousin.” The two are not the same.

Keep in mind that you and a relative only need to share one grandparent to be first cousins, or share one great-grandparent to be second cousins, etc. If the ancestor in question had more than one spouse and the two of you are descended from different spouses, you are full cousins. There is no such thing as a “half cousin” although you will hear people use that term occasionally.

The following consanguinity chart may help to explain the relationships:

Cousins Table: A cousin is someone who shares a common ancestor with you. Use this chart to determine your relationship.

Find your     ancestor here →


Find your cousin’s ancestor here ↓

Grand-

parents

G-

Grand-

parents

GG-

Grand-

parents

GGG-

Grand-

parents

GGGG-

Grand-

parents

Grand-

parents

1st cousins 1st cousins

1x removed

1st cousins

2x removed

1st cousins

3x removed

1st cousins

4x removed

G-

Grand-

parents

1st cousins

1x removed

2nd cousins 2nd cousins

1x removed

2nd cousins

2x removed

2nd cousins

3x removed

GG-

Grand-

parents

1st cousins

2x removed

2nd cousins

1x removed

3rd cousins 3rd cousins

1x removed

3rd cousins

2x removed

GGG-

Grand-

parents

1st cousins

3x removed

2nd cousins

2x removed

3rd cousins

1x removed

4th cousins 4th cousins

1x removed

GGGG-

Grand-

parents

1st cousins

4x removed

2nd cousins

3x removed

3rd cousins

2x removed

4th cousins

1x removed

5th cousins

In the above chart, go across the top to find your ancestor: great-grandfather.
Next, go down the left column to find your cousin’s relationship to the same person: great-great-grandfather.

Now notice where the two intersect in the above chart: you and your new cousin are actually second cousins, once removed.

You may prefer to use an automated online tool to determine relationships. Ancestor Search has one that we found simple to use. Take a look athttp://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/cousincalculator.html

Here are a few other terms you may encounter when determining relationships:

HALF – Means you share only one parent. Example: half-brothers may have the same father but different mothers, etc.

STEP – Not blood kin, but a close legal relationship due to re-marriage of a parent, such as step-mother, step-brother, step-son, etc.

DOUBLE FIRST COUSINS – Are first cousins twice, once on your father’s side and once on your mother’s side, since your father’s sibling married your mother’s sibling.

IN-LAW – They are not really blood kin but are treated as such because they married blood kin.

Example: Your mother-in-law is not really your mother but is treated as such because you married her daughter/son. In law, you and your spouse are considered “one”. Also your brother-in-law is your brother because your parents are also his parents, in “law” (mother-in-law, father-in-law, etc.).

KITH and KIN – “Kith” are friends and acquaintances whereas “Kin” are blood relatives or someone treated as such, in law.

By the way, it is estimated that everyone has approximately 4 trillion 20th cousins! In other words, everyone is related to nearly everyone else.

By Julie Collins on Categories: Genealogy