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    African-American Life in Sumner County
    African-American Life in Sumner County
    African-American Life in Sumner County
    Ebook199 pages30 minutes

    African-American Life in Sumner County

    By Velma Howell Brinkley and Mary Huddleston Malone

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    About this ebook

    Early African Americans in Sumner County, both slaves and free, left a legacy not only of beautiful brick buildings and sturdy stone fences, but also a social history as rich and varied as the many tribes they represented. This exciting book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the immeasurable contributions, undeniable services, and the devotion of black Americans to the evolution of Sumner County's communities. Many of the sienna-hued photographs and Civil War-era tintypes presented here were taken when folks wore their Sunday best and didn't smile for the camera. These images, many never before published, capture everything from a "creek baptism" and bonnet worn by a local slave, to views of families and schoolchildren. The volume covers most of the early settlements in Sumner County where African Americans largely resided, from
    Rockland and Avondale to Scattersville, Parker's Chapel, and Gallatin.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439622995
    African-American Life in Sumner County
    Author

    Velma Howell Brinkley

    Author Velma Howell Brinkley is an active member of many community organizations, including the Sumner County Historical Society. Mary Huddleston Malone has provided assistance with the production of this book. Their previous book, Generations, was received with great acclaim in 1996.

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      Book preview

      African-American Life in Sumner County - Velma Howell Brinkley

      classroom.

      INTRODUCTION

      Sumner County was created by the North Carolina General Assembly on November 17, 1786. It was named in honor of Gen. Jethro Sumner, a North Carolina soldier of the American Revolution. At its creation, Sumner County was bounded on the west by Davidson County, on the north by the Virginia-North Carolina state line, and on the east and south by Native American territories. Sumner and Davidson were the only two counties in existence in what is now known as Middle Tennessee.

      Present-day Tennessee had been a part of North Carolina until 1790, when North Carolina gave up her territory west of the mountains to the U.S. government. For the next six years (1790–1796), the territory’s official name was the Territory of the United States of America South of the River Ohio. William Blount (English by birth) of North Carolina was appointed governor of the Southwest Territory by President George Washington.

      Slaves entered Sumner County much like they had entered the Jamestown Settlement (1619) many years earlier—in human bondage and chains. The first significant number of slaves reached Sumner County in the late eighteenth century from North Carolina. They came in shackles and chains in the company of their immigrant owners as burden bearers. As agricultural pursuits grew, so did the desire for slave labor. This increased need for slaves was met in one of the following ways: (1) the slave trader; (2) native born, or slaves born in Sumner County; and (3) estate or private sale. Unlike others, who were drawn across the mountains by the promise of freedom, opportunity, and free government land, Africans came in shackles to provide the labor for the founding fathers’ dream of a New Republic.

      In Sumner County, we have witnessed renewed interest and effort by black people in preserving their recent history and culture, although many of these attempts have gone unnoticed. African Americans and others on a national level have been trying, with varying degrees of success, to preserve black history since the early 1800s when many slave narratives were first being published. Later, in the 1870s, there were communities of free blacks which gave rise to black newspapers and literary societies. Our past teaches us and guides us toward our future. Through the passage of time, however, our historical documents, photographs, and other resources are growing increasingly fragile. We must hasten our preservation efforts despite a lack of resources, neglect, powerlessness, indifference, and other obstacles.

      The fact that African Americans lack a thorough knowledge of self continues to take a devastating toll upon the black family. The 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, did little to restore one’s identity past the plantation experience. The overwhelming majority of black Americans know very little about the land of their ancestors—their tribes, customs, and ways of seeing and doing things—because of the long enslavement experience in the New World.

      Historian Dr. John Henrik Clark said, History is a clock that people use to tell the cultural and political time of day. It is also a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. Black children need to know that their ancestors created the first civilization and the great cultures of the Nile Valley, Nubia, the Sudan, Ethiopia, Southern Africa, and Mesopotamia. They need to know their genetic connection to a vibrant legacy of perseverance, survival, and triumph. The African American is in peril today, partly because he has not learned his own true history, nor has he learned the inherent lessons contained therein. As a result, each generation grapples with issues and problems their forebears resolved and continues making the same mistakes. History is indeed the clock by which we reckon time, place, and contribution within the stream of human existence. African and African American contributions to the tapestry have been great. People of African heritage must learn and embrace them!

      We hope this pictorial account will lead the reader to an increased awareness of significant contributions made by local African Americans. Every effort was made to avoid a dry, standardized chronology of name, date, and event; this book deals instead with the uniqueness of each entrant. The main focus, of course, is on the people of Sumner County: people at work, people at play, civic-minded citizens, slaves; the prominent as well as the unknown. In addition, the chapter entitled Artifacts and Remembrances presents images which show how black people have evolved from the yoke of slavery to the boardrooms of today. This is not, and was not meant to be, a comprehensive history of a people. It is, instead, the telling of a unique story through pictures.

      One

      EDUCATION

      Today, just as in 1946, black students need and want teachers who believe they can learn and who expect them to learn. Under the capable leadership of Peter Rucker, principal, these black educators became bridge builders in the field of

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