Archive for the ‘Research’ Category
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Washington Family at Wessyngton Plantation
On June 19th members of the Washington family visited Wessyngton Plantation as part of their family reunion. The tour included a visit to the mansion, Washington family cemetery, and a restored slave cabin. Family members descend from Temperance Washington born 1795, who was enslaved on the plantation along with her son Sam and daughter Jane in 1815. Sam Washington born 1812 married Jane Hadley 1835-1916. After emancipation the Washington family remained in the Cedar Hill, Tennessee area. Members of the family were instrumental in establishing the St. James Baptist Church in Cedar Hill. On June 20th the church celebrated its anniversary where numerous Washington descendants still worship. These members descend from Sam and Jane’s children: Nelson Washington, Irvin Washington, Temperance Washington Sherrod, and Betty Washington Smothers.
Tags: African American History, Cedar Hill Tennessee, Slavery, St. James Baptist Church, Washington family, Washington family reunion, Wessyngton Farms
Posted in Civil War, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 3 Comments »
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
In addition to touring the grounds surrounding the Wessyngton mansion, National Black Arts Festival members and guests walked in the footsteps of Baker’s ancestor in the slave cabin area of the plantation. The group went inside a restored slave cabin built ca. 1830. In 1860, there were 274 enslaved African Americans on the plantation, housed in forty log cabins. At the onset of the Civil War, Wessyngton held the largest African American population in the state of Tennessee and was the largest tobacco producer in America.
Tags: African History, Antebellum Plantation, black history, Civil War, Dr. Collette Hopkins, National Black Arts Festival, plantation slavery, Plantations, Slave cabins, Slave Housing, Slave Labor, Slave Life, Southern Plantation, Tennessee slavery, Wessyngton mansion
Posted in Book Tour & Reviews, Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 3 Comments »
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Today I had the honor of conducting a study group tour of Wessyngton Plantation for Dr. Collette Hopkins, Director of the National Black Arts Festival of Atlanta, along with a number of her colleagues and distinguished guest. The tour included a visit to the Wessyngton mansion, Washington family cemetery, and a former slave cabin. Participants were told about the lives of enslaved African American on the largest tobacco plantation in America and walked in their footsteps.
The above photo was taken at the entrance gate to Wessyngton Plantation where I was told as a small child by my grandfather that was where my ancestors came from. The interest in my family’s history led me on a thirty year journey of discovery and the writing of The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Journey to Freedom.
Tags: African American Slave Life, African History, black history, Civil War, Dr. Collette Hopkins, family research, National Black Arts Festival, President Washington, Washington Family Cemetery, Wessyngton Study Group Tour, Wessynton Mansion
Posted in Book Tour & Reviews, Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Journey to Freedom has been released in trade paperback and is an excellent resource for teachers and educators. The book chronicles the African American experience from slavery to freedom. It has more than 100 photographs and portraits of African Americans who were once enslaved. The book covers many aspects of plantation slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Genealogy, and DNA testing.
http://books.simonandschuster.net/Washingtons-of-Wessyngton-Plantation/John-F-Baker-Jr/9781416567417
Tags: African American Genealogy, African History, American History, American Slavery, Black Genealogy, black history, Civil War, DNA Testing, Genealogy & DNA, Jim Crow, plantation slavery, Reconstruction, slave trade, Southern Plantations
Posted in Book Tour & Reviews, Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Plantation Life, Research | No Comments »
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
The history of the Alamo is an important part of American history and American lore. Joseph George Washington was a leader in the defense of the Alamo.
Joseph was the son of Andrew Washington, brother of Joseph Washington, who founded Wessyngton Plantation. He was born in 1808 and lived in Robertson County, Tennessee. Joseph was described as a striking, tall figure, about six feet high, tolerably stout build, tolerably dark complexion, dark eyes and dark hair.
In 1833, Joseph George sold his uncle a slave Joe. In December of 1835, he sold three more slaves to his brother Richard Washington for $830, before he travelled west to Texas. We do not know why Joseph joined in the fight for the Alamo. It could have been that the Republic of Texas offered land to men who helped win its independence from Mexico. Another reason could have been he was seeking an adventure as he went with other young men from Tennessee and nearby Kentucky.
In 1836, during the 12 day siege by Mexican troops under the command of Santa Anna, Joseph George Washington was killed. Within the Washington family and Alamo lore he became known as “Alamo Joe.”
Tags: Alamo, Alamo Joe, Andrew Washington, Battle of the Alamo, Davy Crockett, Joseph George Washington, Joseph Washington, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Richard Washington, San Antonio, Santa Anna
Posted in Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
I was deeply saddened upon learning that my dear friend Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper had passed away at her home on Monday evening.
I first became acquainted with Mrs. Cooper in 1996, when she was 94 years young through my genealogical research on Wessyngton Plantation, which she also had family ties to.
Mrs. Cooper was a very beautiful person and I treasured our friendship over the years. She was always very loving and kind when I visited her and also very helpful in providing me with information.
Mrs. Cooper lived a very long, productive and interesting life. I loved to listen to stories about her childhood in Tennessee and her adult life in Atlanta. She was so sharp it was hard to believe that she was more than 100 years old.
Mrs. Cooper became known worldwide last year when CNN television news chronicled her voting early for then Senator Barack Obama.
Although Mrs. Cooper became well known for voting for President Obama, she led a very interesting life before then which is told in her forthcoming book A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name.
I will truly miss my dear friend.
With Love,
John
Tags: A Century and Some Change, Ann Nixon Cooper, Atlanta Georgia, Barack Obama, CNN News, Don Lemon, Huffington Post, John Baker, Karen Grisby Bates, Michelle Obama, My Life Before the President Called My Name, New York Times, President Obama, Washington family, Washington Post, Wessyngton Plantation, Yes We Can
Posted in Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | No Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
In 1831, Nat Turner led the largest slave rebellion in the history of the United States. Turner, born in 1800 in Jerusalem, Southampton County, Virginia. Wessyngton Plantation’s founder Joseph Washington lived in Southampton County before he came to Tennessee. Many of the slaves on Wessyngton Plantation were brought by Joseph to Tennessee.
In Virginia, Turner, a self-proclaimed Baptist minister, was known as “The Prophet” to the enslaved African Americans and often conducted services for them. He claimed to be given visions by God, and that he was ordained to lead his people to freedom. Unlike most slaves and many whites, Turner was able to read and write.
Turner’s group of followers was composed of more than 50 fellow slaves and free blacks. During the insurrection of 1831, the group went through the countryside of Southampton County killing 55 men, women, and children. The insurrection lasted for two days before the local militia put it down. Turner and several of the leaders were executed; others were transported out of the area.
The Turner rebellion put fear in the hearts and minds of slave holders throughout the South, which led to laws further restricting the activities of enslaved African Americans and free blacks.
The revolt influenced the Tennessee legislature to pass laws in 1831 that prevented more free blacks from entering the state. Any person emancipating a slave had to send him out of the state. When the new constitution in Tennessee was written in 1834, free blacks were denied voting privileges.
Tags: Insurrection, Jerusalem, Nat Turner, Plantation Rebels, plantation slavery, Rebel Slaves, slave rebellion, Slave Revolt, slave trade, Southampton County Virginia, United States slavery, Virginia, Virginia Slavery
Posted in Civil War, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
5th Grade Class at Gateview Elementary in Portland, TN
On November 20th I had the honor of delivering a presentation about my book The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation to the entire fifth grade class at Gateview Elementary School in Portland, Tennessee. More than 100 students attended. Prior to my visit the students had studied the Civil War, which tied into my program. The students were very attentive and had many questions. Following the presentation many of the students expressed an interest in tracing their genealogy.
Tags: Civil War, Gateview Elementary School, Genealogy & DNA, history, Portland Tennessee, Tennessee history
Posted in Book Tour & Reviews, Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
In 1847 an enslaved African American, Dred Scott, went to trial to sue for his freedom. This case, which later became known as Dred Scott v. Sanford, impacted the citizenship of all African Americans throughout the United States.
Dred Scott was born a slave in Southampton County, Virginia and was owned by Peter Blow. Peter Blow was the great-nephew of Colonel Michael Blow who owned my ancestors before they were brought to Wessyngton Plantation by Joseph Washington.
Scott was taken to Alabama by the Blow family and later to St. Louis. After Peter Blow’s death in 1832, Scott was bought by an army surgeon Dr. John Emerson who took him to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory.
Scott’s stay in Illinois and Wisconsin, where slavery was prohibited, gave him the legal standing to make a claim for his freedom. The abolitionists encouraged him to sue for his freedom. The case and appeals took ten years. In March 1857, the United States Supreme Court declared that all blacks, slaves as well as free blacks, were not, and could never become, citizens of the United States.
The decision was a victory for southern slaveholders, while northerners were outraged at its outcome. The Dred Scott case influenced the nomination of Abraham Lincoln to the Republican Party and his election that led to the South’s secession from the Union and ultimately the freedom of all African Americans.
Peter Blow’s sons, who had grown up with Dred Scott, helped him pay the legal fees for his lengthy case. After the Supreme Court’s decision, they purchased Scott and his wife and then emancipated them.
Dred Scott died nine months later—a free man.
.
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Blow Family, Civil War, Confederate States, Declaration of Independence, Dr. John Emerson, Dred Scott, Dred Scott Decision, Frederick Douglass, Free Territory, Joseph Washington, Michael Blow, Missouri Compromise, Peter Blow, Runaway Slave Law, Scott vs. Sanford, Slave Laws, Southampton County Virginia, St. Louis, Supreme Court, Union Army
Posted in Civil War, Current Events, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
On Tuesday November 4, 2008, President Barack Obama reflected on the life of Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper: “she’s seen throughout her century in America─the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told we can’t; and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.”
Empowered and energized by this history-making presidential campaign, Mrs. Cooper told her story in her own voice. A Century and Some Change is the portrait of an American who lived a rewarding and culturally rich life.
Mrs. Cooper was raised in Nashville in the home of her aunt-in-law Joyce Washington Nixon, who was born a slave at Wessyngton Plantation during the last days of the Civil War. I had the honor of interviewing Mrs. Cooper and recording her memories in my book The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation, which she mentioned in her book.
A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name will be released on January 5, 2010 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Mrs. Cooper passed away on December 21st at her home, nineteen days short of her 108th birthday.
Order A Century and Some Change by clicking the icon of her book cover
Tags: A Century and Some Change, Acceptance Speech, Al Cooper, Albert Berry Cooper II, Allen Berry, Andrew Young, Ann Nixon Cooper, Atlanta Georgia, Atria, Atria Books, Barack Obama, Before the President Called My Name, Berry Family, Bessie Dozier, Book: A Century and Some Change, CNN, Cooper Family, Coretta Scott King, Don Lemon, Elmwood, First Lady Obama, Frank Berry, George Washington, Granville Washington, Irene Nixon, Irene Washington, James Dozier, Jerry Nixon, John Baker Jr., Joyce Cooper Bobo, Joyce Washington Nixon, Karen Grigsby Bates, Martin Luther King Jr., Meharry, Michelle Obama, Nashville Tennessee, Nixon Family, Obama family, President Barack Obama, President Obama, President Washington, Presidential campaign, Presidential Election, Simon & Schuster, Stories of My Family's Journey to Freedom, W. W. Berry, Washington family, Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation, Wessyngton Plantation, Yes We Can
Posted in Book Tour & Reviews, Civil War, Current Events, Interviews, Introduction & Personal, Plantation Life, Research | 3 Comments »
