Posts Tagged ‘Godfrey Washington’

WESSYNGTON PLANTATION: A FAMILY’S ROAD TO FREEDOM

Saturday, July 12th, 2014

On July 11th Nashville Public Television aired its documentary Wessyngton Plantation: A Family’s Road to Freedom.  The film was inspired by my book The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Journey to Freedom and the Tennessee State Museum exhibition Slaves and Slaveholders of Wessyngton Plantation.  The documentary highlighted the life of my great-great-great-grandmother Jenny Blow Washington.  Jenny along with her sister Sarah was brought from Sussex County, Virginia to Tennessee in 1802 by Joseph Washington who founded Wessyngton Plantation.  Jenny married Godfrey a slave from a neighboring plantation and became the matriarch of one of the largest families on Wessyngton.  Godfrey and Jenny later had nine children, including my great-great-grandfather Emanuel Washington (1824-1907).  Today there are thousands of their descendants throughout the United States.  Click link to view the documentary:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdce9dud1c0