The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation reviewed in Nashville City Paper by Todd Dills. Click here to see review.
Posts Tagged ‘Wessyngton Plantation’
Author Shows History Begins at Home
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Ann Nixon Cooper 1902-2009 Tribute
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
A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name by Ann Nixon Cooper
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
Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation Featured on BlackPast.org
Monday, July 13th, 2009Check out my article on BlackPast.org. It is an excellent resource for African American history and genealogy.
Television Interview with John Seigenthaler Sr.
Monday, May 18th, 2009My half-hour television interview with John Seigenthaler Sr, A Word on Words, is available as a free downloadable Podcast.
http://www.wnpt.org/productions/wow/
Mr. Seigenthaler asked me many in-depth thought-provoking questions. At the end, he said, “I learned more from your book than I learned from reading my friend Alex Haley’s book called Roots.” I hope you enjoy the interview. Leave a comment with your reaction.
The Founding of Wessyngton Plantation
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
1785 Land Grant to Moses Winters
{Deed}
Stories of the founding of Wessyngton Plantation have been passed down through generations of the Washington family. These stories were corroborated by deeds and other documents I found in the Washington Family Papers in the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville. In this deed, we learn that Moses Winters was granted 640 acres of land for military service in the Revolutionary War. Joseph Washington later bought this land which became part of the Wessyngton estate.
John Baker Presents Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper with The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation-Video
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009Baker-Presents-His-Book-to-Mrs-Cooper
While in Atlanta for a presentation and book signing at Auburn Research Library for the National Black Arts Festival in February I had the honor of presenting Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper a copy of my book; The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Journey to Freedom. I also had Mrs. Cooper to sign a copy of the book for me on the page she was pictured on. Mrs. Cooper is now 107 years old.
Native Americans on Wessyngton Plantation
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Native American Arrowheads found at Wessyngton
Based on arrowheads found on Wessyngton Plantation, Native Americans lived in the area thousands of years ago. Arrowheads and other Native American artifacts have been found at Wessyngton by farmers plowing the fields for many years.
During the Cherokee removal known as the Trail of Tears during the 1830s, hundreds of Native Americans passed through Robertson County, Tennessee. Descendants of the Washington family and African Americans who lived at Wessyngton told their descendants that Native Americans came to the Wessyngton mansion to get food and water enroute to Port Royal. They were marched from Port Royal to Hopkinsville, Kentucky where they spent the winter of 1838-39. From Hopkinsville they were forced on to the reservations in Oklahoma.