Blog Carnival – "The Ancestors Told; the Elders Listened; We Pass It On"
As stated on the LowCountry Africana website, In honor of StoryCorps' National Day of
Listening, the Preservinators (Angela Walton-Raji, George Geder and LowCountry
Africana) have reunited to bring you "The Ancestors Told; the Elders
Listened; We Pass It On," a blog carnival that's all about oral history.
I am extremely excited to participate in this event.
Family Oral History – It's not always a pretty picture
Senomia Middlebrooks (1898-1994) was my great aunt. Her mother
was Sudie Parks and her father was Alex Middlebrooks. Her grandmother was
Malinda Guise who I wrote about in Finding Malinda – Part 1 (click here if you missed that post). I grew up knowing
my aunt Nomie, as we called her, and visited her many times. As a cousin said
"She was the matriarch of our family." Never once did I think to ask
her about our family history and what it was like growing up in Meriwether
County. It would be years after her death before the genealogy bug would bite
me and I would crave for knowledge of my family history. A missed opportunity for sure, and I can only
imagine the stories she had to tell. Little did I know Nomie had already added a
chapter to our Middlebrooks family oral history.
Last summer, a cousin shared with me notes from an interview
her brother had conducted with Nomie. The conversation took place on Friday, 29 June
1990. I don't know what questions he asked or what he expected to learn. Maybe he wasn't looking for answers to any specific questions and was just picking her brain for memories of what the old folk had told her. Some of
what my aunt shared sent chills down my spine and brought tears to my eyes. It
is only a page of notes – no long narratives, just simple statements of
"reality" as she knew it or as it had been told to her. It is family oral history in
its rawest form and it's not always a pretty picture.
Original Research Notes (scanned copy)
Transcription:
Bill
No, it's not always a pretty picture. It is what it is.
Original Research Notes (scanned copy)
Transcription:
Cousin
Senomie Martin: Friday
6-29-90
1- MeLinda said "she ain't none of
mine,
you take her." Laura raised
by Eliza Hixon.
2- The old marster was the Father
of Laura , and the master would
whip her Melinda until the
blood ran.
3- Alexander Middlebrook was
slave on Powell platn plantation ?
Large man. Middlebrooks lived
on land formerly a part of Dan Long
plantation
4- People had very Little access to
doctors; only alternative [?] was
to use herbs
Fess's father
Eddie Lee Stinson killed
Jim "Sandy" Dixon over gambling
after Grover was whipped.
Grover Stinson killed J. C. Wright
John killed a man in Greenville
No, it's not always a pretty picture. It is what it is.
Posts
5 comments:
Wow! It's not always a pretty picture as you say.
However, it's family, it's real, and it's 'Oral History'. Dear Nomie seems to also be the Griot of the family; back in the day.
There might be some newspaper accounts associated with those notes.
Sandra, thanks for sharing!
Peace & Blessings,
"Guided by the Ancestors"
This was amazing!! You have given an example of the power of notes, no matter how small is to family history. I am seeing the value with new eyes. Thank you!!
Sandra,
Amazing information and what a way to come to it! You're right, it isn't always pretty but it's what happened. I hope you can find some newspaper items, as George mentioned.
It is what it is.....We can't turn back the clock to the day before can we? Thanks San for sharing
It is what it is and no it's not always pretty. So much information here. Thank goodness your cousin's brother took down this precious information.
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