All posts by Kristin

Allen Lane – Born 1810 in Kentucky

April 1, 2016A-Z Challenge 2016, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry ResearchKentuckyKristin

This is my first offering for the 2016 A to Z Challenge. This is my 4th year and I will be writing about people who were born into slavery and were later free. In a few cases I will be writing about the descendants of enslaved people who were born free.

________________

“…It is my will that my four Negroes be free at my death, namely Perry, Allen, Frazer, and Mariah, and that my sons Henry S. Lane and Higgins Lane by my Executors to execute this my will. In witness thereof I hereunto set my name this 22nd day of July 1841.“

James H. Lane

“I also will that Samuel Stone and Newton Reid be my Executors in connexion with Henry S. Lane and Higgins Lane as aforesaid. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this 28th September 1846. I also do will to Perry (note: from census records I believe this name should be Jerry) and to Allen and to Frazer their Horses as known by the name of their horses at present.”

____________________

James H. Lane, the slave owner who wrote the above Will, was born in Virginia and moved to Kentucky where he farmed. He outlived 2 wives and left a third a widow when he died in 1846. He had 8 children and 4 slaves.

Allen Lane was born into slavery about 1810, Jerry about 1794, Frazier in 1808 and Mariah about 1816. Slaves were not enumerated by name in censuses. In the 1810 through 1840 census no one in the household was enumerated by name except the head of household. Looking at those censuses we find that James Hardage Lane had 4 slaves.

Now I enter the area of speculation in creating a timeline for their lives. In 1810 age ranges were not given, just the total number so perhaps there was an enslaved woman. Three of them were probably baby and toddler Allen and Frazier, the child Jerry. Mariah was not born until 6 years later so perhaps there was a grown woman of childbearing age who was mother of the younger children.

In 1820 James H. Lane again still 4 slaves. This time age ranges are given and he had 2 males under 14 (probably Frazier and Allen), 1 male 14 – 25 (probably Jerry) and 1 female under 14 (Probably Mariah). These four slaves gained 10 years in the 1830 and 1840 censuses. In 1841 James H. Lane wrote the above Will. In 1846 he died and Allen, Frazier, Jerry and Mariah were free.

In 1850 they were enumerated along with the general population, as were 165 other free black people in Montgomery County, Kentucky. Allen(40), Jerry(56) and Frazier(42) were living together. They were laborers, probably on farms. Mariah(34) was nearby living with one of James H. Lanes daughters and her family, Evalina Lane Reid.

Allen Lane was the father of four children born during slavery. They were not living with him, either before or after slavery. I was unable to find them until the 1870 census. They were Maria born in 1837, Margaret born in 1838, Amelia born in 1844 and Thomas born in 1850. Although Allen Lane’s name appears on their death certificates no mother is named.

I was unable to find him in the 1860 census, but in 1870 Allen Lane was 60 years old. He was enumerated as a mulatto living in Sharpsburg, Bath county Kentucky in a large household. He was a laborer. Mariah Lane, 50 years old and a 10 year old girl, Malinda Lane were among the group. They were listed as black with no employment. None of the three were literate and Malinda was not in school.

In 1880 Allen Lane was enumerated in Hamilton County Ohio, College Hill with his daughter Amelia Lane Franklin and her family. This time his birth year is given as 1793 and his age as 87. According to the 1810 birthdate used before, he would have been 70. He is listed as a widower. Both Allen and Amelia’s husband Benjamin are listed as laborers. There are 5 children in the home, all born in Ohio. 15 year old Anna is working and literate. 9 year old Margaret and 8 year old Matilda are in school and can read and write. The two youngest children are 5 and 4 months and too young for school. The three adults are illiterate.

I have not found a death certificate for Allen Lane yet. He does not appear in the 1900 census.

_________________

To write this I drew upon Census records, Death Certificates and the Will of James Hardage Lane. You can click on the link to see the whole Will. To find out more about free people of color, enslaved people and white people in Montgomery County before the Civil War in 1850, 1860 and in 1870, click this link Free and Enslaved in Montgomery County Kentucky.

Things I wish I knew – Who was the 4th enslaved person living with the Lane family in 1810? Who was Allen Lane’s wife and where were she and the children? What kind of crops James H. Lane grew on his farm. That I had photographs of everybody.

Playing Jacks – Idlewild 1982

March 26, 2016Photographs, sepia saturdayKristin

My oldest daughters, Jilo and Ife, playing jacks on Uncle Louis Cleage’s patio in Idlewild, Michigan. We were visiting after my mother died. We still lived in Simpson County, Mississippi.

Telling Their Story A-Z Challenge 2016 – Theme Reveal

March 21, 2016A-Z Challenge 2016, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry ResearchKristin

This is my 4th year participating in the A to Z challenge. This year I will be telling the stories of people who were enslaved but made it to Freedom. I found them in photographs shared by friends, names in Bills of sale and Wills. They were from Kentucky, Alabama and Ohio. Some of them left a lot of information. Some left only a name on a photograph and the information in a census record. I discovered some while researching my own extended family history. They all left a story.

Pinkey Porter copyright Becky — Pinkey Porter holding baby William Turner. Photograph from the collection of Becky Leach.

Margaret Lane Alley. Photograph from the collection of Zann Carter.

Major Lee Zeigler — From a newspaper article.

Pearl Pats a Goat

March 17, 2016Detroit, Photographs, sepia saturday#Detroit, #Doris Graham Cleage, #Pearl CleageKristin

My sister Pearl patting goat while being held by my mother. The back of my head is visible on the lower right. This is probably at the petting zoo on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Taken in 1952 when Pearl was 3.

Three Generations

March 12, 2016Cleages, Photographs, sepia saturday#Albert B. Cleage Jr, #Celia Rice Cleage, #Henry Cleage, #Hugh Cleage, #Louis Jacob CleageKristin

Three generations of my Cleages. Front left is Henry, with Louis behind him, center is my father, Albert B. front right is Hugh. Behind Hugh is my great grandmother Celia Rice Cleage Sherman. Back left is my grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage holding baby Barbara Cleage Martin. This photograph was taken about 1921 somewhere around Detroit, Michigan, perhaps on Belle Isle. My grandfather took the photo. There is another from the same day with him in the photo taken by my grandmother.

Albert and Pearl Cleage Late 1930s

March 11, 2016Cleages, Photographs#Albert B. Cleage Sr, #Pearl Reed CleageKristin

I came across this photograph of my grandparents looking relaxed and happy the other day and it made me smile. It was in the black album of tiny photographs and I date it to be from the late 1930s when they lived on Scotten Ave. in Detroit.

Belle Isle 1947

March 2, 2016Grahams, sepia saturdayKristin

Here is a photograph of my cousin Dee Dee and her mother Mary V. Graham Elkins taken on Belle Isle in 1947. At first I thought the fuzzy black spot on the lower right was an ink spot, but when I looked closer I saw it was a little dog. Dee Dee is looking down at it a bit apprehensively.

There are several family photographs taken around the statue of James Scott, who donated the money for the Scott fountain and I grew up going to Belle Isle and seeing the fountain in all it’s glory but I never knew anything about James Scott until I was working on this post and found a piece on Historic Detroit that begins “The Scott Memorial Fountain is the jewel of Belle Isle – and a monument to a womanizing scoundrel.” and gets worse from there. Click the link for the full article.

A picture of the fountain with the James Scott statue. You can see a short video of the workings of the fountain underneath here “Underneath Belle Isle…”

Subject and Photographer

February 17, 2016Cleages, Photographs, sepia saturday#Albert B. Cleage Jr, #me, #Union StreetKristin

Me, 1949. My father is reflected in the mirror.

This shot was taken in our living room in the parsonage of St. John’s Congregational Church in Springfield, Mass. I just noticed the reflection of my father taking the picture last night. I looked everywhere for that teapot in later years but it was lost in one of the various moves. It was blue with a gold design over it. The couch was with us for many years. Eventually the cushions were covered in reddish leather, or something like it. I remember that table, which was also around for a long time. And those little plastic records my sister and I used to play on our little phonograph.

Bringing this back from August 2011 for this weeks Sepia Saturday prompt showing a mirror and the reflection of the photographer. If only I had a rose behind my ear like Billie Holiday.

Boulé

February 13, 2016Cleages, Investigations, Photographs, sepia saturdayKristin

Here are 6 young women at a Boulé event back in the 1940s in or outside of Detroit. Two of my aunts are in the picture. Barbara Cleage is front and center with a light dress and jacket. At the end of the line is my aunt Anna Cleage who seems to be wearing trousers. Unfortunately the photo was unlabeled and I do not know the names of the others. I recognized the woman on the far right as one in the background photograph of the photograph of my grandfather, Albert B. Cleage Sr with a camera. Sheryl asked last week what sort of even my grandfather was attending. It made me go back and look at the background in the photo below and then look for photographs that appear to have been taken on the same day. You can read an post from 2012 about the Boulé at this link.

My grandfather Albert B. Cleage with his camera. In the background we see the young woman with her hand on her hip and the dark dress, from the first photo above. The woman closer to us in the striped outfit, carrying a big purse, appears in the bleachers (which we see in the background here) in the photo below.

The 4th woman from the right, first row, is in the photo with my grandfather to his left. Above her head, on the top row are some of the young women from the first photo above.

First a photo of the men, then one of the women. Or vice versa. Who is that on the second row taking a photograph of the photographer? Front row center is Cornelius Henderson, engineer who graduated from the University of Michigan and helped design the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor.

Cornelius L. Henderson

boule event 1940s 4 — My grandmother, Pearl Reed Cleage facing front, second woman to the right in the second row

My grandmother second bench, 2nd from right. My aunt Anna (from the photo of the lovelies) can be seen behind the lady first in my grandmother’s row. My aunt Barbara is 1 person over from Anna. You can see the woman in the striped dress in the first photograph lineup. Toward the left side, top row, you can see another young woman from the first photo.I do not see any family members but do notice the men and women are sitting together in this one. I wonder how the man in front lost his leg.