Kristin – Page 73 – Finding Eliza

Sallie Cleage

For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I am blogging a series of sketches about the free people formerly enslaved on the Cleage plantations in Athens, Tennessee and their descendants. Click on any image to enlarge.

The first thing I noticed about Sallie Cleage as I started writing about her life, were the wildly differing birth dates. They ranged from 1817 to 1841. I believe the death record saying she was born about 1823 is closest to the truth. If she was born in 1841, her oldest child would have been born when she was 4 years old. If she was born in 1817, she would have been 103 when she died in 1914.

Sallie Cleage was born into slavery about 1823 in Tennessee. Her mother’s name was Silver Baver. Sallie and Clinton Cleage had fourteen children together, most of them born during slavery. By 1900, only five were living. I have already written about three of them – Amanda Cleage, Nelson Cleage and Lydia Cleage.

Clinton died about 1869. In 1870 Sallie lived in Athens TN with six of her children. None of them can read or write. Lydia, the oldest child still at home, attended school. Sallie owned no property and her personal property was worth $250. She was keeping house. Nobody in the household is listed as working outside of the home.

1880 census — 1880 Census via ancestry.com

In 1880 Sallie and seven of her children are living together in the same house. Roger William Sherman, who later married my great grandmother, lived next door. Nelson worked as a laborer. Mary was the only literate member of the household. None of the children were attending school and nobody else had a job. The 1890 U.S. Census was destroyed in a fire so we have to skip to the 1900 census.

In 1900 Sallie owned her house free of mortgage. Her son Robert, his wife and son, along with Sallie’s granddaughter, Rossie Smith, shared her home. Robert worked as a dining room servant. He was literate. Sallie and his wife were without employment. Rosie attended school for 4 months. Robert’s son, Thomas Cleage, was not old enough for school.

Sallie’s daughter Sallie Cleage Waterhouse, lived down the street. All of the children in her household attended school. She and her husband Thomas were able to read. Thomas and his oldest son worked as laborers.

sally marsh cleage death certif — Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959 via ancestry.com

On April 1, 1914, Sallie Cleage died of bronchial pneumonia. Her daughter Amanda Cleage was the informant. Sallie was 93 years old.

________________

When I started writing Sallie Cleage’s life, I thought that it was a full one because she appeared as mother on so many death certificates. As I wrote, I began to feel that I had been wrong because nothing really seemed to happen. I was wrong, she did live a full life. It was full of her family. She lived to be free and to see her children and grandchildren learn to read and write. Her husband, Clinton, died so soon after freedom. She gave birth to 14 children and saw nine of them die before she did. It is easy to overlook what those deaths must have meant to her when we have no record of when or how they died.

Ralph “Pete” Cleage

For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I am blogging a series of sketches about the free people formerly enslaved on the Cleage plantations in Athens, Tennessee and their descendents. Click on any image to enlarge.

Ralph “Pete” Cleage was born January 25, 1898 in Athens, Tennessee. He was part of the second generation of his family born free. The son of Florence Cleage and grandson of Jerry Cleage, he grew up surrounded by extended family. Ralph, his mother and his siblings, Harriett and William, lived with his Aunt Nellie Cleage Deadrick and her daughter Delia, until he was about 21. Florence was a cook and Nellie was a laundress. The children all attended school. Ralph completed three years of high school. He worked as a laborer and as a truckman for the railroad. Ralph was 5’11”, weighted 180 lbs and had dark hair and dark eyes.

Ralph’s mother Florence, died June 4, 1918 of typhoid fever. She was 40 years old. She was buried in Hammond’s cemetery. Ralph’s grandfather Jerry Cleage died the following year on March 28, 1919 of arteriolosclerosis. He was 92 years old.

The next year found Ralph playing baseball with the Knoxville Giants, a black baseball team. He played first base and later became a respected umpire. The players worked other jobs to support themselves as they did not make enough to live on. You can find more articles on Knoxville’s black baseball players at Old Knoxville Baseball by clicking the link.

Ralph married Carrie Sweat about 1934. He lived in Knoxville and eventually moved to Nashville where he continued his baseball career. He worked as a watchman and a laborer to supplement his income. You can see his Baseball Stats at this link. Here are a few articles from Mark D. Aubrey’s Old Knoxville Baseball page that mention Ralph Cleage. The Winston-Salem article is from www.newspapers.com

The Journal and Tribune - June 8, 1921 — The Journal and Tribune – June 8, 1921

The Journal and Tribune - June 22, 1921 — The Journal and Tribune – June 22, 1921

The Journal and Tribune - June 29, 1921 — The Journal and Tribune – June 29, 1921

Ralph died on October 29, 1977. He was 79 years old. Because he died so recently, his death certificate is not available online. Ralph is buried in Crestview Cemetery, the largest black cemetery in Knoxville. Like many of the African American cemeteries I have found during this challenge, it started out well kept and went into a decline in the 1960s until it was covered in brush and weeds. A clean up effort started in 1990 and it is reported to be in much better condition now.

Questions Answered About Amanda Clegg

For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I am blogging a series of sketches about the free people formerly enslaved on the Cleage plantations in Athens, Tennessee. Click on any image to enlarge.

This is not Amanda Clegg. Photo from this site — Unknown woman

As I was researching Abraham and Amanda Cleage who started in Athens, TN and went to Austin, TX and on to Los Angeles, CA, I came across another Abram and Amanda in Little Rock Arkansas. I first found Amanda and her card from the Freedman’s Bank in Little Rock. This was the first and only such card I have come across. Below is her story as I pieced it together.

Amanda's Freeman's bank card, below is the card of the woman she worked for. — Amanda’s Freeman’s bank card on the left. On the right is the card of the woman she worked for.

Amanda was born into slavery about 1858 on the plantation of Thomas Watts Clegg in Jefferson County Arkansas. She was the daughter of Abram and Fanny Clegg. There were a total of twelve slaves and two slave dwellings. Amanda’s younger brother Benjamin was born in 1867. Her father, Abram, died soon after Benjamin’s birth.

The family lived in Jefferson County until Amanda was nine years old when they moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. In the 1870 census, Fanny said she was born in Tennessee. Fanny worked as a cook while Amanda worked as a servant. She opened an account with the Freedman’s Bank in 1871 and was able to sign her own name. I hope she did not lose much money when the bank failed in 1874.

Benjamin married and had a son, Benjamin Jr., who was born in 1892 in Arkansas. Amanda married a Mr. Love in Arkansas. both of these marriages ended, due to death or divorce. Their mother Fanny died before the move to Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1893 twenty five year old Amanda married Hezekiah Powell, age forty three, in Kansas City. Benjamin joined them and shared their home through the years while working as a porter and later a bootblack. Hezekiah owned and operated restaurants and hotels through 1911. Amanda worked as housekeeper, cook and laundress. She gave birth to one child who died young.

Around 1912 Hezekiah went into the shoeshine business, where he continued for the next 28 years. Benjamin worked as a boot black in his brother-in-law’s business. Amanda worked off and on as a servant or maid.

On January 2, 1929 Benjamin died in an automobile accident that resulted in a fractured skull. Amanda was the informant on the death certificate. She reported that he was married, that his parents were Abram Clegg and Fanny Clegg, and that Fanny was born in Tennessee. Benjamin was 62 years old.

On September 28, 1932, Hezekiah died when he fell asleep while smoking and set himself on fire. Once again, Amanda was the informant on the death certificate. He was born in South Carolina. She did not know who his parents were. Hezekiah was 82 years old.

On December 20, 1936, Amanda died of heart problems. The informant was Pearl Smith from Chicago and she did not know the names of Amanda’s parents. Amanda was 78 years old.

I hope the living of their lives was not as hard and sad as the reading about them was.

_________________

Were they were tied to my Athens, TN Cleages? I think they were not. Another question that came up was, if the Amanda who married Hezekiah was Amanda Clegg because she was listed on the marriage record as Amanda Love. I was unable to find a marriage record for Amanda and Mr. Love but, she said on the 1900 census that this was her 2nd marriage and after comparing all the addresses for Benjamin and the Powell’s over the years and finding that they lived together so much of the time I concluded that she was Amanda Clegg. Finding Benjamin’s death certificate with Amanda as the informant sealed the case for me.

P is for Pearl Cleage

For this year’s April A-Z Challenge I am blogging a series of sketches about the free people formerly enslaved on the Cleage plantations in Athens, Tennessee. Most are not related to me by blood, although our families came off of the same plantations – those of Samuel, Alexander and David Cleage. Click on any image to enlarge.

AppalacianExpo — The Appalachian Exposition was held in Knoxville in 1910. My grandparents (Albert and Pearl Cleage) went there on a trip to Athens soon after they were married. I hope the other Pearl Cleage was also able to attend.

I feel like I am sketching out the basic outline for a deeper and richer story. I really don’t have time to do them justice during this challenge. Hopefully I will work more on them after I recover from the A to Z Challenge.

Pearl’s father Peter Cleage was born into slavery in 1817 in Alabama. He ended up in McMinn County Tennessee. In 1834, a Peter who is probably this Peter, appears in a letter from slave holder Samuel Cleage to his overseer. You can read the letter in this post Article of Agreement Between Samuel Cleage and Overseer – 1834.

In 1870 Peter Cleage and his wife Nellie, were living next door to my 2X great grandparents, Frank and Juda Cleage, and their family. Peter owned no property worth mentioning and worked as a laborer. He was 53. Nellie was 52.

Nellie died soon after this census was taken. In 1871, Peter Cleage married Margaret Guthrie. He was 54 and she was 20. They had 7 children together. Five of them lived to grow up. The parents were unable to read or write but all of their children were literate.

Family View - Printer Friendly - Ancestry.com — Peter and Margaret (Guthrie) Cleage’s Family Tree.

Pearl was born in 1887. She is a part of the same generation as my grandparents.

Pearl’s sister Lydia Cleage (This is a different Lydia Cleage than the one that appeared as L is for Lydia Cleage) married Harrison Boyce in 1899. Pearl Cleage was eight years old in 1900. Peter Cleage was dead. Margaret, and two of her daughters (Pearl and Angelina) moved from Athens to Knoxville to live with Lydia and her husband. Her older daughter, Susan married and remained in Athens for the rest of her life.

Harrison, Lydia’s husband, worked as a day laborer. This extended family continued to share housing for several years. Margaret and Angeline sometimes worked as cooks and other times they took in laundry. Harrison worked as a porter and then a janitor.

After 1909, Angelina disappears. I am afraid she died. Margaret was eventually able to buy place a place of her own for herself and her daughter Pearl. For the next few years, Pearl worked as a laundress and Margaret as a cook, soon both were cooks.

Pearl’s future husband, Blaine McGee was born and grew up in Athens. In 1914 he was twenty eight years old, moved to Knoxville and opened an “Eating House”, as it was advertised in the city directory. In 1914 Pearl was a cook in Blaine’s restaurant. The two were married in 1917. The next year they celebrated the birth of their son, Blaine Jr. Sadly, they also experienced the deaths of Mother Margaret on January 8, 1918 and of Amitra, Lydia and Harrison’s 13 year old daughter who died 22 October 1918. Pearl’s daughter was born two years later. They named her Margaret after Pearl’s mother.

Pearl and Blaine lived above their restaurant on 317 S. Central, for over forty years. During all of these years, Pearl’s sister, Susan Cleage Gibson lived and raised her family in Athens. I wondered if any of her children moved to Knoxville. I could find no evidence that they did.

Pearl Cleage McGhee died in Knoxville General Hospital of a stroke on October 24 1938. She was fifty one years old. Her husband Blaine was the informant. Pearl is buried in the Southern Chain Cemetery. Southern Chain is an historic black cemetery located in an area of Knoxville where there are several such cemeteries. They had fallen into neglect and are presently being rehabilitated.

Blaine McGhee continued to cook and run his restaurant for fifteen more years until his death on August 20, 1953 of carcinoma of the stomach.

Orlena Cleage

Carnegie Steel Works, Mingo Junction, Ohio 1914 (Photo courtesy of Diane Pierce)

Orlena Cleage was born into slavery about 1855 in McMinn County, Tennessee. I don’t know which Cleages are her people. Orlena appears as a 15 year old in the 1870 Census living with Louis and Malinda (Brigeman) Evans in Athens. Orlena doesn’t have any occupation listed. This is the same household where we found Lydia Cleage in 1870. She never appears with a Cleage family and I cannot find her death certificate.

Orlena Cleage appears once more, on the death certificate of her son, Robert Leonard Brown, born 1893 in Rockwood, Tennessee and died in Jefferson County Ohio in 1945. His father’s name is listed as Iziah Brown. Leonard’s wife, Ida Brown was the informant.

Leonard's Death Certificate with Orlena named as his mother. — Leonard’s Death Certificate with Orlena named as his mother. He was called Robert Leonard here, but in most records he was known by his middle name, Leonard. (from: FamilySearch.com)

I easily followed Leonard through his life via records but all I am going to tell you is that he had four children – Harold Clark, Gertrude Brown, Robert Brown and Charles Brown. In the 1920 Census Leonard was living in Ohio and was a boarder in his future wife’s home. The other border was Henry Cleage from Tennessee. In 1940 he was a stopper setter in a steel mill

One day when this challenge is over, I will go back and try to tie up all the lose ends and figure which of several Henry Cleage’s that was and if he was related to Orlena, but for tonight I am calling it a wrap.

Nelson Cleage

Market Street in 1907 (From: Preservation of Chattanooga Central History)

Nelson Cleage was born into slavery around 1850. His parents were Clinton and Sallie Cleage. Two of his siblings have had their stories told, Lydia Cleage Glass and Amanda Cleage. He lived with his widowed mother and siblings in Athens, Tennessee until moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee about 1866. He started working for E.S. Nixon & Son, Florists, Nurserymen and Seedsmen and Dealers in Agricultural Implements. He started off as a laborer and eventually listed his occupation as florist.

An advertisment for the Florist Nelson Cleage worked for from 1866-1917. — An advertisement in the City Directory for the Florist Nelson Cleage worked for from 1866-1917. (via Ancestry.com)

In 1891 Nelson married Annie Wright. She was literate. Nelson was not. Their daughter Rosa was born in 1897. There was quite a little community of Cleage’s from Athens in Chattanooga. They came and they left. Here is a selection from one year. You will notice the little ‘c’ after some names. That stands for “colored”.

Some of the Athens Cleages in the Chattanooga City Directory. 1902. — Chattanooga City Directory. 1902.

This item was so stereotypical that I didn't really want to use it. You will note Nelson is mentioned half way down. Why this was newsworthy for a respected black newspaper all the way in Indianapolis, I do not know. — This item was so stereotypical that I didn’t really want to use it. You will note Nelson is mentioned toward the end.

Last Thursday Nelson Cleage and Thomas Hopkins became involved in a quarrel over a watermelon, which resulted in Cleage receiving a severe cut in the head and Hopkins being shot in the hand and thigh. Neither are fatally injured. July 14, 1894.

The way the stories are all run together makes it difficult to know where one stops and the next begins. Did this happen at the 4th of July church barbecue? I doubt it. Why this was newsworthy for a respected black newspaper all the way in Indianapolis, I do not know, but it shows that small local stories were shared far and wide. On second thought, it reminds me of items a small town newspaper. It shows a different aspect of Nelson’s life. One of my great grandfather’s on my other side of the family was shot to death at a barbecue in Montgomery, Alabama about this same time. I wonder if I will ever find an item about that. (Note – I did!)

Annie was dead by 1910 and Nelson was listed as a widower on the census for that year. Thirteen year old Rosa was attending school. Both she and Nelson were able to read and write. I wonder if Annie taught him before she died.

I found a death certificate for Leroy Cleage, Nelson’s son was born about 1910 in Chattanooga. His mother’s maiden name was listed as Hazel Frances. In 1917 Nelson died from pneumonia. The death certificate says that he was married. Perhaps he and Hazel married. His sister Sallie Cleage was the informant. His body was returned to Athens for burial.

Neson’s son Leroy died when he was eight years old in 1918. Nelson’s daughter Rosa married a man by the last name of Brooks. They had a son, Don Aldron Brooks in California. She died in California in 1995. He was in the military for a short period of time and died of natural causes in 1997.

You can read something about Chattanooga’s Black Community at this link.

Mary Cleage and William B. Loving

"Union Terminal Colored Waiting Room" Woodward (http://imblacknitravel.com/amtrak-black-migration/) — “Union Terminal Colored Waiting Room” Woodward (http://imblacknitravel.com/amtrak-black-migration/)

Mary Cleage was the third of the four daughters of George and Martha (Rice) Cleage. She was born free in Athens, Tennessee in 1874. Her parents were unable to read or write, but Mary and her sisters were literate. In 1892 Mary Cleage married William B. Loving in Athens. C.F. Evans was a witness.

In 1900 Mary had no children. She was not working outside of the home. William was working on the railroad as a laborer. William and Mary were enumerated in McMinn County, on page 12 of District 18. I do not know who William Loving’s parents were, however 57 year old Edmonia Loving, who lived next door, is the right age to be his mother. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out any more about her. A few houses away Martha Loving and her two daughters Lula and Minnie lived. Later in 1900, Minnie Loving married my grandfather Albert’s brother Henry Cleage. On page 13 of District 18, Mary’s father and sisters were enumerated. Several doors from them were Tom and Sallie (Cleage) Waterhouse. Sallie was Lydia Cleage Glass’s sister.

Entry for William B. Loving in the 1906 Indianapolis City Directory. You can see the adds all around the edges. — Entry for William B. Loving in the 1906 Indianapolis City Directory. You can see the advertisements all around the edge of the page. (via ancestry.com)

By 1910 William and Mary Loving had been living in Indianapolis, Indiana for several years. William worked as a janitor. Mary did not work outside of the house. Within the last ten years they had a child who was dead. The Lovings lived in a rented house. Mary’s sister Anna Cleage, a widow, lived with them. Anna had one daughter, twelve year old Mozena. Mozena lived back in Athens with her father’s sister. Wiley Evans was their lodger. He did odd jobs for a living.

African Americans arriving from the South in the early 1900s found an established black community with churches, businesses, and social organizations. Indianapolis had three black-run weekly newspapers by 1900, the Freeman, the Recorder and the World. The Recorder often ran a directory of African-American businesses in its Christmas issue. In 1901, this listing included restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores, as well as barbers, physicians, dentists, lawyers, dealers in coal, ice, oil, and junk, and even a clairvoyant.

My grandfather, Albert Cleage, two of his brothers and his sister and their families were living in Indianapolis at this time. I wonder if the Lovings also attended Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church.

In 1920 William worked as a laborer at a mill. Mary was keeping house. Her sister, Anna did laundry for a private family. Anna’s daughter, Mozena, had joined the family and was a cook in a private home. They rented their home.

Mozena married Clinton Sherman in 1922. He died soon after. She continued to share the family home. William was working as a fireman in 1922. In 1923 he was again a laborer. Mary Cleage Lovings died in 1929 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. She was 53 years old. My great grandfather Lewis Cleage is also buried there.

In 1930 William and Mozena were still in the same rented house. He was working on the railroad and she was doing laundry for a private family. Mozena died in 1932. She was only 34 years old. In 1940 William lived in a boarding house and hadn’t worked in the past year. He was 68 years old. That is the last I found of the family.

Lydia Cleage

domestic worker — Laundress was an available job for many African American women. Courtesy of the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

Lydia Ann Cleage was born into slavery about 1851 on Samuel Cleages plantation in Athens, McMinn County. She was one of the 14 children of Clinton and Sallie Cleage. In 1852, when Lydia was one year old, she was sold to David Cleage in a transfer of slaves, money and goods after Samuel’s death. You can read the Bill of Sale by clicking the link. Lydia was 15 when the Civil War ended in 1866 and freedom came.

In 1870 at age 18, she appears twice in the census, once with her widowed mother and again with the family of Louis and Malinda (Bridgman) Evans. Malinda probably came to David Cleage’s plantation with David’s wife, Martha Bridgeman. Louis Evans was farming in 1870 and Lydia was a farm laborer.

Lydia does not appear in any more censuses until 1930, however I was able to follow her through city directories and death certificates where she was the informant. In 1878 Lydia’s daughter Mary Smith was born. Her father was Willie Smith. In 1895 Lydia Cleage was doing domestic work for John McKeldin and family in Knoxville. McKeldin was formerly of Athens. In 1895 he was a big manufacturer of woolen goods.

In 1900 Lydia and William Smith were both living at Poplar and Exchange St. in Memphis. She was a cook and he was a laborer. She was 49 years old. In 1903 she was working as a laundress. He was still working as a laborer.

Sometime before 1907, William Smith disappears from the directory. Lydia Glass appears. Lydia married Rev. Charles Glass sometime before his death in 1923, however at the same time that Lydia Glass appears in the directory, Rev. Charles Glass is still married to his second wife, Millie, who also appears with him in the 1910 Census. In 1923, Charles Glass died and Lydia Glass appears as the informant on his death certificate. She was living at 886 Lane Avenue in Memphis. She appears several times in the directory at that address as Charles widow.

In 1930 Lydia lived with her daughter Mary in the house at 886 Lane Ave. Mary was the widow of Robert Jordan and worked as a cook for a private family. She was 50 years old. Lydia had no employment listed. She was 84 years old. Lydia appeared in a few more city directory entries as the widow of Charles living at the same address on Lane.

In 1934, Mary Smith Jordan died of cancer of the cervix. She had been treated from January to August of 1934. Her parents were Willie Smith and Lydia Glass. Lydia was the informant.

On November 18, 1936 Lydia Cleage Glass had returned to Athens where she died of congestive heart failure. Her parents were listed as Clint and Sallie Cleage. She was a widow. The informant did not know her age, which was about 85. The informant was her niece Sallie Sherman. Sallie was the daughter of Edmond and Adaline (Cleage) Sherman.

******

I can only hope this is right. Not finding Lydia in the censuses for 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 and not finding any marriage records made it hard to picture her life. Maybe she had more children. Finding her death certificate and her as informant on two other death certificates was very helpful. Was that really her listed as Lydia Glass before Millie Glass was dead? Did Rev. Glass have two wives for a time? What happened to Millie and Willie Smith? I assume they died, but when? Her daughter’s life was just as shadowy. Mary Smith appears as a lodger on Front Street in Memphis in the 1900 census. There are page after page of names with no address other than Front Street. Mary appears in a few city directories and then in the 1930 Census and after her death on her death certificate. Did she have any children? What happened to her husband, Robert Jorden? This investigation left me with many questions.

Kristin Cleage

My paternal grandfather, Dr. Albert B. Cleage Sr. sitting on the railing. My mother, Doris Graham Cleage, holding me. My father Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr. Summer of 1947 on the back porch of the house on King street. — My parents, paternal grandfather and me (Kristin) on our porch of the house on King street in Springfield, Mass. Photo by Hugh Cleage. 1947.

kris_preg_big_fro_1970 — Kristin Cleage (me) in 1970. Photo by James Williams.

Pedigree View - Printer Friendly - Ancestry.com

This post is about my relationship to the Cleages of Athens, Tennessee. Kristin Cleage (that is me) was born free in Springfield, Mass. in 1946. My only sister was born when I was 2. My family moved back to Detroit when I was four. I finished high school and graduated with a degree in fine arts from Wayne State University. I worked as a pre-school teacher, a doll maker and a librarian. Eventually I married James Williams, who had an Associates Degree and worked as an organizer and an inspector of asphalt for the Michigan Dept of Transportation. We had six children. All of our children attended college, lived to be adults and most now have children of their own. At various times we have shared our home with children and grandchildren, and other relatives. We owned a variety of homes over the years, some with and some free from mortgage. We often lived around extended family. I was the third generation of my Cleages born out of slavery.

Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr, preaching about 1968.

My father, Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr (aka Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman) was born free in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1911 to parents born in Tennessee and Kentucky. His family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan and eventually Detroit. He had six siblings. All of them lived to be at least eighty years old. He attended public schools in Detroit and graduated with a BA from Wayne State University, followed by a Divinity Degree at Oberlin College and doing post degree work in film at the University of Southern California. He married my mother, Doris Graham and they had two daughters. Both daughters lived to be adults, graduated from college and had seven children between them. My father pastored churches in Lexington, KY; San Francisco, CA; Springfield, MA and Detroit, MI. He was active in politics and with friends and family, published newsletter, advocated self determination and black power for black people. He founded the Shrines of the Black Madonna with churches in Detroit, Atlanta and Houston. He died at the age of 88 in 2000 in South Carolina. He was the second generation born out of slavery.

My grandfather, Albert B. Cleage - 1909. About the time he graduated from Knoxville College. — My grandfather, Albert B. Cleage – 1909. About the time he graduated from Knoxville College.

My grandfather, Dr. Albert B. Cleage Sr, was born free in Hackberry, Loudon County, Tennessee in 1883. He was the youngest of five children born to Louis Cleage and Celia Rice. Eventually the family moved back to Athens, Tennessee and his parents were divorced. He and his siblings all graduated from high school. Several attended college. My grandfather graduated from Knoxville College in Knoxville, TN and the University of Indiana medical school, Indianapolis, IN. He married my grandmother, Pearl Reed and they had seven children who all lived to age 80 or beyond. After completing his internship, the family moved to Kalamazoo, MI. There he set up his medical practice. After several years they moved to Detroit, Michigan where he opened Cleage Clinic and practiced medicine. Three of his siblings and his mother eventually moved to Detroit. One brother remained in Athens. My grandfather regularly traveled back to visit. During his life, my grandfather helped found three churches and two black hospitals. This was in the days when black doctors could not practice in most white hospitals. In the 1950s my grandfather retired and in 1957 he died in Detroit. He was the first generation born out of slavery.

My greatgrandfather Louis Cleage was born into slavery on Alexander Cleage’s plantation in McMinn County, about 1852. He was fourteen when freedom came with the end of the Civil War. He married Celia Rice in 1872 in Athens, TN and they had five children. They all lived to adulthood and attended high school and/or college. He worked as a farmer, in the steel mills, on the railroad and did other hard labor all of his life. He never learned to read or write. He died in 1918 in Indianapolis, Indiana at his daughter’s home. He lived free for 52 of his 66 years.

My 2X great grandfather Frank Cleage was born into slavery about 1816 in North Carolina. I do not know how he came to be on Samuel Cleage’s plantation, but he was there by 1834 when he was mentioned in the letter to the overseer. My 2X great grandmother Juda Cleage, was born into slavery about 1814. She came to Alexander Cleage’s plantation with his wife, Jemima Hurst. Juda was mentioned in both Elijah Hurst’s and Alexander Cleage’s Wills. Frank and Juda both gained their freedom after the Civil War and were legally married that same year. They had at least eight children. Frank worked as a laborer. I have not found them after the 1870 census. I can only trace three of their children so I am unable to give death ages. The three children I have found all did hard physical labor and were unable to read and write, as were Frank and Juda.

header_gladys_banner — Some of my grandparent’s descendents, including members of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generations born free. 2012 Detroit.

You can read more about each person by following the links or putting a name in the search box in the right hand column.

Jefferson & Rachael Cleage

Dayton, Tennessee. — 1913 – Location unknown – Eastern Regional Coal Archives

Jefferson Cleage was born into slavery about 1848 in Tennessee He first appears as a five year old in a bill of sale transferring slaves, money and household goods between the children of Samuel Cleage after his death in 1852. My 2X great grandfather, Frank Cleage also appears in this Bill of Sale to Alexander Cleage. I wonder if Jefferson’s parents were also transferred in the bill.

Part of the Bill of Sale conveying Jeff, age 5 and my 2X great grandfather Frank to Alexander Cleage after his father Samuel's death in 1852. — Part of the Bill of Sale conveying Jeff, age 5 and my 2X great grandfather Frank to Alexander Cleage after his father Samuel’s death in 1852.

Know all men by these presents that we David Cleage and Walter Nutter and his wife Elizabeth H Nutter have this day bargained and sold to Alexander Cleage and his heirs and assigns forever Joe forty four years of age Jane eighteen Lynd eleven Frank thirty nine Phillip forty Lewis twenty six Sam ten Jeff five Martha twenty one Lea thirty four Julian forty three Patsy five

For five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars being his distribution share out of the proceeds of the slaves of Samuel Cleage deceased We warrant said negroes (sic) to be slaves for life and that we as the heirs at law of Samuel Cleage have a right to convey them

Given under our hands and seals this 20th day of March 1852

Witness

Sam H Jordon David Cleage

Geo W Mayo Walter Nutter

Elizabeth H Nutter

State of Tennessee

County of McMinn

In 1864 Jefferson Cleage joined the United States Colored Troops Heavy Artillery Unit at Knoxville, TN. He is the only one I have found who joined from Alexander Cleage’s plantation. The rest have been from his brother David’s plantation. Jeff was mustered out of the army and married Racheal in 1865. Jefferson was seventeen and Racheal was fifteen years old.

They started out in McMinn County, but by 1880 had moved to Rhea County, perhaps because of the coal mining industry that was building up there. Jefferson’s occupation is listed as farmer in the 1870 Census and as laborer in the 1900 Census. Because they don’t say what sort of laborer he was, I don’t know if he was ever involved in coal mining, but his daughter, Emma, married a coal miner in 1908 and his two youngest sons were involved in the coal mining industry by 1910.

"An undated photographs shows the Dayton Coal and Iron Co., founded in 1867 by English Industrialist Sir Titus Salt. (Rhea County Historical Society) — “An undated photograph shows the Dayton Coal and Iron Co., founded in 1867 by English Industrialist Sir Titus Salt. (Rhea County Historical Society)

“In 1877, Salt established the Dayton Coal and Iron Co. During its heyday, the company employed 1,200 people. The gorges and mountains that now are part of the Laurel-Snow State Natural Area teemed with an estimated 400 coke ovens, two blast furnaces, seven major coal mines and 17 miles of railroad.”

There were a number of horrific explosions in the mines. I was relived not to find any Cleages among the dead, although there were unnamed victims in each explosion. There were explosions in December of 1895, May 1901 and March of 1902. All three started when coal dust was ignited while the men were leaving with lit lamps after work. The bodies were described as blown apart, burned beyond recognition and other gruesome details.

“Chattanooga, Tenn., May 28. — In an explosion yesterday afternoon at the New Richland mine of the Dayton Coal & Iron company, at Dayton, Tenn., probably thirty-five people were killed. Twenty-two bodies were taken from the mines soon after the explosion and eight miners were taken from near the mouth of the mine badly burned, the most of them fatally.”

Jefferson’s wife Racheal was born about 1850 in Tennessee. She gave birth to fifteen children and by 1900, nine were still alive. Jefferson never learned to read or write. Racheal learned to read and all of the children were literate. The four younger children were all attending school in 1900. Thirteen year old Lloyd and fifteen year old Virgil had joined the adult men in the work force as laborers. The Cleages owned their home and it was free from mortgage.

Jefferson died sometime before the 1910 Census. Racheal’s occupation was washerwoman. Three more of her children had died, leaving six still living. Her nineteen year old son Martin ran a steam shovel while Seventeen year old Louis worked as an iron furnace laborer. Her two year old grandson, Samuel Douglas, was also living in the house.

In 1920 Racheal was about 70 years old. She and her grandson Samuel were living alone on Broyles street in Dayton. She lived in a rented house. This is the last I can find of Racheal Cleage.

While reading about coal mining in Rhea County long ago, I was surprised to find that there is a plan to reopen some of the mines by 2017. You can read about it at this link Coal Mining in Rhea County. You can read more here about African American coal miners in Appalachia – History of African American Coal Miners

I was able to get a 2 for 1 with both AtoZ and Sepia Saturday! For more Sepia Saturday posts about coal, click!