Category Archives: African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research

J – Jones Tabernacle hosts Music Festival

April 11, 2025A-Z Challenge 2025, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, IndianapolisPearl ReedKristin

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I will be posting an event for that date involving someone in my family tree. Of course it will also involve the letter of the day. It may be a birth, a death, a christening, a journal entry, a letter or a newspaper article. If the entry is a news item, it will be transcribed immediately below. Click on photographs to enlarge in another window.

MUSIC FESTIVAL FRIDAY.

Miss Pearl Reed One of Singers at Jones Tabernacle.

Among the special attractions of Easter week will be the music festival to be given next Friday evening at Jones Tabernacle, under the auspices of the Witherspoon Memorial United Presbyterian church. A carefully selected program has been arranged in which the best available talent will take part.

In addition to Miss Pearl Reed, popular soloist, Miss Osie Watkins, of Richmond, has been engaged to sing. Other features will be vocal solos by Aldridge M. Lewis and Mrs. Sallie Robinson. There will be Instrumental solos by Alfred Taylor and Philip Tasch, and readings by Miss Harriet Mitchell, of Knoxville, Tenn.; G. W. Cable, Aldridge and Alfred Taylor. The Twentieth Century Club of Jones tabernacle, will serve refreshments at the close of the program.
The Indianapolis News Indianapolis, Indiana • Sat, Apr 10, 1909 Page 12

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Pearl Reed was my paternal grandmother. In 1909 she lived with her mother and older brother George. She and my grandfather were “keeping company’ and married the following year.

You can see a better copy of the photo above at this earlier post: F- Forgive this writing

You can read more about my grandmother’s life at this post: Grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage and also find more links about her life.

F – Forgive this writing

April 7, 2025A-Z Challenge 2025, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Indianapolis, Pearl Reed's Letters#Pearl Reed CleageKristin

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While looking for some of his ancestors several years ago, my cousin Peter Olivier found a packet of letters online written by my grandmother Pearl Reed (Cleage) from 1903 to 1905. They were for sale by Michal Brown Rare Books who “specialize in Americana, especially manuscript materials. We offer manuscript letters and archives, diaries, journals, personal and business correspondence from the 17th century through the 20th.“

By the time I found out that the letters existed, they had been sold to the University of Georgia in Athens. I thought it was strange because neither my grandmother Pearl Reed nor Homer Jarrett, the young man she was exchanging letters with, were well known. Homer seems to have saved every piece of mail he ever received. Eventually all of those hundreds of pieces (which included my grandmother’s letters) ended up being sold after his death. In their entirety they give a unique picture of the era in which they were written.

I immediately got in touch with Special Collections Library at The University of Georgia in Athens. I was able to purchase scans of all 41 letters and envelopes very reasonably. I was very excited to have a look into my 19 year old grandmother’s life through her letters. It was lucky that the University purchased them. I could never have afforded to buy them.

Below is one of the letters in the package. It was written on April 7, 1904.

Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library/University of Georgia Libraries. Click to enlarge.

Homer Jarrett
#230 Bird St., City

2730 Kenwood Ave
City
April 7, 1904

Dear Homer;
Forgive me for not writing sooner, but don’t you know I did write but tore up the letter a few hours after. Mother is very ill now and has been since Easter eve. I am having a terrible time. I could not go to church Easter Morn and have just received an invitation to a friends at her birthday anniversary but had to send her my regrets. Pity me.
Your ~~little~~ friend

P.S. I am in an awful hurry, forgive this writing.

Your Pearl

P.S. Minnie’s address is #337 Colfax Ave. Benton Harbor Mich.

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Pearl Reed about 1904 — Pearl Doris Reed 1904

Pearl Reed was my paternal grandmother. Homer was a friend of my grandmother. Minnie was my grandmother’s older sister who was married to Homer’s cousin and had moved from Indianapolis with her husband and family to Benton Harbor, Michigan.

At this time my grandmother was about 20 years old. She had graduated from high school and lived at home with her mother and her oldest brother, George. One other brother lived nearby with his family. Another brother lived in Chicago and all three of her living sisters lived in Benton Harbor, Michigan with their families. Her oldest sister died around 1900.

My grandmother would not meet my grandfather for several more years.

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Read more about my grandmother’s letters in these posts:
My Grandmother’s Letters
Finding The Letters
The Letters – The People

D – Darling Baby Girl

April 4, 2025A-Z Challenge 2025, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry ResearchKristin

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Thirty four years after the birth of yesterday’s cuddly baby girl, Mary Virginia Graham Elkins gave birth to a darling baby girl. On April 4, 1954 my first cousin, Marilyn Graham Elkins was born to Frank and Mary V. (Graham) Elkins.

Marilyn was the fifth and last grandchild of Mershell and Fannie (Turner) Graham.

My mother with the rest of the cousins Barbara, Kristin, Pearl and Dee Dee. Dee Dee and Barbara are Marilyn’s older sisters.

In the back yard. — My mother with the rest of the cousins Barbara, Kristin, Pearl and Dee Dee. Dee Dee and Barbara are Marilyn’s older sisters.

C – Cuddly Baby Girl Arrives

April 3, 2025A-Z Challenge 2025, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Detroit, GrahamsMary VirginiaKristin

Cuddly Mary Virginia Graham April 1920. Mignon, daughter of the couple that owned the house on the left with the bow.

**The Emancipator**, Montgomery, Alabama • Sat, April 10, 1920 Page 2

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT.

The hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Merchell Graham were gladened Saturday, April 3rd, by the arrival of a sweet baby girl. Mr. and Mrs. Graham now reside in Detroit, Mich., but both are former Montgomerians.

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Mershell and Fannie (Turner) Graham. August 1919. Detroit, Michigan.

Mr. and Mrs. Mershell Graham were my maternal grandparents. Mary Virginia Graham, born April 3, 1920 was my mother’s older sister and my aunt.

My grandfather, Mershell Graham came to Detroit from Montgomery, Alabama in 1917. He proposed to my grandmother, Fannie Turner in 1918. She accepted and they were married on June 15, 1919 at Fannie’s home in Montgomery and left the same day for Detroit.

They roomed with friends from home and lived there when Mary Virginia was born. Mershell worked in an Auto plant as an inspector. My grandmother did not work outside of the home after her marriage.

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The Proposal – 1918
The Proposal Accepted – 1918
Mershell Graham and Fannie Mae Turner Marriage License – 11 June 1919
Graham-Turner Wedding – 1919 Montgomery Alabama
F – FAMILY, MY GRAHAMS in the 1920 Census

A to Z 2025 Theme Reveal

March 13, 2025A-Z Challenge 2025, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry ResearchKristin

This will be my twelfth year doing the A to Z Challenge. I’ve considered several different themes in the past week. After reading On This Day in April by CRGalvin, I decided to use the event of the day for my theme also. Everyday during April I will pick an event from that date from my family history and write about that, using different years and decades and branches, I hope to find enough to fill up the calendar.

Making it even more interesting will be making the events of the day also match the letter of the day!

AtoZChallenge theme reveal 2025 #atozchallenge

THE CLEAGES 100 YEARS AGO – 1925

February 15, 2025African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Cleages, Detroit, Grahams, Saturday Night Genealogy FunKristin

Albert B. Cleage was born in Tennessee in 1884. He moved to Indianapolis, IN in 1909 to attend Medical School. There he met and married Pearl Reed, who was born in Kentucky and came to Indianapolis as a small child. Soon after the birth of my father in 1911, the family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan where my grandfather became the first black physician. After several years, they moved to Detroit.

The Cleages and friends at Idlewild, Michigan 1925. Three of the children are not in the photo – Louis, Hugh and baby Anna. Cannot identify the others.

In 1920 they bought a large brick house on the corner of Scotten and Moore Place on Detroit’s Old Westside. By 1925 they were the parents of seven children, my father Albert (14), Louis (12), Henry (9), Hugh (7), Barbara (5) Gladys (3), and baby Anna born in January of that year.

**Family home 1920-1948. 6429 Scotten Avenue. Detroit, Michigan.**

My grandfather’s medical office was several blocks away at 4334 McGraw. He and Dr. Grimes, a dentist, shared the space. My grandmother had plenty to do at home with seven children and didn’t work outside the home after she married.

**Dr. Cleage shared an office with in the house above in 1925.**

Dr. Grimes and Dr. Cleage on the office steps

Eighth grade class at Wingert Elementary School. My father is second from left, front row. 1924

My father, Albert Jr with his eighth grade class at Wingert Elementary school. The school was a block from their house. Henry, Hugh, Louis and Barbara were also students at Wingert in 1925.

Two of Albert’s siblings, Jacob and Henry, and their families plus his mother Celia were also living in Detroit by 1925. They lived within walking distance of each other. My great grandmother Celia lived with my grandfather. His sister Josephine still lived in Indianapolis. His brother Ed remained in Athens, Tennessee and died there the following year.

They were members of St. John’s Presbyterian church, where Albert and Pearl had been founding members. They had a car which Albert used for work. They took trips both in Michigan and to Indianapolis and Athens to visit family.

Saw the prompt to write about the lives of your family 100 years ago. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

The Grahams 100 Years Ago

February 13, 2025African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Detroit, Grahams, Great MigrationKristin

Last week I realized it was 102 years since my mother Doris Graham Cleage was born on February 12, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan. When I read the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun theme was your family 100 years ago. I decided to do it. Click on the links for more information. Click on the photographs to enlarge them.

The Grahams, maybe Belle Isle park, Detroit, 1925 Left is my grandfather Mershell C, Graham holding my mother Doris. My grandmother Fannie Turner Graham is holding my uncle Mershell C. Graham Jr and my aunt Mary V.

My grandfather came to Detroit from Montgomery, Alabama in 1917. In 1919 he went back and married my grandmother and they returned to Detroit. By 1925 they had been there six years. They had three children, all born in Detroit, Mary V. (5), Mershell Jr (4) my mother Doris (2).

Mershell and Fannie bought a frame house at 6638 Theodore on the east side of Detroit when my mother was on the way. Fannie’s mother and her two sister’s came up from Montgomery and moved in with them. In 1925 all three worked at Annis Furs.

"Jennie Annis Furs" — Staff at Annis Furs. My great grandmother Jennie Turner is on the far right, middle row. Next to her is her daughter Alice. Aunt Daisy is right in the center of that middle row, #4.

My grandfather worked at the Highland Park Ford Plant as an inspector. My grandmother didn’t work outside of the home after her marriage. My aunt Mary V. at five, would have been attending half day kindergarten at Thomas Elementary school, several blocks from their house.

They were active members of Plymouth Congregational Church where my grandfather Mershell had been a founding member. They didn’t have a car. They walked or traveled by streetcar.

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The Land of Hope – Mershell Graham’s move to Detroit
Eliza’s Children Move North – my great grandmother and her siblings moving north from Montgomery.

Auld Lang Syne

December 31, 2024African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry ResearchKristin

Born at the end of slavery

October 15, 2024African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Investigations, Montgomery Alabama, One Place StudyKristin

While I was studying the women in the Edelweiss Club during the past several years, I came across quite a bit of information about some of their parents. They were in the same age group with my great grandmother, Jenny Virginia Allen Turner. My great grandmother was born October 1, 1866 in Montgomery Alabama, seven months after the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Most of the parents were born in the 1850s and 1860s, during the final years of slavery or during the first years of freedom.

I began by studying these parents and then I became interested in others living in Montgomery, Alabama during that time and began to expand my investigations to include them and by extension, learned what was happening in the community that my family lived in during Reconstruction and after.

I found women and men who worked for themselves as farmers, carpenters, barbers, grocers, preachers and seamstresses. There were others who worked for the government as janitors, teachers and mailmen. Some worked for private families as nurses and chauffeurs. There were murders, scandals and everyday life.

I began by looking for the people I was interested in, in census and death records and city directories. After building a picture of their lives from these records, I looked them up in the local newspapers. I found stories of murders, obituaries, graduations and teaching assignments. Most of the stories appeared in the white papers and were obviously biased towards the African American citizens. I also found stories in black newspapers. Some had long publishing lives, but there were several that only came out once or twice. These papers carried more personal information – marriages, who just moved into town, who was visiting who and other more personal stories. In these newspaper articles I found new people to investigate.

I haven’t written anything on my blog since May and I decided I need to start writing up all the information I’ve found. I need to do a timeline of the events and also place the new people on the map I made for the Edelweiss women. Hopefully I won’t get lost in these for too long!

Reflections on the 2024 A-Z Challenge

May 2, 2024A-Z Challenge 2024, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Edelweiss, Montgomery Alabama, One Place StudyKristin

Madeline Abercrombie – a member of the Edelweiss Club

I have just completed my eleventh A to Z Challenge. This year I wrote about the Edelweiss Club of Montgomery, Alabama. I had no posts written when the challenge began. This made for the usual nerve wracking experience of writing all day to get the post ready to go live by midnight. And also squeezing in visits to other blogs.

I have researched the 37 members intensively over the past several years, but had not looked at recipes of the day nor at the schools where the teacher members taught except in general, so I did learn about those things. I was surprised to see that most of them did marry, even if some married late and some divorced. I learned that their parents were pretty interesting. I tried to avoid getting sidetracked on them, although there were some good stories there. I’m considering writing about that generation next year, taking it back to my great grandmother Jennie Virginia Allen Turner’s life in Montgomery from the 1860s, to the time of her marriage in 1886.

This year I just didn’t seem to have the zest that I usually experience during the challenge. I was just holding on and getting through. Maybe it’s the depressing conditions all around, local, national and worldwide. Whatever it was, I did finish. I am glad I finally wrote up some of the Edelweiss women and their possible delicious luncheons.

I mostly read the same blogs I follow all year or those that I have on file from past challenges. I tried a few new ones as we went on, mainly finding them through comments on mine or other’s blogs or a few from the list.

These are the blogs I most often read and commented on:

There were others that I visited less often and there were some I discovered late in the challenge.

You can find an index to my April posts here A to Z Challenge 2024 – The Edelweiss Club

Thank you to everyone who makes the challenge work and to everyone who read my posts and to those who commented, I tried to visit and comment back. Also thanks to my husband Jim who proofreads my posts. I do sometimes change up afterwards, so he is not to blame if some errors crept in!

Finding Eliza

Family history blog