Several years ago I received this photograph of my grandparents with all of their children and 3 of their 7 grandchildren. My sister and I must have been at our maternal grandparent’s house. We do appear in the header photograph in front of the same house and the same year.
Several days ago, I found the will of Alexander Cleage, which mentioned my Cleage Ancestors: Frank, Juda and Lewis Cleage by name, as he willed them to his wife. After finding the will, I did two things. First, I went back through the other documents I have concerning the white Cleages and slavery. I found a bill of sale wherein David Cleage and his sister Elizabeth sold some of their inherited slaves (including my great-great grandfather, Frank) to Alexander. I had believed that my family went from Samuel Cleage to son David, and remained with him, after Samuel’s death. This cleared that up.
Next, I set up a tree for the white Cleages on Ancestry.com. Through the shakey leaves I found another will. This one for Elijah Hurst, father of Alexander’s wife Jemima Hurst Cleage. In the will, Elijah deeds Jemima my great-great grandmother, Juda, who (along with several other slaves) he had already given her when she married. There was a wealth of information and documentation available on Ancestry which I am going through now.
After going through those documents, I will modify the timelines I have for Frank and Juda Cleage. I am also going to be looking for traditions surrounding giving ones daughter a couple of slaves to take with her when she married. This is the second case of that I have found in my family. My great great grandmother Eliza was given to Edmund Harrison’s daughter Martha Harrison, when she married Milton Saffold.
This is the year that I plan to devote some real time to writing up my family history. More about that later.
Related Posts
Article of Agreement Between Samuel Cleage and Overseer – 1834
This Will was written by Elijah Hurst, the father of Jemima Hurst Cleage, who married Alexander Cleage, who enslaved my 2X great grandparents and their 5 children. In it he leaves Juda (my 2X great grandmother) to Jemima. She already had possession of her.
State of Tenn. McMinn Co.Will of Elijah HurstMcMinn Co Will Book D, Mar 1841-Dec 1848, Microfilm roll 104, TSLA, pp 245-255.
Dec 2 1844. Elijah Hurst Will Recorded.
I Elijah Hurst do make and ordain this my last will and testament.
I hadn’t planned yesterday to go to Family Search and look for the Will of Alexander Cleage, but I did.
“I give and devise to my beloved wife Jemima Cleage for and during her natural life the following described Negro slaves – to wit: … Juda and her five children to wit: Charles, Angelen, Lewis, Laura and Frank… I also give and bequeath to her for her natural life a negro man called Frank the husband of Juda…”
30th day of May 1860 Alexander Cleage
Juda and Frank Cleage were my two times great grandparents. Their son Lewis Cleage was my great grandfather, my own grandfather Albert B. Cleage’s, father. I have several other documents that trace them through slavery – a letter to the overseer in 1838 and a bill of sale that mention Frank in 1852, a marriage record for Frank and Juda Cleage in 1866 and the 1870 census, Lewis’ death certificate in 1918.
By the time the will was probated 1 March 1875, my people had been free for 10 years.
These records give me a bare bones outline of their lives. I have no photographs, no stories. Nobody’s memories. These bones and their names. I read the will over and over until I felt it inside of me. I saw my cousins faces, my children’s faces. All descended from these two people – Frank and Juda Cleage and their son, Lewis Cleage. I wish I could see their faces. I wish I knew their stories. I wish someone had shared memories. One thing I know is that I will tell the parts of their stories that I can piece together and I will say their names. Frank Cleage born 1816 in North Carolina. Juda Cleage born 1814 in Tennessee. Lewis Cleage born 1852 in Athens Tennessee and died 1918 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
You can see a copy of the will here: Last Will and Testament of Alexander Cleage
You can see a copy of Elijah Hurst’s Will leaving my enslaved great great grandmother Juda Cleage to his daughter, Jemimah Hurst Cleage Elijah Hurst’s Will-1848
My cousin Jan recently sent me a copy of the speech below. It was given by my grandfather, Dr. Albert B. Cleage, Sr on the occasion of the graduation of the first class of nurses from Dunbar Hospital. Dunbar was founded by a group of 30 black doctors in 1918 because they were not allowed to treat their patients at white hospitals in Detroit without special permission, and sometimes not even then. The hospital also served as a training school for nurses. My grandfather isn’t pictured in the 1930 photo of staff above, but you can see him in the header photo which was taken in 1922. He is seated on the steps of Dunbar Hospital – first row, far right.
Click on the pages below to enlarge.
This is a copy of an article my father, Rev. Albert B. Cleage aka Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, wrote, I believe, for a column in the “Michigan Chronicle” for January 1967. You can read the sermon notes for his New Year’s Day sermon that year here “The Faith of a Mustard Seed”.
Click on these pages to enlarge.
As Christmas approaches, I remember my father’s sermons from that time of year. Here is the Sunday Bulletin for Sunday, December 11, 1966, the sermon notes, a flyer for an evening program held the same day and one of the songs sung by the Choir that day at Central United Church of Christ, Detroit. And right beneath this paragraph, the audio of the actual sermon.
Sermon – Advent 1966
2nd Sermon of Advent 1966
The Star and The Stable – Sermon Notes – Dec. 11, 1966
A Christ to Carol – Christmas Sermon Notes Dec 22 196
by Juanita Cleage Martin
From the book “Memories to Memoirs”
Our Christmas trees were cedar instead of pine. A bunch of kids would go together a few days before Christmas looking for Christmas trees. We would sometimes find them along the roadsides, but our special place was at Keith’s, across from Community Hospital before Community Hospital. We always found a good shapely tree in that section. I guess we didn’t realize we should ask someone. Nobody bothered, as we never seen anyone to ask. Our decoration was ropes of tinsel, and we often strung popcorn and cotton.
My favorite toy was a big doll. In our day, dolls were stuffed with sawdust, and their heads and arms were made of plastic, not like plastic of today. I remember I left it outside and the rain ruined it and made puffed splotches like blisters. I cried, as I dearly loved this doll. My sister Bea was the doctor. She gathered wild purple poke berries and covered the places. I continued to carry and play with it until it finally tore to pieces.
Juanita Cleage Martin was the daughter of my grandfather, Albert Cleage’s brother, Charles Edward Cleage. They lived in Athens Tennessee. Juanita was born February 11, 1922. I don’t know how old she was when she got the doll for Christmas but this Cuddles doll was made from 1926 through 1928 to 1940 and sold through the Sears Catalog. Maybe this was the doll she got for Christmas. The body was cloth while the face and limbs were “composition” which was made by mixing sawdust and glue and compressing them in a mold. Composition does not react well to water. I remember a doll sort of like this that was left over from my mother and her sister’s childhood. I wonder what happened to them.
1928-1940 Cuddles or Sally-kins, 14-27″ tall, composition head, arms, legs (some limbs are rubber), cloth kapok stuffed body, molded hair, tin flirty sleep eyes, with lashes, open mouth with upper & lower teeth, tongue, mama crier, wore an organdy dress, bonnet and rubber panties, (Little Sister has flannel diapers). Made by Ideal.
For more about Juanita and her family – Mattie and children and Childhood Memories.
This is another from the Christmas series that I am reposting from the early days of my blog. Two of my father’s first cousins, Juanita and Beatrice participated in a workshop to turn their “Memories to Memoirs” in 1990 in Athens, Tennessee. I was able to get a copy of them from my cousin Janice (Juanita’s daughter). Today I am posting Beatrice’s memories of her childhood, which sets the scene and also has some Christmas memories. Tomorrow I will post her sister Juanita’s Christmas memories.
By Beatrice Cleage Johnson
Written in 1990
1926 – I remember the early years of my life living at 216 Ridge Street. We used wood and coal stoves for heating and cooking. I will never forget the range stove that my mother cooked on. She made biscuits every morning for breakfast. There was a warmer at the top of the stove for left overs. I would always search the warmer for snacks. We had an outside toilet. Everyone that we knew had these, so we thought this was it. We never dreamed of ever having inside plumbing.
We had a water hydrant in the front yard and every night it was my job to fill the water buckets which had stainless steel dippers in them. My sister also helped with the chores. My other job was to clean the lamp chimneys. We used oil lamps. Momma always inspected them to see if they were clean. I decided then, if I ever made any money I would have electricity put in our house. And I did. I would babysit during the summers and save my money.
I have always loved poetry. I learned many poems and stories from my mother and sisters, such as “Little Boy Blue” and “Little Red Riding Hood”. I think my favorite food was any kind of fruit. I was always happy to see Summer, when the apples and peaches were plentiful. I always looked forward to Christmas. We never saw any oranges until then. I remember my first doll. It had a china head and straw body. I loved it so much. Momma always made a special white coconut cake for Christmas, which I looked forward to. She made other pies and cakes, but the coconut was my favorite. We didn’t get too many toys for Christmas, but my sisters and I enjoyed everything we got for Christmas.
My father became ill and my mother was to be the sole support of the five girls. I was six years of age when my father passed away in 1926. My youngest sister, Juanita, was three years of age and she didn’t remember him, but I did. After he died my uncles took the two older sisters, Helen and Alberta, to Detroit to live with them. Alberta stayed and finished high school there, but Helen came back home and helped Momma care for the three of us. Ola, Juanita and myself went to high school here.
We always celebrated the holidays. Thanksgiving was very special as my birthday would sometimes come on Thanksgiving Day. We always had special food on these days. Pies, cakes, chicken, rabbit. On Halloween we always dressed in our older sister’s and mother’s clothes. One of the main pranks the boys would do was to push the outside toilets over. We used to beg them not to push ours over. In those days, there was no trick or treat. It was all tricks. Easter was also special. Momma would make us a new dress for Easter, and Helen always bought me black patent leather slipper.
Dr. Gamble died in 1948. Cousin Jan recently found part of a speech (page 1 is missing)that my grandfather Dr. Albert B. Cleage wrote for Dr. Gamble’s funeral. To read about his life follow this link Dr. Parker Blair Gamble – Solving Mysteries Part I. I wish I could have heard his famous laugh. Dr. Gamble is 3rd from the right in the header above. He is wearing a light suit. My grandfather is first on the right.
