Tag Archives: Mershell C. Graham

G – GARDENING

A-Z Challenge 2023, , , ,

This is my tenth A to Z Challenge. My first was in 2013, but I missed 2021. This April I am going through the alphabet using snippets about my family through the generations.

garden
My grandfather working in his garden with my cousin Dee Dee. 1945
My mother looking at her corn at the first Old Plank Garden in 1961.
Me in my garden 1994

The Real Garden

Kristin Cleage

Our garden this year has been great, best I’ve had in years. Jim Tulani, James and Cabral got up a fence in early June that keeps the dogs from rolling around in the beds. Jim brought several pickup loads of horse manure from a local horse owner soon after the fence went up. He also roto-tilled several planting beds that were over grown and made a large double bed for the corn.

I got it planted soon after, before weeds could take over again and mulched everything heavily…the hay was here on time. We got all of this done pretty much before I started working. The beginning of the summer was hot and dry, so I watered. It soon changed to hot and wet, wet, wet. Now it’s cooling off and raining pretty well.

We’ve been eating summer squash, plenty of green beans (freezing some too.), collards, broccoli, swiss chard. The corn is tassling and there’s enough of it this year that you can hear it rustling in the wind. The pumpkins and winter squash may make it before frost if they hurry. Lots of green tomatoes, onions and red beans. The only down side so far is that the beans I planted with the corn (I even let the corn get up good before I planted them this year.) turned out to be bush beans and not Kentucky Wonder climbers. Looks kind of strange having those bush beans growing around the bottom of the corn.

I plan to put in lettuce, mustard, turnip and transplant kale as soon as the beans give out and by putting plastic over the pipes I bent over them, to eat from the garden up until Thanksgiving.

And next year with the fence already up, maybe I’ll really get some plants started and out early and have potatoes. The tomatoes Ayanna started this year look good. I did dream we had a killing frost a few nights ago, but I hope it was just a dream, I mean, it’s only August? No killing frost in August, even in the North woods, right?

The Ruff Draft May/June 1994 page 5

Today I did two G posts, unawares. The other is G- Glimpses in Detroit’s Mirror!

#AtoZChallenge 2023 letter G

The Cherry Tree – 1934

Detroit, Grahams, , ,
In tree 1934
Doris Graham

My mother in the spring of 1934 standing on a box by the cherry tree in the backyard.

Mershell C Graham picking cherries.

I’m not sure what kind of cherries these were, but here is a picture of my grandfather picking cherries the year before. If they were pie cherries, I’m sure my grandmother made pies. There was also an apple tree, a garden and chickens in their Detroit backyard.

With the chickens Mershell, Fannie and Doris.
Spring 1934. Mary V, mother, Bonzo and Doris .

My aunt Mary Vee was 13 years old. My grandmother Fannie was 46. My mother Doris was 11. Bonzo was five years old. It looks like they are just back from church service at Plymouth Congregational Church.

In 1934 they got their first car, a model A named “Lizzie”, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. My grandfather worked as a stock keeper at the Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant. My grandmother didn’t work outside of the home. Mary Vee attended Eastern high school and Doris attended Barber Intermediate school.

I remember a summer in the 1990s when my husband worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation. One year they were building Highway 31 from Pentwater to Ludington. The route went through some orchards which were doomed to be bulldozed. One July weekend we went and picked so many cherries! There were red and black and yellow and they were fully ripe. We went a few times. Never have we eaten so many cherries. So delicious and so sad the trees were destroyed.

P – PLYMOUTH Congregational Church – 1928

Lizzie

Appraisement of the Negroes Belonging to the Estate of C. M. Jackson

African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Alabama, Grahams, , ,

Recently while looking through my tree for the Jackson Family of Autauga County, Alabama, which I have long suspected of being the slave holders for my maternal grandfather Mershell Graham’s family, I found the will and estate file for Crawford Motley Jackson who died in 1860. In the file I found my grandfather’s mother Mary Jackson listed along with her mother Prissy Jackson in the list of enslaved people.

The list was arranged in family groups, with the names, ages and appraisement values. This is the full list of 135 people enslaved by C. M. Jackson at his death. The underlined names signal a new family group.

21 April 1860. Appraisement of the Negroes belonging to the Estate of C M. Jackson. No. 1, Book 7 Minutes 573

A list of negroes (sic) belonging to C. M Jackson deceased presented to undersigned, George Rives, John D. Graves and Philip Fitzpatrick appointed appraisers of said estate by Probate Court of Autauga County Alabama on the 15th of March 1860 by Absalom Jackson administrator of said estate with appraised value of same made by us opposite their names.

            Name                          Age     Birth              Valued

  1. Ned                             57       1803               $215
  2. Clem                           57       1803                    60  (unsound)
  3. Richard                      25       1835                    60  (unsound)
  4. Rachel &                   19       1841               1400
  5. Child
  6. Giles                            50       1810               1330
  7. Ester &                       35       1825                 750  (unsound)
  8. Child
  9. Catherin                     11       1849                 800
  10. Eliza                              9        1851                 550
  11. Giles Jr                        15       1845               1100
  12. Daniel                           3       1857                 300
  13. Edmund                     33       1828               1530
  14. Belinda                       35       1825               1000
  15. Ben                             15       1845               1130
  16. Coosa                          13       1847               1065
  17. Oran                           12       1848               930
  18. Dorcus                        10       1850                 700
  19. Mark                              8       1852                 530
  20. Texas                             6       1854                 500
  21. Labun                            3       1857                 300
  22.  Peggy                            2       1858                 250
  23. Mathew                      31       1826               1400
  24. Julia &                         26       1834               1400
  25. Child
  26. Lud                             10      1850                  800
  27. Naomi                           8       1852                  550
  28. Rush                              6       1854                  400
  29. Jenny Lind                   5      1855                  275
  30. Anna                              2      1858                  200
  31. Clark                           30     1830               1300
  32. Amanda &                  18     1842               1400
  33.  Child
  34. Winter                             8       1852                 500
  35. Katy &                           28       1832               1400
  36. Child
  37. Jim Polk                        6        1854                 450
  38. Maria                            8        1852                 550
  39. Archy                            4        1856                 300
  40. Peggy                           27       1833               1200
  41. Rocksy                          7        1853                 600
  42. Jim                              24       1836                1530
  43. Harriett &                   18       1842                 1400
  44. Child George
  45. William                       48      1812               1100
  46. Vina                            47       1813                 850
  47. Denis                          18       1842               1500
  48. Charlotte                    16       1844               1400
  49. Sam                             13       1847               1150
  50. Nelson                          11       1849               1020
  51. Rebecca                        4        1856                  400
  52.  Nancy                            3        1857                  300
  53. Jacob                           30       1830               1200
  54. Martha &                    27       1833               1430
  55.  Child
  56. Eliza                              9        1851                 700
  57. Frank                            7        1853                 750
  58. Henry                           3        1857                 300
  59. Henry                         25       1835               1500
  60. Cloe                             19       1841               1500
  61. Abram                           12       1848               1300
  62. Jackson                       21       1839               1500
  63. Silva &                           24       1836               1500
  64. Child Winnie
  65. Franky                          6        1854                 450
  66. Laura                            3        1857                 325
  67. Laban                         37       1823               1100
  68. Aggie                           21       1839               1300
  69. Billy                               2        1858                 275
  70. Mary &                       37       1823               1150
  71. Child
  72. Ellenboro                   38       1822               1200
  73. Davy                         18       1842               1300
  74. Fanny                       15       1845               1500
  75. Lucy                            13       1847               1030
  76. Solly                              9        1851                 900
  77. Isabell                           6        1853                  600
  78. Lewis                            4        1856                  400
  79. Prissy &                35       1825                1200  my 2X great grandmother.
  80. Child Lizza                   2        1858                                      
  81. Ibi                               12       1848             1000              
  82. Harjo                             9        1851               900              
  83. Griffin                           8        1852               900           
  84. Frank Pierce                6        1854                600   
  85. Mary                             4        1856                 450 my great grandmother
  86. Allen                           40       1820                 900
  87. Disy &                         33       1827               1100
  88. Child
  89. Noah                           13       1947             1100
  90. Phillis                          11       1849             1000
  91. Allen                             8        1852               700
  92. Sopha                           5        1855               500
  93. Edna                             4        1846               325
  94. General August         3        1857               200
  95. B. Mary                       41       1819               800
  96. Jessy                          17      1843             1400
  97. Dallas                         15       1845               1300
  98. Betty                           12       1848               1100
  99. Vina                            11       1849               1000
  100. Louisa &         24       1836               1500
  101. Child
  102. Jane                  5        1865                  400
  103. Josephine         3        1857                  275
  104. Little Aaron    30       1860               1300
  105. Amanda &      22       1838               1400
  106. Child
  107. Harrison           3        1857                  250
  108. Pamela             2        1858                  200
  109. Old Sy                          78        1782             no valuation assessed
  110. D? George     42       1838                  800
  111. Robert              36       1824               1300
  112. Cyrus            28       1832               1450
  113. Joe                   26       1834               1500
  114. George            56       1804                 300
  115. Milly                46       1814                 400
  116. Charles           16       1844               1500
  117. John                12       1848               1250
  118. Menerva         10       1850                 975
  119. Georgiana         5       1855                 425
  120. Nick                 45       1815               1100_________\
  121. Violet &           41       1809                 900                  
  122. Child Richard   1        1859                                            
  123. Sarah &          21       1839               1000                        
  124. Child                                                                           Mrs. Tempe Jackson
  125. Brown             19       1841               1100           has a lifetime estate
  126. Peter               14       1842               1300           in these negroes at…
  127. Hanna             12       1848               1000           Can’t read the rest.
  128. Tennessee      10       1850                 850                         
  129. Pauline             8        1852                 700                       
  130. Jennetta           5        1855                 500__________ /
  131. Old Aaron       58       1802                 250
  132. Rose                56       1804                 225
  133. Joe Beck         27       1833               1250
  134. Jim                  23       1837               1500
  135. Washington   19       1841               1000

State of Alabama } Personally appeared before me John Zeigler acting justice of the Autauga County  }peace in and for said county George Rives &, John D. Graves & Phillip Fitzpatrick appraisers of the Estate of Crawford M. Jackson deceased and being duly sworn , depose and say that the foregoing appraisement as agreed upon by them is just according to their knowledge and brief.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this the 5th day of April M. D. 1860

John J Zeigler J. P.