Jefferson & Rachael Cleage

April 11, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Cleages#Jefferson Cleage, Coal minesKristin

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

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.

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!

“I” is for Introduction To My Investigations

April 10, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesKristin

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

Today I’m taking a break from individual Cleages to describe how I came up with the names I am researching and how I find the information I do about them. I did find an “I” for Isabel Sherman, the granddaughter of Jane from yesterday’s post Henry & Jane Cleage. I plan to write Isabelle’s story up on my day off – Sunday.

How do you find the people? As I was researching my Cleage ancestors, I found the names of other Cleages – in the bills of sale, the Wills, the letters and in the Census. I began to wonder what happened to those other Cleages. Some of the information came from online research and some came from copies of documents that were given to me.

How do you know they were from the Cleage plantations? I am sure they were from the Cleage plantations if their names appear on slavery era documents from the Cleage plantations. It helps when their ages are mentioned because then I can check them against the ages in the census records. Otherwise, I go by the name Cleage.

Where do you find your information? I met a descendent of another Cleage family through my tree on ancestry.com and he sent me copies of bills of sale and the letter to the overseer that he had been given.

I found copies of slave holders Wills on FamilySearch.com. On a whim, I decided to look for Samuel Cleage’s will. They are not indexed so I had to go to the probate records for McMinn County and then look through the online books until I found the Wills. I knew the time period so I was able to narrow it down but it took time and luck.

On Ancestry.com I was able to search for names in the census records. Slaves were only counted by age, color and sex, unless the enumerator made a mistake and put their names down. Always nice if you run into that. I can also find Agricultural Schedules, which tell how many animals, what kinds and what kind of crops a farmer grew. City Directories are a great way to trace people that cannot be found in every census and also to track them between censuses. You can also find out spouses (dead and alive), occupations and addresses. An added bonus is finding who lives in the same house – are they siblings, parents and children, married couples? The directories also are helpful in pinpointing when someone arrived in a new city and left the old one.

Alexander Cleage's Slave Census for 1860, the year he wrote his will. That means my family is there. They give how many slaves fit that description, if they are "black" (b) or "mulatto" (m), and male (m) or female (f) and ages. At the end of the count for each slave holder, they also tell how many slave dwellings there were. You can see how frustrating it would be to try and figure out who and where your people were if you didn't have some slave era documents to help. — Alexander Cleage’s Slave Census for 1860, the year he wrote his will. That means my family is there. They give how many slaves fit that description, if they are “black” (b) or “mulatto” (m), and male (m) or female (f) and ages. At the end of the count for each slave holder, they also tell how many slave dwellings there were. Alexander had 8. He was a pretty large slave holder for Eastern Tennessee. You can see how frustrating it would be to try and figure out who and where your people were if you didn’t have some slave era documents to help.(1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules via Ancestry.com)

One category that I ignored on Ancestry.com for a long time was the military area. I would check draft registrations, which give you a brief description, but I didn’t think of looking for U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records and when I did I found a wealth of information. I also found military information on FamilySearch.com and on Fold3.com.

Marriage records and death certificates can give good information, including parent’s names, witnesses, occupation, address and name of spouse. I look for newspaper articles on Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and genealogybank.com. Sometimes I google a name and come up with unexpected and interesting information.

How do you organize the information so you know who is who? I started a new tree for each person or couple I found. That made it easier to search for information and to store it when found. I started over 17 trees to keep things straight, in addition to my main family tree and a tree I started for the white Cleages. There were even more but the more I researched, the more I could combine trees when I found people married into an already existing tree or that they were the child of people already in an existing tree. The only problem is when I can’t remember which of the larger tree someone is in and I have to go search a few trees to find them.

How do you make the connections? I make the connections by using the records mentioned above, and by getting to know the families.

What do you mean when you say you found one family on one page of the census and another family two pages away? The United States Census is taken every 10 years, in the years ending in zero. Enumerators were hired to go out and count the population. They asked them questions about age, marital status, where they were born and other questions. Some questions changed depending on the year. You can never be sure who gave the answer to the questions. It might have been a child in the family who was home or a neighbor if nobody was home. McMinn County, Tennessee, where Athens is located, was divided into 19 Townships in 1880. Each one had from 15 to 23 pages. The people who were enumerated on the same page lived next door to each other or a few houses down. People on the previous page or the next page were still pretty close neighbors. A page looks like this:

4244648-00147 — Page 20 in the 1880 Census for Athens.

Henry & Jane Cleage

April 9, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesHenry Cleage 1924Kristin

athens overview wide — Athens, Tennessee about 1919. (Family photo from my archives – by Albert B. Cleage Sr.)

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.

Henry Cleage was born about 1824 in North Carolina. I wonder if he and my 2X great grandfather, Frank Cleage, were related because they both came from North Carolina. Henry first appears in some instructions slave holder Samuel Cleage wrote to his overseer in 1834.

overseer_directions — You can read the complete letter here.

“… to keep the hands his Cleage’s negroes employed and make them work as would be right to correct them when they deserve but not to be cruel or abuse them but make them do their duty and not suffer them to run about from the farm at nights. The hands or negroes are Bill, Henry, Joe, Frank, Lea, Fannie, two little boys and Peter} Bill is not to be a hand until his master Cleage directs as he is stiller and is to remain in the still house while Cleage carrys on stilling.”

Jane and Adaline were mentioned in Alexander Cleage’s (son of Samuel Cleage) Will of 1860.

“The last Will and Testament of Alexander Cleage, I Alexander Cleage of the County of McMinn and State of Tennessee being in usual good health and being of sound mind and disposing memory and knowing the uncertanity of life and the certainty of death do make and publish this las Will and Testament and first I desire all my just debts paid as soon after my death as possible if I should die leaving debts unpaid. Second; I give and devise to my beloved wife Jemima Cleage for and during her natural life the following negro slaves to wit Amy and her child a boy called Jeff, Juda and her five children to wit Charles, Angelin, Lewis, Laura, and Frank and Jane and her child Adaline and a negro man called Tom, they all being negros that came to my said wife from her father and from her father’s estate and the increase of said negros as she received from her father and from his estate. Also I give and devise to my wife Jemima Cleage for and during her natural life my home farm upon which I now live containing about eleven hundred and twenty five acres in addition to the negros above given to my wife for life I also give and bequeath to her for her natural life a negro man called Frank, the husband of Juda and another man called Tom, known as Tom Lane…” 30th day of May 1860 Alexander Cleage

You can see a copy of the will here: Last Will and Testament of Alexander Cleage

In 1870 We find Henry and Jane living in Athens, Tennessee. He was 46 and she was 39. He was a laborer and had $400 ($7,272.73 in 2014 dollars) worth of personal property and $150 ($2,727.27) worth of personal property.

Living next door were Adaline “Addie” and Edmund Sherman and their two young children, three year old William Henry and one year old Kate. Ed was also a laborer. He had $100 worth of personal property and no real estate. Looking at these two households, I assumed that Addie was Henry’s daughter and that William Henry was Edmund’s son. However, looking at their death certificates, I found that Addie was Clint (known as Dick) Cleage’s daughter and William Henry was later listed as a Cleage, because his father was Nelson Cleage. That is, if the father’s names are right on the death certificate.

Looking through some of the other pages of the census, I found Sallie (widow of Clint) and her children on the page before them. Several pages before that were George and Martha next door to Fannie Turk and her family.

In 1880 both families were enumerated twice, both times living next door to each other. The first time they were still in District 7. The second time they were enumerated in the Town of Athens. Both men were laborers, all the adults were unable to read and write. The two oldest children, William Henry (12) and Katie(10), attended school and were literate. There were five younger children Bell (9), Sallie (8), Mat (5), Frank (4) and Dave (1).

Looking through the rest of the Town of Athens, I found Jerry and Charlotte Cleage’s daughter, America Cleage and her five children, on page 21. On page 20 were Sallie Cleage and six of her children. Also on that page were Sydney Cleage and her daughter Bell, and Roger Shurman and his first wife Jane and there 3 children and a border, Alice Cleage. Roger Shurman was my great grandmother’s second husband. On page 11 were Jerry and Charlotte Cleage and eight of their children. On page 18 were George and Jane with their three daughters. David Cleage who enslaved many of these families during slave times, is enumerated on page 4 with his family.

By 1900 Henry was dead. Jane was 90 years old. She had birthed one child and that child was still alive. Her grandson Frank and his wife Emma lived with her. Frank was a cook. Addie and her family were living next door. Addie had given birth to seven children and six were still living. Both families owned their houses free from mortgage. Ed and William Henry were day laborers. Addie’s daughter Sallie lived there and worked as a washer woman.

Ed and Addie’s daughter Isabelle lived next door. She earned her living as a washer woman also. Her sister Sallie’s 6 year old daughter lived with her and attended school. Sallie’s two year old son also lived there. The older people were illiterate while the next generation were all able to read and write.

They were on page 16. On page 18 we find Fanny Cleage living with Charles Moss. This was not the Fannie who was in the newspaper, but this one was also a cook. On page 21 was Sallie Cleage Waterhouse and her family. She was the daughter of Sallie and Clint Cleage.

Jane died before 1910. Unfortunately She and Henry both died before Tennessee kept death records. Addie lived to be 80 years old. She died March 18, 1923. According to her death certificate she died of paralysis. Her daughter Sallie Sherman was the informant.

I am going to use “I” tomorrow to “Introduction”. My husband, who is my proof reader and does not dabble in genealogy or research, suggested I tell my readers how I come up with this information. This works out well as I had no “I” Cleage. Tune in tomorrow for an “Introduction to My Investigations”.

George Cleage

April 8, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesGeorge Cleage, PensionsKristin

“The Escaped Slave in the Union Army,” Harper’s Weekly, July 2, 1864, p. 428. (Courtesy of the House Divided Project)

George Cleage was born in Memphis, Tennessee about 1845. He joined the 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery in Knoxville, TN in 1864. His enlistment papers describe him as 19 years old, 5 ft 8 inches with black hair, black eyes and yellow complexion. His occupation was listed as “farmer”. His military record was uneventful, except for being confined to the military prison at Chattanooga for several months.

When he was mustered out in October of 1865, he had $10.50 coming to him, that would be worth $156.72 today. Not a lot to start a new life.

m1818_5-1455 — The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Artillery Organizations via Ancestry.com

In 1868 he married Martha Rice in Athens, Tennessee. His first daughter, Sarah was born in 1869. While looking at him in the 1870 census, I looked to see who his neighbors were and right there above him was Fannie Turk, widow of Isaac and their children! I have been looking for her and not finding her in censuses. Isaac and Fannie came off of David Cleage’s plantation and Isaac also enlisted in the USCT in Knoxville. To read more about Fannie and Isaac, go to the link above.

In 1880 Martha and little Sarah are gone (presumed to have died) and George has married Jane. There are three daughters, Anna, 6; Mary, 4 and Lizzie, 2 years old. George continues to have employment listed as laborer, but by 1900 he is listed as a brick mason. I wonder if George had been doing brick work all along. Coming off of a plantation known for building with bricks, I expected more of the free Cleage men to be brick masons. (Cleage Bricks to learn more about Samuel Cleage’s brick making and construction business.)

In 1900 George was a widower. Two of his daughters are enumerated with him. Although daughter Anna married Frank Cunningham, she is using Cleage. She has one child, 2 year old Mazinia. George’s daughter Lizzie is working as a cook. Both of the daughters are literate, George is not. Tom and Sallie (Cleage) Waterhouse lived down the street from them. Sallie was the daughter of Clinton (sometimes Called Dick) and Sallie Cleage, who I wrote about in “D” is for Dick. I am loving the way people show up in each other’s lives.

That is the last I find of George Cleage. Lizzie ended up in Knoxville. Mary and Anna ended up in Indianapolis where they died in the 1920s. Anna is listed in the city directories as “Anna Cleage (widow of Frank) and that caused me some confusion because I thought she might have been a wife of my great grandfather Louis’ brother Frank Cleage, but that turned out not to be the case. She must have gone back to her maiden name after Frank Cunningham died. My grandfather and 3 of his siblings lived in Indianapolis at this time. I wonder if the two families crossed paths.

Fannie Cleage

April 7, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Cleages#Fannie CleageKristin

“Cook Dies at Age Of 78 Knoxville, Tenn., 15 – Fannie Cleage Wilson, aged 78 years, died Tuesday morning at her home 609 Payne avenue. The body will be buried in the Daughters’ cemetery. The funeral services were held Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock. She was a well known cook, and worked for many of the most prominent families in Knoxville.”

When I saw this item about Fannie Cleage, I chose her for F. There was a Fannie mentioned in the 1834 letter to the Overseer by Samuel Cleage’s, however this Fannie was not born yet, so that was not her.

In the 1900 census in Knoxville, Tennessee she was listed as a servant for the Hood family. The head of the family, NM Hood was a 47 years old merchant and had been married to Estela 32, for three years. Fannie was 65, a widow who had given birth to 3 children, all now dead. She was able to read and write.

Fannie Cleage’s death certificate says that she died of old age, general frailty and heart failure. She was a widow, 75 years old and had worked as a cook. She was buried Daughter’s of Zion Cemetery.

“Located on Bethel Avenue in East Knoxville since c. 1880 is the Odd Fellows Cemetery, an African-American fraternal and benevolent cemetery. The Odd Fellows, the Daughters of Zion, and the Good Samaritans purchased the property to create the joint cemetery.”

Afterward: My mother wanted to name me Fannie, after her mother Fannie Turner Graham. My grandmother told her not to do it. I was almost Fannie Cleage.

Emma Cleage

April 6, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesEmma CleageKristin

Great_Migration_Family — A southern family arriving in Chicago during World War I. (Chicago Commission on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago [Chicago, 1922]) The Great Migration In Photographs

I didn’t expect to have trouble finding a Cleage with the first name starting with “E” and was suprised to find that Emma Cleage was one of the few.

Emma was born in 1881 in Austin Texas She was part of the first generation of Cleages born after slavery, and the 2nd child of Richard and Adeline (Wasson) Cleage. Richard, born into slavery in 1858, was the son of Charles Cleage, born into slavery about 1840. There was a Richard Cleage lodging with Abraham and Amanada Cleage in Austin in 1880 and that is the only sign of him in Texas. The family returned to Tennessee by 1880 (Richard was enumerated with them also) and lived first in Rhea County and then moved to Chattanooga by 1888, when Emma was 7 years old.

Richard worked as a hosteler, a laborer and in a feed stable to support his family. By 1892 that included 9 children, his wife and himself. Emma and her siblings attended school for 8 months out of the year. Between 1892 and 1900, Richard Cleage died. In the 1900 census both Emma and her mother were working as washer women. The same year, at the age of 20, Emma married Robert Carter. He died before 1910. They had no children. That year we find her still in Chattanooga, now working as a servant.

There is no description of how she looked, but there are descriptions of her 5 brothers in their Draft Registration cards. They were between 5’4″ and 6′ tall, of slim or medium build with light brown skin, black hair and brown eyes. I picture her as being small, slim, with tan complexion,black hair and brown eyes.

By 1912 Emma’s family had joined the First Great African American Migration north. They came looking for more freedom and better jobs. In 1913 Emma had been in Cleveland, Ohio long enough to know and marry Alexander Foster, a painter. This marriage ended in divorce and without children. By 1917 all but one of her siblings had moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Her brother Archie and sister Louise appeared regularly in little society news items in the black press.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland describes the situation for African Americans this way: “The period from 1915-30 was one of both adversity and progress for black Clevelanders. Industrial demands and a decline in immigration from abroad during World War I created an opportunity for black labor, and hundreds of thousands of black migrants came north after 1916. By 1930 there were 72,000, African Americans in Cleveland. The Central Ave. ghetto consolidated and expanded eastward, as whites moved to outlying sections of the city and rural areas that would later become SUBURBS. Increasing discrimination and violence against blacks kept even middle-class African Americans within the Central-Woodland area. At the same time, discrimination in public accommodations increased. Restaurants overcharged blacks or refused them service; theaters excluded blacks or segregated them in the balcony; amusement parks such as EUCLID BEACH PARK were usually for whites only. Discrimination even began to affect the public schools. The growth of the ghetto had created some segregated schools, but a new policy of allowing white students to transfer out of predominantly black schools increased segregation. In the 1920s and 1930s, school administrators often altered the curriculums of ghetto schools from liberal arts to manual training. “

In 1918 Emma married Jacob E. Reed. She was 39 with no occupation and he was a 64 year old merchant who had been born in Pennsylvania. He had been married once and his wife was dead. He had one son, Scott who was 18. Jacob owned a fish market and his son worked as a salesman in the store. They owned their home free of mortgage in Shaker Heights Cleveland. It is still standing, as pictured below.

Emma and Jacob's house - 1920, as it is today on google. — Emma and Jacob’s house – 1920, as it is today on google.

On August 9, 1926, Emma Cleage Reed died from kidney failure and hypertension. She was ill from June 20 to August 9. Emma had lived in Cleveland for 14 years. Her husband, Jacob Reed was the informant. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, an integrated cemetery.

Follow the links to read about Emma’s brother Jerome Cleage and his wife Pearl Holmes Cleage Article about Cleveland.

I used census records, marriage licenses, city directories, newspaper articles and death certificates to find the information in this post.

Buffalo Soldiers on Bicycles

April 4, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, Cleages, sepia saturdayBicycles, Buffalo Soldiers, Clarence CleageKristin

"Bicyclists' group on Minerva Terrace. [Lt. James A. Moss's company of 25th Infantry, U. S. Army Bicycle Corps, from Fort Missoula, Montana.] YNP." October 7, 1896. — “Bicyclists’ group on Minerva Terrace. [Lt. James A. Moss’s company of 25th Infantry, U. S. Army Bicycle Corps, from Fort Missoula, Montana.] YNP.” October 7, 1896.

BicycleCorps1 — Buffalo Soldiers ready to ride cross country on their bikes.

While looking for information about Clarence Cleage for this year’s April A-Z Challenge I came across several stunning photographs of Buffalo Soldiers on bicycles. Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after the end of the Civil War. It is said that various Native American groups noticed the resemblance between the hair of the soldiers and that of the curly, kinky hair of the buffalo and gave them the name of Buffalo Soldiers.

In 1896 the army was considering replacing horses with bicycles as a mode of transportation. They picked the Buffalo Soldiers to try it out. In 1897 the Great Bicycle Ride of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps took place. It went from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, took forty-one days and covered more than 1,900 miles. For more about the Bicycle ride, visit Riding Through History.

To tie this post in with my A-Z Challenge this year, which is writing about Cleages who started on the Cleage plantations in Athens, Tennessee. Some are related to me, most are not. Clarence Cleage is a bit of a departure because he was not born until 1893 in Chattanouga, Tennessee, well after the end of slavery. I cannot find him in the 1900 census, and the online death record does not include the names of his parents, so I am unable to connect him to any specific Athens Cleage family. I know there is a tie in and I will find it eventually. Clarence is the only Cleage who enlisted in the Buffalo Soldiers.

Buffalo Soldiers driving wagons through town. — Buffalo Soldiers driving wagons leaving Fort Ethan Allen for Pine Camp in New York – 1913 Clarence would have been traveling with them. Photo from Buffalo Soldiers – Fort Ethan Allen

In Columbus, Ohio in 1909 Clarence Cleage enlisted in the US tenth Calvary, widely known as the Buffalo Soldiers. In the 1910 Census he was at Fort Ethan Allen, in Vermont. The Buffalo Soldiers were based there from 1909 until 1913, when they were relocated to Fort Huachuca in Arizona. I can imagine his feelings about the cold and snow he found in Vermont.

article.24851.large — The Hamilton National Bank Building. Click to enlarge. (The Chattanoougan)

His military service ended October 1, 1919 and he returned to Chattanooga where he married Anne Mae and worked as an elevator operator at the Hamilton National Bank Building. He worked there for several years until moving to Chicago, Illinois where we find him in 1930.

In the 1930 Census Clarence and Anne rented their house. They had a 13 year old son, Scott and several lodgers shared the home. Clarence works as an auto mechanic for an automobile sales company. Anna has no outside job and Scott attends school. Clarence says that he fought in World War 1. They own a radio.

In the 1940 Census Clarence was still repairing cars. His highest grade completed was the 6th. Anne had completed the 3rd year of High School. Three lodgers shared the house. Their son Scott married the previous year and lived elsewhere with his wife. In 1941 Clarence filed his WW2 Draft Registration Card. He was no longer repairing cars, but worked at the post office. They also provided a description, he was 48 years old, stood 5 ft 11 in and weighted 205 pounds. He had a light brown complexion, black hair and brown eyes. They continued to live at 6222 South Indiana Ave. And the row house is still standing.

Clarence Cleage died in 1970 in Chicago, Illinois. His wife, Anne, died in 1976.

More about the 10th Cavalry Regiment – Wikipedia, 25th Bicycle Corps, Riding Through History (This one has a great photograph of Buffalo Soldiers in 1900 posing by some rocks.)

“Dick” Cleage

April 4, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesClinton CleageKristin

Bill of Sale Clint-small — Bill of sale for Clinton, sometimes called Dick.

Clinton “Dick” Cleage was bought by David Cleage for $700 in January of 1841. He was about 17 years old.

“From all men by these presents that I, John Armstrong, of the county of McMinn and the state of Tennessee for and in consideration of the sum of seven hundred dollars to me in hand paid the receipt where of is hereby acknowledged have bargained, sold and delivered unto David Cleage of the County and State afore said a negro (sic) boy named Clinton, sometimes called Dick, of dark mulatto colour, aged about seventeen. Said boy I warrant sound and healthy both in body and mind and free from any defect whatever and a slave for life and covenant that the title is clear of any encombrance whatever and will warrant and defent by these presents for ever given under my hand and seal this 9th day of January 1841.

John Armstrong

Witness: William Burk, JB King”

On July 7, 1866, Clinton appeared again as a witness in Fannie Cleage Turk’s widow’s pension hearing. He testified that he knew her and she was who she said she was.

He never appears in any census, but he appears on his children’s death certificates. In 1870 his wife, Sallie Marsh Cleage, is listed as a widow. In the 1900 Census Sallie said that she had given birth to 14 children and 5 were still living. The children that I know the names of, are listed below. Click linked names to read their A-Z post

Amanda Cleage 1837 – 1921
George Cleage 1845 –
Lydia Cleage 1852 – 1936
Sallie Cleage 1855 – 1943
Robert Cleage 1856 – 1902
Florence Cleage 1858 – ?
Nelson Cleage 1860 – 1917
Mary Cleage 1863 – ?

Charles A. Cleage

April 3, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesCharles A. Cleage, Martha CleageKristin

EPSON DSC picture — Headstone of Charles A. Cleage in Hammonds Cemetery in Athens Tennessee. Photo by me.

Charles A. Cleage was the person that got me interested in investigating the Cleages outside of my family, at least his headstone did. In 2004 our branch of the Cleages had a reunion in Athens, TN. It was my first visit. My cousins, who were born and grew up there, took me on a tour. They showed me where family members were buried in Hammonds historic African American Cemetery. We wandered around looking at the other graves. I noticed the headstone belonging to Charles A. Cleage and wondered who he was and what the letters stood for.

Charles A. Cleage was born into slavery about 1828 in McMinn County Tennessee. He first appears in the record as part of a bill of sale between the heirs of Samuel Cleage. After Samuel’s death there was some shuffling around of the enslaved, livestock and household property between the siblings. It says in part,

“Know all men by these presents that we Alexander Cleage and Walter Nutter and his wife Elizabeth H Nutter have this day bargained and sold to David Cleage and his heirs and assigns forever Charity fourteen, Caroline sixteen Jim thirty Joe eight Sally near ten Arch sixteen Margth fourteen Bill forty five Charles twenty four Mary thirty one Henry four Lydia one year of age

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

In testimony given by Charles on 17 June,1895, at the Pension Hearing of Mariah Turk Witt, he gave a look into his life on Samuel Cleage’s plantation.

“… that he and the said soldier Isaac Turk were slaves and belonged to the same master during the year 1849, and on up to the War of the Rebellion they lived as the custom was, within a few nods of each other, both being married and having children; he further states he is enabled to fix the date of birth of Mariah Witt, daughter of said soldier Isaac Turk, by the birth of his own daughter Juley Ann Watts, which as his Family Bible Record shows occurred July 29th 1849, said Mariah Witt being born just one month later which would make the birth of said child Mariah August 29, 1849.”

In 1863 Charles joined the United States Colored Troops (Co. A USCT) in Knoxville, Tennessee. His papers described him as 41 years old, 5 feet 9 inches with black hair, black eyes and a brown complexion.

Charles A. Cleage was promoted from private to Corporal on March 15, 1866 only a few weeks before he was mustered out on March 31, 1866 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In 1870 Charles A. was 42 and his wife Martha was 25. Charles was a laborer and owned no property. His personal worth was $180. Neither of them could read or write. There were 6 children living with them. The oldest, daughter Julia, was 21. Her husband, Sam Reynolds was also a part of the household. He worked as a laborer. His son Hillard was 19. Frank, 13 and Philip, 11 were attending school. The youngest children were Amos, 2 and Richard 3 months. If Martha’s age is correct, Charles had a wife before her. However, we do not know if Martha’s age is correct. There was a Martha that was in Alexander’s part of the division of slaves in 1852. She was 21 and that would have made her birth year 1831, closer to the birth year given in 1880, as you will see below.

Ten years later, according to the 1880 census, Charles and Martha had aged 20 years. They are now 66 and 46. You have to take the ages on census records, especially for older people, with a grain of salt. The oldest child still home is 18 year old Phillip who is also working as a laborer, as was Charles. Four new children have joined the family – Henry, 9; Mitchel, 7; Rosa, 4 and Mary, 2.

In 1887 Charles applied for his military pension as an invalid. Charles appeared in the 1890 Veterans Schedule. During 1890 he testified at the pension hearing I mentioned above. On January 20, 1908, Martha began to receive her widow’s pension. Charles probably died in December of 1907. On October 16, 1910, Martha Cleage died of asthma. Her age is listed as 65 years old.

Both images from: The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Artillery Organizations via ancestry.com

B is for Bart Arnwine

April 2, 2015A-Z Challenge 2015, African-American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research, CleagesBart ArnwineKristin

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. I do have a connection with Bart’s family, not a blood connection but my grandfather’s sister, Josie Cleage, married Bart’s first cousin, James Cleage. James was the son of his uncle Jerry Cleage. You can enlarge images by clicking on them.

Born into slavery on David Cleage’s plantation about 1860, Bart Arnwine, lived to be 100 years old. Bart was the son of Jefferson Arnwine and Malinda Cleage.

Oral tradition passed on to me by Elbert Arnwine, one of Bart’s descendents, says that when Samuel Cleage left Virginia heading for Tennessee in the 1820’s, Bart’s grandparents, Joe and Leah were among the few slaves he had with him when he started.

In 1870 Bart was listed as a 9 year old living with parents Jeff and Malinda Arnwine and 6 children from 7 to 14 years old. Neither the parents nor the older children could read or write. Jeff was 35 and worked as a laborer. He owned no property and his personal worth was nothing. Malinda was 28 and kept house.

I haven’t yet found Bart in the 1880 census when he would have been about 20. I found his mother and her new husband, Samuel Reynolds and their daughter. The rest of the family seems to have vanished. On January 12, 1883, Bart married Mary Brown. He was using the surname Cleage, although he went back to Arnwine soon after. He was 22 and she was 18. She had been married once before. Henry Cleage, his uncle, and John A. Miller acted as a witnesses.

Through the years, Bart farmed and Mary kept house. They had 13 children together. In 1910 only seven were still living. The children attended school for varying lengths of time and the younger ones were literate. Eventually the parents also learned to read but not to write. He owned his farm, free of mortage at that time.

By 1920, Mary was dead, leaving Bart a widower. The household included four of his children ages 16, 14, 13 and 9; a 10 year old grandson and his 80 year old widowed mother Malinda. He was still farming, but now on rented land.

In 1940 he was living in his son Augustine’s home with daughter Lena and several grandchildren. He was 70 years old and no longer listed as working, but I cannot imagine that he sat in his rocker all day while his son did farm labor.

Bart lived another 30 years, until 1961. He was remembered in the book TENNESSEE COUNTRY HISTORY SERIES McMinn County by C. Stephen Byrum like this:

“Finally, in this early period, mention should be made of Bart Arnwine. Arnwine had three trademarks — a broad sense of humor, a shining, double-bladed ax, and the reputation of being able to thresh more wheat in one day than anyone in the county. Like several of these memorable people (note: other people mentioned in the book), Arnwine lived to be over 100 years old.”

146 years later, Bart and Mary’s descendants gathered in Athens for a family reunion. From the Athens Daily Post Athenian Newspaper, Friday, August 11, 2006.

Recounting History – Descendants of Bart Arnwine Return

After years of living apart, the Arnwine family gathered at Cooke Park recently to enjoy being together once again and recount the family´s rich history.

In 1870, former slave Bart Cleage changed his last name to Arnwine as the recently-freed family stayed in the Niota area where Bart lived.

Through the years, however, members of the family began moving to various parts of the country from Mississippi all the way to New York. There were members of the family who had never met each other before.

That changed recently as the family held its first reunion to catch up with family members they haven´t seen in years and to meet some they had never met.

Frances Williams, one of the organizers of the reunion, said more than 100 people attended.

Our family just spread out, Williams said. We´ve got cousins who have never met. It was time to bring the family back together again.

Everybody at the reunion was a descendent of Bart and Mary Arnwine. Family members came from New York, South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi.

The oldest family member at the event was soon-to-be 80-year-old Vera West, and the youngest was 2 1/2 year-old Raen Williams.

I think it´s great, West said. I´m glad they did it.

The family reconvened at Cook Park where they cooked hot dogs and renewed friendships or made new ones. Elbert Arnwine is the designated historian of the group and knows all about the family´s history.

I think it´s beautiful, Arnwine said. It´s nice getting the family together on a happy occasion.

Finding Eliza