Happy Birthday, Henrietta Cross Hatton Clark!

Henrietta Cross Hatton Clark toasting on her 99th birthday

One minute you're born on a September day in 1914. The next minute, it's 100 years later and you're still here. 

Life must be just a dream when you're a century old. It's a milestone few earthlings ever reach. But, Aunt Henrietta Cross Hatton Clark is now the latest inductee into the exclusive Cross-Marrow century club along with Grandma Beck (Rebecca Marrow Cross Lewis) and Aunt Henrietta's elder sister Aunt Lucy (Lucy Cross Jones). 

Friday begins a weekend-long family celebration. Cross-Marrow relatives from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Virginia, North Carolina and Atlanta are converging on the little rural town of Henderson, North Carolina for the party.

Congratulations, Aunt Henrietta!! 

The Children of Anderson and Harriet Cross, grandchildren of Samuel Cross. From left: Henrietta, Bessie, Harriet (mother), Rudolph, Babe, Lucy. Aunt Henrietta (far left) is the youngest and, now, last direct descendant of Anderson, Samuel and Rebecca Cross' oldest son.

Five siblings (from left): Elnora, Bessie, Lucy, Babe, Henrietta posing in front of Henrietta's Henderson, NC  home sometime in the early 1960s.

African Americans perceive racism because they know more about racial history than European Americans, study says

Perception is a shaky thing.

One person sees a burning sun that hurts the eyes, causes uncomfortable heat and emits dangerous solar flares. Another sees a catalyst for photosynthesis, a source of warmth that makes the planet inhabitable and an excuse to go to the beach. 

So go perceptions of racism. European Americans accustomed to being the cultural majority may not grasp systemic subtleties of racism. Moreover, according to a 2013 study by psychological scientists at the University of Kansas and Texas A & M Universities, African-Americans and other minorities are typically more knowledgeable of U.S. racial history than their European American counterparts.

According to the Science Daily article, "Claims of post-racial society and other denials of racism may reflect ignorance of history, the study "indicates that African Americans had more accurate knowledge of historically documented racism compared to European Americans. This difference in historical knowledge partially accounted for group differences in perceptions of racism, both at a systemic and an incident-specific level."

Of course black folk already knew that. 

It's hard to argue with ignorance. And that's a problem when minorities see history repeating itself while the majority blithely dismiss them as being "touchy," the researchers explained to Science Daily. "... these perceptions of racism are often treated as exaggerated and delusional. But theory and research from cultural psychology suggests that differences in how people perceive racism may arise because individuals from minority groups are actually attuned to knowledge that individuals form the majority group lack. Individuals form the majority group may deny past racism in the context of current events becaus tehy are ignorant about documented racism from the past.

So when African Americans get a little crazy around "stand your ground" and voting laws and Latino Americans bristle at laws targeting illegal immigration, it's because they've seen this many times before. But, evidently most European Americans don't know that.

How'd they figure that out?

Science Daily reports researchers gave 199 European American and 74 African American college students a "Black History" test. Students had to decide if statements pertaining to documented cases of past racism were true or not. Some were true and others were "plausible but fabricated" fiction. 

As predicted, African Americans typically identified more accurate statements of documented historical racism than their European American counterparts. 

Moreover, the test included statements to determine how ethnically self-conscious each participant was. In other words, African American students whose self-images were defined by their racial identity tended to perceive more racism. On the contrary, European American students who were equally strong in their racial identity perceived less racism. Like a negative image developing in a darkroom, it's a study in contrasts.

So now what?

There's no easy answer. But, there's an argument in favor of rethinking what kind of history is being taught in schools. 

I do believe one thing. Selective historical ignorance is an old ploy. It's probably the reason Hitler got away with theories of Arian racial supremacy. The lure of racial superiority was too irresistible to an impovershed people bitter from defeat during WWI and ravaged as a result of the Treaty of Versaille. Their collective self-esteem was crushed. Without accurate information discounting Hitler's claims, it was easy for them to accept a megalomaniac's fabrications. And we all know what happened next.

The recession of 2008 and its aftermath coupled with President Barack Obama's election revealed a subtle similar pattern. Old racists verbal codes, legislative shenanigans and not-so-subtle acts of economic and systemic racism have returned with a vengeance.

The only way to combat the new rising tide of overt racism is to be well-armed with documented and indisputable facts. This study is one of them.

Clues: Unearthing an Afro-American Family History, The Cross Family from Colonial New England

To her surprise, Eleanor Shelton (my mother) discovered her entry to the Connecticut Society of Genealogists 2013 "Tell Your Family Story Essay Contest" was published in the December 2013 issue of the society's quarterly journal The Connecticut Nutmegger. Here's that entry in its entirety.

Oral histories are an important facet of producing family histories. The stories told provide clues which lead to discovering people, places and events. In the case of the Cross family, tales about Samuel Cross led to unveiling ten generations of descendants. 

In my family it was an accepted fact that Samuel Cross was from Connecticut and that Samuel married Rebecca marrow, my great-grandmother. The family also said Samuel left North Carolina leaving Grandma "Beck" and their four children behind, never to be heard of again.

The oral accounts led me to research the North Carolina State Archives for North Carolina marriage records. There I found Samuel and Rebecca's marriage certificate. Listed on the certificate were the names of Samuel's parents,, Amos and Eliza Cross; and Rebecca's parents, Anderson and Lucy marrow. The date on the certificate is 1867.[1]

Three questions directed my research:

1)      Who were Amos and Eliza?

2)      Who were Anderson and Lucy

3)      Why was the marriage date 1867?

Following the Connecticut clue as the place where Samuel was from, I engaged in extensive research to find Amos and Eliza Cross. Investigation at the Family History Center turned up the marriage record for Amos and Eliza. The record revealed that Amos Cross was from Griswold, Connecticut and Eliza Gilbert was from Middletown, Connecticut, they were married in 1832 and listed as “free colored persons.”[2]

Another set of questions needed answers:

1)      Who were Amos’ parents?

2)      When was he born?

3)      Where was he born?

4)      Did they have other children and, if so, what were their names and where were they born?

Using the calculations of twenty years, more or less, for Amos to be married, I estimated that Amos and Eliza were born around 1809 and 1812. This speculation was substantiated by census records.[3]

According to the 1840 census, Amos was among the free “colored persons” living in Middletown in the 15^th district and the 3^rd ward. At the time, there were forty-seven colored males and fifty-four colored females living in Middletown. This census does not list others in the household. It does list the number and ages of males and females, however. In the case of amos and Eliza, there were two boys under the age of sixteen.[4]

The 1850 and 1860 censuses gave the names of family members, their ages, race, occupation and if they had the ability to read and write. The 1850 census for Hartford, Connecticut lists Amos as a mulatto born about 1810. Other’s named in the household are Eliza, Samuel, Joseph, Gilbert, William and Louisa. Under place of birth, Amos is listed as (born in) Rhode Island and Eliza is listed as (born in) Connecticut.[5],[6] In 1860 another girl, Bertha, was born.[7]

 After discovery of Amos’ birthplace as Rhode. Island, an exhaustive and intensive search was conducted to locate Amos’ father. Evidence suggests Amos is the son of Abraham Cross, a free black man from Rhode Island, the son of West Cross.

While the census records are great for critical information, it is not enough to produce a family history. Asw a historian, I suggest there is far more to the story than names and dates. The story must be told in a historical context.

First, the Cross family are free blacks from colonial New England whose origins begin before the American Revolution and extend into the Antebellum era, The Civil War and Reconstruction. By recapturing the history of all the places ancestors lived and the events which molded their lives, a true picture of who they were emerges.

A parallel area of research was opened by following the clues of Samuel Cross and his marriage to Rebecca Marrow in 1867. My search of records for Rebecca Marrow revealed she and her parents, Anderson and Lucy Marrow, were slaves on the Marrow plantation in Townsville, North Carolina.

Discovering the Marrow family papers at the North Carolina Archives exposed slave birth and marriage dates. Among the dates are Anderson, Lucy, Rebecca and Callie.[8] All marriage dates are 1867. This is consistent with post-Civil War laws requiring all slave marriages in North Carolina to be recorded -- thus the marriage date listed on the marriage certificate of Rebecca and Samuel.[9]

By exploring the life of Samuel through his letters and historical events, it is clear that his life was not simple. On the contrary, he was a mariner, a Civil War veteran, a teacher of ex-slaves in the South Carolina Port Royal Experiment, a minister, an editor and an American Missionary Association teacher. He was committed to educating former slaves and, in the process, he met and married an ex-slave.

Using stories told of ancestors unveils more than names, dates and prodigy on a family tree. It permits us to step into history and cross a threshold into their lives. Discovering my ancestors within their social, economic and political context brings history to life.

---

[1] North Carolina County marriages, 1762-1979, Samuel J. Cross and Rebecca Marrow, 1867 [FHLF 1758776, image 49].

[2] Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, citing Hartford Marriages, 1:96.

[3] 1850 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., M432-41, p.338A, image 417.

[4] 1840 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., MF26, p. 348, [FHLF3020, image 270].

[5] 1850 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn., M432-41, p.338A, image 417.

[6] 1860 U.S. Census, Hartford, Hartford, Co., Conn., citing Amos Cross, population, family 3242, NARA M653 [FHLF 803078, image 686].

[7] Ibid.

[8] Marrow family papers at the North Carolina Archives.

[9] North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979, Samuel J. Cross and Rebecca Marrow, 1867 [FHLF 1758776, image 49].

We're Back ... Again

In the web world, one thing can cause the whole thing to crumble: equipment problems. 

Such is the reason my last post was in October ... until now. Now that equipment issues have been solved (or are being solved), I'm spending my days digging out from three months of emails and re-organizing research and projects. 

The good thing about this forced hiatus is that I return to my blogs and writing projects with a new sense of direction. I'm brainstorming upcoming articles, posts and news that will be more informative, engaging and unifying. 

I am looking to change the face of the blog again. All this green and brown is kinda getting on my nerves. And I know what's trending. So, look for yet another facelift coming soon.

Meanwhile, my next post features my mother and a special recognition she's received for her genealogy research. So, stay tuned!!