America's Most Powerful Black Families

IllmaticDelta

IllmaticDelta

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Dorian Gray said:
The Warings are one family posted here that was totally unfamiliar to me. So thanks for posting.

One thing that I’ve been wanting to research for awhile now is Berrien and Mecosta Counties in Michigan. For some reason, a lot of these families like the Warings found their way up to these counties including branches of my own. I’ve always wondered what was up there that attracted branches of many of these families.
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Interesting website I ran across like 15 years ago:ehh:


Plaque.jpg



Jim_Guy_3.jpg


Jim Guy

1st Negro Settler in Mecosta County (1861)

The "Old Settler" families arrived in Michigan from different places. They came from Canada through "The Underground Railroad," and from Payne's Crossing in Ohio as "free" people. The draw was to homestead land made available through the Homestead Act of 1862 which allotted homesteaders 160 acres. The Underground Railroad was the most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States beginning in the Colonial Era and reaching its peak between 1830 and 1865. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 slaves used the "railroad" to get to Canada and eventually came back to the states and Mexico. A large settlement stayed in Ontario, Canada.

Doraville Whitney was the first Black settler to Isabella County in 1860, and in Mecosta County, Michigan was James Guy. His deed was signed by Abraham Lincoln. He obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township on May 30, 1861. Lloyd & Margaret Guy were the first Black settlers in Montcalm County in 1860. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each settler up to 160 acres in Michigan. By 1873, African-Americans owned 1,392 acres in the three counties of Isabella, Mecosta, and Montcalm. In the 1860's most of the land in Remus was owned by the Old Settlers.
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The first documentation of Negro settlers in Mecosta County Michigan was Doravil Whitney in 1860 and James Guy, who on May 30, 1860, obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township. By 1873, Black settlers owned about 1,392 acres. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each settler 160 acres. Most of the land where Remus is located at that time was owned by these pioneer settlers.

Old Settlers came from Canada via "The Underground Railroad." It was the most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States that began in the Colonial Era and reached its peak between 1830 and 1865. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 slaves used the "railroad" to get to Canada; many others escaped to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe.

The majority of the old settlers came from Morgan and Meigs Township, Muskingum County, Ohio. The Lett Settlement was one of, if not the earliest African American settlement in Ohio! The Lett Settlement was also an early link on Ohio's Underground Railroad. As early as 1805, Ohio along with Illinois and Indiana had established Statute Laws or "Black Laws" designed to discourage Blacks, free or slave, from moving into its territory. One law passed in April 1827 required Black settlers to post a $500 "good behavior" bond to stay in the territory.

The Berrys and Todds moved to Michigan in the 1870s from southwest Ontario via the Underground Railroad. The Todds stopped in Remus, and the Berry's went on to Morton Township in Mecosta County, where Webers' Lumber Camp was selling cut-over land. Land sold for $1.25 an acre. The early settlers built log cabins, one-room schools, and fences made from dynamited pine stumps. They kept bees and planted apple trees. Isaac Berry, a blacksmith, made hand-forged bobsleds and skates. They settled down on 80 acres, built a log cabin, and began clearing the land. Berry later built a school, a beach house, and two bathhouses. Lucy Berry became the school's first teacher. Soon Absalom Johnson, another ex-slave, and friend of Isaac Berry's moved his family from Canada to the Michigan community they called Little River in Mecosta County.

Instead of disappearing into the dust that swallowed many other Black rural areas, the old settlers of Mecosta, Isabella, and Montcalm Counties prevailed. They came there in 1860 and they're still here. Some have moved to the large cities of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Detroit, but their roots go back to Central Michigan. There is compiled data and drawn maps of Black households in nine townships in Mecosta and Isabella Counties. In 1870, the nine-township area had 41 Black households; there were 86 in 1975 and 106 in 1994. la and Montcalm Counties prevailed. They came there in 1860 and they're still here. Some have moved to the large cities of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Detroit, but their roots go back to Central Michigan. There is compiled data and drawn maps of Black households in nine townships in Mecosta and Isabella Counties. In 1870, the nine-township area had 41 Black households; there were 86 in 1975 and 106 in 1994.
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Get These Nets said:




====



Her husband, Eric McKissack , is their cousin.
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I feel like I’m having deja vu because I went to make a post here about the McKissack family based off the strength of this thread..

A proposed skyscraper in NYC that would be the first for Black Americans! Don Peebles in the cut!

I included what was in the pdf article that you posted but when I went to post, kept getting the “500 Internal Error” message. Went to cut it down like five different times, still same thing, so just said forget about it.

Yeah, the Mckissacks are very accomplished. They’ve given millions to Fisk, Meharry, and TSU. LOG even mentioned that they are the foremost black family from Nashville.

I know Eric very well. He’s here in Chicago and we work in the same industry. We’re both CFAs.

First time seeing the video. Thanks for posting. Their story is enough for its own thread.
 
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Dorian Gray said:
I feel like I’m having deja vu because I went to make a post here about the McKissack family based off the strength of this thread..

A proposed skyscraper in NYC that would be the first for Black Americans! Don Peebles in the cut!

I included what was in the pdf article that you posted but when I went to post, kept getting the “500 Internal Error” message. Went to cut it down like five different times, still same thing, so just said forget about it.

Yeah, the Mckissacks are very accomplished. They’ve given millions to Fisk, Meharry, and TSU. LOG even mentioned that they are the foremost black family from Nashville.

I know Eric very well. He’s here in Chicago and we work in the same industry. We’re both CFAs.

First time seeing the video. Thanks for posting. Their story is enough for its own thread.
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Thanks. That 500 internal error problem affected this thread more than others on TLR. By default, posts here cover multiple family members and details of their lives. There were a bunch of stories that I got frustrated trying to post, and said forget it too.
I wasn't aware that the mother/wife took the reins of the company when the husband was ill. She did an extraordinary job. More remarkable when it's noted that she had no training or experience in the field, at all. He married well.
 
IllmaticDelta

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Dorian Gray said:
@IllmaticDelta @Get These Nets

In light of all the diaspora wars going on and the genesis of ADOS and FBA and talks about who is black and who’s not, what do you all think of the quote found in the snippet above?

“But race is not blood - it’s education and environment.”
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That was said in the context of a near white looking person who identified as "black". ADOS/FBA is an ethnical clash more than a racial one

Mega said:
I atteneded Trotter elementary as a kid in Roxbury.
Thanks for this info.:salute:
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New England area has deep ADOS history but people associate those regions with white people:francis:
 
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Dorian Gray said:
@Get These Nets

In light of all the diaspora wars going on and the genesis of ADOS and FBA and talks about who is black and who’s not, what do you all think of the quote found in the snippet above?

“But race is not blood - it’s education and environment.”
Click to expand...


Interesting quote. In full context of the article, the magazine , and who the deceased was, I think the writer is saying that "percentage of Black blood" isn't the litmus test for race. That this woman of minimal African blood was educated about and worked toward the betterment of the Black race. That she has been loyal to the race since her youth.


=====

The author of Black Gotham made a related observation about the specific Black community that formed in 19th century NYC.
She detailed the various racial and ethnic groups that the patriarchs and matriarchs of the families were from. There was passage about the 3 early land/property owning families at the center of the community.

George DeGrasse’s background could not have been more different.
Neither African nor European, he was a Hindu, born in Calcutta, and
reputed to be the foster son of Admiral Count de Grasse, the commander of
the French fleet that had helped George Washington triumph over the
British at Yorktown in 1781. Before that, Count de Grasse had served in the
French navy in the Mediterranean and India where he likely adopted
George. He died in France in 1788, leaving his son in the United States.
In 1802, Vice President Aaron Burr, who had undoubtedly become
acquainted with the older De Grasse during the revolutionary war, wrote a
letter to his daughter Theodosia in which he referred to “my man George
(late Azar Le Guen, now George d’Grasse).” Two years later, George
DeGrasse petitioned the Court of Common Pleas to become a U.S. citizen.
The court agreed that he had resided in the United States for a period of five
years and in New York state for one. So upon showing proof of good moral
character, swearing to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and
promising to renounce allegiance to all foreign states, “the said George
DeGrasse was thereupon, pursuant to the laws of the United States in such
case made and provided, admitted by the said Court to be, and he is
accordingly to be, considered a citizen of the United States.” Had George
DeGrasse been a black born in Africa, he undoubtedly would not have
received U.S. citizenship.
A naturalized Hindu American, DeGrasse chose to cast his lot with
New York’s black community when he married Maria Van Surlay. Maria’s
racial background was even more complicated than that of her husband. It’s
believed that sometime in the early seventeenth century a Dutchman by the
name of Jan Jansen Van Haarlem entered the service of the sultan of
Morocco and married a local woman. One of their sons, Abram Jansen Van
Salee, settled in Brooklyn, where the phrase “alias the mulatto” or “alias the
Turk” was regularly appended to his name. Maria was born some eight
generations later. One of her and George DeGrasse’s children, John, became
a doctor and moved to Boston; another, Isaiah, was a Mulberry Street
School classmate of Peter Guignon and Alexander Crummell. According to
his contemporaries, Isaiah was so light skinned it was impossible to
distinguish any trace of African ancestry in him.



Ethnically and racially diverse as they were and well aware of the
degraded status that accompanied the term “African” the men and women
of Collect Street nevertheless chose to band together, create a tight-knit
community, and forge an identity and place for themselves as Africans in
America.
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Canadian MPP Cabinet member - Bas Balkisoon.




*just jokes
 
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Get These Nets said:
Interesting quote. In full context of the article, the magazine , and who the deceased was, I think the writer is saying that "percentage of Black blood" isn't the litmus test for race. That this woman of minimal African blood was educated about and worked toward the betterment of the Black race. That she has been loyal to the race since her youth.


=====

The author of Black Gotham made a related observation about the specific Black community that formed in 19th century NYC.
She detailed the mixed racial and ethnic groups that the patriarchs and matriarchs of the families. There was passage is about the 3 early land/property owning families at the center of the community.



Canadian MPP Cabinet member - Bas Balkisoon.




*just jokes
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The Van Salee descendants include the Vanderbilts, Astors, and many of the old money New York Knickerbocker families that took over the Upper East Side. Even Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is a descendant and many attribute her ‘exotic’ look to being a descendant of the Van Salees.

I am a direct descendant of a Van Pelt from a union that happened in Ohio. That Van Pelt branch traces back to Knickerbocker New York and connects with the Vanderbilts and other Dutch Knickerbocker family.

The union in Ohio came so out of left field. I tried connecting with a white Van Pelt from that branch to possibly get some more information. They didn’t want to talk to me. :mjpls:
 
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