“What She Left Me: Preserving the Life and Legacy of Dr. Patricia Caruthers”
Preserving the life of Dr. Patricia Caruthers
Author: S. Caruthers
Let’s talk about…
Black Women Gun owners
I recently joined the NAAGA (National African-American Gun Association) amid the social climate of the summer of 2020. I was previously a member of the NRA during the Bush years. I dropped my membership after increasing concerns that the NRA was silent on many issues when it came to gun ownership rights for Black gun owners. I was pleasantly surprised to find this organization. African-American women make up 60% of the organizations membership which is an outstanding number. Throughout this article I collected some reasons why some of my Black Sisters own or carry a firearm (Coolidge).
“I have a .380 but I do not have a CCW. I am working to get one so I do not carry often only when I am alone driving.”
Qzonna-Arlington, TX
So I was curious. What drives Black women to own and carry firearms? Am I one of a few Black women that own a gun? My initial gun purchase was to protect myself at home against a disgruntled employee I terminated. I took two classes to prepare myself but hadn’t touched them since 2009. In 2017 I bought my second firearm after being assaulted in Omaha by two white bigots. Probably the most scariest incident of my life. Membership to NAAGA spiked after Trump’s inauguration. The emboldeness of people to act on their bigoted views helped push those numbers. I’ve been following NAAGA’s social media pages for a few weeks and I am seeing some powerful beautiful Black women shooting, training and looking fierce while at the range! My newest She-ro is Tig Davis, founder of My Sister’s Keeper Defense, which empowers women though self defense.
“I carry and own a 9mm for protection and have a CCW”
Jackie J.
So who owns all the guns?
By 2017, 4 in 10 Americans say there is a firearm in their household. Broken down by race, 24% of African-Americans say they personally own a gun, compared with 36% of whites and 15% of Hispanics. A law barring the open carry of loaded firearms was passed in 1967 with the support of the NRA, after armed Black Panthers entered the California state capitol earlier that year to defend their constitutional right to bear arms. In fact, then Governor Ronald Reagan, commented that he saw “no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.” The US has a history of supporting the 2nd amendment except in the case of Black folks. We need to change that narrative to one where it is not alarming or a threat to see a Black man or woman carrying a gun in public. I’m not interested in resurrecting the Black Panther tactics, but I am interested in exercising my rights to carry in public as a Black woman without fear of retribution.
“Everyday carry rotates between Springfield XDS 9mm, Kimber Crimson Carry Micro .380, S&W M&P 9mm, Springfield Hellcat 9mm or a Ruger LCP .380. I have a CCW and carry for travel long distances and for personal protection.”
Jacquelyn-Ohio
When it comes to politics more Republicans own guns than Democrats. 95% of Republicans say the right to own guns is essential to their freedom as opposed to 29% of Democrats. We know the majority (80%) of African-Americans vote Democrat with racism and civil rights at the core of their beliefs. So why isn’t gun ownership part of that makeup? When it comes to civil rights, gun laws have been enacted to control a class of people, mainly Black and Indigenous Peoples.
- Antebellum laws disabled Free Blacks from owning guns
- Black Codes of post Civil War
- Mulford Act 1967
- 1990 gun bans in public housing
- Previous laws made by your local police requiring permits limits gun ownership in certain populations
- Gun sweeps and “stop and frisk” laws targeted certain populations
All of these laws sought to prohibit Blacks from gun ownership to make them defenseless. The local police refused to give Martin Luther King Jr. a gun permit to protect himself even though it is a constitutional right. The Black Panthers knew and exercised their rights to open carry. So did the Deacons for Defense, a self defense group founded in Louisiana during the Civil Rights movement. Members knew they had a fundamental right to carry arms to protect their families and Civil Rights workers in 1964. I challenge every Black man and woman, to own a gun and at minimum if you are not comfortable, know how to use one if needed. I personally think we are progressive enough to not let this responsibility fall on our husbands and fathers. We can’t always have a Derrick Brown nearby. (You remember… the Black dude that protected the pregnant sista in the Walmart parking lot!) Umm hmm….
And most recently, a biracial woman named Althea Bernstein was targeted by a group of white men who threw lighter fluid on her and set her on fire while screaming a racial slur at her. She was alone with no protection.
“I carry a .380 handgun to protect myself and daughter from predators”
Tonya-Kansas City
Hate crimes are on the rise over the last 3 years and Black women are the target including myself. I have felt the pulse of my city and it no longer represents a welcoming place for women of color. The amount of anxiety that Black women are feeling is at an all time high. Even my own local Kansas City, KS police department has long time issues with police officers exerting their position to sexually assault poor Black women including former KCK resident Rosie McIntyre.
Look, Killer Mike is right. Black people should own guns. Black Women should own guns. Gun ownership is integral to securing our equality. Not just racial but gender. Gun ownership is also an integral part of a Black womans personal defense. Anyone that has been a victim of domestic violence should own a gun and learn how to protect themselves. Any woman that wants to protect their home or business should own a firearm. Ladies let’s get out of the mindset that gun ownership is not for us. Single Black women are the fastest growing demographic of gun ownership. Let’s continue the trend. Get informed and get trained locally by an expert before you buy. Find the right one for you and visit the range often.
For more information on training visit the training page at NAAGA.
*All quotes are from African-American Women who carry. Shout out to boss babe Jacquelyn who knows her stuff! 😉
See why NAAGA is the largest African-American gun group in the US. There is also the Black Gun Owners Association that is growing in membership too.
Cities of the Dead
I spent this week in New Orleans, working a medical conference. I had a little time on my hands and went on a Cemetery tour. My tour guide Stella from Haunted History Tours was excellent! Not only knowledgable but enthusiastic and engaging. I learned a lot about all those spooky above ground. One of the first things you notice when arriving to New Orleans is the above ground tombs seen off I-10 in Metairie. The cemetery I visited was St. Louis Cemetery #1, one of the oldest and most famous built in 1789.
The Cemetery is one square block and is fenced in by high walls of brick, some of the portions are actually tombs itself. These walls serve as a multi-person final resting place, not necessarily a family tomb or Society.
St. Louis Cemetery #1 is truly a little city. The monuments and tombs wind around in intricate pathways. Many burial sites are crumbled and falling apart. These generally do not have living family members that take care of the tombs. Those that are have a placard that reads “perpetual care” at the foot. These are tombs that have a trust that goes toward upkeep.
The above ground tombs come in a variety of designs. Some are flat and are only one small step above ground similar to copings or ledger tombs. Some are step tombs like the one below. Then, we have the ones that look like miniature houses.
Burying the dead in New Orleans proved to be a problem that the first European inhabitants faced. The city of New Orleans is below sea level. When European settlers put coffins under six feet of earth, they found that the water level would often rise above them. Since the coffins were filled with air. The water sometimes pushed them up through the earth which caused caskets and bodies to pop up in the most unexpected places. They attempted to solve this by drilling holes into the caskets and weighting them down with rocks however, this caused decayed rotten bodies to seep into the earth and added to the already putrid smell of the city. The solution was Wall Vaults or Oven Vaults.
Oven Vaults
Because of the sea level in New Orleans Vaults or “Oven Vaults” were approved by the Spanish Government. St. Louis Cemetery #1 was built when St. Peter’s Street cemetery ran out of room and is the first approved above ground cemetery in the city. The land was consecrated by the Catholic Church. It is important to note that everyone no matter their race were buried in St. Peter’s cemetery because Catholicism was the only religion allowed in the city in the early 1700’s.
Above- small oven vault in front and a larger “Society” Vault in the back. Most vaults were for generations of family members. If you didn’t have one established for you family, you could “buy” a spot in a society.
The shock of death
The vaults are called oven vaults because of the subtropical climate in New Orleans. Made of granite or marble once a body is encased it takes just a few months for a body to break down and basically cremate itself. After a year mostly bones are left. The surprise that I found was that once the bones are broken down, they are pushed to the back of the vault toward a chute. The debris falls through the chute in a caveau or “cave” underneath. This makes room for the next person that passes away. Each vault could house generations of family members, who’s ashes are then mixed together underneath. Most family tombs have the family name listed at the top and the names are listed on a plaque or ledger on the front in descending date of death. Once you run out of room on the plaque, it is moved and fastened to the side of the vault and a new one is affixed to the front. Most have a screw or bolt that can be removed for the next body.
Famous People
Of course the main reason I went on the tour was to see if any creepy things would happen. No such luck! It was a pretty easy tour without event. Homer Plessey, is interred at St. Louis #1. He was a fair skinned Black Haitian whose parents fled from Haiti during the revolution. and of course the Voodoo Queen herself, Marie Laveau. If you are ever in the Big Easy, be sure to book some of the walking tours that take you through the French Quarter. You won’t be disappointed, especially if you have a great guide that really knows the city.
Henry Plessey
Marie Laveau
Dr. William Wilson MD, PhD: A Pioneer in Science
William August “Bill” Wilson is one of the few physicians in my family. I met him two years ago when I traveled to Block Island, Rhode Island to meet and interview him for our Orme family history. There were a few gaps in my research and I was hoping he would be able to shed some light on this branch of our tree. Block Island is a quaint little island right off the coast of the state. A high-speed ferry takes you back and forth. Once on the island you have the option of renting bikes or walking through the main town.
Bill’s son Willy who is a New York attorney, picked me up from the National Hotel where I was staying. The hotel was adorable. I wasn’t prepared for the hotel not having elevators or air conditioning (they turn off the air the last week of September) but it was a charming New England gem.
Willy was the ultimate tour guide of Block Island. We went to the Mohegan Bluffs a beautiful beach where people were still surfing despite the fact the it was well past Labor Day.
We also stopped at the Block Island Southeast lighthouse which is listed the National Historic Landmark
We finally wound our way around the island to Bill and Martha’s house. They bought the house in 1978 and eventually retired there. Bill and Martha were waiting on us. I could see Bill’s standing at the door. One of the first things I noticed about my 2nd cousin was he was a small quiet man. Bill at this time was 92 years old standing just 5′ 6″ at best. He had a burgundy sweater on and very sturdy tennis shoes. I would sit with Bill, his wife Martha and son Willie for the next few hours and attempt to capture this man’s entire life.
Bill comes from a branch of the Orme family that for some reason, became separated sometime after 1950. No one in my family knew of him, let alone that he became one of few people of color to graduate from an East Coast medical school. He also shares the middle name August with many other Orme’s including a few Augusta’s on his mother side of the tree.
Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri to William August “Gus” Wilson and Hallie Burles Wilson on July 3, 1924. Bill was born in the People’s Hospital by C-Section. The People’s Hospital was opened in 1894 as Provident and eventually changed names to People’s in 1918. It was one of three hospitals in St. Louis that served African-Americans. It still stands today although in disrepair.
Bill’s parents were people of mixed race, William Wilson Sr’s. mother was my Great-Grand Aunt Mary Josephine Orme from Linn, Mo. William Sr’s father was to Bill’s estimation an unknown local white farmer. Mary Josephine was married to a man named Ben Wilson. At this time no one can explain who Gus’ father was but this revelation explains the difference in color between Gus and his other nine siblings. Gus completed the 8th grade and eventually would serve during WWI in a colored troop. Bill’s family would move to St. Louis around 1916 and his father Gus cleaned cars and was an occasional chauffeur.
His younger brother Halleck “Hal” was also born in St. Louis nine years later. Hal married and had 3 sons, staying in the Bay Area for the remainder of his life.
Bill was extremely intelligent and skipped several grades. He attended Sumner High school in St. Louis. Sumner was the first high school for African-Americans west of the Mississippi river. Bill graduated high school in three years at the age of 14 completing his last year in California. By 1937 Gus was laid off and his parents decided to move to give Bill a better opportunity. They followed another Orme cousin, Walter Orme to Oakland. Bill was 15 when he started college, graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in psychology at the age of 19.
Bill stayed at home for 2 more years. When the WWII started he moved into a co-op and enlisted in the Reserve Corps. He started active duty on March 11, 1943 in the U.S. Army. He did his basic training at Camp Joseph Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas. After training as a replacement specialist, he was sent overseas and traveled through Northern Ireland, England, France and finally Germany. He was serving in France when the Atom Bomb was dropped. He also visited a Japanese internment camp and was depressed by what he saw.
After the war Bill attended graduate school and applied for Medical School at Yale University ion Hartford, Connecticut. He worked in a lab and there he met his wife Martha Alice Nelson. They married September 27th, 1954 despite her families reluctance to accept their future son-in-law’s African lineage. Over time once Bill and Martha had children Martha’s parents came around. They had four children, Caroline, Harold, William III and Cathy.
In 1953 Bill graduated from Yale Medical with an MD-PhD degree, making him the first African-American to earn dual doctorates. He was certainly a pioneer in medicine and science as one of the few people of African descent to graduate from Yale Medical School during the first half of the century. Bill was also one of the few persons of color at the height of his career to work in neuroscience. Bill also had a long and successful academic career as a biopsychologist that included positions at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Bryn Mawr College; and the University of Connecticut. He served in a number of administrative posts while also engaged in research and teaching. He was an editor of the major journal in his field, the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, and was a member of a National Institutes of Heath grant-review study section. Most of Bill’s research dealt with brain/behavior relationships. That is, which brain structures involve learning, memory and perception.
I really enjoyed my time with the Wilson’s and was saddened to receive a message in May 2017 that Bill had passed away. I certainly don’t believe that I have given is entire career justice but this was just a small snippet of what we do know of the Wilson-Orme Family branch.
Clarence Orme: A Kansas City Giant
When Clarence Bernard Orme Sr. was born on April 3, 1899, his father, Paul Orme, was 23 and his mother, Mary Walker, was 19. He married Agnes Franklin on May 14, 1921, but this marriage was short-lived. He then married Gillia Amelia Bannister and they had three children together: Clarence Jr, Mary and Kenneth.
Clarence Orme was my Great uncle and the oldest brother of my grandmother, Evelyn Orme Caruthers. Uncle Clarence died before I was born and I have vague memories of my grandmother talking about him. It wasn’t until a few years ago I discovered that he had an interesting legacy with a local Negro League Baseball team.
Clarence was born in Chamois, Missouri a small town about 45 minutes east of Jeff City. Chamois rests on the banks of the Missouri river and was a depot on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The rail tracks run parallel to the river from Chamois headed into St. Aubert, Missouri which is the final town the Orme family would own property in. Chamois was a “Sundown Town” and did not have a large African-American population. The last Black family to live in Chamois was in the late 1970’s. As a young boy, Clarence and his cousins would walk those railroad tracks to attend Maceo School for Colored Children, the 2nd school of its kind in Linn County, Missouri. Clarence’s parents were not married and it was difficult to locate him as a child on the US Census. I was finally able to connect him with him as “Clarence Walker” living with his grandparents. I assume his mother was too young to take care of him and his father Paul, left for job opportunities in Kansas City, Ks. After he turned 18, Clarence moved to Kansas City to be near his father and changed his last name to Orme. Back in those days you could easily change your name without having to go through a legal process.
Clarence was a striking man and stood 6’6″ towering over his brothers and father Paul. Paul himself was at least 6’2. As a young girl his granddaughter Karen Orme would recall he was tall, “like a mannequin”. Clarence worked for Armour Meat Packing Company. His father Paul worked for Cudahy Meats both in the Kansas City Stockyards. His father Paul was a “knocker” and hit the animals with a large sledge-hammer knocking the bovine unconscious. In the early decades of the 20th century, the packing houses were the single largest employer of African-American laborers in Kansas City. Despite the employment Blacks and Mexicans had separate entrances into the warehouses.
The Great Flood of 1951 closed Cudahy Meats and Armour Packing closed shortly after in 1965.
Clarence would work as a butcher for over 20 years and part-time cleaning coach cars for the railroad. But he got the most enjoyment playing baseball. As most family lore are passed down, I heard a few that Uncle Clarence played for a Negro League. Not finding anything on my own I found a website that tracked and indexed NLB players. Gary Ashwill who runs the website “Agate Type” helped uncover articles that confirmed that Uncle Clarence did indeed play baseball for local Kansas City Monarchs. Possibly as a sub in June 1920 during a 3-game series against the Cuban Stars. The below article mentions Arms as 2nd baseman.
Clarence is incorrectly billed as Armes or Ornes in the series game articles. This is not surprising because the name Orme is pronounced with a brogue of some sort to sound like the word arm. I used to wonder why my Grandfather would call my Grandmother Evelyn arm! when he called for her through the house. It was confusing as a child to wonder why he would call her a body part, but now makes sense. I have also found many US censuses and archives where the name is misspelled as Arme.
Clarence mainly played for the Kansas City, Ks Giants from 1920 to 1933. Some sites list the KC Giants as a mid level Negro league that was active from 1909-1911. Not to be confused with the Royal Giants, another Kansas City, Missouri rival team. Clarence was part of the Giants team that was rebuilt by Jack Johnson and several Topeka Giants players in the 20’s. He was sometimes paid with live chickens.
Clarence would live the rest of his life in Kansas City and eventually he suffered a stroke and would cease speaking. He died on June 12, 1968, in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 69.
You can find his baseball stats here although they do not currently include the KC Giants.
A Baby In A Shoe Box
Being the daughter of an adopted woman for years I wondered who her mother was. When I was in college my mother hired a private investigator and found my grandmother Mabel who just recently passed away. There are so many heart breaking stories out there about children being abandoned or given away and never locating or finding our the reason why they were given up for adoption. This season of “Long Lost Family” starts off with a jaw dropping revelation of a baby left in a shoe box at an Ohio gas station. The baby Lisa, now grown searches for her mother. Chris, one of the shows investigators locates an elderly woman in hopes of uncovering which of her family members may have given up a baby in 1960. She paused and answered, “Me.”
Follow the link below to watch the full heart stopping episode. Click here
The African-American Brick Wall
That’s how genealogical researchers have described the time period before emancipation in the US, when enslaved African Americans were treated as property — including on official documentation. W. Kamau Bell is one of my favorite comedians and video journalists. Click here to view more on his recent search to verify the accuracy of family lore.Go here
For the full 3 part videos Visit
Photo Credit: CNN
Earl “Jock” Caruthers-Kansas City Jazz Legend
A few years ago I was able to participate in the Kansas City Black Archives digitization project: Kansas City Jazz era and the Great Depression. I submitted this rare photo of my Uncle Earl Caruthers who was a local jazz musician that played with some pretty impressive swing and jazz bands including Bennie Moten and Jimmie Lunceford. The photo came from my cousin Candy Caruthers-Morrow’s collection who was his youngest daughter.
My Uncle Earl or “Jock” as he was called was born Earl Malcolm Caruthers on May 29, 1904 in Monroe County, Mississippi. Many accounts have him born in Westpoint, Mississippi in 1910 but he was at least 6 years old on the 1910 US census. The 10th of 11 children born to Jefferson and Mary Caruthers, the lived in rural Muldon, Mississippi where his parents were farmers. Along with other Caruthers family members, Earl’s father would migrate to Kansas City, Kansas to escape the Jim Crow south. Earl attended Sumner High School and played basketball.
My uncle attended Fisk University for two years after graduating from Sumner High School. He married Odia Wilson at age 20. From this union his first daughter Gloria Caruthers was born.
He moved his new family to St. Louis where he had begun his career playing various saxophones in Bennie Moten’s Kansas City orchestra in 1928.
Earl could play several different saxophones. In 1932 he joined the band of Jimmie Lunceford and mostly played the large baritone sax. He recorded with Lunceford often and can be heard on Lunceford’s “I Love You,” the raucous “Harlem Shout,” and the rowdy “Organ Grinder’s Swing.” He would eventually make New York his home base and in 1944 married Constance Collins from New York. Earl remained a member of Lunceford’s orchestra until Lunceford died in 1947. Shortly after he moved back to Kansas City, Ks with his daughter Candace and her younger brother Earl Jr.
Uncle Jock continued to play in various bands in Kansas City and also took up a job as the local milk man. A man with a warm heart, he gave milk to families that could not afford it (much to the dismay of his employers) often paying from his own pocket. He died on April 05, 1971 in Kansas City, KS.
If your interested in seeing Earl Caruthers play, this might be the only video recording of him. “Jimmie Lunceford and his Dance Orchestra with The Three Brown Jacks and Myra Johnson” recorded in 1936. Get ready to snap your fingers and tap your feet!
Uncle Jock is the last Sax on the right Click here
Video and Photo still credit: Jeremiah Ledbetter
Photos Courtesy of Roy Morrow (husband of Candace Caruthers) and Stefanie Caruthers
The Kelly’s of Calloway County
My great grandparents Isaac and Daniel Kelly both served honorably in the USCT 18th Regiment Company K out of Bloomfield, Missouri
In 1992 while attending Kansas University my cousin mailed a packet of information to me about my Kelly ancestors that lived in Fulton, Missouri. The information was sparse but the overall gist was my great-great-grandfathers served in an all Black regiment during the Civil War. It wouldn’t be until twenty years later that I pulled that packet from a memory box and began my search for more information. I wanted to confirm the legitimacy of the stories that were passed down as military documents were inadvertently thrown away. I began my search online and then visited the Missouri State Archives and was excited to find actual draft and enlistment papers on Isaac and Daniel Kelly: my 2 and 3X Great-grandfathers. This eventually led to my presentation sponsored by the State Archives with the Osage County Historical Society, A State Divided in 2014. National and State Archives have made it possibly for many families including mine to uncover and preserve this important part of our history.
Isaac Kelly was born about 1825 in Calloway, Missouri, the slave of Nancy Carson Kelly. Isaac Kelly had one son that I know of named Daniel Kelly born in 1840. They both were owned by Nancy and probably her first husband Larkin Carson. When Larkin Carson died in 1850, Nancy married John Kelly and their names might have changed at this point in time to “Kelly”.
News of the Emancipation Proclamation sent a rush of free Black men to enlist. In May of 1863 the Government established the Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the burgeoning numbers of Black soldiers. Daniel Kelly and his father Isaac traveled four hours and enlisted as a volunteers in U.S. Colored Troops 18th Infantry Regiment, Company K on Sept 21, 1864 in Bloomfield, Mo. The 18th regiment was active from September 28th to February 21st, 1866 and was mustered directly into US service instead of state. The troop was sent to Benton Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri known for being the largest training and deployment encampment. Sickness and disease was rampant at the camp. Lt. Col. William F. Fox, U.S.V. reported that for the 2nd Missouri Colored Infantry, “Over 100 men died at [Benton] Barracks before the regiment took the field, the men having been enlisted by the Provost-Marshals throughout the State and forwarded to this Post during an inclement season,– thinly clad, and many of them hatless, shoeless, and without food. Many suffered amputation of frozen feet or hands, and the diseases engendered by this exposure resulted in a terrible and unprecedented mortality”(Williams, 2005).
Daniel and Isaac suffered while waiting to be deployed. Daniel was listed as sick on his roll call at Benton Barracks in October and November 1864. When the troop was finally ordered to Nashville, Tennessee on November 7, Daniel remained sick in General Hospital No. 16 in Nashville. He was absent from duty from Dec 1864 through April 1865 returning for only two months of service. The 18thregiment occupied Nashville during Gen. Hood’s occupation in December and fought in the Battles of Nashville on December 15-28. Isaac would have likely seen battle as he was listed as present during this month. The troop was mustered out in February 1866. Sadly, Isaac Kelly died on April 27, 1865, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, of chronic rheumatism at the age of 40. Of 133 former Callaway Co slaves, more than a third died, mostly from disease. 13 were killed or mortally wounded in the battle of Nashville
Daniel and Isaac were slaves, owned by Nancy Kelly. She received $600 total for both men volunteering. The Act of Making Appropriations for Support of the Army of February 24, 1864 provided “that all able bodied colored persons between the ages of 20 and 45, resident of the United States, shall be enrolled in the provisions of this act. When a slave of a loyal master that shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate and thereupon such slave shall be free, and the bounty of $100 for each drafted man payable” (All Men are Brothers, 2013). The act provided a bounty of $300 for slaves that voluntarily enlisted in lieu of “loss of services”. Prior to this act there was no law that provided a bounty for free or colored men.
Daniel was honorably discharged from the US General Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. June 8, 1865. Isaac Kelly was also honorably discharged upon his death in the hospital. Both Daniel and Isaacs’s names appear on the African American Civil war museum in Washington D.C under plaque B-35. This monument is to preserve and tell the stories of the United States Colored Troops and African American involvement in the American Civil War.
Daniel returned home to Fulton, Missouri around June of 1865 without his father. He was married to Matilda Brooks on Oct 10th, 1865. By then he and his wife Matilda had four children. Prior to the war they lived together or on adjacent farms of slave owners Nancy Kelly and Charles Brooks. Before 1865 they were not able to marry legally. The next child was born in 1865 and Daniel named him after his father Isaac. His last-born daughter is my great-grandmother Fannie Elizabeth Kelly.
Upon Nancy Kelly’s death, she wrote in her last will and testament that Daniel Kelly (of color) the rights to live on the piece of land he now on so long as he chooses rent-free. This is a rare find in a will of a white slave owner and also uncommon to allow a freed slave to live free on land. Nancy Kelly also gives another former slave Ben Kirby the same rights.
The Kelly family owned land in Fulton and also Kansas City, Ks. My great-grandmother Fannie Kelly Orme is the last relative to own original land stemming from her father, Daniel Kelly’s benevolent relationship with Nancy Kelly. I can only image the impression on their wives and family’s seeing Daniel come home. I assume that Daniel did not come home with a “blue suit” as this would have been preserved knowing the importance of earning freedom from his enlistment. However, the site had to have an effect on the entire community from which these once enslaved men had come. Daniel was able to return home to his wife and children and build a life in Fulton until his death in 1889. The importance of family, community and education was passed down through Isaac and Daniel. His daughter Fannie married and had 8 children, four of whom were first generation college graduates. Just two generations removed from slavery in a slave state. As some families struggle to uncover their history, the entire Kelly family can be proud of the detailed records that exist of the brave Kelly Soldiers.
References
All men are brothers. (2013). Retrieved from http://lestweforget.hamptonu.edu/
Automated Records Project; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes.
Williams, S. (2005). Benton barracks Missouri. Retrieved from
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/benton.htm
WHY MOST BLACK PEOPLE DON’T HAVE “INDIAN IN THEIR FAMILY”
You’ve probably heard it before. Perhaps from your friends or some random person you met. More often than not, many Black people say that they have “Indian” in their family. So much so that it’s become a running joke in the Black community. But some really do believe that they do have a lineage of Native American in their bloodline because of the grade of their hair and/or high cheek bones. But in looking at the true line of African Americans, the truth is, many do not have “Indian in their family”. Here’s why:
Those high cheekbones and that straight black hair derive from our high proportion of white ancestors and not, for most of us, at least, from our Cherokee great-great-grandmother on your daddy’s side (*sigh*). DNA doesn’t lie (just ask Maury).
Here are the statistics: Whereas virtually all African Americans have a considerable amount of European ancestry in their genomes, only 19 percent have at least 1 percent Native American ancestry, and only 5 percent of African American people carry more than 2 percent Native American ancestry. How do these percentages translate into ancestry? Well, if you have 5 percent Native American ancestry in your mix, that means you had one Native American ancestor four to five generations back (120 to 150 years ago). If you have 2 percent Native American ancestry, you had one such ancestor on your family tree five to nine generations back (150 to 270 years ago). One percent of Native American ancestry means that this ancestor entered your bloodline six to 10 generations back (180 to 300 years ago).
- to read the whole article Click here
Orme Genealogy and Consulting 
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