New book reveals rare photos, lore of Rappahannock African American families
‘Slavery . . . ravages are undeniably on the faces of minority residents’
Arguably the most staggering statistic contained in the soon-to-be-published book, “Images of America: African Americans in Culpeper, Orange, Madison, and Rappahannock Counties,” is the fact that between 1900 and 1950 more than 34 percent of Rappahannock’s population relocated.
As in African Americans. Today, among 7,400 county residents, fewer than five percent are black.
In his new book, author and museum curator Terry L. Miller helps to document Rappahannock’s African American history. Descendants shared with him family lore and much more to
reveal the once large black population’s beauty, spirit, resilience, and pain.
As Miller says of the rarely seen photos in the book, the legacy of slavery undergirds Rappahannock “and its ravages are undeniably on the faces of minority residents.”
In 1860, there were 3,520 enslaved and 312 free blacks in Rappahannock County. The majority of their descendants are no longer here, moved to neighboring counties or large cities far away. If not people, a small number of wellpreserved slave quarters here stand as monuments to those who remain an integral part of the county’s history.
Miller writes about Charles W. Kilby, known as “Simon,” who was born in Rappahannock County in 1853, the son of Nimrod Kilby and Juliett Ann Luby, his mother enslaved by Thomas and Mildred Kilby. When Simon was preparing to marry Lucy Frances Wallace, born in 1857, he was given “written permission” to do so by her mother, Martha P. Wallace.
“Since both of Simon Kilby’s parents were deceased, his identity was attested to by merchant and community leader Paschal M. Finks,” Miller recalls. “Over the years, the couple made a home on their own land and raised seven sons and four daughters. They maintained a lasting relationship with the Finks family, as evidence by one of Simon’s sons, John Henry Kilby, Sr., who worked as a farm laborer for some Finks descendants.”
It’s unknown how Amy Gordon got to Rappahannock County after her enslavement in Caroline County. She was recorded as being born in 1859 to “Mary” but owned by Bazil Gordon. By 1870, she was living in Rappahannock in the John Andrew Bowersett household; both are listed as married, assumedly the author writes to one another. Bowersett was a Rappahannock merchant, and in Amy’s lifetime she had three children.
She does not appear in the public record after 1889.
Among other portraits in the book is Rappahannock native Lucy Mildred Terrill (aka Terrell) Peyton, born around 1856 to Harriett Peyton.
“In 1879, she married farmer Edward Fletcher (1856-1927), and they had five children,” the author writes. “Their home was full of encouragement, resulting in their children becoming professionals in their own right. Nephews and grandchildren also lived with them at time.”
Another proud parent, despite her visibly absent smile, was Ida Ralls Frye, born in Rappahannock around 1874 to Andrew “Cafie” and Jane Jenkins Ralls. She married James Frye on Aug, 5, 1894; set up housekeeping, and the couple raised a family of four strikingly handsome children — Fenton, Otis, Lottie and Marie — at the foot of what later became Shenandoah National Park.
Ida died nine months after her husband, on June 18, 1948, both ironically of brain hemorrhages.
The book tells the tragic story of Harry Redcross Williams, born in 1891 to Augustus Williams (born 1855) and Rose Redcross Scott. Harry married Beatrice Lena Brown, another Rappahannock native and daughter of George R. Brown and Annie Eliza Gordon. Sadly, a fatal accident in his barn resulted in Harry “being incinerated almost immediately.”
The oldest of five known children of Charles and Edmonia Williams, Irie Lee Williams Brown was born in 1883 and became the second wife of widower Rev. Lewis Brown in Rappahannock County. Twenty-five years her senior, Rev. Brown was both a farmer and minister. They were the parents of eight known children. Many years after the preacher’s death Irie was remarried for a brief time to Pendleton Wilson Williams, Jr.
Among dozens of other Rappahannock portraits — from the Civil War, through World War I and II, into more recent times — is one of John Johnson, who “played his version of the Piedmont blues on his guitar and entertained audiences all over the world. He was born in Rappahannock to tenant farmers Suddy and Hattie Johnson on Feb. 25, 1924.
“His father taught him to play the guitar,” Miller observes, “where his unique sound afforded him invitations and record deals. A historical marker on Zachary Taylor Highway (US Route 522 in Woodville) pays tribute to his contributions to American music.”