With a longing to reflect upon their past, descendants of former slaves born in Morgan County in the mid 1800s came to Morgan County to meet for the first time in an emotional reunion.
“The root of our family, Jacob and Taressa Jackson, brought us here today,” said Philomena Morton, a great-granddaughter of the Jacksons. Morton organized the reunion.
Thanks to DNA research and several years of monthly zoom meetings, these relatives are no longer strangers but friends.
They came to Madison, Georgia to honor the shared legacy of the young couple, who lived near Newborn. Jacob was born in 1848 and Taressa was born in 1852. They married in 1870 and went on to have 14 children during the next 29 years.
Now more than 150 years later, their relatives are numerous. They span several states, many from Pennsylvania, but all with ties back to Morgan County. More than 40 attended the reunion with the oldest being 90-year-old Dorothy Hart Pollard, originally from Newborn, a great-granddaughter of the Jacksons.
Credit: Emily Whitten
Credit: Emily Whitten
“We’re many, but one,” said Theresa ‘Terrye’ Beatty, another great-granddaughter of the Jacksons. “We come from one set of descendants.”
Beatty, who flew from Pennsylvania, was amazed with the similarities in facial features, careers and personalities among the group and especially their shared belief in God.
“We had never seen each other, and we are all built on our faith,” she said.
That is a legacy Beatty thinks her great-grandmother would understand, even if they worship in different ways.
“I don’t know if she knew about all these different denominations, but I know she knew about God and that’s the important thing,” she said.
The first stop for many in the group was Burnt Pine Plantation on Blackwell Road near the Newton County line. Although the exact location is still unknown, records indicate that Jacob and Taressa Jackson spent much of their lives in that area.
It was an emotional moment for the family as they thought about a time when their ancestors were not free.
“You could almost feel the people out in the fields working,” Morton said.
They sang and prayed and thought about those who had come before them and how far the family had come today.
“You felt the attachment to the land,” said Charlotte Pines, great-great granddaughter of the Jacksons. “You just felt the welcoming from the soil; from the land itself.”
Credit: Emily Whitten
Credit: Emily Whitten
Beatty said she reminded the young relatives that the Jacksons “still had to work the land” even though they were eventually freed from slavery.
“As my grandmother told it, [Jacob Jackson] had no other recourse because he had so many children to feed.” she said.
Next stop for the group was a trip to downtown Madison to tour the Morgan County African-American Museum and to meet Madison Mayor Fred Perriman. He said they should keep having reunions.
“You have to know who you are, and you have to know where you are going,” he said.
Mayor Perriman reminded them that success does not take place without facing giants in life and to remember how far God had brought them as they face the future.
Credit: Morgan County Citizen
Credit: Morgan County Citizen
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Today’s story comes from our partner the Morgan County Citizen. The Morgan County Citizen is an award-winning weekly newspaper of Madison, GA. Visit them online at morgancountycitizen.com.
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