P.S. to Columbus...Grandma Sends Her Regards

Cherokee Woman

My grandma never took off her head scarf. Dad once said his mother and grandmother did this for their protection and I never understood that as a small child. Both women had long, flowing hair that went past their waists but they would wrap it into a big bun before slapping a scarf over it.

Then one day I got this assignment in elementary school to make a family tree. Since my dad was always on the road working I asked my mother for help first. Mother could not tell me who was in her family beyond her grandparents but she assured me that dad could recall much more information about his kin folks. With that I waited until my father came home to question him. After dad finished his dinner and was relaxing in his Lazy Boy recliner with the Sunday paper and an ice cold Budweiser, I pounced on him.

I sat up close to face the newspaper that covered dad's face and without hesitation I asked, "Can you help me fill in this family tree diagram for school?" Dad slowly pulled down the paper and saw me sitting on the ottoman ready to write notes with a pen and notebook. He looked at me so strangely I will never forget. I  felt that he was going to tell me he was as unsure about this as my mother was about her family history.

Dad sat forward and went into this story. He said... Well you already know I came from Richland, Georgia near Columbus and we still got plenty of family in Columbus right now. The plantation that held our family was actually located north of there but I am not sure of the exact location because it was chaos right after the

Current map of Richland, Georgia

Civil War. The Union soldiers burned down the old plantation leaving everybody to run and fend for themselves. 

Now my ma, who is my great-grandmother and your great-great grandma was full blood Cherokee. My pa, who is your great-great grandpa was half Chickasaw and Black. When ma and pa got their freedom they stopped using their slave names and began calling themselves Love. They went further south into Georgia and set up a Church. Pa was making a living by giving Sunday sermons and teaching other former slaves how to read. Now I never understood how they learned to read but ma told me when I was a boy that pa was the one who taught her and he used to lead Church service when they were still slaves.

Native American lands mapped in 1820

Some years later ma and pa had a large following of Black folks coming from all over Georgia just to learn how to read. White folks found out about it and they were not happy. They felt that Pa had too much power with the Negros in the community. Ma told me that in the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, the Knight Riders came. The Riders had strung up a noose for pa in the front yard. When everybody came out the house they lynched pa. They hung pa in front of ma and their five kids. Then they set the house to blaze. The family Bible with our kin folks names and all their saved cash was burned in the house that night.

Ma and the kids ran through the Georgia woods at night, getting help from Black folks along the way. Ma tried to settle several places but white people did not trust Indians to work as maids in their homes, nor would they trade goods with Indians. Then these former Confederate soldiers saw them in town and made them leave. They tried to make her go to the reservation but ma knew that her mixed kids would never be welcomed by the Indians. Besides she was snatched from her parents as a child and grew up like other Black slaves as a playmate for her slave owners. She knew nothing of Indian life.

Ma heard rumors that the railroad was going through Stewart County, Georgia and hoped that her three sons might land work there. When ma got to Stewart County she was again harassed. Although she had a dark skin complexion for an Indian, she could pass for Negro if she kept her hair covered. So she taught the kids to only refer to themselves as Negros and never mention that they have Indian blood. To keep her two girls from

Black railroad workers circa 1900

being harassed she made them cover their hair in public and she cut the boys hair close to the scalp. Ma then changed their names back to her old plantation master's name. Ma's plan worked and eventually all three of the boys got work on the railroad. In fact, that is how I learned how to fix cars and work on engines. My uncles repaired train engines and they taught all my cousins how to repair anything that is combustible. Our family was the first black family to have enough money to buy land in town. Back in those days most Negros lived outside of town.

I never knew what ma had been through. She was always so quiet. She spoke very little but when she did everybody in our house got quiet and listened. I never heard ma raise her voice until one day when I was a little bitty boy; I came home from school and started to tell ma what I learned about Christopher Columbus. Oh! Her eyes opened wide and she began cursing him. She said, "He's the reason why my parents lost their land. He is the reason I lost my mother and father. He is the reason I lost my husband. Damn him, damn his children and his children's children forever." Ma then told me the story I just told you and said make sure every generation from here after knows what happened to our family.

It was getting late and I still had to finish my family tree for homework. I looked up at my dad and asked, "But what about my family tree daddy? I have to fill in the names for school tomorrow."

Dad said, "Tell them your great great grand-momma said, Indians don't give a damn about a family tree when we don't have our land to plant the tree."