Julia Williams

Julia Williams

Circa 1846-1937

The Works Progress Administration did many incredible things to provide work during the Great Depression. One of the projects was to document the lives of the African Americans who were born into slavery. On 10th of June 1937, Forest Lees interviewed Julia Williams who lived in Wadsworth.

Julia (MACK) Williams was born into slavery around 1846 near Richmond, Virginia. After the Civil War and Emancipation, Julia reunited with the rest of her family. She married Richard Williams in the south around 1868.

In 1876, the Wadsworth area experienced a series of coal  mine strikes. To break the strike, the owners imported hundreds of African Americans from Virginia. Among them was Richard Williams. When the miners discovered what the owners had done, they threatened retaliation on the strike breakers. The mine owners built blockades and dormitories for the imported workers. Some of the workers, fearing for their lives, returned to the south. Others, like Richard, sent for their families and put down roots in the area.

The Williams family were founding members of the First Baptist Church in Wadsworth.* The census tells us that neither Richard of Julia could read or write. They had a large family. Richard worked in the mines for many years before becoming a laborer for the Wadsworth Streets Department. He died 19 February 1915.

It was fortunate that the WPA workers interviewed Julia, as she died just six months later:

Medina County Gazette  3 December 1937 page 6.

















Julia tells about her life as a slave in this interview:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/mesnbib:@field(AUTHOR+@od1(Williams,+Julia)) 


*Wadsworth Center to City Eleanor Iler Schapiro, editor. 1938.

Joseph Reno

As a rule, it can be difficult to trace the lives of African Americans in the 19th Century. But there are exceptions. Here is one from Medina's History:

Joseph Reno

1812-1872

Joseph Reno was born in Champaign County, Ohio circa 1812 to Francis & Rachel (Magee) Reno. He married Anna King in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio on 11 Aug. 1830 and moved to Medina by 1840.

In the 1840 census for Medina, Ohio, Joseph Reno's household includes 2 Black people: a male, 24-35 years old, most likely Joseph and one female, aged 10-24 years old, probably Anna.

In the 1850 Census, Joseph is entered as a Mulatto; age 36, born in Ohio; Occupation, barber; personal property valued at $1600; Rhoda, aged 34; born in Ohio; race not indicated, and Abram Reno, aged 27, listed as mulatto; barber; $800 in personal property.

In the May 22, 1855 Medina County Gazette: "J.H. Maxell and Alex McClure have purchased the space next to the Exchange Buildings formerly occupied by Jo. Reno, and intend to erect a splendid store, three stories high, immediately."

For the 1860 census in Medina County, Joseph is listed as 45 years old (no race indicated). He is a barber, with property valued at $1500. "Roda" is age 43.

Joseph's mother, Rachel (Magee) Reno, died in Medina on 22 May 1864 at his home.

In the History of Medina County and Ohio (1881) on page 248:

      "At another time a larceny had been committed in Medina, and Joseph Reno, a colored man, had ferreted out the thief and arrested him, and fearing that he might not be allowed to testify on account of his color, so induced the criminal to confess in the presence of a white witness as to effect his conviction. Reno was offered as a witness and the State offered to show he was more than half white, but Judge Dean would not hear any such proof and decided that, by "inspection" Reno was a "negro" and refused to allow him to testify. At that time, by the laws of Ohio "negroes and mulattoes" were not competent witnesses where a white man was a party."

In a March 1870 Gazette -- "Joe" Reno an old colored man at the American House, known to all the world and the rest of mankind as just the best fellow in the world to have around a hotel, and whose jovial countenance is never invisible, though under a cloud, celebrated the adoption of the 15th Amendment by taking a trip to Cleveland, stopping with his old friend Terrell of the Forest City House. We trust he had a pleasant visit."   Terrell was a previous manager of the American House.

And just a month later, also in the Gazette:

"FIRST VOTE UNDER THE 15TH AMENDMENT"

"At the election in this village last Monday, Mr. Joseph Reno - everybody knows "Joe" - cast his first vote. Sixty years old, and a taxpayer for may years, he now comes into the exercise of a right which all men are bound to respect. It is needless to say that Joseph voted a straight Republican ticket."  During this time period, the Republican party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, was considered favorably by the African American Community.

For the 1870 Medina County Census, Joseph was listed as a Mulatto, but now his occupation was listed as "Domestic Servant". In the house with him, is Hannah, aged 40 with Personal Property worth $4380. Also listed is May, aged 15, Mulatto, Mandy age 9, Mulatto and Elena, age 1, Mulatto. 

The relationship between Joseph and the people he lived with is never defined. His wife, Anna, never shows up by name in the census records with him. Joseph Reno is not listed in the index for marriage or divorce records for this time period.

The next time we see Joseph's name in the newspaper is 28 June 1872:

Erastus Hitchcock and another youth were firing a pistol across from the American House. Joseph confronted the young men about their reckless behavior as they were disturbing the peace and upsetting a sick child. They refused. Joseph then struck Hitchcock with a broom handle that he used as a cane. Erastus fired at Joe, but missed. But the second shot didn't miss.

Joseph was able to dictate his statement, before he died:

In a time period when minorities and women were largely ignored in the local press, The Medina Gazette dedicated 4 paragraphs to Joe's obituary on July 5th:

We are still searching for where Joseph Reno was buried.

Postscript:

1875 Medina Gazette: "Erastus Hitchcock, who was sentenced to the Penitentiary for six years for shooting Joe Reno, was pardoned last week."

11 March 2019 - a Medina Gazette article reads - next to the Canfield house was occupied by "Black Joe", the barber in 1843-44. Most likely, this would have been where Joe Reno had his barbershop. 

Dr. Burnham had this to say about the man he only knew as
"Black Joe the barber" which probably refers to Joe Reno

Medina Gazette 22 December 1939,page 8.
Map of the village of Medina, circa 1843-44, from the recollection of
Dr. H. Burnham in 1898.
#26  is the location for "Black Joe the barber".

Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, we will be focusing on African American Genealogy Sources and Medina County African Americans of Note.


The following resources are offering free access to these African American genealogical sources for the month of February:


Fold3 http://www.fold3.com/ is offering free access to:

• "Colored" Troop Service Records
• Court Slave Records
• Amistad Records
• Slave Registry
• Anti-Slavery Records

The Ohio History Connection is offering free access to their Siebert Collection:

http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/siebert 

For those who don't know, Prof. Wilbur H. Siebert spent a large portion of his life documenting the Underground Railroad system in Ohio and was the foremost expert on the subject.

Mapping the Freedmens Bureau http://mappingthefreedmensbureau.com/about/ gives advice on how to search the Freedmens Bureau for information on African Americans in the years right after the Civil War.

Ancestry.com has launched an African American Research Center and access is free for this month:

http://www.ancestry.com/aahistory

Just a reminder that you don't have to have African American ancestry to benefit from these records, Aboltionists, UGRR stops and bankers names also show up in these records.

Happy Researching!!

Sleigh Ride Follow-Up

On Dec. 16th, I posted about the Great Sleigh Ride of 1856, in which Medina County was declared the winner  and won a banner. Years later, the banner "disappeared." Some additional information has been discovered about the fate of the banner.

A 1964 Daily Leader Post article said that the banner was turned over to Summit County Board of Agriculture at the Centennial 4th of July Celebration in 1876. That story does not give a reason why Medina surrendered the flag to Summit County. However, a history of the Medina County Fair, tells a slightly different story.

In 1878, the Medina Fair moved from a smaller site to its present location between Lafayette and Smith Roads in Medina. One of the prizes given out at the fair that year was the Sleigh Banner, which was to go to the county that could bring the largest delegation to the Medina Fair. Summit County won and their Board of Agriculture took home the banner.
http://www.medina-fair.com/general_info/History

Summit County Fair Board, the descendant organization of the Summit County Board of Agriculture, is looking for anyone who knows what happened to the banner. Have you seen it??

A very entertaining account of the sleigh riding competitions of the winter of 1855-56, can be found on pages 75-85 of Those Were The Days by Charles Asa Post. Published in 1935, the main text is about the sleigh races that were routinely held on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland from the 1870s through 1910. But this one chapter is about the earlier competition.

Genealogy Television

The last 5 years has produced a boon in genealogy television shows.

Lisa Kudrow brought the British show  (WDYTYA) to the U.S. in 2010 and even after changing networks, that show is still going strong. I do love this show and its emphasis on documentation. I have issues with its heavy reliance on using Ancestry.com, one of the sponsors of the shows. Also, jet-setting off to Europe to do research isn't available to most of us, and really isn't necessary to research your immigrant ancestors.  That scenario could be intimidating to a new genealogist. WDYTYA? will start airing new episodes on February 24th.

Another British import, Genealogy Roadshow, building on the popularity of Antiques Roadshow, as well as WDYTYA? and Finding Your Roots,  first went on the air in 2013. They try to cover a number of guests in a short period of time. I often feel there is more to the story that I am missing. It airs on Tuesday nights and is in the middle of its 2015 episodes.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., after hosting the HUGELY popular African American Lives and Faces of America, started hosting  Finding Your Roots in 2012. I love the scholarly air Professor Gates brings to the show. Also, the show doesn't try to pretend that the guest is doing any of the research themselves. And he brings genealogy DNA into the search.  It airs September- November.



All of these shows touch and educate me with every episode and I try not to miss a single one!

But not all genealogy shows find their audience. Thanks to streaming TV, and DVDs these now defunct shows are still available:

The Canadian show, Ancestors in the Attic only lasted its initial season in 2007. Flavored more like tabloid TV than a serious show, it promises to dig up the family secrets, find the dirt, and reveal if your ancestors were sinners or saints, royals or rogues. If you want to get a sample of the cheesy host, YouTube the episode on Sheila Nageira Pike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhRy4ImiJxo   I can see why it didn't last.

HBO's Family Tree, starring Chris Dowd, premiered and tanked in 2013. Being a fan of Chris Dowd, I had high hopes for Family Tree and ordered in the DVD set. Billed as a "mockumentary" the show was a parody of the other popular genealogy shows, particularly WDYTYA? It wasn't quite as funny as I hoped and I can only recommend it if you are a fan of Dowd.

Episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? Finding Your Roots, African American Lives, and Faces of America are available through the library.

Genealogy as Investigation

I have often thought that genealogy research has a lot in common with crime investigation. In both occupations, the "investigator" is searching for clues to the whereabouts and actions of people. In the case of genealogy research, most of the people are long dead and the records can be mislaid or destroyed. But many of the same principles apply.

Barry J. Ewell, in his 10 Jan. 2015 newsletter, is comparing Sherlock Holme's investigative techniques to genealogy research. Check it out below:

http://genealogybybarry.com/sherlock-holmes-genealogist-part-1/

And as a genealogist do you also like reading mysteries, watching crime dramas, and solving puzzles?? I do! List some of your favorite investigative activities below:

Genealogy New Year's Resolutions

With the New Year comes the opportunity for a fresh start. Hence the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions. I hereby resolve to..... lose weight, save more money, be nicer to XYZ, or whatever.




It can also be a time to make genealogy resolutions, or goals. If you define a particular goal, you are much more likely to obtain it, or at least make progress towards attaining it.

My New Year's Genealogy Resolution for 2014 was to apply to a Lineage Society. Although, I have been dong genealogy research for over 35 years, I had never really entertained the thought of applying to a lineage society. I felt that it was a gimmick to allow snobs to brag about their illustrious ancestors.

               

But then, a dear friend, Pat Morgan, explained that it is really about having your genealogy research examined and judged by your peers. While I often have shared my research with relatives (whether they wanted me to or not!), I hadn't really shared my work with my genealogy peers.



I decided which society to apply to, The Society of Civil War Families of Gallia County, and which ancestor, William Preston Williams. I chose this ancestor, because he is just one step away from qualifying me for  First Families of Gallia County. I printed up the online application and started pulling together the pertinent records. Surprisingly, there were some basic records that I didn't have, like my own marriage record. I had the certificate that the minister filed out and handed to us, but not the legal record. And some copies of records needed to be replaced because the original copy was too faded to be used. I also contacted others who had already applied so that I could use their applications as guidelines.

And then I stalled... I haven't really worked on it in months. Other obligations and interests intervened. A very common phenomenon in genealogy research. It happens to me quite often.  The files are still there. I just need to organize them, cite my sources, fill out the application  and send it in.

So my New Year's resolution for 2015, is to finish the Lineage Society Application. And to forgive myself for not getting it done in 2014...

What is your  resolution??