This is a story about one black family’s search for their story. It’s about a storyteller who loved that story maybe too much; a searcher following in her path; and the mysterious old cemetery that, some feel, holds the key.
HAMPTON, Va. – As Walter Jones walks his family’s ancient cemetery, shovel in hand, he wonders about those who rest there.
He looked down. A round, gray object seemed to have emerged from the dirt. He dug under it a little and lifted it up. It looked like a section of a bowl. Many Americans can find out from a Norddeutscher Lloyd Line manifest or an Ellis Island log or a parish registry in Cork, Palermo or Cornwall. For African Americans, it’s not so easy.This is a story about one family’s search for its story. It’s about a storyteller who loved that story maybe too much; the searchers following in her path; and the mysterious old cemetery that, some feel, holds the key.
. In 1624, two of them, identified as Anthony and Isabella, were listed in the household of Capt. William Tucker, a military commander and settler. One problem is that England’s American colonists kept poor records; settlers were more concerned about making it through winter or fighting Indians. Often, what records were kept subsequently were destroyed, by everything from fire to worms.
Of all these stories, her grandmother told her, there was one she had to remember: We were on the first slave ship to come to America, and we are descended from the first black child born here. , she recalled the answer: “Don’t you know that if you take a dog down the street, he’ll find his way home? Well, child, we’re human beings and we’re much more intelligent than animals. We need to know where we came from. And if we put our minds to it, we always find our way home.
Thelma recorded this and all sorts of other family stories: that Capt. Tucker had William baptized, stood as his godfather and gave him his surname; that William eventually obtained his freedom , married and moved to New Kent County, where he had children and owned land.Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY Her efforts were responsible, in 1994, for the family’s official recognition in the Jamestown Settlement history park’s reenactment of the 375th anniversary of the Africans’ arrival.
But Thelma was a paradox: She loved the Tucker story so much, she coveted it. And because she coveted it, she tried to protect it.Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY The place where Thelma was laid to rest is dotted with oaks and pines 50 feet high. It almost certainly dates to the time of slavery. It feels like the nave of a cathedral.
The story shocked and embarrassed Wanda, Walter and their relatives. They told the city the cemetery wasn’t abandoned. It was theirs – they had the 1896 deed. They galvanized to form theThe skull that Walter found, which was solemnly reburied in a small white coffin, was a sign the cemetery was more than it seemed. As the weeds and vines were cut back, the Tuckers found depressions that looked like unmarked graves. They hired a company to survey the graveyard with ground-penetrating radar.
The Tuckers’ claim demands more research, historians say. Austin, the Hampton museum historian, sums up the Tuckers' dilemma: “We just don’t always have the information to tell the story we want to tell.’’ Walter’s sister, Carolita Jones-Cope, 60, handles calls from the media, which have been pouring in. She's planned a ceremony Friday at the family cemetery. Vincent Tucker, 57, leads the 1624 Society. Brandi Davis Melvin, 42, brings her three young daughters to the cemetery to spruce it up.
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