DANIEL STARTING AT THE ORIGIN Exploring the family legacy and its history OUR TIME IS NOW Breaking barriers and involving the next generation Family Legacy OGLETHORPE COUNTY, GA
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 HISTORY 4 LEVI & LENA DANIEL 6 CIECRO & FANNIE 8 ELLA & RICHARD 10 GEORGE & WILLIE ELLEN Let's kickstart this journey! From Africa to America Praying Together and Staying Together Big Mama’s Brood Leaving a Strong Legacy
Daniel Family Legacy “Don’t let nothing separate you from the love of God” -Carrie Winfrey From the Beginning The Daniel family can trace its roots as far back to the 1600’s and an Irishman named James Daniel. This first figure in our history began his life in the new world in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Records indicate that Daniel and his wife, the former Jane Kelso, were both immigrants from Ireland. The name Daniel is most likely a shortened form of the name, McDaniel, and has a Hebrew origin meaning, “God is my judge.” Daniel was a major prophet in the Bible. James Daniel was active in the Revolutionary War, having signed the Prince Edward Petition for religious freedom with his three brothers (Honan).Among James’s children was his namesake, James, Jr. (1740-1773) who married Elizabeth Cunningham of Prince George County, Virginia. From this union, Cunningham Daniel was born. The earliest information currently available indicates that the African American Daniels began years of servitude as slaves of the prominent Virginian, Cunningham Daniel (1770 - 1847). Daniel was a farmer in Prince Edward County, Virginia and was married to Jane Ewing, of Wilkes County Georgia. In October of 1791, Cunningham moved with his brother, William and their families to Oglethorpe County, Georgia. The families had large land holdings in Greene, Wilkes, Taliaferro and Oglethorpe counties. As was customary in this time in American History, slaves were often given as gifts to children. We can surmise that the slaves, Levi and Lena, were such gifts from Cunningham Daniel to his son Robert Cunningham Daniel. Soon after his death in December 1863 and at the close of the Civil War, the names of Levi, Lena and the young Abram appear in the probate records of Robert Cunningham. Let Freedom Ring As the Civil War ended countless slaves found themselves homeless and penniless but with the sweet taste of freedom in their mouths. While those living in more populated cities and towns had the advantage of learning trades and other skills, those born and raised on farms had little to offer by way of marketable skills---farming was all that they knew. The large plantation owners also now were in a dilemma---land to cultivate and no slaves to work. This situation resulted in the rise of sharecropping as a solution for both whites and blacks. Census records for our fore parents indicate that most were farmers in the same county where they were in-slaved. Likewise, with the ability to choose any name they desired, at the end of the war our ancestors choose Daniel, the name of their former slave master. 2
Not much is known about Levi and Lena. There are no written records or documents from which we can draw quality information, however, we can draw inferences from the times and can reasonably draw some conclusions. Both Levi and Lena must have been hard working people on the Daniel plantation.One of the wealthiest people in the county, Robert Daniel owned ten slave houses and about 65 slaves according to the Georgia Slave Schedule of 1860. This large estate produced tobacco and cotton in Oglethorpe and nearby counties. Servants were also used to run the Daniel household and to tend to the needs of Robert’s wife, Emily and their children, James, Ella, Benjamin and Robert, Jr. The 1860 census listed Robert and Emily at ages 52 and 47, respectively. Census records from 1880 indicate that Levi was born in Africa. Later in a PBS Special, Finding Your Roots, the male DNA of our family was trace to Angola, on the western coast of Africa. The end of slavery meant a great exodus for many to nearby counties and cities like Athens and Atlanta. Our family for the most part stayed in the region and continued to farm the land. The Abram and Laura Daniel Family Much of the history of Abram and Laura is pieced together from census records.The two were married soon after the emancipation of 1864 and were both newly freed slaves. Abram was around 19 but Laura was a very young girl of twelve.By 1910 the couple had eight of 13 children still alive. Disease and other illnesses abounded during the late years of the 19th century. In 1870, their first-born child, Lucy was a mere 8 months old. Abram, Jr. and Mary Jane were born between 1870 and 1880. Cicero, Janie, George, Ella and Carrie and Jesse were born in the remaining years before 1900. We highlight the lives of three Daniel children here, Cicero, Ella and George. In Oglethorpe Many settlers had come to Oglethorpe from North Carolina and Virginia to lay claim to the abundant farmland ceded to them by either the Land Act of 1777 or as Bounty Land from land lotteries. As was customary during war time, incentives were used to get men to enlist. During the Revolutionary War land was used as such an incentive. The Land Act gave 200 acres to the head of the household and 50 acres to other family and for each slave owned. Likewise, the lottery was a windfall for those who enlisted. The new county of Oglethorpe was named in 1793 for James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia and the state’s first governor. This large agricultural producing county was heavily populated by slaves. In 1850 there were a recorded 7,111 slaves to 4,382 whites. 3
Oglethorpe Co Levi Daniel Lena Daniel Abram Daniel Lucinda Daniel Carlton Mary Jane Daniel Cicero Daniel Abram Daniel Jr. Eddie Carlton James Eugene Daniel Johnnie Carlton Walter Ervin Daniel Florida Carlton Fred Daniel Julius Carlton Horace Daniel Sallie Carlton Sam Davis Daniel Laura Belle Carlton Mattie Lou Daniel Ada Carlton Corine D. Manning Carrie D.Winfrey Kathleen D. Minor Twin Infant Boys
unty Georgia Charlie Hawkins Bessie Hawkins Laura Hawkins Daniel Jessie Daniel Mildred Daniel Carrie Daniel Ella Callahan George Daniel Mary Callahan Harry Daniel Ellen Callahan Mary Ellen Daniel Richard Callahan Rufus Daniel Rolland Callahan Henry Callahan
1873-1931 Fannie Combs Daniel 1892-1957 James Eugene Daniel 1911-1981 Walter Ervin Daniel 1912-1946 Fred Daniel 1913-1994 Horace Daniel 1917-1944 Sam Davis Daniel 1918-1950 Mattie Lou Daniel 1925-1943 Corine Daniel 1924- Carrie Winfrey 1925-2005 Kathleen Minor 6 1929-2012 5
Cicero was a kind man who farmed for a living. His second and most important job was as a preacher. He was “called by God” as it was known in his day.According to Ardessa Heath, her uncle Cicero was short in statue and rather portly. His service as a minister spanned the county in Oglethorpe. Fannie was Ardessa’s aunt. Fannie was the oldest daughter and carried the name of Combs wherein the rest of her siblings were Johnsons. Cicero and Fannie married on December 28, 1905, when Fannie was still a young girl.Their first son, Walter Ervin was born in 1910. All of their eleven children were born in Oglethorpe Country, Georgia. First there were six boys born and then five girls. In the order of birth were the following: James made his home in Athens with his wife Mandy as well as their 13 children. Fred had moved on to Dekalb County, Georgia and work with the Georgia Pacific Railroad. He urged his brother Sam and the rest of the family to join him there and they all settled in Redan, Georgia. Life on the ‘shanty line” was not easy but Fannie remained the strong center of her family. The family joined Fairfield Baptist Church and prospered throughout the years as one after the other married and had children. 1. Walter Ervin 2. James Eugene 3. Fred 4. Horace 5. Sam Davis 6. Twin Infant Boy 7. Twin Infant Boy 8. Mattie Lou 9. Corine 10. Carrie Mae 11. Kathleen Cicero died of chronic nephritis on January 29, 1931 in Oglethorpe County.His death record as filed by his son, Fred, indicated that he was born in 1877. After Cicero’s death, Fannie moved to Winterville, Georgia with the rest of her family. Walter Ervin was the oldest, and now the head of the family. He would later die in Winterville, leaving a wife, Laura Mae and two, daughters, Mary and Agnes. Looking for work in the depression years of the early 1930’s, the family then moved to Athens, Georgia, the home of the University of Georgia. 7
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