Our ancestors, like most Black Americans, did not always know their beginnings nor when their family circle would be broken. They experienced inhumane treatment and prayed for an end to their suffering. They had no material riches to pass on to future generations, but left us unified in a legacy of FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.

 

We call upon the names of the MWFM First Generation. Many were enslaved Africans: Caroline Morris, Isum Waller, Margaret Morris Waller, Lula Morris, Sam Sheffield, Mary Jane Morris, William Baker, Jack Morris, Alex Morris, Henry Morris, Nannie Morris, Joe Waller, Emily Hairston, Ed Waller, Rosa Waller, Kate Waller Travis, Rosa Waller, George Finney, Amy Finney, Tapp Mitchell, Louise Pannell, Sus Mitchell, Elizabeth Pannell.

 

Like so many of our ancestors who were born slaves, not much is known about Caroline Morris. Her name became familiar to us during our first reunion in 1983. It is from this root which a good deal of our family tree sprang. She was an Algonquian Indian who lived in an area of Henry County called Fort Trial. She was a house servant for the James Madison Morris family.

 

Our oral history reveals she bore children for the master. She was the mother of seven children: Alex, Henry, Jack, Lula, Margaret, Mary Jane, and Bessie. There was always talk of “Big Dan,” though his status, either child or husband, is unknown. However, there were many references about Big Dan’s “pretty girls.”

 

After freedom came, Grandma Caroline continued to live near Highway 57, between Fieldale and Bassett Forks, watching her children as they married and had families of Wallers, Finneys, Hairstons, Mitchells, Travis’, Sheffields, Staples, Pannells, and Bakers.