Sophia Jane "Jin" Powell
 Grandmother
Sophie was born in 1900 and was found living in her parents household in 1900,
1910 and 1920. Sometime between 1920 and 1925 she met an married William
R. Douglas AKA Willie Thomas. Willie was of the very large Douglas and Clemons
families of Anson, Richmond and Scotland counties NC. His Douglas grandmother
(Mourning Meachum-Douglas) had nineteen children, almost two hundred grandchildren
and well over a thousand great grandchildren at the time of her death. She died
shortly after 1920, living to be almost 100 years of age.
Does anyone
who's ancestors are from the south remember anything about the photos below? I
do because I have seen my grandmother Sophie, her daughters Virginia and Willie
Mae and others in the fields picking cotten more than one day. The only difference
was that in my days of the cotten field each picker picked in what they called
a tow sack. I think these are actually real photos of African American slaves
picking cotten. The photos were found in the NYPL
Digital Gallery.
My grandmother was the only person that
I have ever seen in my entire lifetime to carry three watermelons at one time.
One in each arm and the other on her head.
I have seen my grandmother carry what is called a foot tub
filled with blueberries on her head for miles with her arms at her side. A true
African trait!
Willie and Sophia | Willie and Sophie continued to live
and raise their children in the house that Gabe built. I think my mother (Catherine
Autry) who is the youngest child was in mid school when Willie made his move to
the present day location of his daughter Geraldine Melvin's home. I have heard
many story's from my mother about the long cold walks from way back in the woods
to the school bus stop. My aunt Virginia has also told me stories about her walks
to the different schools that were scattered about in the community of her times.
Sophie and Willie's children are listed below. |
The Children of Sophia and Willie
Note: Three of their daughters
married grandson's of Ned Edmund and
Mary Johnson-Autry.
Johnny Elbert Thomas was their only son who died as an infant.
The Grandchildren of Sophia and Willie
Me and several of my first cousins (in the photo at the bottom) were partly
raised by my grandparents Willie and Sophie. My aunts Virginia and Willie Mae
and their families were very frequent visitors to the old home place. From growing
up around them and my grandparents I have had the pleasure to learn how to feed
and raise hogs and chickens, milk cows, make butter, crop, string and hang tobacco,
pick blueberries, strawberries and a variety of other things that I could have
never learned being raised in New York. I also remember my aunts and grandparents
helping with their yearly hog killings which included making liver pudding, preparing
hams to cure, making cracklings from hog fat and sometimes pork skins. I enjoyed
everything about hog killing time except the actual killing of the hog and the
cleaning of the intestines (chittlings) which I have always found to be very good
and tasty to eat. Here is a photo
of one of the hog killings at my grandparents home. The two men in the picture
are my uncles Leroy Autry (Willie Mae's husband) and his father James L. Autry.
I remember that day just like it was yesterday.
Note: In the background
of the picture is the building that is now on display at the old slave plantation
called Harmony Hall. This building was used by my grandparents as a storage building,
a store and a playing place for me and other grandchildren that lived in the Thomas
home. The building was originally a school for the Caucasians of the Colly township
back in the early 1900's. My grandparents purchased the building from the Russ
family of Colly and kept it in their possession until their deaths (over 40 years).
My Aunt Elizabeth Autry who is very elderly has even told me that during her early
childhood the building was used as a home for her and her family after an earlier
home had burned to the ground. Now, some of the visitors to Harmony Hall probably
thinks it is one of the original Harmony Hall buildings.
Grandmother worked
and raised children most of her adult life. Besides her children there were nieces,
nephews and grandchildren raised by her. God bless her and all her efforts.
The descendants of Willie and Sophie Thomas came together and had a lovely Thanksgiving
Day dinner. The dinner was held 11-25-04 in the cafeteria of the St. Peter's AME
Zion church of Colly. It was quite enjoying to meet and speak with cousins that
I grew up with as a youth. Below is a picture of Willie and Sophie's grandchildren
that were born from the early fifties until the mid sixties. Most of us and our
parents were able to attend. Who would have ever had any idea that this small
but happy group of grandchildren would multiply this family ten fold.
It was amazing, most of us in the picture on the right and most of
our children dined together for this Thanksgiving feast. Time has passed so fast,
I hardly knew any of my first cousin's children. I met some that has finished
school and is working, some that is still attending college and some that is still
in high school. It's just like the old saying, "my my, look how time flys".
I hope each and every member of this family will be blessed to live and attend
many more of these joyous family events whether it be home or away.
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