Patriots: My Free Black Quaker Family

Patriots

by Patti Maria McGee

Third Edition Copyright 2022 -TXu 2-327-026 Patriots: My Free Black Quaker Family First Edition Copyright 2019 - TXu 2-155-141

By Patti Maria McGee Printed in the Great State of California in the United States of America ~ Reprint with Permission

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Introduction In 1760, my 4th-great-grandfather, Abner Truitt, Sr. was born free in Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware, it was still a British Colony. His name appears on the 1st U.S. Census in 1790 as a free Black man. The Truitts of Delaware were land owners allegedly involved with the Underground Railroad to Canada. By 1834, Abner’s legacy of freedom included his three sons; we are direct descendants of Abner’s son Tilghman, Sr. who raised his family in the integrated Quaker town of Evesham Township, New Jersey. This memoir tells the story of my Truitt family, it shares our family history of migrating from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and settling in southwest Burlington County, New Jersey.

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Freedom in my family traces back 287 years on my mother’s maternal side, in 1732, with the birth of Thos Henry in Charlottesville County, Virginia. Both of my parents’ African-American families were born in places and at times in history, after many of their previous generations lived in Quaker communities as free, educated, landowners and homeowners, employed as laborers, farmers, an engineer, railroad workers, soldiers, and Teamsters, in as early as 1760 on mom’s side and 1813 on my dad’s side. My family members lived peacefully in integrated, anti-slavery communities in the Union. This book focuses on the years beginning from 1760 and continuing until 1980.

Tracing my ancestors’ geography and the years during when they lived, my roots include Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, the French/ Spanish territory before the Louisiana Purchase, Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, the Ohio Valley, the only anti-slavery municipality ever founded in Kansas: the City of Lawrence. My ancestors were influenced by the Quaker Religious Society of Friends. Dad's ancestors worked for the B&O Railroad, a sawmill, and both my paternal grandfather and my father served this country as Buffalo Soldiers.

It is our family wish that our African-American legacy be remembered and enjoyed by any and everyone, especially those with connection to educational research, history, libraries, colleges and universities, museums, conferences and exhibits.

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My mom is a force of nature. I’m so blessed, so many times over for having her as a mother. Now, as a mother myself, I feel the importance of documenting the stories of my ancestors beginning in 1760, Cross Creek, Sussex County, Delaware on my mother’s side and on my father’s side, that of Pressley McGee, born in Xenia, Ohio. He was the grandfather to my late father, James Isaac McGee born in (1921-2002). My father was an only son who had no sons. Most of my ancestors are anonymous to me.

I’m including the photographs of my named and unnamed ancestors. No extensive biographies, just a few antidotes. The photographs I do possess, some of them have no name associated with them. They are anonymous, but essential in my journey to make sense of my DNA, and of my life.

This book is dedicated first to my mom, Margaret Adele Truitt McGee and my ancestors, upon whose shoulders I stand. Of my mother’s paternal Truitt family, there’s at least 225 years of freedom beginning in 1760 in Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware. Ninety of those years of history in Evesham Township, and fifty-six years in Moorestown, Southern Burlington County, New Jersey from 1834 to 1980 for a total of 146 years. My Truitt ancestors somehow had knowledge of the first Continental Congress in Delaware. Abner Truitt, Sr. was born free in 1760 in Delaware, as were his three sons: Tilghman, Sr. born in 1791, Abner, Jr. born 1821, and John, Sr. born in 1804.

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Tilghman is the surname of a famous member of the first Continental Congress, and that of a famous Chesapeake Bay family. My 4th-great grandfather, Abner, Sr., would remain in Delaware while Tilghman and John moved to New Jersey and Abner, Jr. appears in records in Philadelphia in 1825 at age 21. My direct lineage is from Abner’s eldest son Tilghman, Sr., my 3rd-great-grandfather; his son Major was my great-great grandfather, followed by Major’s son Joshua, my greatgrandfather who fathered Clement, Sr., my grandfather. All of these men raised families, prospered, and worshiped in international, integrated communities in rural Marlton, Kresson, communities of Evesham Township in the 19th Century and later in Moorestown at the turn of the 20th Century. Over time, rural boundaries have changed, but my family roots have remained deep and strong in this once marlrich land. Marl also known as marlstone is a calcium carbonate, the dominate carbonate mineral in most marls is calcite. In 1834, Tilghman Truitt, Sr. paid twenty-dollars for 2 1/2 acres of marl-rich land along the Black Run River where he and his son and grandson were farmers raising cranberries, and high-berries.

Most American high school students learn about abolition and emancipation, yet there was also manumission, when Africans were they literally bought off the ship and granted their freedom by Quakers who opposed human trafficking, slavery and man-stealing.

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In the 1940s, Mom’s college roommate at the HBCU West Virginia State University was Dorothy Strayhorn (Curry) who would later give birth to the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Bishop Curry married Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan. In June 2019, mom had a chance to meet Bishop Curry and have lunch at her church, Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, California. Bishop Curry’s mother, Dorothy, died of cancer when he was just 12-years-old. He was touched to learn firsthand stories about his late mother’s life since mom knew her during her college years in the early 1940s. This photo is from Bishop Curry’s visit with mom. In 2015, Curry was elected as the first African American to serve as presiding bishop in The Episcopal Church.

Mom and Bishop Michael Curry at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento..

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Abner Truitt was a citizen of the 1st British Colony. Delaware My DNA says that ancestors were predominately Nigerian. Once in the Delaware Bay, the river became their life blood. We don’t know if Abner’s ancestors came to Delaware from Africa by way of Europe or directly from Africa.

For Centuries before the British landed on our eastern shores, the Finnish, Swedes, Dutch and other Europeans were already settled on there, engaged in commerce, seeking their own religious freedom and many practiced pacifism. These are the people who worked along side my family. Native American Indians had already been living on the soil of our eastern shores for 10,000 to 13,000 years earlier. This colonial ear map is from ushistoryimages.com

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In 1688, the Evans family, founded Evesham Township, New Jersey.

The 1834 connection between the Truitt and Evans families is featured on NBC’s Roots Less Traveled, Season 4, where together we explored our Quaker roots on television. Two locations significant to my family in New Jersey are on the National Registry of Historic Places. I hope our family story encourages other families to explore their ancestry and preserve unique histories. As Black Americans, we must. This book is meant to preserve and highlight our true family stories in Evesham Township and my mom’s memories of growing up in Moorestown. I have also included the stories of the Delaware Truitts and the descending New Jersey Truitts, who migrated from Delaware in the early 1800s. This book also contains stories from mom’s maternal lineage, the Jackson-Henry families of Virginia.

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Mom's maternal family, the Henrys and the Thorntons are traced back to Charlottesville County and Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.

From her bloodline, my DNA results explained my family’s West African, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey migration story and the ancestors whose history runs through my veins.

My Ancestry DNA measures seventy-six percent West African, including Benin, the country of the legendary King of Benin known for selling his own people to human traffickers for exportation into slavery. Most of my DNA led to western African coastal nations.

Combine that with my Finnish, Belgian, Swedish, French, British, Dutch, Irish (my dad’s side) Arab, Western Russian, South Asian, and other assorted ancestors, and it draws a direct correlation to the journeys of my bloodline. This 2019 photo is of my mom in Fiji.

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In 1790, Abner Truitt, Sr. appeared on the 1st U.S. Census as a free Black man.

Delaware, the first state, was founded by Dutchman Peter Minuit, calling it New Sweden. The British took it over in 1664, as they did New Jersey, where the Dutch, Swedes, and Finns had settled in 1660. New Jersey is one of the original 13 British Colonies, but it existed for four years before the British arrived. It wasn’t part of the Union for another nearly 100 years when it joined the Union in 1787, after the American Revolution (1776).

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Delaware and New Jersey share a boarder. In 1830 Abner lived in Delaware and in 1840 his 28-year-old grandson, Major Truitt, Sr. lived in Evesham Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. Major’s wife Julia A. was 22. They had a daughter, Ella, who was under aged 10, two sons, Major Truitt, Jr. born in 1847 and my greatgrandfather, Joshua, was born in 1849 – one year before California became a state.

© MATM Collection 2019

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What we now call the state of New Jersey was inhabit-ed for more than 10,000 years, peacefully, by Native American Indians until in 1621, when the Dutch, Finnish and Swedish arrived establishing New Netherlands, now known as New Jersey and New Sweden, now known as Delaware. Towns inhabited by Quakers, known as the “Society of Friends” were built through fair trade; including trading money with the American Indians for land. Establishing their towns ensured Quaker religious freedom.

Quakers opposed what they called human-trafficking and manstealing*, what we all know as slavery. Quakers practiced manumission. Many of them worked clandestinely as part of the Underground Railroad. The Finnish and Swedes were pacifists who had fled a bloody Swedish-Finnish war to discover a new life. The British arrived on the east coast 43 years later in 1664.

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Photo Courtesy: Connie Evans

Evesham Township was settled by members of the Society of Friends, in 1688. The William and Elizabeth Evans family first settled in Evesham. Approximately 200 years later, in 1888, my Truitt family members would live and work on the Evans’ Hillside farm, direct descendants of the Township’s founders. The Quakers referred to the practice of slavery as “...a practice of unprincipled men.” The Society of Friends did not believe in honoring any man over another. Not politician, not priest, not proprietor.

Eventually the British established 13 Colonies—of which Delaware was the first and New Jersey would follow.

I was able to identify my family history using a combination of U.S. Census, public records, family history, photographs, artifacts, Ancestry and Roots Less Traveled, Connie Evans and family, the Stockton University collection curated by Paul Schopp, and cousins Barry Moore, Zona Johnson and others.

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Making sense of your personal history leads to victory and to a richness in your own life. Discovering your family history is a way of honoring yourself and your ancestors, those men and women who overcame so much for you to be able to have the life you enjoy today.

Marriage played an important role in helping me track my family history. Unfortunately, there were some women in my family whose maiden name I have never been able to locate. I also found numerous occasions of misspellings of my rela-tives first and last names during the research I conducted.

In 1790, when George Washington was president, the U. S. population was just over 3.9 million, 4.5 people per square mile. In 1760 when Abner Truitt, Sr. was born free in Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware. It was still a British colony.

According to U.S. Census data, Philadelphia was then the second largest most populous location, at only 9 miles west of Evesham Township, New Jersey, where my Truitt family settled. In 1834, Tilghman Truitt, Sr. settled on 2 ½ acres of fertile land near the Black Run River where it is said he and his son Major Sr, and his grandson Major Jr. and Tilghman’s other grandson, Joshua (my greatgrandfather.) bogged the river to farm for cranberries, blueberries, blackberries and other types of high berries.

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The Dutch, Swedes, Finnish, Quakers, and others who were seeking religious freedom and commerce were living in New Sweden in 1638 (Delaware), New Netherlands in 1621 (New Jersey), Maryland in 1632 and Pennsylvania in 1681.

Maryland became a state in 1776, Delaware and New Jer-sey would join the Union in 1787. Importantly, on March 3, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed into law the “Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves of 1807” ending the transatlantic slave trade in the Union, while the slave trade continued to grow in the Confederacy.

Based on the 1810 U.S. Census, the U.S. population had grown to just over 7.2 million, now there were 17 states. On the Top 10 Urban Places list, the top six U. S. Urban cities remained constant, but the other four most populous states changed. Now New Orleans, Louisiana joined the list — the Louisiana Purchase took place in 1803 – the Northwark district, PA; Salem town, MA; and, Albany, New York rounded out the list.

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10 Largest Urban Places in 1790

Rank

Place

Population

1

New York City, NY

33,131

2

Philadelphia, PA

28,522

3

Boston town, MA

18,320

4

Charleston, SC

16,359

5

Baltimore, MD

13,503

6

Northern Liberties township, PA

9,913

7

Salem town, MA

7,921

8

Newport town, RI

6,716

9

Providence town, RI

6,380

10

Marblehead town, MA Southwark district, PA

5,661 U.S. Census Bureau

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The Louisiana Purchase took place in 1803. My father’s maternal relatives would emerge from what was then French and Spanish territory in 1832 in the Arkansas territory. In 1836, Arkansas became a slave state.

Map Source: Library of Congress

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Map Source: Library of Congress -1797 Delaware and Maryland.

Demographics had begun to change fast. The War of 1812 emerged and Major Truitt, Sr. would be born in Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware.

By 1830, Abner was still living in Delaware.

By 1840, Abner, Tilghman and Major were listed in New Jersey’s census data, they lived in Evesham Township.

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Unknown Truitt Ancestors circa 1800s. This photo is from my grandfather Clement L. Truitt's collection, courtesy of my cousin, Barry Moore.

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Thank you to my cousin, Zona Johnson of Atlantic County, New Jersey. She discovered this 1825 “Seaport” document bearing the signature of Abner Truitt, Sr. and the description of his then 21 yearold son, Abner, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Source: Zona Johnson, Newspapers.com

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This is a portion of the 1834 landownership deed showing Tilghman Truitt purchasing 2 1/2 acres of Evesham Township land, off route 73 on the Black Run River, signed on April 13th (my birthday). It took 4 years to record the deed because of the long-form handwriting using a pen and quill. Tilghman bought the land from John and Rebecca Evans, descendants of the Township’s original founders.

Source: Roots Less Traveled and Ancestry

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Lydia and John Evans, circa 1900. Their ancestors founded Evesham Township and their family sold land to my ancestors in 1834. Our two families remain connected today. The Hillside Farm where this couple lived and raised their family still exists today and is designated a historic place on the U.S. Registry of National Monuments in 1822.

Source: Roots Less Traveled and Ancestry Courtesy: Constance Evans Collection on Display: Evans Family Photographs - Special Collections - Richard E. Bjork Library at Stockton University

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After my great-grandfather Joshua G. Truitt passed away in 1901, my great-grandmother went to live on Hillside Farm with “Aunt Lydia” and “Uncle Ezra” of the Evans’ Family in Evesham Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. Mary Margaret Fassett Truitt was a widow with four children. In 1905, her two youngest sons, Edgar aged 8, and Johnny aged 7, went to live in the West New Jersey Orphanage in Camden.

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In 1910, with her two oldest children in tow, Mary took Clement who was 16-years-old, and his older sister, Blanche, aged 17, to live and work on Hillside Farm, Mary and her daughter were domestic servants, and young Clement, who would later be my grandfather, worked in the stables where he cared for horses. There he learned to care for, train, and ride horses. Later he would give riding lessons, learning all there was to know about horses, he had a livelong love of horses. My grandfather would eventually own the “Moorestown Riding Academy.” His youngest son, my uncle Kenny would eventually became a Harness Racing driver in the 1960s.

The photograph below is of the barn on Hillside Farm where my grandfather worked.

Photo Courtesy: Connie Evans

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This photograph was taken at my grandfather’s Moorestown Riding Academy. Circa 1940s.

© Clement L. Truitt Collection 2021

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Members of the Evans Family at Hillside Farms circa 1910.

Printed with permission of Constance Evans (2022) Collection on Display: Evans Family Photographs - Special Collections - Richard E. Bjork Library at Stockton University

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The Cropwell Friends Quaker Meeting House where Clement attended services as a youngster. I remember hearing him saying the words, “thee,” “thou,” and “thy.” The first and only time I ever met my grandfather, was in 1966, at 441 N. Church Street, the home he shared with his wife of 50 years, Bertha, in Moorestown.

The Cropwell Friends Meeting House was also a stop on the Underground Railroad.

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Unknown Truitt Ancestor. Date unknown. Courtesy of my cousin, Barry Moore.

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In 1840, Martin Van Buren was president, but William Harri-son won the 1840 presidential election, defeating the incum-bent. By now, there are 26 states and the United States and a population of 17 million.

When I began writing this edition of my book in 2020, the United States population in was 331 million. On July 1, 2022, the UN estimates the US population would be 334,805,269.

In 1840, Major Truitt, Sr. was 28 years-old living in Evesham Township with his wife Julia Ann, 22, and their children. By 1849, Major Sr. and Julia Ann would give birth to my great-grandfather, Joshua G. Truitt.

The 1851 publication, “AN EXPOSITION of the AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1850, INCLUSIVE PREPARED FROM OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, AND PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE REPRESENTA-TIVES OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY, AND DELAWARE” is a fascinating perspective of how the Quakers advocated for the enforcement of existing laws to prohibit the practice of what they referred to as human trafficking. At the time this book was published, Major Truitt, Sr. and his family lived in agriculturallyprosperous, Burlington County, New Jersey.

By 1870, Major Sr. and Major, Jr. owned real property with an estate of $300.

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By the 1860’s there were 33 states and demographics had once again changed. The nation’s population was now over 31.4 million.

This period is well-known for its historic Civil War, but there was another historic act during that era, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law on May 20, 1862, giving applicants freehold title to land, typically 160 acres, of undeveloped federal land, including land where American Indians were already living and hunting. Free land for white people, setting the stage for the generational wealth that would elude other races in America.

Much of today’s history, critical theory or not, has failed to tell stories like that of my free African-Americans ancestry north of the Mason-Dixon line: over two centuries of freedom. Black men born free, living and working in an integrated county, on an integrated street, in a cooperative, rural community of just over 5,000 residents.

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The first sentence in this 1851 book says, “It cannot be denied, that the African Slave trade had its origin from, and owes its continuance to, the cupidity of unprincipled men.” The Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers, opposed “trafficking of slaves” and were in favor of enforcing existing laws and against slavery. This Quaker publication describes the African Slave Trade as “human trafficking” and “man trading.” Most Quakers were known as ardent abolitionists because most of them had escaped persecution.

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My handsome cousin Damon Truitt and I were featured on the NBC show, Roots Less Traveled as we followed the footsteps of our Truitt Family through Southern New Jersey.

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Jeremiah Truitt would pass away in 1867 after what is believed to be his career serving in the Underground Railroad as part of the Progressive Association.

Source: Paul Schopp

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Source: Roots Less Traveled and Ancestry

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This is the 1896 marriage certificate of my Joshua G. Truitt and Mary Truitt from my grandfather's collection. Courtesy of Barry Moore.

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New Jersey sits squarely above the Mason-Dixon Line and a world away from the everyday horrors so often displayed in brutal Southern states; miles away geographically and psychologically, with a history of about two centuries preceding of freedom and religious advocacy based on the simple con-cept of friendship that included Africans, African-Americans and the American Indian people whose tribes had already been living in what is now Evesham Township, settling more than 10,000 years before European Quakers arrived in the 1600s.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681, King Charles signed the Charter.

Evesham Township was founded in 1688.

By 1880, Philadelphia was the second-largest urban location in the United States, with a population next only to New York City.

Evesham Township, where my family lived as far back as 1834, is located just 12 miles east of Philadelphia across the Delaware River.

There were 38 states at the that time and 50.1 million residents in the U.S. In June of 1880, my 2nd great-grandparents Major Sr. and Julia Ann Truitt were living in Evesham Township. They shared a neighborhood with immigrants from Germany and Ireland. At age 68, Major was working as a laborer.

In 1881, President James Garfield was killed by a disappointed officeseeker and Chester Arthur was sworn in.

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In 1895, my great-grandfather, Joshua G. Truitt lived in Evesham Township with his wife Mary and their three children, Charles, Blanche and baby, Clement (my grandfather). Within the next three years Joshua and Mary would have two more sons, Edgar and John. But, in just six short years later, in 1901 Joshua would be dead. His family would be forced to split-up.

By 1910, two Evans family members, descendants from the original Evans Family of Burlington County, took in my greatgrandmother, Mary, and two of her older children to work on Hillside Farms. Mary’s two youngest children would go into an orphanage.

Mary’s employment made it possible for her to buy a home at 415 North Church Street in Moorestown, a home that she would later pass on to her son, Clement. The home remained in the Truitt Family until my grandparents, Clement and Hazel Bertha purchased 441 No. Church Street: a home that remained in the Truitt family until 1980.

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This is 415 N. Church Street, the house purchased by my great-grandmother Mary around the turn of the 20th Century. This is where my mother lived as a little girl. That is Clement’s Model T Ford parked in the driveway.

Margaret loved riding in the car with her two older brothers Clement, Jr., and Oliver, her older sister Blanche, and her younger brother, Donald. Later, siblings Barbara and Kenneth would be born in the 1930s.

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Margaret Adele Truitt was born on September of 1923, in Moorestown, then Chester Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.

Margaret was born at home of her great-aunt Emma Henry Sharp by a doctor, at 16 Roberts Avenue in Moorestown, that house still exists today.

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My 4th-great-grandfather Abner Truitt, Sr. had been living free in Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware since 1760. Abner’s eldest son Tilghman, Sr. and his wife Anna Watts Truitt, gave birth to a son named Major, Sr. in 1812. Anna’s father was named, Major Waters.

Major Truitt Sr., like his father and grandfather, was born free. His wife, Julia Ann was born free in Maryland in approximately 1817.

Her maiden name is unknown.

Major was born the year of the War of 1812, in a location where war was actively raging, Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware. Major’s mother to give birth to him during the midst of war.

In 1840, it shows Major's had one daughter under age 10. New Jersey State Census records show a population of 5,060 for Evesham Township in 1840.

By 1860, Major Sr. and his son, Major Jr. owned land in Evesham Township. Tilghman, Sr., died there in 1861 of Piles.

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In 1870, Major was a 58-year old farm laborer living in Evesham Township, with an estate of $300. Julia Ann was 52. Major, Jr., also a farm laborer at age 23 had an estate of $100. Joshua, younger brother, also a farm laborer at 21 would become my great-grandfather. The two brothers had four sisters. Ella who was 19 and a domestic servant, Julia aged 17 who was also a domestic servant, Mar-tha who was 14 and Harriet who was 12, both attended school while their older siblings worked.

My mom’s maternal grandparents married on November 9, 1877.

Mary Margaret Jane Thornton married Andrew Jackson Henry (he went by Jackson and she went by Maggie) in Page County, Virginia.

She was born free in Green County, Virginia in 1851. Her father was named Joshua and her mother was named Julia A. Jackson’s father was named Thos Henry and mother’s was named Jane Henry.

By June of 1880, Jackson Henry and his family were living at 1900 Shenandoah Road in Shenandoah Iron Works District of Page County, Virginia.

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1880 Edition of The Riverside Newspaper of Shenandoah Iron Works, VA. My greatgreat grandfather, Jackson Henry and his wife and children lived there when this newspaper was published in September 1880. U. S. Census Data and the Library of Virginia.

My great-grandfather Jackson Henry was born free in January, sometime between 1832 and 1837 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. His daughter, Hazel Bertha Henry, would become my grandmother. Jackson married his wife, Mary Margaret Jane Thornton on November 9, 1877 in Page County, Virginia. Forty-six years later in 1923, my mother would carry her name, Mary Margaret was born in May between 1851 and 1855. Jackson was a farmer.

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Source: FamilySearch.com

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Source: Smithsonian .com

A map of the Shenandoah Iron Works, Virginia prepared in 1865.

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In 1900, Jackson Henry was a 68-year-old farmer, living with his 45year-old wife, 17-year-old daughter, Jennie B. who was born in October 1882, and their 15-year-old son, James, born in August 1884.

Jackson owned a farm with 38 Enumerations. They were still living at 1900 Shenandoah Road, Page County, Virginia. My grandmother, Hazel Bertha would be born there in 1894.

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Margaret at age five, circa 1928, Moorestown Public School Number 7.

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Margaret at age eight circa 1931, Moorestown Public School Number 7.

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Margaret at 415 N. Church Street circa 1938, Moorestown.

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Margaret is looking out toward the barn in the backyard of her family home at 441 N. Church Street. Her family always had a garden, horses, and lots of space to play.

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This 1940 picture was taken in the garden of Margaret’s family backyard, 441 N. Church Street.

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Mom’s high school graduation photo. Class of 1940, Moorestown High School.

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This is my grandmother, Hazel Bertha Henry Truitt. This photograph was taken during World War II, on South Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Born February 9, 1894, in Shenandoah Iron Works, Virginia. Bertha tragically, she lost her own mother when she was just a teenager.

This photo was taken on the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the 1920s at a church picnic under the Boardwalk.

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My grandfather, Clement L. Truitt, Sr., circa 1940s. He owned and operated the Moorestown Riding Academy.

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My grandmother lived in Wyncote, Pennsylvania in 1915 with her oldest brother, William (Will) Quan. Maggie and John (Jack) Dixon, mom’s great-aunt Maggie. Jack died when the he fell asleep while riding the horse drawn-carriage; his neck was broken when the horses charged into the barn with him asleep at the reigns.

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In 1901, Joshua would pass away. His wife and two eldest children then went to live and work on the Evans Family’s Hillside Farm.

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In 1910, on my mother’s paternal side, my future grandfather Clement, then 16-years-old was living in Evesham Township at the farm of Lydia Evans, who lived on the farm with her own son. They were known in our family as “Uncle Ezra and Aunt Lydia”. My grandfather was a hired horse helper. The Evans Family—in Evesham Township and in Salem, New Jersey — took in my family and paid them to work on their farms: my grandfather and great-aunt and two of my great-uncles Edgar and Johnny.

Joshua’s widow would eventually remarry and become Mrs. Perry Jackson. Perry and Mary lived in Kresson, New Jersey until her death in 1924.

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In 1910 there was the 13th U.S. Census, my mom’s maternal grandfather, (Andrew) Jackson Henry was 73-years -old. He could read and write. He was still living on a farm and working in the Shenandoah Iron Works. This article from the Riverside newspaper is from 1881.

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My great-grandmother, Mary Fassett Johnson Truitt remarried after the death of my great-grandfather, Joshua in 1901. Mary married the gentleman pictured here, Perry Jackson. This is their home that was located in Kresson, New Jersey, circa early 20th Century. Mr. Jackson was a widow, the boy in the picture is his son Vernon Jackson.

ary gave her previous home at 415 N. Church Street in Moorestown to her son, Clement, my grandfather, because he had a family.

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Cousin Zona Johnson located this World War 1 registration card thought to belong to the third Tilghman Truitt, and thought to be a nephew named after his uncle.

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Daguerreotype of my great-grandmother, Mary Margaret Jane Thornton Henry circa 1839-1860. She was a mid-wife and Hazel’ Bertha’s mom – “Maggie” as she was known, was a travelling mid-wife who delivered babies in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey. She died when Hazel was just 16.

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Tintype of Civil War Era Family Photo of an unknown ancestor wearing a Union Army uniform and cap, holding a bayonet. Circa 1861-1865. This image is believed to be from my mother’s side.

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My great-aunt Blanche and my grandfather, Clement Levis Truitt, at the Evans’ Hillside Farm in Evesham Township, New Jersey. This photograph came from my grandfather, Clement Truitt’s collection, circa 1910.

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The Evans Family Hillside Farm in 2021.

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Source: Roots less Traveled and Ancestry

This photograph of my great-aunt Blanche and an unknown girl were found on glass negatives in the closet at Hillside Farms. The image is now a part of the Evans Family Collection located at Stockton University in New Jersey.

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Source: Roots less Traveled and Ancestry

This photograph of my great-aunt Blanche and an unknown girl were found on glass negatives in the closet at Hillside Farms. The image is now a part of the Evans Family Collection located at Stockton University in New Jersey.

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In 1880, at age 68, Major, Sr. worked as a laborer. Julia An {sic} is now 62. It is here that I learned both of Major’s parents were born in Delaware and both of Julia Ann’s parents were born in Maryland.

Major’s father, Tilghman Truitt, Sr. was born free in 1791, Cedar Creek, Sussex County, Delaware.

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This 1885, New Jersey State Census record shows the Evesham Township residence of my great-great Uncle Major Truitt, Jr. and his family, having a son named after his brother, Joshua.

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In June of 1900, Joshua G. Truitt was a 49-year-old farmer, he was born on October 10, 1850 in Evesham Township. His wife, Mary was born Mary Fassett in Berlin, Maryland, in August between 1858 and 1861. Now, she was 38-years-old. They lived in Evesham Township with their son Charles, 12 born in September of 1887, their daughter Blanche Edna, 8, born in July 1891, sons Clement, 6, born April 30, 1894, and Edgar, 3, born in August, 1896. They would go on to have another son, John, born July 25, 1898.

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I remember my great-uncle Johnny, he lived in Los Angeles during my childhood. Blanche, Edgar and Johnny would all move to Los Angeles during the early 1920s, which is why my mother gravitated there in 1949. My great-aunt Blanche owned a boarding house for Pullman Porters and Veterans. My great-uncle Edgar was a solider in World War I, he’s buried at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Sawtelle in 1939. My great-uncle Johnny was a chauffeur in Hollywood during the glamour era 1920s through the 1950s. He passed away in 1974. I have fond memories of him and his apartment that was located above a gift shop in west Los Angeles, California. This is a 1920s era photo of my great-aunt Blanche Truitt Buffin.

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My great-grandmother, Mary Fassett Johnson Truitt Jackson circa 1910.

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In 1905, great-uncle Edgar and great-uncle Johnny were living an orphanage.

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Clement and Bertha were married on January 2, 1915. In the June 1915 New Jersey State Census, Uncle Edgar, now 18 and Uncle Johnny, age 17 lived with their 21-year-old brother and 20-year-old, pregnant sister-in-law. Eventually, Edgar and Johnny would marry identical twin sisters and live near one another in Maryland. Uncle Edgar and Uncle Johnny both served in the military during WW I. Edgar is buried at the Sawtelle Veteran’s Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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My great-uncle Edgar Truitt, born in August, 1896.

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My great-uncle Edgar Truitt, born in August, 1896, is my grandfather’s younger brother. By 1905, he and his youngest, brother John, lived in the West New Jersey Orphanage in Camden.

The West Jersey Orphanage was chartered February 17, 1874. The home was organized by the Society of Friends and its object was to provide a home for destitute Black children. The orphanage operated at 1320 South 6th Street in Camden until the 1920s. The image below is from 1915. Photo credit: www.dvrbs.com

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John “Johnny” Truitt born in Evesham on July 17, 1898.

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My handsome great-uncle John “Johnny” Truitt was my grandfather Clement’s youngest brother. He was the chauffeur for the Marx Brothers, he drove them from New York to California when they began their career In the early 1920s. He also chauffeured for Ray Bollinger and Billy Eckstine.

Uncle Johnny served in the United States Army during World War I, he was stationed in Italy where he collected beautiful works of art. He smoked cigars and lived a bachelor’s life for over 40 years in an apartment above a gift shop on Arlington Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. My great-uncle Johnny lived a full life. He and his older brother, Edgar, married twin sisters named Sarah and Ada. My mother took care of him until he died of cancer in the early 1970s.

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My elegant great-aunt Blanche. She was an entrepreneur who once owned a Tea Room in Harlem, New York and a Boarding House in Los Angeles that catered to Pullman Porters and Military Veterans.

She was the only Truitt girl of her family, she had 4 brothers.

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Charles Johnson Truitt and his wife lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This picture was taken in 1914. Charles died at the age of 24, of a heart aneurysm. He was a Stevedore, a Longshoreman.

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Clement Truitt, Sr. This picture was taken at 441 N. Church Street, in his backyard circa 1940s.

© MATM Collection 2019

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My grandfather, Clement wearing his Campbell’s Soup work uniform. Circa 1940s.

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My grandfather, Clement Levis Truitt

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Clement’s retirement at age 65 after working at Campbell’s Soup in Camden, New Jersey for 50 years. He was gainfully employed during the Great Depression. He was making .27 cents per hour. His two oldest sons, Clement, Jr. and Oliver also worked for Campbell’s Soup.

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Mom’s Campbell’s Soup silver baby bowl and utensils from 1923.

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This is 441 N. Church Street where the Truitt family lived until the1980s.

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Moorestown High School.

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My enchanting aunt Blanche Edna Truitt Norris. Born November 3, 1919. This photo was taken circa 1940s. Her granddaughter, Savannah Brinson, is the wife of basketball legend, LeBron James.

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My dashing uncle Clement “Bubba” Truitt, Jr. born on October 1, 1915. He served during World War II. He went from Indiana to England and to Germany and France. This photo was taken between 1943-1945. He was in the ordinance ammunition company.

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My charming Uncle Oliver Andrew Truitt, pictured here in the U.S. Army stationed in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was born on December 1, 1921 in Moorestown.

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Uncle Oliver was a fixture on Mickle Street in Camden until his death at age 94.

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My cool Uncle Donald Truitt was in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Hawaii, circa 1950s. He was born on March 5, 1925.

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My mother at Moorestown Hall in 1940s. She’s third from the right sitting on the first row.

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This photograph was taken on the campus of Hampton University in 1945 at the graduation of mom’s best friend and next door neighbor, Lucy (center, back row). In the front row, second from the left, is Anita Hall Payne, my mom’s childhood friend who later moved to Los Angeles and who I grew up calling “Aunt Nita.” Her husband was my “Uncle Bobby.” She and mom remained friends until Aunt Nita passed away at 104-years-old. Aunt Nita attended the legendary vocational school Bordentown, in New Jersey. Between my mom, first row, far right, and my Aunt Nita is my mother’s older sister, Blanche.

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My mother (right) and her older sister Blanche in 1945 at Hampton University in Virginia.

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Margaret Adele and her first cousin, Meta. On the rooftop of their apartment in Harlem, New York. Circa 1948.

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In Lawnside, New Jersey in the 1940s. My mother and her siblings.

Left to Right: Clement, Jr. “Bubba” and his wife, Novie; my mother Margaret Adele; Oliver Andrew and his wife Rachael; Louis Norris husband of Blanche Edna Truitt Norris.

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My beautiful mother Margaret in Los Angeles circa 1954. My father took this photograph of her.

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This is a photograph of my lovely Aunt Barbara Ann, who was born on 3-3-1933.

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This is my Aunt Barbara as a baby. The nurse in the picture is said to be Ruth Evans, a descendant of the original Evesham Evans Family..

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My dear uncle Kenneth Russell Truitt. He served in the U. S. Army in Germany. He was born on September 8, 1936.

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My Uncle Kenny followed in his father’s footsteps when it came to a love of horses. He is pictured here with his family and friends circa 1960s.

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My Grandpa Clement and my Grandma Hazel Bertha Henry Truitt celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1965 at their home.

They were married in Moorestown on January 2, 1915.

I met them once in my life, about a year after this photograph was taken.

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This book is published with a cross-reference to my mother’s photographs and other MATM Collection artifacts that are located in Arlington, Virginia at the AfricanAmerican Episcopal Historical Collection, located at the Virginia Theological Seminary, in the Bishop Payne Library.

I hope that you enjoyed my journey.

Easter day with my mother and sisters and in our backyard on South La Salle Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90047. Circa 1966. Visit me at www.pattimariamcgee.com

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Photo Compliments:

All photos by Patti Maria McGee unless otherwise specified Margaret Adele Truitt Collection, Sacramento, California Barry Moore, Clement Levis Truitt, Sr., Collection, Moorestown, New Jersey Constance Evans Family Collection, Evesham Township, New Jersey Litton Entertainment, Roots Less Traveled U.S. Census Bureau New Jersey State Census FamilySearch.com Ancestry Zona Johnson Collection, Atlantic County,New Jersey Library of Congress University of Virginia, Maps Professor Paul Schopp, Stockton University, NewJersey

This book is named in honor of my Truitt Family beginning with Abner Truitt Sr. who was born free in 1760 Cross Creek, Delaware when it was still a Briish Territory. Soon Delaware would be the 1st state in the United States of America and Abner’s name would appear on the 1st U.S. Census in 1790; the year George Washington became the 1st U.S. President, and the 13 colonies became the 13 states of the Union.