The Jack Summerall family consist of approximately eight hundred people. Yearly, at least our hundred people travel from approximately twenty different states to a small town in Georgia, called Baxley, to get together to hold our annual family gathering. Our ancestors, like so many others, were brought to America from Africa against their will nearly two hundred years ago. We have derived details of our family history from older family members and through research. Below is the story of a family that has endured much and left a legacy that has sustained us for nine generations.
Our ancestors, Jack and Mariah were purchased by David Summerall at a slave auction for two hundred dollars $200.00 in Louisville, Georgia between 1825 and 1830. A census dated June 21, 1839, shows that there were two hundred and five enslaved people in Appling County and that most slave owners had from one or two slaves. Jack and Mariah were in their mid-teens at the time of their purchase. Most likely, they were purchased in the hope that they would bring forth children, a common practice at that time. That hope was fulfilled. History tells us that David Summerall settled in the Ten Mile Creek Community and became a member of Ten Mile Creek Baptist Church, the first Baptist church established in the County. Some members of David Summerall's family continue living in this community today. It appears that Jack and Mariah were a married couple and were allowed to remain together when purchased by David Summerall. But it is also a possibility that Jack and Mariah were not living together at the same plantation. The congregational records of Ten Mile Creek Baptist Church lists Jack and Abbie (his daughter) as members of the church. The absence of Mariah's name on the church roll could suggest that she was located elsewhere. As was the practice of that day, Jack and Mariah were given the name of the slave owner, Summerall. Thus given us our family name. Mariah gave birth to seventeen children. Only eleven of the seventeen children were known to the family. There were six daughters; Abbie, Mattie, Rosa, Victoria, Lovett, Henrietta and five sons; Walter, Lawrence, Sire, Charles, and Henry. It is assumed that the other children died at birth, died in infancy, or were sold to other plantations because their names were not in the record of Ten Mile Creek Baptist Church. On November 17, 1867, Ten Mile Creek Baptist Church's records states that Abbie was given her letter of dismissal. Since there was no date for Jack, we can assume that he received his letter at the same time. The records indicate that Abbie was given her letter of dismissal and records the date of Abbie's baptism: a Sabbath morning, 1867, (specific date not recorded), the congregation met at the water, the doors of the Church were open and Abbie Summerall came forward, was received and baptized along with two white women. Jack Summerall learned to read and write and was one of the organizers of Thankful New Jersey Missionary Baptist Church. The same location where we gather today and hold our annual Family Gathering. Jack also had the honor of being the first Clerk of Thankful New Jersey Missionary Baptist Church. The record tells us that Thankful New Jersey Missionary Baptist Church was officially organized in 1872, seven years after the Civil War. The unofficial date is 1866. This indicates that some of the enslaved members who attend Ten Mile Creek Baptist Church had begun to establish their own places of worship during and at the end of the Civil War. Jack, no doubt, remained on the Summerall plantation until the end of slavery. There is no recordation that he left the plantation when slavery ended, so it is a likely possibility that he may have remained there beyond slavery. It is noted that Mariah died in 1922, at the age of one hundred and two years old. We do not know if this date is an estimate or factual. There is no date of Jack's death. Jack and Mariah's oldest living grandchild, Polly Ogden, who pasted at the age of one hundred and six years old, did not remember him. We know that at least three daughters which would be the second generation, remained in Appling County. These three daughters, (Abbie, Rose and Mattie) did not migrate north as it appears the males did. More research need to be done to determine what happened to Jack and Mariah's other surviving children from the second generation. The Summerall third generation started our annual family gathering. To date, there are at least two hundred family members living in Appling County and many family members have returned to Appling County after retirement. At present, the Family Gathering is comprised primarily of three of Jack and Mariah's daughters: Abbie, Rose and Mattie. The Family Gathering held on August 20-23, 1998, had more than five hundred people in attendance. We, as a family, were reared to believe and trust in God and taught the importance of family. Fellowship with each other is a way of life for us. |