The Blessing of Eliza Thorne

Damine and Stephanie Tulloch on April 22, 2013

On the 20^th of April, 2013, at First Baptist Church of Steelton, Pa., Stephanie Ann Tulloch and Damine Alberto Tulloch renewed their wedding vows that are 10 years old.  Thirty years ago, Stephanie was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. and I prayed that the blessings of Eliza Thorne would fall upon her.

Eliza Thorne was a slave in 1865, living in the Culpeper, Va. area. She was owned by a man that went by the name of Cornel Slaughter.  Eliza was half Native American and could not work totally under her own free will. However, under Virginia Slave law, Eliza could open and run her own business on her free time. Eliza was a carpenter, “self-made” business woman.  I was lucky enough to see bedroom furniture that she made. I was amazed that she used wooden nails to hold the furniture together.  

Eliza Thorne (worked the plantation of Russel Brown or Colonel Slaughter)

     Darnell Williams Family line

 

0. Eliza Thorne married Reubon Walker

1. Eliza J. Walker married George W.  Blue in 1895 at Free Union Baptist Church by Rev. Daniel Brown, Pastor  

2. Eliza Lucinda Blue born Dec. 23, 1899 died July 1966 married John Brown born Jan. 1894 married at Free Union Baptist Church 

 Jean and William wedding at First Baptist Church in Steelton

3. Jean Brown born March 27, 1923 Married William J. Williams II born Oct. 10, 1917 and died Aug. 11, 1974. Married at First Baptist Church in Steelton, Pa.

4. Darnell L. Williams born April 1951 married Amanda Ann Porter born Feb. 1953 at St. Marks AME Church, Wilkinsburg, Pa. on July 15, 1972.  

 5.  Stephanie A. Williams born April 1983 married Damine Tulloch born March 1979 from Western Jamaica married 2003. They renewed their Vowels at First Baptist Church in Steelton, Pa. on April 20, 2013.

6. Daniel Tulloch born 2005 and David Tulloch born 2011.

Stephanie is the fifth generation from Eliza Thorne.

Eliza Thorne was my direct ancestor four generations removed. I believe that she knew of my ex-wife’s direct ancestor Amanda Porter that was also a slave in the area. Amanda was a Native American captured by local people and sold to Noah Smith, a local slave breeder.   Virginia law said that any Native American that could be captured could be sold into slavery. 
 

Amanda Williams Family line

0. Amanda Ann Porter was a little girl when her Native American village was attacked by local enterprising citizens looking to make money off of kidnapping people. They raided and slaughtered all the men and women in the village in what is believed to be Louisa County. Included was Amanda's mother and father. Amanda was either Siouxian, Saponi, or Manahoac. She was sold to Noah Smith, a slave breeder. 

1. Noah Smith and Amanda Ann Porter had Thomas Porter. Tom married Mandy Fry. Tom was born in 1839 and died 1932. Amanda and the first Thomas Porter may have known of Eliza Thorne.

2. Thomas Porter born 1883, died 1928 married Mary Yeager born 1888 and died Oct. 15, 1960.

3. Thomas Montgomery Porter III born March 17, 1914 died May 17, 1998 married Clara Lee Ellis born Jan. 9, 1924 died April 28, 2012 part Native American from West Virginia.

4. Amanda Ann Porter born Feb. 1953 married Darnell L Williams born April 1951,
at St. Marks AME Church, Wilkinsburg, Pa. on July 15, 1972.

5.   Stephanie A. Williams born April 1983 married Damine Tulloch born March 1979 from Western Jamaica married 2003. They renewed their Vowels at First Baptist Church in Steelton, Pa. on April 20, 2013.

6. Daniel Tulloch born 2005 and David Tulloch born 2011.

     

Stephanie is the fifth generation from Amanda Ann Porter.

Toward the end of the Civil War, Union Troops overran Culpeper and ordered all slaves to the Culpeper Courthouse. At that time, the Emancipation Proclamation was read to all slaves in the Culpeper area including  Eliza Thorne and Amanda Porter.  At that point, Eliza could be her own person and make her own money from her own labor.

Eliza left her slave husband and married the man she wanted. She bought a team of horses, a Conestoga wagon, herd of cattle, and 11 acres of land in a place called Stony Point, Va. (at the end of the war it was called Free Union),  just outside Charlottesville, Va.   Eliza started three families; the slave family was Thorne then came the Walkers, and finally the West. Eliza’s land stayed in the family until the 1980s.

No doubt, Eliza Thorne was an upper class land owning woman, coming out of slavery. Very few women of that time especially a slave could do what she did.      

Stephanie comes along about 150 years and 5 generations later and does something that equals the feat of Eliza Thorne. She gains an education (MBA) that turned into a good money making profession. She left the country (to Jamaica) without her father’s permission and finds a good husband that can work with her to make money. She buys a house, transportation, and food for the family. She raises children just like Eliza Thorne did two centuries ago.  Even Rev. Dr. W. Braxton Cooley, pastor of the First Baptist Church had to pause during the exchange of rings and look at the beauty and the value of her ring. He could not help but complement them of such a ring that represents their family wealth during the ceremony.

 

                                                          Jean J. Williams at 18 years old

Plus Stephanie looks like my mother, Jean (Brown) Williams. Jean grew up in First Baptist Church of Steelton from 1923 to 1940 under Pastor Goodwin. This is the same congregation where my mother and grandparents belonged. My grandparents joined the church in Steelton when they moved to Steelton from Stoney Point, Va.  My grandparents in the day belonged to Free Union Baptist Church, the same church that Eliza Thorne belonged to.    
 

Father Darnell L. Williams walking in Stephanie Ann (Williams) Tulloch to her husband Damine Tulloch.