part of the Pickens Genealogy Information Group
FINDING MIMA PICKENS
(1763 - 1868)
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Bobby in the lead in his pickup and 75 year old Cousin Hallie Washington of Baltimore in my passenger seat), Cousin Bobby pointed to an unmarked and unpaved road which he later explained was the road constituting one of the boundaries to the "Pickens property.(c)" After another minute or two on this road (which I learned is named 3 and 20 Road, Easley, S.C.), Cousin Bobby pulled his pickup over to the side of the road and I followed.
_____As I got our of the car, Bobby walked back in my direction, he pointed to what could only be described as a contemporary road or street sign that The sign read "PICKENS RD." Bobby explained that this road was located on the "Pickens' Property." I paused for a moment to study the sign and take a picture with the camera Cousin Dorothy Ware had loaned me. Then Cousin Bobby pointed in the direction of a hard to make out object which was about 200 yards away and said words to the effect, "That's the chimney of the old main house." Apparently, the chimney was all that remained of the house and time did not permit us to get any closer for view. You see, at this time did not permit us to get any closer for a view. You see, at this time, we had about thirty minutes left before the start of the annual memorial service -- which is always the last reunion event on the schedule and the last opportunity to say our good-byes till next year. We then got back into our vehicles and drove about another quarter of a mile along 3 and 20 Road and stopped in front of what I later learned was a State Historical Road Side Marker. It was about 3 feet by 4 feet in dimension with white letters against a blue background. I was think to myself about how Bobby had told me there was a "plaque" marking the property, and I could have kicked myself for only expecting to see some kind of weather worn 8 1/2" x 11" wooden sign. The writing on the marker proclaimed, |
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among other things, that this was the site of the Pickens Family Cemetery, once Cherokee Indian Territory(d) & (e), and the location of the graves of a number of revolutionary war personages and others. While observing the historical marker, we could not help but see to our right and up a hill about 40 yards away, a white framed structure with the words, "PICKENS CHAPEL" printed across the front. Now the excitement we were feeling was really beginning to take hold. As we approached the chapel, we could see about ten people milling about as though they were cleaning up after a Sunday afternoon picnic. All of these individuals were white and as they saw Bobby and me approaching (Cousin Hallie remained in my car), a few of the men and women greeted us warmly and extended their hands. We stated our names an identified ourselves as descendants of African-American slaves owned by the Pickens family. This information appeared to not phase our soon to be hosts in the least as they apologized for not having any food left from their picnic. After a brief pause, they asked us if we wanted to see the cemetery and invited us to come inside the chapel which had recently been renovated. By this time, Bobby and I were "flying high." As we entered the chapel, looked around and complimented our host on its beauty, one of our host pointed toward the wall clock area at the back of the Chapel and said, "That's where the slaves use to sit, but it's been covered up/walled off for a number of years." One of the host recalled that this back balcony area was still in general use about 40 years ago when he was a youngster.
_____As we exited the chapel, one of our younger hosts, a boy who appeared to be between 16-18 years old, blurted out "This is where Aunt Jemima is from. Here grave is back there in the cemetery and her cabin is down there." While exploring this statement |
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further with out hosts who appeared to sincerely believe that this was true, that is, that the Aunt Jemima of pancake box fame lived, died, and was buried on this property, my head was actually spinning in another direction. I was wondering whether there was any connection between this so-called "Aunt Jemima" and the woman I had identified as Carey Pickens' paternal grandmother, Mima, in 1988. I thought for sure there was more than a passing chance that any reference t an African-American female connected with the Pickens Family property with the name "Jemima" could be our "Mima"
_____Our young host, soon had us on our way through the woods behind the chapel in search of the cemetery and its grave markers. After passing some large and impressive grave markers bearing such names a Rosamond, Dickson, Etc; (again impatience cause me to focus almost exclusively on "Pickens"), the young man blurted, "Here is Aunt Jemima's grave," and abruptly stopped. We were literally in the middle of numerous grave markers. Those north or above "Jemima's" were clearly marked, while the scores of markers south or below were unmarked and apparently smoothened by weather and time. The unmarked stones were about the size of a loaf of bread, and our young host explained that the unmarked stones were those of the former slaves. Nonetheless, I was somewhat surprised that these graves were so close to those of the "freemen". I had previously been lead to believe that slaves and free Blacks were customarily buried in separate and distinct areas from whites. Our young host soon pointed across the road (3 and 20) and said words to the effect that there was also a Cherokee Indian burial place on the property and that it was not uncommon to find old arrow heads o the property. After absorbing all of this, Bobby and I moved closer to the so called "aunt Jemima" |
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grave marker so we could get a better look. The approximately 1 1/2' by 2 1/2' marker appeared substantially as follow:
First utter silence and soon silent tears took control. I don't know what was going through Cousin Bobby's head, but I knew what was going through mine. Despite the "Aunt Jemima" chiseled on the marker, I knew I had found our "Mima." While I very badly wanted "Aunt Jemima's" grave marker to be my "Miami's", and once I read the information on the marker, there was little doubt in my mind that it really was. For one, local folklore as well as the use of the word, "Aunt" convinced me that there was a strong possibility that this was indeed the marker of an African-American woman. Secondly, the similarity between the names "Mima" Pickens and Jemima" Pickens was obvious. "Mima" is clearly short or abbreviated name for "Jemima" just as "Sue" is for "Susan" and "Barb" is for "Barbara." Thirdly, and closely related to both points already made, was the fact that my previous research into the will documented Pickens family had not uncovered any white Pickens women with the
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