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name "Mima" or "Jemima".6/ Fourthly, the date of birth of 1763 suggested on the grave marker for Jemima Pickens'. year of birth was essentially identical to the date of birth, was essentially identical to the date of birth we had previously estimated for Mima Pickens, based upon the 1923 Will of Robert Pickens>7/. Fifthly, the date of death of 1868 on Jemima Pickens' grave marker was consistent with the confirmed absence of Mima Pickens on any Census or other public records subsequent to 1860. Finally, the grave marker for Jemima Pickens stood less than fifty yards away from both of the Robert Pickens who were Mima Pickens' former slave masters. Coincidence? Hardly likely. There were just too many matches. At the very least, as they say in legal circles, we had established a prima facie case; and, the burden of proof would how have to shift to others who might wish to challenge our case.
_____ Our silence was broken as I profusely thanked Cousin Bobby for making it possible for me to be there that day; and in his customary low reactor style, he said "That's the least I could do." I also thanked our young host for his guidance in helping us negotiate the heavily wooded area. After showing us additional grave markers, (there appeared to be over 200 in the cemetery), we happened upon additional other graves of a number of white Pickens family members with whom we have become familiar through our research. Photos were taken all along our tour of the cemetery, but Though it was soon time to leave. Photos taken along our tour of the cemetery would serve as reminders of the experience.

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_____When we left the property and headed toward John Wesley United Methodist Church in nearby Anderson County for the memorial service8/ Cousin Bobby pointed out a number of badly aged and abandoned structures on the Pickens property. These, he later explained were mostly old slave quarters or cabins previously occupied by African-Americans at some point in the distant past. Of particular interest, was a structure which Bobby explained was the last of three remaining buildings from a two hundred plus year old military fort. Clearly visible from the road were logs and mortar which constituted the walls of the structure. I imagined that the fort was used by the local inhabitants in their battles against the British and the Cherokee Indians who once occupied the very property.
_____As you might surmise, all of this was quite an awesome and emotional experience. We were truly overwhelmed. At last, we were treading the same soil of our ancestors and we had unexpectedly found Mima Pickens
Postscript
_____When I arrived back in Chicago immediately after the reunion, I hastily did some "checking" on the history of the "Aunt Jemima" figure of pancake box fame. After checking with officials at the Quaker Oats Company in Chicago and other sources, I concluded that a connection between the Aunt Jemima of pancake box fame and the Aunt Jemima Pickens buried in the Pickens Family Cemetery was remote at best. According to literature recently distributed by the Quaker Oats Company (which has
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8/_____According to older family members, John Wesley was the "family church" attended by Carey and Mary and their descendants.

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owned the Aunt Jemima trademark since 1926), "Aunt Jemima" was the creation of two men in 1889.
_____According to Richard Prince, in an article recently appearing in the Democrat and Chronicle/Times - Union, Rochester, NY:

"...Aunt Jemima was a creatonof two white men in St. Joseph, MO., In 1889._____Chris L. Rutt, a newspaper editorial writer, and Charles G. Uncerwood, a friend in the milling business, invented a self-rising pancake flour that even novices could use to make reliable pacakes. It had no name until Rutt was two white comedians in blackface at the local vaudeville, house.
_____The show-stopper was a cakewalk dance to a tune called 'Aunt Jemima'... performed in the apron and red-bandanna headband of the traditional Southern cook.
_____Who best knew her way around a kitchen? A Mammy!
_____The account goes on: Rut put the name 'Aunt Jemima' on a one-pound paper sack as a trademark, along with a wide-eyed, grinning caricature of Aunt Jemima in what today would be described as living color.
_____A later purchaser of the Rutt-Underwood enterprise employed Nancy Green - a gregarious black woman in Chicago known for her cooking -- to bring the logo to life. Green toured the country as 'Aunt Jemima' until she died in 1923..."

in view of the fact that Mima Pickens apparently died some twenty years or so before Rutt saw the vaudeville performance in 18899/, it would appear unlikely that the two personages could be one in the same. It goes without saying that Nancy Green, the African-American actress whose likeness first appeared on the pancake box and who died in 1923, could not have been Mima Pickens or the 'original Aunt Jemima'. Additional
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9/_____Jemina's grave marker places her death in 1868. In addition, Mima's absence from the 1870 Census consistently suggests a date of death prior to 1870.

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research regarding the Aunt Jemima song alluded to in the newspaper article and its currently unknown composer, should assist in assessing what now appears to be mere local folklore.
_____The author also solicited and received partial inventory listings of the grave markers in the Pickens' Family Cemetery from the South Carolina State Archives Department and the Pendleton District Historical and Recreation Commission. The listings contained much helpful information, particularly, regarding members of the white Pickens family.
_____Finally, I must admit that it was abundantly gratifying to learn that this slave ancestor of mine, who among other things, was born before this Country became a nation, was considered an old woman in 1823 and whom I had erroneously assumed died a slave decades before Emancipation, actually lived long enough to experience freedom and has a resting place for all of us to see.

Kenneth A. Whitney, 1992
1005 Ridge Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202

Transcribers's-
Notes

You knew this had to be coming. There are some interest thing in this manuscript. The Road Markers are one of those things. I am not sure that these were the markers that Mr. Whitney was talking about. I am not sure that they were there at the time of his visit. I do know that this is how they are now. The pictures are courtesy of E. Shelby, another Pickens family researcher.

(a)) The Will of Robert Pike Pickens. Father of Robert Pickens that married Dorcus Hallum. Robert Pike Pickens was the first 'slave master' of Jemami. There is a strong possibility that 'Mima' and her children were house slaves and not field slaves. Thus a contributing factor and reason for the Pickens family to keep this Pickens slave family as part of the family.

(b)) The Will of Robert Pickens. This is the Robert Pickens that married Dorcus Hallum. The son of Robert kept the family together after his father died. This is also one of the reason I suspect that 'Mima' and her family were house servants. Without a doubt Robert and his children had much respect and love for 'Mima' and her children. If this was not a fact, them why did the family keep Mima and her children?

(c)This is one such marker that has been placed on 3 and 20 rd. This picture is courtesy of E. Shelby. This marker is pointing out the home of General Andrew Pickens. Once Indian lands after the Hopewell Treaties were signed, Skyagunsta, General Andrew Pickens built Tomasssee (a place of sunlight). It is now called Keowee.

(d)This was indeed land of the Native American. Cherokee to be exact. The same nation that gave General Andrew Pickens the name SKYAGUNSTA

(e)The Hopewell cemetery marker. This marker is at the site of what is now PICKENS Chapel.