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Silas Jefferson & the Cow Tom Connection
Silas Jefferson was one of the team of dynamic African
leaders of the Muskogee Nation. He was sometimes known as Tucker or
Ducker, also. On more than one occasion, Silas Jefferson
accompanied the Muskogee delegation to Washington DC. Being fully
bilingual, he served as a an interpreter for the delegation, and he also
worked for the conservative party in the Nation.
Jefferson was often considered to be a dependable
person, because of his language skill and because he could also
speak to people his leaders considered to be "insurgents.
He was included as part of the Creek delegation to negotiate terms
with the rebels during the Green Peach War.
Silas Jefferson is one of the few African
identified in tribal pictures from the nation, although he was one
of several Africans who served their nation with honor and
distinction.
What then is the Silas Jefferson connection to the
Cow Tom Family and his descendants. They were all African Creeks
or part of the Creek or Muskogee Nation.
But there seems to
be a more personal one. From the documents collected by Geraldine
Elliott Robinson. Jefferson was one of the husbands of Maggie Cow Tom,
one of the two daughters of Cow Tom. Maggie Cow Tom had three husbands: Harry
Island, McGilbray (full name not given), and Silas Jefferson.
Maggie Cow Tom seems to have had four children:
Katie Island (Rentie) (1854-1942); Angelina Jefferson (Lewis) (1853);
Boston Thompson (1856-1929);
Ned Thompson (1859-1942). From the list of the children, one notes there are
three surnames used for the children. So it seems that Maggie Cow Tom's
daughters were by two different men. Katie Island may be her daughter by
Harry Island and Angelina Jefferson by Silas Jefferson.
Both of her sons Boston and Ned carry the Thompson
name. In an interview, Ned Thompson list his father's name as "Quash
Gilbra," which seems close to the McGilbray name listed
in the "Cow Tom & Amy" document. Thus, it seems safe to conclude that
Maggie Cow Tom had children by all three of her husbands.
Ned and Boston Thompson
seemed to have been given their surname when they
enrolled in the first Cane Creek School. It seems Cow Tom did not like
their father and would not let them use their paternal family name. So
their white teacher McCann or McCain attached the Thompson name.
Black Slaves, Red Masters Part 1 /
Black Slaves, Red Masters Part 2
Black Slaves, Red Masters Part 3
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The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story
of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government
By Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer
American democracy is informed by the 18th century’s most cutting edge thinking on society, economics, and government. We’ve learned some things in the intervening 230 years about self interest, social behaviors, and how the world works. Now, authors Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer argue that some fundamental assumptions about citizenship, society, economics, and government need updating. For many years the dominant metaphor for understanding markets and government has been the machine. Liu and Hanauer view democracy not as a machine, but as a garden. A successful garden functions according to the inexorable tendencies of nature, but it also requires goals, regular tending, and an understanding of connected ecosystems. The latest ideas from science, social science, and economics—the cutting-edge ideas of today—generate these simple but revolutionary ideas: (The economy is not an efficient machine. It’s an effective garden that need tending. Freedom is responsibility. Government should be about the big what and the little how. True self interest is mutual interest. |
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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