Read
about the remarkable
family history of the
Brewer Family in the E-book
version of Children Go
Where I Send
Thee: The
Brewers Uncover Their Roots. Two
former slaves...Robert and Emiline
Brewer reinvent themselves to become
landowners, church builders and
community contributors. Denied the
right to read and write during
slavery, they passed the value onto
their children and future generations
who owned, oversaw or taught at two of
the famous Rosenwald Schools (now
National Historic Landmarks). The
Brewer descendants include a Tuskegee
Airman, a leader of the first
"Negro Ministers' March on
Washington" and attorney's whose
case was heard by U.S. Supreme Court.
To
provide access to all those with computers, the
E-book is
downloadable in pdf or
epub formats. With Pdf, you can easily
download and read
your e-book on your computer in the comfort of
your home. You don't
need a Kindle, Nook or
other electronic media
device to view.
All you need to do is download Adobe Reader at
http://get.adobe.com/reader/
For
more information about
Children Go Where I Send Thee and pics, click here!
Specially priced at $11.99.
Cousins
Vanessa Brewer-Tyson and Nelda
Brewer Davis found a land deed
with Emiline's mark on it.
Click on image for larger
view.
BREWERS/WATTS
IN THE NEWS!
The
Brewers can now trace
their roots back to
the American
Revolutionary War.
Thomas Huntley, Sr.
was a Patriot who
generously contributed
to the war
effort. His sons
Robert and Thomas were
soldiers. Thomas
Huntley, Sr. and Zilphia
Meadows were the
parents of Lavinia
Huntley Watt. She was
the mother of Thomas H.
Watts; the Huntleys
were his
grandparents.
Our
Tuskegee Airman...
Second
Lt. Colonel Robert
Clifton Robinson, Jr.
was killed in action
and received a
"Purple
Heart"
posthumously.
Emiline
is in the news! Check out
recent Unityfirst.com National
e-Magazine's article about the
Brewers and Watts.
Cousin
Revered Dr. Bill Dargan
discusses his book
"Lining Out the
Word" in a Black History
Month documentary produced
online by Yahoo this week.
Click here
for info on Bill's
book! Watch the Yahoo
video here!
First Look: Raising
Watch
Cousin Kym in "Raising
Whitley" on OWN starting April
20th at 10 PM.
Joshua
Whitley at OWN studios.
"Joshua's
World" website...go to www.kymwhitley.org
for Mommy Tips, Joshua's
"Don't Feed"
T-shirts, etc.
TV
host Rachel Ray holding one of
Joshua's "Don't
Feed" T-Shirts.
Brewer
Center for Slavery and
Genealogical Research
Team
Vanessa
Brewer-Tyson
Nelda
Brewer Davis
Dr.
Arthelia Brewer
Nancy
Merriman
Cynthia
Porcher
Arthur
V. Brewer, Jr., Esq.
Nancy
Gathings Bunch
Bea
Nivens, Founder
The
following letter was found by
Cousin Carolyn in her files.
We need to know those
"kids at home" who
taped our late Cousin Lincoln. That
info will be priceless!
Reprinted
with permission from Carolyn
Nivens Hughes
THE
GREAT AND
AMAZING BREWER
LEGACY
Mary
Emiline Watts
Brewer
In
1842,
Emiline
Watts
Brewer
was born
a slave
on
Thomas
H.
Watts'
farm in
Mount
Croghan,
South
Carolina.
Robert's
owner
was Joel
Brewer
from the
same
town. It
is said
that the
Brewer
and
Watts'
farms
were
adjacent.
After
slavery,
Emiline
and
Robert
greatly
contributed
to their
community.
They
built
schools
to
benefit
others.
Robert
helped
to build
the Oro
United
Methodist
Church
when
former
slaves
refused
to sit
in a
white
church's
segregated
balcony.
Emiline
had the
Wesley
Chapel
Methodist
Church
built.
To
their
credit,
these
ex-slaves
left a
lasting
legacy
for
future
Brewers
by
stressing
the
value of
education
and
doing
well in
one's
profession.
These
lessons
were
well
learned
by their 11
children...
Vinnie,
William, Joseph, Lula
(Huntley), Isaiah, Effie
(Nivens), Robert, Sarah
(Robinson), Thomas,
Houston and Jabey who
passed
on the
legacy
to their
children,
grandchildren
and
great
grandchildren.
Subsequent
generations
of Brewer
children began
excelling in many
fields. They passed this
great legacy on to their
children and
grandchildren who have
graduated from
college/graduate/professional
schools. Today,
they are doctors,
lawyers, architects, engineers, writers, a
television producer, a
puppeteer, filmmaker,
singers, educators,
ministers, actresses,
teachers, computer
specialists, a former US Army
colonel, government
workers and other
professionals.
Oro
United Methodist Church that
Robert helped build with William
Brewer, his brother.
Robert
Brewer's grave (click on picture
for larger view)
(Click
on image for more
information)
Wesley
Chapel United
Methodist Church...site of our
second historic meeting between
the Brewers and Watts. When asked
by Emiline, his mother to build
the church, Isaiah took lumber
from his saw mill and began the
task.
Isaiah
Brewer, Emiiline and Robert's son
and twin to Effie
Center
Colored School, School District
No. 51, Chesterfield County
Members
of the Wesley
Chapel Chuch also built the Wesley
Chapel School, one of the 5,300
educational institutions known as
the famous Rosenwald Schools
(1917-1932). At the request of
Booker T. Washington, Julius
Rosenwald who was the president of
Sears, Roebuck provided matching
funds for the building of these
schools throughout the rural
South. In South Carolina, there
were approximately 500 built. And
it is reported that over one-third
of all African-American children
in the South in the first half of
the twentieth century were
educated at a Rosenwald school.
Thomas
and Nannie Brewer oversaw the
Center Colored School in Guess
(Mt. Croghan), making the Brewers
the overseers, owners and teachers
at two Rosenwald-funded schools.
Vashit Brewer Dargan taught in the
school; some of the Brewer
children attended it.
Today,
the Rosenwald Schools are
recognized by the United States
Department of the Interior
National Park Service's National
Register of Historic Places. We
are proud to be affiliated with
such historic sites.
Excerpt
from Children
Go Where I
Send Thee:
The Brewers
Uncover
Their Roots.
OUR
TUSKEGEE AIRMAN
Lt.
Robert C. Robinson, Jr. (see more
at Sarah Brewer Robinson) killed
in action and buried at Arlington
National Cemetery. He is standing
next to "Tuxedo
Junction," his plane (picture
from the Craig Huntly Collection).
Click Here for more information.
Remembering
Reverend Thomas Elliott Huntley
(Lula's
son was the leader of the 1948 Negro
Preachers' “Negro
Ministers Prayer March” on
Washington). Reverend
Huntley was an associate of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. His letters to Dr.
King are located at the King Center's
Archives. See below.....
Thomas
Nivens, Host of the first Brewer
Family Reunion with children in
Ghana, West Africa. Thomas
and his wife traveled to 10
countries in Africa as well as
China, Japan, Korea, Europe, South
America, the Caribbean, Hawaii and
Alaska.
Web
Site design and concept by Beatryce Nivens. Writers include the
late Lillie Brewer Atkinson, Arthur Brewer, Jr., Dr. Arthelia
Brewer-Wright, the late Vashti Brewer Dargan, Vanessa
Brewer-Tyson, and Beatryce Nivens. The Brewer Crest was designed
by James and William Whitley. This web site is dedicated to the
late Thomas "Snooks" Nivens who organized the first
Brewer Reunion, the late Joyce Whitley who wrote the first Brewer
Reunion Book and Dr. Arthelia Brewer-Wright who brilliantly carried on the
tradition.
Thanks
to Arthur Brewer, Jr. for the Brewer pictures.
