To leave behind an honorable legacy for your children is something for which all parents should strive to do.  Such was the case with Paul Gilbert and Effie Nancy Morrison Brewer, our parents.  They both were outstanding educators who were dedicated to their jobs as well as to their family and community.

Daddy, the sixth child of Houston and Rosa Butler Brewer, was born August 12, 1921 in Pageland, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.  He attended Brewer Chapel School, which was one of the Rosenwald schools. (Presently located on the Arthur Brewer estate.)  These particular schools were primarily for the education of African Americans during the early 20^th century.  Daddy was privileged to have been taught by his older cousin, Dora B. Nance, known to us as “Cousin Sis”.  He attended high school at Colter Academy in Cheraw, SC , but dropped out to serve in the army during WW II.  

During his service in the army, he was a member of the “Red Ball Express”, which was a supplier for Gen. Patton’s troops.  He had gradually worked his way up to a sergeant in the army. After getting into a serious fight, however, he was quickly demoted back to a private.  (Those Brewer men sure let their tempers get the best of them.)  

Upon returning home from the war, Daddy was issued a high school diploma by the principal at the time, who happened to have been married to his Cousin Sis.  He, in turn, took advantage of the G.I. Bill and decided to attend S.C. State College in Orangeburg, SC. That is where he would meet his future wife, our mother, Effie Nancy Morrison.  

Mama, the oldest child of Palmer and Fannie Young Morrison, was born November 27, 1927 in Society Hill, Darlington County, SC. She and her younger brother and sister had been raised on a farm and attended elementary school out in the country.  She entered Butler High in Hartsville, but graduated from Haynes Academy in Augusta, GA after her mama and daddy divorced.  

It was at Butler High School that she had been a classmate of Benjamin Boykin, who would several years late become known to us as “Cousin Ben.”  Mama and Benjamin reunited as friends after they both entered South Carolina State College.  It just so happened that Daddy and  Benjamin had become friends in college since they both were WW II veterans.  Consequently, Benjamin introduced Daddy to our mom, and in turn, Daddy introduced Benjamin to his Cousin Thomasina.  

Daddy ended up proposing to Mama on the steps of White Hall at South Carolina State, a building which has long since been demolished. Of course, she said yes. Mama had already finished college by that time and was working as a secretary at Claflin University.  They were married in 1949 at Trinity United Methodist Church right across from the campuses of South Carolina State and Claflin. In the meantime, Benjamin had proposed to Cousin Tom, and they too were married.

After graduating from college, Daddy moved Mama to Pageland where they lived in the old family estate on what is now Brewer Road.  Daddy had gotten a job at Petersburg High School as an agriculture teacher, and Mama became a librarian and teacher at Shannon Elementary School in Jefferson .  From their union, they had the three of us, Paul Gilbert Jr. (“Chuck,”) who was born August 16, 1951; Gerald Casey, “BaeBae,” born July 20, 1953; and Vanessa Faye, whom Daddy always called “Pook,” born February 13, 1956.  Our family moved into the old Gathings’ place behind Charlie Mills’ grocery store while our new home was being built.  (Our parents were the first Black family in Pageland to build a brick home.)  We moved into our new home when Vanessa was about two years old.

All three of us started elementary school at Shannon with our mom, but we eventually ended up going to Petersburg School where our dad was teaching.

Sadly, Chuck’s junior year would be the last year for Petersburg High School. This was the time of desegregation of the schools in our county. The high school students (ninth through 12 graders) would now be attending Pageland High School.  Chuck graduated from Pageland High in May, 1969, and of course, chose to study at South Carolina State.  He graduated from college in May, 1973 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Since Daddy had just passed in April of that same year, Cousin Arthur pinned the bars on Chuck during the ceremony.  Daddy and Mama, who had passed in September of 1972, would have been so proud of him. Our Aunt Annie and a few more family members were there for the heartfelt occasion.

Meanwhile, Bae Bae had graduated from high school in 1971.  He later graduated from King’s College in Charlotte, North Carolina with an Associate's degree in Business.  He was very instrumental in helping with the finances at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, as well as helping Daddy transact business after our mother passed.  Bae Bae served in the army for a short while and eventually moved to New York where he got a job at Macy’s Department Store where his Cousin Booker T. Brewer worked.  (Bae Bae had told them that he was Cousin Booker T.’s  nephew.  This was probably what got his foot in the door.)  He worked in the shipping department there for years and was well liked and respected by his co-workers.  He was faithful to the job until he became too ill to work.  Our beloved brother passed in September, 1991.

Upon graduating from Pageland High School in 1973, Vanessa was destined to enter South Carolina State .  One day, before school was to start, her big brother Chuck marched her right up to the president of the college’s office.  He told Dr. Maceo Nance who was president at that time, that his sister needed financial aid; she needed it almost immediately.  Dr. Nance responded by saying that he needed to look at Vanessa’s SAT scores first.  Needless to say, after checking the information in her application folder, he responded by saying that it wouldn’t be a problem.  (Chuck had also reminded him that he and our mother had been classmates in college.)

It was also the year that Chuck married Bernetta Graham, whom he had met at State. In July, 1974, they had a beautiful baby girl, Nancy Renee.  However, the marriage failed.  Chuck met Annette Payne while stationed at Ft. Gordon, Georgia , and they were married May of 1977, the day right before Vanessa graduated from South Carolina State University.  Their first son, Paul III, “Chuckie,” was born in January of 1978 in Augusta, and their second son, Nicholas, was born the next year in March in Charleston, South Carolina while their dad was in Korea.  Three years later in March, 1982, a third son, Derek, was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

After graduating from college, Vanessa accepted the challenge of the owner and editor of a weekly newspaper in Columbia to work for his newspaper.  He had spoken to her journalism class on one occasion and had urged those who were interested to come and meet with him after graduation.  Well, Vanessa and a friend wasted no time applying for a job there and were both hired the first week after graduation.  Shortly afterwards, the newspaper's owner decided to open up a weekly paper in Orangeburg, and he sent the two of them to run it.  Running a newspaper proved to be exciting as well as exhausting.  Vanessa’s friend decided it was too much and enrolled in graduate school.  Knowing she couldn’t do it alone, Vanessa accepted a position at The Times & Democrat Newspaper, a daily paper in Orangeburg. 

It was doing this time that she had an adorable baby girl, Kimberly Gerrae Haynes, born in April, 1979.  In that same year, her Aunt Barbara of East Orange, New Jersey gave her an invitation to come live with her and her two children.  Vanessa decided to venture out, and relocated with her daughter to New Jersey.  In a short time, she was hired at Burrell’s Press Clipping Service and quickly moved up the ladder from a news monitor and secretary to a sales representative.

Fortunately for her now, Vanessa could never develop a love for the city. Even though she once said she would never come back there to live, she moved back into her parents’ home in the small town of Pageland.  She began substitute teaching at the local schools. Ironically, teaching was the one thing that she did not want to do, but it was in her blood.  After obtaining her certification in elementary education, Vanessa began working at Ruby Elementary and has taught there for more than 25 years.  

She met David Tyson after they both had given their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ and were doing missionary work together.  They were married February, 1988 and had a prized son, Christian David, born October, 1988.  Rev. David and Vanessa have been pastors at a church founded by them in Monroe, North Carolina for over 20 years.  David is also self-employed with a transport and landscaping business. Vanessa went on to receive a master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.  In 2002, she was honored as Teacher of the Year at her school.

Chuck finally retired from the army as a colonel.  After much compromise on his wife’s part, they moved to Pageland and built a home on what used to be known as the Stanley Place. He began teaching Social Studies in Union County, North Carolina where he worked for five years. He is now a history teacher at Central High School in Pageland.  

Chuck enjoys working in the home church and sharing his farm products with neighbors.  Annette worked for a year at Jefferson Elementary, which used to be Shannon Elementary where Mama once taught.  (It’s amazing how the Lord navigates things.)  Annette decided to resign from teaching to enter the divinity school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. There she earned two master's degrees.  She is now a Presbyterian pastor and has since taught school at Pageland Elementary.  She is presently working on her Doctor of Ministry through Gordon Conwell Theology Seminary.

Chuck’s daughter, Renee, received a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has also served in the army and was deployed to Iraq twice.  She now works for the IRS in Austin, Texas.  Chuckie and his wife, Renessa Ciampa Brewer, live in Boston, Massachusetts. Renessa is a graphic artist.  Chuckie received his undergraduate degree from Boston University and is presently working on a master's degree in Seminary at Boston College.  Nicholas attended Berkeley College of Music in Boston .  He now lives in Columbia, South Carolina and is an exceptionally talented musician who has recorded a CD and does various band tours.  Derek graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Sociology. He is now working in Boston as a data base manager.

Kimberly, Vanessa’s daughter, graduated from South Carolina State University in December, 2001 with a B.S. in Elementary Education.  After earning a master's degree from Indiana University, she taught school for one year in Charlotte, North Carolina.  She now teaches in Clayton County, Georgia and has gone on to earn a specialist degree from Georgia State. She has also been recommended for a doctoral program. In addition, she has been honored as Teacher of the Year at her school and was a finalist in the county. Her husband, Justin Seabrook Sampson, graduated from State and earned a master's degree from Perdue University in Indiana.  He is a structural engineer with a firm in Atlanta.  Kimberly is also an aspiring writer, walking in her mother’s footsteps.  Her husband is a gifted artist. They have two wonderful children, Justin Jr., 5, and Emory, 2.  

Christian graduated from Central High in 2006.  He attended Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Christian loved the college social life, but did not care too much for the academic part.  So he left to pursue a career on his own in the business world. (He is very enterprising, like his dad.)  He now owns his own transport truck, has a job, and is paying his own bills. (Yes!)  Christian is also a gifted musician, playing multiple musical instruments.  We had our Grandpa Palmer Morrison to thank for all the musical talents that were passed down to the third generation of our males.

We are truly thankful to God for all that He has blessed our family.  May all our gifts, talents, successes, and even our failures, somehow be used to bring glory to His name.  And hopefully, an honorable legacy will pass on to our grandchildren, their children, and to the future generations.