Sons of Zion (Memphis and Shelby County)

There were apparently a number of African American fraternal and benevolent groups in Tennessee with "Zion" in the name.  In Memphis alone, there are references in city directories and newspapers to the Daughters of Zion, Sons of Zion, Sisters of Zion, and United Sons of Zion (apparently different from the Sons of Zion). I have even found mention of a Sons of Zion as far east as Greeneville, Tennessee in 1871.  To be perfectly honest, I am still puzzling out the links, if any, between the groups.  Here goes my best guess, at this point, about the Sons of Zion, the group that formed Zion Christian Cemetery (http://tn-africanamericanlodges.blogspot.com/2014/09/zion-christian-cemterysons-of-zion.html).

A mention of the Sons of Zion in the Jonesborough Herald and Tribune, August 10, 1871.

According to G.P. Hamilton, in The Bright Side of Memphis, the Sons of Zion in Memphis organized in 1867, and at the time of his writing, consisted of one lodge, no endowment, and 200 members.  Hamilton describes the group as, "One of the earliest societies in Memphis, it has done much for the welfare of our people. Their leaders have been men of foresight and judgement . . ." The 1874 Boyle Chapman Memphis Directory lists the Sons of Zion as meeting on Rayburn Avenue with 200 members while the United Sons of Zion met at Beale Street church and had 270 members. 

Memphis Daily Appeal, March 23, 1874

The Sons of Zion were active in Memphis.  In 1874, they, along with other groups, took part in funeral ceremonies in Memphis to mark the death of Charles Sumner, former abolitionist and politician.  They participated in July 4th celebrations.  They took responsibility for burial of the dead, as when Joe Morgan, a black man, drowned in the Wolf  River. After his body was recovered, they took charge of his remains and buried him.

Memphis Daily Appeal, October 8, 1879.  Discusses the drowning and burial of Joe Morgan.

Brian D. Page has a great article in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly that discusses the different benevolent and fraternal groups in Memphis following the Civil War.  It is ""Stand by the Flag": Nationalism and African-American Celebrations of the Fourth of July in Memphis, 1866-1887," and it is located in Volume 58. number 4 (Winter 1999): pages 284-301.

Zion Christian Cemtery/Sons of Zion Cemtery - Memphis, Shelby County

Zion Christian Cemetery sign. Photo by author.

In April 2013, I visited the Zion Christian Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, located in the 1400 block of South Parkway East. This may be one of the oldest African American cemeteries in Memphis, having been established by the Sons of Zion in 1876.  It was during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 that many of the burials in the cemetery began in earnest.  More than 30,000 African Americans may be interred here.  Green Polonious Hamilton, an African American teacher and author of The Bright Side of Memphis (1908), stated in that work, "a few far-sighted brainy men of the race, anticipating the needs of the colored people of Memphis . . .purchased a large tract of land outside of the city limits to be used as a cemetery. . . Zion Cemetery is patronized by the best classes of colored people." [To read Hamilton's work, an African American guide to Memphis, you may find it on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=m9vVAAAAMAAJ&vq=zion&pg=PA18#v=snippet&q=zion&f=false.]

As with many African American cemeteries in Tennessee, it endured many years of neglect.  In the early 2000s, a group formed the Zion Community Project with the intention of maintaining the cemetery and making its story known.  Their website, http://www.zioncommunityproject.org/, has great information on the history of the cemetery and the group as well as its continuing efforts to preserve the cemetery.  There is also a search engine to allow you to search for ancestors possibly buried in the cemetery.

Obituary for Rev. Morris Henderson, interred at Zion Christian Cemetery. Memphis Daily Appeal, October 30, 1877.

Advertisement found in the Memphis Daily Appeal, May 29, 1881.

The day that I visited was a beautiful day;  however, I had scheduled so many other research things that I was unable to spend a great deal of time at the site.  I hope to return one day when I can devote several hours to walking through the cemetery and observing the tombstones, the carvings, and the getting a better sense of its spatial organization.  There is also a state historic marker at the site that documents some of its history.  A future blog post will discuss the Sons of Zion in more detail.

State historic marker at the site. Photo by author.

Zion Christian Cemetery. Photo by author.

Zion Christian Cemetery. Photo by author.

Mount Ararat Cemetery (Benevolent) - Shelbyville, Bedford County

Mount Ararat Cemetery in Shelbyville (March 2013)

Back in March, I had the opportunity to slip away to Shelbyville to look for a cemetery associated with the Benevolent Society. Although the conventional wisdom seems to be that benevolent lodges are dead and have no relevance in today's culture, I once again found a cemetery associated with a benevolent group that is in excellent condition.  Thanks to field work and seeing some of these cemeteries for myself, I have re-evaluated what I think I know about African American fraternal and benevolent groups.

The cemetery is located on West End Avenue, across from the large cemetery, Willow Mount, used by white citizens in Shelbyville since the 1840s.  Once again, the realities of segregated life in Tennessee showed themselves on the landscape - two cemeteries, separated by a fence and a gravel road, one for whites, one for blacks. Despite this separation, they are located adjacent to each other, and both very near the location of Turner Normal School, an African American school opened in the 1880s.

Division between the cemeteries.  You can see the fence and road that separate the white cemetery from the black cemetery on the left side of the picture.

Mount Ararat has an association with the Benevolent Society in Shelbyville.  There is a large monument to the Benevolent Society in the cemetery, which reads, "Erected to the sacred memory of the honored dead of the Benevolent Society. Their works do follow them. August 1897."  Additionally, the cemetery is referenced in the Nashville Globe, an African American newspaper, several times.  An article on May 17, 1918 states, "The benevolent order will hold its annual exercises in Mt. Ararat cemetery next Sunday. The speakers are Rev. W.A. Smith, Prof. McAdams, and Rev. E.F. Gooch."  Mrs. Lou Emma Tillman, beloved local teacher, is buried in what the Nashville Globe referred to as "the Benevolent Cemetery" in her death notice published July 19, 1918.

Nashville Globe May 28, 1909 blurb stating that Mount Ararat Cemetery is property of the Benevolent Society in Shelbyville.

 

Monument to the Benevolent Society located in Mount Ararat Cemetery.

As for the cemetery itself, it is unmarked but very well-maintained.  There are graveled roads throughout the cemetery, and a large number of trees.  There are approximately 400-500 burials, and Find A Grave has them transcribed here. In addition to the Benevolent Society monument, there are other evidences of fraternal groups throughout the cemetery, as several graves have carvings from the Masons, Knights of Pythias, and GUOOF.

Nashville Globe May 17, 1918

Nashville Globe July 19, 1918

Golden Star Society, Nashville, Tennessee

A group that I am just beginning to research (in other words, I know very little about them) is the Golden Star Society of Nashville. According to an article in the Nashville Globe on September 27, 1907, the group was formed by David Davidson in 1885 (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86064259/1907-09-27/ed-1/seq-3/).  A perusal of the Nashville Globe indicates that this was a benevolent society with death benefits.

Nashville Globe, September 27, 1907.

The interesting thing about this article is that it shows us several things.  First, religion and benevolent orders were tied together in many ways.  This article is about the annual sermon of the group, and my research indicates that many benevolent orders had an annual sermon.  It appears that the preaching of this sermon rotated amongst different Christian denominations, perhaps indicating the ecumenical nature of lodges.  Secondly, it shows that lodges of different orders could work together.  This one states, "The celebrated I.O.I. Band furnished appropriate music."  The I.O.I. were the Independent Order of Immaculates, a benevolent order founded in Nashville and apparently well-known for its band (they figure in numerous newspaper accounts during this period).  Thirdly, it shows us that this is not an insignificant group, as eight hundred members, belonging to four societies, turned out for the annual sermon, held at St. Paul Church.  

An article from May 29, 1908 in the Nashville Globe also yields some interesting information (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86064259/1908-05-29/ed-1/seq-1/). This brief blurb describing the election of officers for Golden Star Lodge No. 3 indicates that women were not barred from holding office.  While men were elected as President and Vice President, Sister Medie Roach was elected Treasurer of this lodge.  A woman was also elected as Receiving Teller of the group.  Sister Emma Long was elected the Orator.  This seems to indicate that the Golden Star Society had no restrictions upon women joining or exercising power.  It almost seems ahead of its time in terms of gender relations. I think it shows that more research is needed in the area of gender roles in African American fraternal groups.

Nashville Globe, May 29, 1908

Although this information was nice, I wanted to know where this interesting group met.  I finally hit the jackpot when I read the August 19, 1910 edition of the Nashville Globe.  This told me that the Golden Star Lodge No. 2 dedicated their new lodge on Pearl Street, located between 11th and 12th Avenues.  Looking at the 1914 Sanborn Insurance map for Nashville, I discovered a lodge hall on Pearl Street, between 11th and 12th Avenues, beside St. John's Missionary Baptist Church.  Unfortunately, this structure no longer exists.

1914 Nashville Sanborn Map, Sheet 26

I do not know how long the group survived.  There is a mention of a banquet at the Golden Star Lodge in the September 21, 1917 edition of the Nashville Globe. The 1956 Sanborn map does not indicate a lodge on Pearl Street beside a church. While a church is still present on the 1956 map (now St. James Baptist Church), the building formerly indicated as a lodge is indicated as a dwelling.

1956 Nashville Sanborn Map, Sheet 26A

Maps

As a part of the research I am doing, I am in the process of creating a map showing locations for African American fraternal and benevolent lodges across the state.  I started it originally to keep track of the different lodges I was finding.  Zeemaps is a free service that allows you to build a map.  You can add as much or as little information to the pinpoints as you wish. I generally just add the name of the lodge, approximate location, and the source of my information.  For a handful of sites, I have uploaded a picture as well. I am way behind on the photo upload.

For many, many of the lodges (far more than I wish), I only have the name of the town in which the lodge was located.  That is certainly true for the GUOOF lodges, as I came across a history of the organization which listed every single lodge in the United States up through 1902.  The book is called The Official History and Manual of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows and can be founded here on Google Books. Sources such as this have been incredibly helpful for documenting lodge numbers and town locations.

For some lodges, I was able to find an approximate location by using old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  This maps occasionally label the African American lodges in a town.  Using the old map, would then look at modern maps and Google Earth to try to determine if the building still exists.  In some cases, such as the GUOOF lodge in Pulaski, I was fortunate to find the building.  Others are a matter of guesswork.  Others, such as Benevolent Hall in Nashville on South Cherry Street in 1888, no longer exist.

Cropped image from the 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Nashville, Sheet 6b, Volume 1 showing the location of Benevolent Hall.

The  most frustrating part of doing this work is the way the landscape of Tennessee has changed over the last 100 years.  Urban renewal, TVA, and the demolition of older neighborhoods, particularly ethnic neighborhoods, have all contributed to the demolition of much of our historic fabric.  However, on the bright side, trying to find historic lodge buildings is a challenge, and I love nothing more than a good challenge.

Sons & Daughters of Cyrene

Front Page of the Constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene.  It was printed in Nashville in 1915 by the National Baptist Publishing Board.

I first stumbled across the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene a few years ago while going through a court file at the Rutherford County Archives. They were a successor group to the Working People’s Labor and Art Association (WPLAA), a benevolent group founded in Nashville in 1890. In c. 1914, the WPLAA decided to change their name to the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene (what that name signifies I am not sure), perhaps in part to attract a “higher” class of member. The decision split the WPLAA lodge in Murfreesboro, with the two sides suing each other for control of the lodge building (located on West Main Street) and the bank account. The two sides accused the other of no longer holding up the ideals of the organization, of drunkenness, and various other misdemeanors. Looking through the court file in the Rutherford County Archives, it appears this dissatisfaction with the name change was not confined to Rutherford County.

This week, the archivist at Rutherford County contacted me to let me know that he had found a constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene in a different court case. I had seen copies of the constitution for the WPLAA, but not the Sons and Daughters. When I told him that I had not, he scanned a copy and brought it over to me. Without the kindness and assistance of various archivists throughout the state, this research would be much harder.

The constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene is very similar to the constitution for the WPLAA. This came as no surprise, as the Sons and Daughters are the successor group to the WPLAA. The preface begins, "The Negroes of America have long felt the need of an Association whose principles would protect their social, moral, agricultural and commercial interests...The aim of the Association is to elevate, unite, and give employment to the Negro youth, to establish and encourage charitable undertakings, to encourage and foster trades, trade schools and any enterprise that will guarantee the Negro a livelihood, make his labor in demand in all avenues of life, and to be of practical utility to race and state." This fits very much into the self-improvement ethos of the early twentieth century, and has a Booker T. Washington-esque ring to some of the language.

Like most constitutions for benevolent and fraternal groups, much space is devoted to describing how the organization is to be governed and the by-laws of the group. While it does not provide a listing of the various Sons and Daughters of Cyrene lodges across the state, it does provide a great insight into the structure of the organization.

To qualify for membership, males had to be at least 16, of sound body and mind, and have good moral character. Female members must be at least 14, and also of sound mind, body, and moral character. Juveniles could join who were older than 3, and met the same criteria as adults. The insistence on being of sound body probably ties in to the sickness benefits paid by the group to its members.

Speaking of sickness benefits, they were not paid to the member if the illness was caused by alcohol. The constitution states, "No benefits shall be allowed him who disables himself by actual negligence or the use of alcoholic drinks on the part of the disabled member or for venerable [sic] diseases."

One interesting clause of the constitution dealt with employment. It reads, "It shall be the duty of every member to do what lies in his power to aid his brother when out of employment and help in other things which seem to aid in the development of the race."

As with several other African American benevolent groups, the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene are no longer in existence.

Introduction to the Constitution.