Nearror Family Histories

Collection

Identifier: MSS-4189

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Nearror family papers

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Content Description

The Nearror family histories collection contains two items: The Nearror Family: the Life Story of Virginia C. S. Rankins and Nearror Family History. Lena Virginia (Ginger) Nearror Smith Rankins wrote her family history and life story in a spriral notebook, perhaps in the 1980s or 1990s. Her son, Oscar D. Tucker, edited and augmented her earlier writings in 2012, resulting in his published work, Nearror Family History. Both items document the history of the Nearror family, an African American family from Brooklyn, Alabama. The works begin with information about Virginia's great-grandfather, Newton Nearror, who was born in Africa, and continue with her memories of her grandparents, Peter and Rosetta Nearror, who had been born into slavery. The histories concentrate on Virginia's father, Rev. Edward Newton Nearror, and continue through the lives of his descendants, including Oscar D. Tucker, Virgina's son.

Dates

Creation: circa 1985 - 2012

Creator

Tucker, Oscar (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Newton Nearror was born in Africa and arrived in the United States in ther early 1800s. An enslaved person, Newton, according to family stories, may have fathered as many as thirty children. One of those children was Peter Nearror, born into slavery in Alabama in 1839. Peter Nearror settled in Brooklyn, Conecuh County, Alabama. He married Rosetta--who had been born into slavery in 1845--after the Civil War ended. They had one child: Edward Newton Nearror, born on September 9, 1870. After gaining an education at the Tuskegee Institute and Selma University, Rev. Nearror returned to Brooklyn where he was a minister and became the largest African American landownwer in the area. Edward Nearror first married Amanda Cathright. After her early death, he married Lena Hutcherson (1891-1972), with whom he had two children: Roosevelt and Virginia. Virginia was the mother of Oscar Tucker, the donor.

Extent

0.2 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

Gift of Oscar D. Tucker, 2016

General

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