Spelman Alum Pens Family History

Callie’s Family Explores Both White and Black Ancestors

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               

CONTACT: Harold Michael Harvey         

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CALLIE’S FAMILY:  A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MARSH – McWHORTER FAMILY

            In 20th century Walker County, there were two prominent Black families named Marsh, Wiley Marsh’s descendants, and Monroe McWhorter Marsh’s descendants. Although the last names were the same, they were not related. Both were previously enslaved men who became “pillars of society” in the segregated era. Wiley, who was said to be the son of enslaver Spencer Marsh, was a carpenter and preacher. Monroe, who cut and finished trees and became a mill owner, received his last name when he was six years old, and his mother, Callie, married Joseph Marsh. Monroe was sired by a McWhorter, several of whom were local enslavers.

            The newly released Cascade Publishing House book, Callie’s Family: A Brief History of the Marsh-McWhorter Family, written by Walker County native Cynthia Marsh Harvey, is about her great, great grandmother Callie McWhorter Marsh, and her family, the Marshes and the McWhorters. It is the result of an African American woman’s quest to learn as much and pass on as much as she could about her ancestors on both sides of the American racial divide.

            As with many African Americans, she could only find information about her Black ancestors in her father’s family for five generations. But she found information as far back as 17th-century Europe on the White side of the family.

            In her search, Harvey encountered relatives at many American historical benchmarks. From accompanying George Washington at the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, in December 1776 to Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 4, 1865. From serving in the famed United States Army’s Calvary (“Buffalo Soldiers”), applying for the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, and participating in early civil rights lunch counter sit-ins. Harvey has left a family framework for future generations to build upon and to give them a record of “who we were on our way to becoming who we are.”

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