During a book signing in Evansville in February I met a cousin Mildred Moore Robinson who gave me this wonderful photo that belonged to her mother. The photograph was of an 1890s baptism in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. The church was a central part of the African American community. People would come from miles around to witness a baptism as shown in this photo.
1890s Baptism in Cedar Hill, TN
While in Evansville, IN a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting a new cousin, Mildred Moore Robinson. When she saw my book cover she was very surprised and told me that she had the same picture in an old album. It turned out that the photograph she had was an original and had my great-great-grandfather’s name (Emanuel Washington) written on the back of it. He he had paid forty cents for the photograph which was nearly a day’s pay. The photo had been passed to his daughter Martha Washington White, who was Ms. Robinson’s maternal grandmother. I was honored when Cousin Mildred gave me the photograph.
Original 1891 Wessyngton Photo