The enslaved in the United States experienced multiple separations
of family and friends. The isolation
from familiar people was a tool used to control the behavior by the slave owner. The emotional connection between a man and a woman
was tenuous at best while enslaved. Informal marriage ceremonies “jumping the
broom” were occasionally allowed by slave owners. Many family
relationships were never re-established after the Civil War. Legal marriage between the former enslaved was
not recognized until after the Civil War in 1865.
Eugene McEwen was born on July 6, 1885 in Mississippi. He was a farmer, was called to the ministry, and became a pastor at Pink Hill Church in McComb, Pike County Mississippi. Ellen Conerly was born on November 1887. They were both born in established families in the county.
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| "Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HQFV-RQMM : 25 March 2020), Eugene McEwen, 1906. |
Eugene and Ellen were important contributors to their community.
----The Tree Gardener
