Emma Daniel Andrews &
Milledge Wilson
Emma was the last surviving child of Lawrence and Savannah. She lived to the age of 101. Her home at 1219 Harvard Street NW in Washington, DC provided loving refuge for relatives and family friends for over fifty years.
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A newspaper written by her great-nephew Courtland Millory, Jr for the Washington Post at the time of her 100th birthday, dubbed her the “Harriet Tubman of the Family” because her home was such a welcoming respite for so many family members making their way up from the South.
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Memories of her always involved food, be it her love of ice cream, the fact that there was ALWAYS a fresh pitcher of sweet tea in the “ice box”, grits for breakfast, or fried chicken stuffed in shoe boxes for those long car rides back down South.
Emma’s memory never seemed to fade. Before her death, she contributed a lot to the family history. At the age of 99, she could still recall the food that was served at the family farm after her wedding to Milledge. She once even offered to confide in her grandson John Wilson, Sr. the name of the person who burned down Mill Creek Church some 70 years before their conversation!
When Emma was 10 years old her mother got sick, so Aunt Beulah Jay came over to help out. Aunt Beulah gave Emma a cooking lesson that she never forgot. In those days all the pots and pans were neatly hung on the walls of the kitchen so the first instruction was always to wipe the pans before using, making sure no dust or spider webs were present. Since there was not the luxury of baking powder it was the custom to prepare bread overnight using buttermilk as a form of yeast. By morning when the biscuits would be full and plumb and ready to pop in the oven Aunt Beulah said, “Alright Emma, it’s your time to make the bread, get busy.” Emma felt such a surge of pride and excitement as she picked up the pan and went for the flour, when suddenly Aunt Beulah’s voice broke the excitement when she said, “Child you forgot to wipe the pan.” From that day on Emma never forgot anything necessary to perform successfully and when Aunt Beulah told her they were some of the best biscuits she had ever tasted little Emma said she felt ten feet tall.
Before her marriage, she taught school for $30 a month. She recalled looking forward to her first paycheck. When it didn’t arrive, her father checked with the post office and discovered that they had mistakenly sent it to the white Emma Daniel who was Dr. Daniel’s daughter. Papa Lawrence was able to get the check back without any problem and Emma had her big payday.
Emma also had a keen business sense. When everyone else was selling all of their season’s cotton harvest, she would hold a certain amount back. Everything did not go to the auction. She knew that if she were able to wait the market out, she could fetch a higher price during the off-season. She also raised chickens and sold the eggs to make her “purse money”.
While Emma was the second oldest of the five sisters, she was the last one to leave home. She married Milledge Wilson, Jr and they moved to Hephzibah, Georgia, about 17 miles from Augusta for better farming after the boll weevil ruined crops in SC.
Milledge’s brother Hamp Wilson was married to Emma’s first cousin Julia Allen Wilson so their children are all double cousins. They are Jays as well as Wilsons!
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Emma and Milledge had six children Lawrence, Sophie, James, Johnie, Garvey, and Estelle who died in infancy. Milledge rented his land and farmed it with the help of his children. He was also a well-known digger. Tragically, he was killed in 1928 when he was buried alive while digging a well at the age of 45. The Augusta Chronicle said it took two days to recover his body. Emma then moved back to SC. She was 38 years old in 1930 when she married Rev. John Andrews, age 57. That marriage ended two years later. She never got over the loss of her beloved Milledge. Days before her death of natural causes, she told her daughter Sophie that she dreamed that Milledge was coming back for her.
Lawrence (Bob) Wilson (1909-1989)
In 1932 Lawrence left South Carolina and moved to Washington, DC. His mother Emma and brothers soon followed. Eventually, his sister Sophie and her children moved there as well. Bob married Kate Lindsey and raised two children, Veda Wilson Stein and Mark Wilson. After working for the US Government for more than twenty-five years, Lawrence retired and began operating a small taxi service until he became ill. He was also a Mason for over forty years.
Sophie Williams (1911- 2007)
Sophie was a retired elevator operator and an excellent seamstress. She cared for her mother for over fifty years. Her nickname was “Bill”. Sophie was married to George Williams and had four children: Marion Mayo, Emma Davis, George Williams, and Ruth Stephenson.
Johnie D. Wilson “JD” (1919- 2006)
JD was one of the charter members of the DC Daniel Family Reunion and served as president for several years. He married Viola Stamper in 1948 and they had three children John Wilson, Eileen Gray, and Lois Wilson. His oldest child is Lillian Beard.
JD was a community activist in Washington, DC who fought racism and championed the rights of the underdog. He was a pioneer member of the DC Statehood Party and supported the battle for D.C. statehood; fought to keep utility rates low for D.C. residents; participated in an epic battle to build the DC Metro system instead of a freeway that would have sliced through inner-city neighborhoods.
JD was elected to the DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission Ward 4. This body provided community input on issues related to traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and the District’s annual budget.
JD and his cousin Vitron attended the historic Bettis Academy, a boarding school established in 1881 to educate blacks. Even though his formal education ended in the 8th grade, he served as a founding board member and benefactor of the Roots Public Charter School in Washington, DC.
JD was a retired model maker machinist for the Naval Reserve Lab in Washington, D.C. Having been passed over for promotion, JD filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC.
During World War II, he served in the Army Air Force. His children were surprised to learn that he had been a member of a traveling gospel choir with other servicemen. When asked about it JD replied, “It was a good way to meet girls!”
Although JD was quite opinionated and liked to debate issues, he also had a good sense of humor.
James Wilson (Nip)
Nip never married and had no children. He was hospitalized for much of his adult life and died in 1993.
Garvey Wilson (1921 -1993)
Garvey loved life and people. His philosophy was to do a good deed each day. An Army veteran, Garvey worked for the Department of the Army from 1947 to 1975 as an automotive and heavy engine mechanic. Garvey was active in his local Masonic lodge rising to the position of Worshipful Master and 32 Degree Mason. He was also a Shiner.
Garvey married to Anelda (Jane) Christian. They had no children of their own but were God parents to JD’s daughter Eileen Wilson and Sophie’s grandson Darryl Davis. He was a member of Vermont Baptist, Washington, DC for over sixty years. He also served as trustee of a small church located in Mill Point Shores, MD the location of his beach home, and was president of the Mill Point Shores community improvement association.
Garvey’s father named him after Marcus Garvey, the controversial black nationalist who preached racial pride and started the Universal Negro Improvement Association which grew into 700 branches in 38 states in the early 1920s.
As a child, Garvey was very enterprising. When moonshiners set up a still on his father’s property, Garvey was paid to tend to their horses. They also regularly left moonshine as payment to his father. Knowing that his dad did not drink moonshine, Garvey saw another business opportunity. He boiled empty bottles and filled them with the leftover moonshine for sale. Garvey once commented that the church deacons were some of his best customers