Page 5 - Washington Family Reunion 2024

ROOTS RETOLD

We are bound to them but we cannot look into their eyes or hear

their voices. We honor their history. We value their lives. We will

tell their story. We will remember them for we are the result of

their love, struggle, sacrifice, and how they embraced the journey

of those before them. James Washington, the patriarch of our

family, was born in Caddo, Louisiana in the year 1856. He was born

a slave at a time when the beginnings of a violent response to the

issue of slavery unfolded. It was a time when anti-slavery forces

led by John Brown, an ardent abolitionist, would no longer wait

for the political arena to put an end to slavery. History will forever

remember that turbulent time in the United States as “Bleeding

Kansas.” James Washington would become a farmer, and a free

man. He began the legacy of the Washington/Burton union in 1897

when he married Louisa Mary Magdalena Burton. At that time, the

defining of black freedom became the focus of the American

dream. There is no better way to contribute to that dream than to

raise a family, embracing the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit

of happiness. James and Louisa raised seven children: Abraham,

Alberta, Booker T, Katie, Jack and twins Robert and Albert

Mayshack (also known as Big Bit and Little Bit).The dream began

and 7 generations later the Washington family will come together

on May 24, 2024, for their first family reunion in Louisiana, the

very state where it all began. Today, James Washington’s legacy

has created generations of strong individuals. We will remember

that who we are is because of what they endured. Let us never

forget that it is prudent to know where you come from, and who

fashioned your name.