DENISE DENNIS

REMARKS FOR UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON

FEBRUARY 9, 2006

 

 

GOOD MORNING AND THANK YOU FOR WELCOMING ME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON.  I GREW UP, NEARBY, IN WILKES-BARRE AND LIVED THERE UNTIL I WENT AWAY TO COLLEGE, SO BEING HERE TODAY IS RATHER LIKE COMING HOME.  UNTIL NOW, MY MOST EXCITING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT WAS WHEN I WAS A GUEST AT AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AT THE SORBONNE IN PARIS.  I MUST SAY, THOUGH, THAT RETURNING TO NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA WHERE MY FAMILY SETTLED MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO AND WHERE I GREW UP IS ESPECIALLY EXCITING AND GRATIFYING.

 

ONE MONTH AGO, MY AUNT HOPE DENNIS, PASSED AWAY AT AGE 99.  SHE OWNED THE DENNIS FARM IN BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP, SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, WHICH HAS BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR CENTURIES.  IN THE 1990’S SHE EXPLAINED TO ME THAT SHORTLY BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY IN 1950, HER FATHER—MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER SUMNER DENNIS—AND THE FAMILY WERE TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM.  MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS BORN IN 1866 AND WAS THE LAST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY TO BE BORN AND REARED ON THE FARM.  HE LOVED IT AND WAS RELUCTANT TO PART WITH IT.  WHEN HE PASSED AWAY UNEXPECTEDLY IN 1950, THE FAMILY DECIDED TO KEEP THE FARM, ALTHOUGH IT HADN’T BEEN A WORKING FARM SINCE 1918; BUT THEY DIDN’T MAKE ANY DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH IT IN THE FUTURE.  IN THE 20TH CENTURY, IT WAS PRIMARILY A SUMMER HOME.  IN THE LATER PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY IT HAD FALLEN INTO DISREPAIR AND MY AUNT WAS APPROACHED BY VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND DEVELOPERS WHO SOUGHT TO PURCHASE OR ACQUIRE IT. 

 

WHEN SHE AUNT EXPLAINED ALL OF THIS TO ME, MY AUNT SAID, “I DON’T WANT THE FARM TO GO OUT OF THE FAMILY ON MY WATCH,” AND ASKED WHETHER I HAD ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHAT WE COULD DO TO PROTECT THE PROPERTY, ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OUR FAMILY NAME, ITS HISTORY AND HOW TO PROTECT THE BEAUTIFUL NATURAL ENVIRONMENT FROM DEVELOPERS.  SHE WAS PARTICULARY CONCERNED ABOUT PROTECTING THE PERKINS-DENNIS CEMETERY, LOCATED ON THE FARM.

 

AFTER RESEARCHING POSSIBILITIES FOR TWO YEARS AND WITH THE INVALUABLE HELP OF ELIZABETH WATSON, A RENOWNED HISTORIC PRESERVATIONIST WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF SAVING AMERICA’S COUNTRYSIDE AND THE HELP OF THE ENDLESS MOUNTAINS HERITAGE REGION—BOTH OF WHOM WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE FARM, I PRESENTED A PLAN TO MY AUNT, WHICH SHE APPROVED.  THAT PLAN IS NOW THE DENNIS FARM CHARITABLE LAND TRUST.

 

MY REMARKS TO YOU TODAY ARE A TRIBUTE TO HOPE DENNIS.

 

WHY IS THE DENNIS FARM SIGNIGICANT?

 

BECAUSE MORE THAN 50 YEARS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR, THE DENNIS FARM WAS THE HOME OF FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND THE EUROPEAN AMERICANS IN THEIR COMMUNITY ACCEPTED THEM AS EQUALS.  AT THAT TIME, AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE ONE QUARTER OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION, BUT ONLY 10 PERCENT OF BLACK AMERICANS WERE FREE.  NINETY PERCENT WERE ENSLAVED AND THE MAJORITY LIVED IN THE SOUTH.  YET, IN PENNSLYVANIA, MY ANCESTORS AND OTHER FREE BLACK PEOPLE FARMED THEIR OWN LAND, SUBSCRIBED TO LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, SOLD THEIR OWN DAIRY PRODUCTS AND WERE A PART OF THE LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY.  THE RACIAL HARMONY AND CO-OPERATION THAT EXISTED HERE IS A LITTLE KNOWN CHAPTER OF OUR NATION’S HISTORY.  THE SETTLERS WHO CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA FROM CONNECTICUT KNEW THAT IN ORDER TO CARVE HOMESTEADS OUT OF THE FORESTS, HILLS AND VALLEYS OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA—AND SURVIVE—THEY HAD TO WORK TOGETHER, HELP ONE ANOTHER, CO-OPERATE AND RESPECT ONE ANOTHER AS NEIGHBORS, WHILE TAKING CARE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THEY SHARED.

 

TODAY WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE, THANKS TO GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, WE CAN INTERACT DAILY WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE CULTURES TOO NUMEROUS TO NAME, PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER, BUT WHO WANT THE BEST FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES, JUST AS WE DO.  TODAY, WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE FACT THAT WE HAVE EXPLOITED THE NATURAL RESOURCES ON OUR BLUE PLANET AND ARE FACING THE CONSEQUENCES AS THE ARTIC MELTS AND INCREASINGLY FEROCIOUS HURRICANES WREAK HAVOC ON OUR COASTLINES.

 

WE CAN LEARN A LESSON FROM MY ANCESTORS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS.  THAT LESSON IS RATHER STRAIGHTFORWARD:  IF WE ARE TO SURVIVE, WE MUST SEE BEYOND OUR DIFFERENCES TO WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON, WORK TOGETHER, CO-OPERATE AND RESPECT ONE ANOTHER AS NEIGHBORS—AND ENDEAVOR TO PROTECT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ON THIS BEAUTIFUL PLANET.

 

RECENTLY, SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED SPECIES IN NATURAL HABITATS, NEVER BEFORE SEEN BY HUMAN EYES, AND ARE LEARNING FROM THEM.  THE DENNIS FARM AND ITS HISTORY IS LIKE ONE OF THESE UNDISCOVERED PLACES AND PRESENTS US WITH ANOTHER UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN.  THIS LITTLE KNOWN CHAPTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY IS NOT ONLY SIGNIFICANT TO AFRICAN AMERICANS BUT TO ALL AMERICANS—AND TO ALL PEOPLE.  OUR GOAL IN PRESERVING THE DENNIS FARM AND ITS HISTORY IS THAT IT WILL SERVE AS A SYMBOL OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE.  IF MY FAMILY MANAGED TO SURVIVE AND PREVAIL AS FREE BLACK PEOPLE IN A NATION THAT DID NOT RECOGNIZE THEIR RIGHTS, BUT IN A COMMUNITY OF NEIGHBORS THAT DID--THEN WORKING TOGETHER WITH OUR NEIGHBORS—WE CAN CERTAINLY SURVIVE AND PREVAIL.

 

ONE OF THE SCHOLARS I SPOKE WITH ABOUT THE DENNIS FARM TRUST TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE READ ABOUT THE FARM, HE FELT A CONNECTION WITH AFRICAN AMERICANS HE HAD NEVER BEFORE FELT.  HE IS A EUROPEAN AMERICAN FROM AN OLD PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY, WHICH LIKE OUR FAMILY HAS AN OLD FARM.  WHEN HE READ ABOUT OUR EFFORTS TO PRESERVE THE DENNIS FARM AND IT HISTORY, HE SAID HE FELT AS IF HE WERE READING ABOUT HIS OWN FAMILY—AND FOR THE FIRST TIME—IDENTIFIED WITH AN AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY IN A VERY PERSONAL AND FAMILIAR WAY.  THE FARM REMINDED HIM OF WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON, AS OPPOSED TO OUR DIFFERENCES—AND IMMEDIATELY BRIDGED A GAP.

 

NOW, FOR THE HISTORY:

 

IN 1662, KING CHARLES II OF ENGLAND GRANTED LAND IN PENNSYLVANIA TO CONNECTICUT, UNDER THE CONNECTICUT CHARTER AND IN 1768, THE SUSQUEHANNA COMPANY MET AT HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENTS IN WYOMING VALLEY, PA.  HOWEVER, KING CHARLES II HAD ALSO GRANTED THE LANDS IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TO THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA, NOT BECAUSE HE WAS DUPLICITOUS, BUT BECAUSE MAPS OF THE NEW WORLD WERE NOT ACCURATE.  IN ANY CASE, BETWEEN 1769-1771, COLONISTS FROM CONNECTICUT AND PENNSYLVANIA FOUGHT OVER THIS LAND IN THE FIRST YANKEE-PENNAMITE WAR.  WHEN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR BEGAN, COLONISTS FROM BOTH COLONIES FOUGHT FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE (ALTHOUGH SOME COLONISTS FOUGHT FOR THE BRITISH) AND PUT ASIDE THEIR YANKEE-PENNAMITE DISPUTE.   IN FACT, CONNECTICUT COLONISTS, INCLUDING ONE OF MY ANCESTORS, GERSHOM PRINCE, WERE KILLED IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAS BATTLE KNOWN AS THE WYOMING MASSACRE, NEAR FORTY FORT.

 

AFTER THE WAR, HOWEVER, THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE CONNECTICUT AND PENNSYLVANIA SETTLERS BEGAN AGAIN.  THIS TIME, THE NEW GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES INTERVENED AND IN 1782, GRANTED THE LAND TO PENNSYLVANIA.  NOT PLEASED WITH THE OUTCOME, THE CONNECTICUT SETTLERS CONTINUED TO COME AND REFUSED TO LEAVE, LEADING TO THE SECOND YANKEE-PENNAMITE WAR OF 1784.  FINALLY, IN 1799, THE PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE SETTLED WITH THE CONNECTICUT CLAIMENTS IN THE COMPROMISE ACT OF 1799.   

 

MY ANCESTORS WERE AMONG THE CONNECTICUT SETTLERS TO COME TO PENNSYLVANIA AND WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO SETTLE IN WHAT IS NOW BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP.  AT THAT TIME, SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY WAS A PART OF LUZERENE COUNTY AND WAS DESCRIBED AS “A HOWLING WILDNERNESS.”  WHEN MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS JUDITH AND PRINCE PERKINS ARRIVED IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM WESTERN CONNECTICUT IN 1793, GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.  THEY WERE FREE PEOPLE, BUT AS I STATED EARLIER, SLAVERY WAS LEGAL THEN AND NINETY PERCENT OF ALL BLACK PEOPLE WERE HELD IN WHAT THE CONSTITUTION EUPHEMISTICALLY REFERRED TO AS “INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE.”  THE PRINCE PERKINS FAMILY ORIGINALLY SETTLED NEAR SPRINGVILLE, PA AND LATER PURCHASED THE PROPERTY WE NOW KNOW AS THE DENNIS FARM.  IN 1774, CONNECTICUT HAD PASSED LAWS PROHIBITING THE SLAVE TRADE AND IN 1780, CONNECTICUT ABOLISHED SLAVERY.   THE FIRST U.S. CENSUS TO LIST AFRICAN AMERICANS BY NAME, RATHER THAN MERELY BY NUMBER, WAS THE CENSUS OF 1800.  CENSUS RECORDS FOR PENNSYLVANIA RECORD PRINCE PERKINS IN THE 1800 CENSUS. 

 

IN 1852, JUDITH AND PRINCE PERKINS’ GRANDDAUGHTER, ANGELINE PERKINS, MARRIED HENRY W. DENNIS, A FREE AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN WHO WAS BORN IN VERMONT AND WHOSE FAMILY CAME TO PENNSYLVANIA IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY.  THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, THE MONTROSE DEMOCRAT, MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT, “MARRIED—H. W. DENNIS OF DIMOCK, PA AND ANGELINE PERKINS OF BROOKLYN, PA, APRIL 24, 1852.”  ANGELINE INHERITED HER PART OF THE FARM FROM HER PARENTS AND HENRY DENNIS LATER PURCHASED AN ADDITIONAL 100 ACRES.  THEIR COMBINED PROPERTIES FORM WHAT WE CALL ‘THE DENNIS FARM.”  HENRY AND ANGELINE PERKINS DENNIS HAD SIX CHILDREN OF WHOM ONLY THREE SURVIVED INFANCY, PERKINS WILLIAM DENNIS, NAPOLEON B. DENNIS AND SUMNER BENJAMIN DENNIS, MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WHO WAS NAMED FOR CHARLES SUMNER, THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR WHO FOUGHT FOR PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL OF 1866.  THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL WAS PASSED IN JUNE 1866, SUMNER DENNIS WAS BORN ON JULY 1, 1866.  IN 1886, SUMNER DENNIS MOVED TO WILKES-BARRE AND IN THE 1890S MARRIED MARY KINSLOW.  THEY HAD FIVE SURVIVING CHILDREN, NORMAN, EDITH, MARION, CARL AND HOPE.  NORMAN DENNIS MARRIED HARRIETTE PAYNE IN 1926.  HE WAS MY GRANDFATHER.  MY GRANDPARENTS TOOK ME TO LIVE WITH THEM WHEN I WAS AN INFANT AND LEGALLY ADOPTED ME, SO ALTHOUGH HE WAS MY GRANDFATHER—NORMAN DENNIS WAS MY FATHER.

 

I TELL YOU THIS BECAUSE IT WAS HE WHO FIRST TOLD ME OUR FAMILY HISTORY AND REINFORCED IT AS I WAS GROWING UP.  WHEN WE VISITED THE FARM IN THE SUMMER, HE WOULD TELL ME ABOUT PRINCE PERKINS, DESCRIBING HOW OUR PEOPLE CAME FROM NEW ENGLAND—CONNECTICUT, VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS (BECAUSE HENRY DENNIS’ FATHER, JAMES, WAS BORN IN MASSACHUSETTS).  BACK IN WILKES-BARRE, ESPECIALLY ON THOSE EVENINGS WHEN MY MOTHER WAS ENTERTAINING HER CLUB MEMBERS, MY FATHER WOULD SIT AND TELL ME OUR FAMILY HISTORY.  WHEN I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO READ, HE SHOWED ME A BOOK WITH A BLACK COVER CALLED A HISTORY OF BROOKLYN, PENNSYLVANIA, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1889, AND POINTED OUT THE NAMES OF OUR ANCESTORS RIGHT UP TO HIS FATHER’S NAME.

         

ONE SUMMER DAY WHEN I WAS AROUND SIX OR SEVEN, WE WERE WALKING UP THE HILL ON THE FARM TO TURN ON THE SPRING.  ON THE WAY UP, HE POINTED TO A STONE WALL HIDDEN AMONG THE LEAVES, AND TOLD ME IT WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE WHERE OUR ANCESTORS LIVED MANY, MANY YEARS AGO.  I LISTENED ATTENTIVELY, UNDERSTANDING THAT HE WAS SHARING SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT WITH ME.  WE VENTURED ON UP THE HILL AND REACHED THE PERKINS-DENNIS CEMETERY WHERE OUR FAMILY AND OTHER AFRICAN AMERICANS ALL OF THEM FREE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR ARE RESTING.  THE CEMETERY IS SURROUNDED BY ELEGANT STONE WALLS, WITH STONE QUARRIED FROM THE PROPERTY AND BUILT BY PRINCE PERKINS AND HIS SON, MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WILLIAM PERKINS.  THESE BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED STONE WALLS STILL DEFINE THE CEMETERY AND SECTIONS ALONG THE PERIMETER OF THE FARM.

 

BRISTOL BUDD SAMPSON, A VETERAN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, IS ONE OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS RESTING IN THE PERKINS-DENNIS CEMETERY.  HE WAS MARRIED TO PHEBE PERKINS, JUDITH AND PRINCE PERKINS’ DAUGHTER.  IN 1777, BRISTOL BUDD SAMPSON ENLISTED IN THE CONNECTICUT LINE OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.  HE WAS SENT TO WHITEMARSH, PENNSYLVANIA NEAR PHILADELPHIA WHERE HIS REGIMENT LOST THEIR BATTLE.  FROM THERE, THE MARCHED TO VALLEY FORGE, WHERE HE ENDURED THAT HORRIBLY BRUTAL WINTER, UNDER GENERAL WASHINGTON’S COMMAND.  ALTHOUGH SOLDIERS WERE REQUIRED TO REMAIN IN THE ARMY ONLY TWO YEARS, SAMPSON REMAINED IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY FOR THE DURATION OF THE WAR.  WHEN WASHINGTON SELECTED SAMPSON’S REGIMENT FOR THE ELITE LIGHT INFANTRY CORPS, SAMPSON SERVED WITH THEM UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE, AND WAS IN THE BATTLE OF STONY POINT, NY.   AFTER THE WAR, BRISTOL BUDD SAMPSON LIVED ON THE FARM AND PETITIONED FOR HIS PENSION.  HIS COMMANDING OFFICER VOUCHED FOR HIM AND HE WAS GRANTED THE PENSION UNTIL HIS DEATH, AT WHICH TIME HIS WIFE, PHEBE, RECEIVED IT. 

 

MY AUNT, EDITH DENNIS, SHARED OUR FAMILY HISTORY WITH ME, TOO, AND GAVE ME A SENSE THAT THIS WAS BOTH A LEGACY AND A RESPONSIBILITY.  IT WAS WONDERFUL, WHEN I WAS A CHILD, TO KNOW THAT I WAS CONNECTED TO THESE INTERESTING PEOPLE WHO LIVED LONG, LONG AGO.  THEY SEEMED REAL TO ME AND I KNEW THAT I WAS MORE THAN MYSELF, THAT EACH OF THEM WAS A PART OF ME.  I THINK ALL CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW THEIR LARGER HISTORY—IT GIVES US A SENSE OF OUR PLACE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS AND GIVES US STRENGTH.

 

THROUGHOUT MY CHILDHOOD I ABSORBED THE STORIES OF MY ANCESTORS AND OUR HISTORY.  WHEN I BECAME A YOUNG WOMAN, I BEGAN TO RESEARCH THEM.  ALTHOUGH I NEVER DOUBTED WHAT MY FATHER AND AUNTS TOLD ME AND EVEN THOUGH I’D READ AND RE-READ THE HISTORY OF BROOKLYN, PA, I KNEW THAT CORROBORATION DOCUMENTATION WAS ESSENTIAL.  SO, I DECIDED TO RESEARCH OUR HISTORY.  THANKS TO THE SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE WYOMING VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY—FINDING DOCUMENTATION WAS NOT DIFFICULT.  IN FACT, I LEARNED MORE ABOUT MY FAMILY AS I SEARCHED THE RECORDS, AND DISCOVERED AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT EVERYTHING MY FATHER AND AUNTS TOLD ME WAS TRUE.  I’M CONSTANTLY DISCOVERING MORE EVIDENCE. 

 

EACH OF US IS A PART OF HISTORY, A PART OF OUR FAMILY’S HISTORY, OUR NATION’S HISTORY, AND WORLD HISTORY.  WE DON’T HAVE TO TRY TO MAKE HISTORY; WE MAKE IT BY LIVING OUR LIVES AND DOING OUR BEST.  IN 1998, A COLLEAGUE OF MINE WHO WAS EDITOR OF THE OPPORTUNITY JOURNAL AT THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE IN NEW YORK, ASKED ME TO WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MY FAMILY’S HISTORY IN PENNSYLVANIA.  I DECLINED, EXPLAINING THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE NOT FAMOUS, BUT HE ADVISED ME THAT MY ANCESTORS DID NOT BELONG ONLY TO ME AND MY FAMILY—BUT THAT THEIR STORY IS IMPORTANT TO ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS, TO ALL AMERICANS BECAUSE IT TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS OF WHICH VERY FEW PEOPLE ARE AWARE.  AFTER SEVERAL TRIES, HE PERSUADED ME TO WRITE THE ARTICLE—AND TO MY SURPRISE, HE WAS RIGHT.  THE RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE WAS PHENOMENAL.  BLACK READERS DID INDEED FEEL THAT IT WAS THEIR PERSONAL STORY—JUST AS THE WHITE SCHOLAR WHOSE FAMILY HAS AN OLD FARM IN PENNSYLVANIA IDENTIFIED IN A PERSONAL WAY WITH MY FAMILY’S STORY. 

 

I HOPE THAT BY SHARING THIS HISTORY WITH YOU, I WILL IN SOME WAY ACHIEVE WHAT THE DENNIS FARM CHARITABLE TRUST AIMS TO ACHIEVE—THAT BY EXPANDING OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST WE CAN HELP TO CREATE A BETTER TOMORROW.