Abner Eason’s handwritten will from Jan. 10, 1815, bequeathed land, horses, bridles and saddles to his heirs.
That property included Miles Eason, who, as an enslaved man, was recorded in the federal census as a tally mark grouped by age and gender.
More than 200 years later, four generations of Easons will celebrate his legacy as part of a family reunion that begins on July 31 in Chesapeake.
Nearly 100 family members will come from as far away as Connecticut, including Shelda Eason, Miles’ great-great-great-granddaughter, who remembers feeling shame when seeing images in history books about slavery. As an adult, she processes the idea differently.
“I don't relish the fact that my ancestors were enslaved, but I revere them as survivors,” she said. “What they left us isn't shame — it's resourcefulness, and the muscle memory of a family that always finds a way to pivot against the odds.”
The Easons have held many reunions over the years, but this will be the largest. The three-day gathering starts with a Friday evening banquet followed by a barbecue in Chesapeake City Park on Saturday. On Sunday, many will travel to the Eason homestead in Hobbsville, North Carolina, about an hour from Chesapeake.
That modest three-bedroom house is where Miles’ great-grandson, Charlie Eason, raised 14 children. Frances Lamb, 81, the baby in the family, is the last one surviving.
Without Miles’ perseverance, Lamb said, “None of us would be here.”
Lamb regrets having never met any of her grandparents, let alone her great-grandparents. Her memories, which she recalls with impressive precision, are a treasure trove.
Extended family soaked up every word from Lamb during her recent visit to her niece’s home in Elizabeth City.
The self-described “Daddy’s girl” cherished her tight-knit Gates County community, where farm chores were a habit and Sundays meant walking a mile to Sunday School with parents coming later by horse and buggy. She cherished hours of picking cotton in a nearby field alongside her father.
“We’d pick 100 pounds at a time,” she said. “It was fun to me.”
Her eyes sparkle when recalling the fruit bags her parents gifted her and her other siblings at Christmas. Everyone received one surprise gift.
“You’d look so forward to what was going to be in your bag,” said Lamb, excited to often find the raisins she loved in hers.
Another nugget: “I learned how to braid hair, and guess how I learned how to braid hair?"
The eyes of Nia Irving, Lamb’s granddaughter sitting nearby, grew large.
“You didn’t tell me about braiding hair, Grandma!” said Irving, whose connection to her grandmother includes an online folder full of her recipes, such as sweet potato jacks and homemade gravy.
“It was a type of grass that we had; I don’t know its name,” Lamb continued. “But it was long and straight, and we would sit out there and pretend it was a doll baby.”
The reunion is the first since Lamb’s nephew Stacey Eason began researching genealogy records and discovered the will, census records and marriage certificates relating to Miles.
While tracing genealogy is often challenging, it is more so for African Americans, many of whom had enslaved descendants. Many slave owners did not keep records about the slaves they owned. Families looking to learn more about their lineage often hire professionals to do the digging, and even then, hitting a dead end is common.
State and county property documents as well as probate records might contain information, as the enslaved were classified as personal property. In addition to genealogy sites that specialize in African genetic ancestry, some universities and colleges have digital collections to search, or local historical societies might be able to provide information.
"A lot of times the names weren’t spelled the same, or a name was different on the birth record than the death record,” said Stacey Eason, who spent many nights digging.
He’s grateful that he devoted so much time to tracing the fragmented family tree to the present time.
“We prospered from the cotton fields to the factories to who we are today – urban professionals,” he said. “It made me understand how important it is to keep this heritage going.”
Likewise, when Lamb reflects on what her great-great-grandfather endured, it isn’t with bitterness.
“To make it from slavery all the way to now – that’s amazing. That is a blessing and only by God,” she said.
"Because I believe that even as a slave, you had to have a very strong faith. And that faith that you had, that God put in you, you instill it in every generation all the way down.”