Natchez Julyteenth anniversary commemorated

Re-enactor Tylan Collins honors the U.S. Colored Troops buried at the Natchez National Cemetery. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. —  A group of Natchez residents and visitors rode in a procession
throughout the downtown area Saturday, July 13, to commemorate the 161st
Julyteenth Anniversary. The event was a recognition of July 13, 1863, when
thousands of enslaved people of African descent found freedom with the arrival
of the Union Army and its occupation of Natchez and Vidalia.

Juneteenth or June 19th is celebrated as
a national holiday that recognizes the time in 1865 when news of
the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas. However,
in Natchez, freedom came when the Union Army arrived nine days following the
defeat of Vicksburg in July 1863.

Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley presents Bonita Welch of Hinds County with a Certificate of Appreciation during the Natchez Julyteenth commemoration on Saturday, July 13. Welch was recognized for her service to the U.S. 1st Mississippi Colored Infantry Re-enactors. (Click on image to enlarge.)

The term “Julyteenth” was coined by Ser
Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley, who organized Saturday’s event. Ser Boxley
said he was pleased with the event that took place at several historical sites
between 7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

“I feel empowered,” Ser Boxley said after
the event. “I feel wonderful. This empowered a lot of us. The people told me
that they all got something out of it. They said it was educational. I can
appreciate that as that is exactly what I was trying to do.”

Ser Boxley said he was also very pleased
with the re-enactors and volunteers who assisted him with the program.

Forks of the Road

The people who attended the event
travelled from site-to-site in their own vehicles in a “Julyteenth caravan.” At
least two travelled on motorcycles. They were led by a Natchez Police
Department cruiser with flashing lights. At each stop, participants recounted
the history of U.S. Colored Troops. They left sprigs of rosemary, an ancient
symbol of remembrance, at each site.

The day’s event began at Forks of the Road, the site of
the second largest slave market in the Southwestern states between 1833 and
1863. Ser Boxley explained how Natchez became a “destination of domestic
chattel slavery trafficking.” The Forks was not the beginning but the end of
the trafficking of enslaved people in Natchez, he said.

Interestingly, he continued, Forks of the
Road was a place of enslavement and freedom. Many thousands of enslaved people
of African descent were sold at the site, he said. But in 1863, there were
thousands who were self-emancipated by leaving their enslavers and fleeing to
the Forks where they found freedom with the Union Army.

“There was one enslaved mother who was
sold with her 12-year-old son to enslavers in Copiah County. When that son
became an adult during the Civil War, he escaped from Copiah County to
Vicksburg and joined the 58th regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops,” Ser Boxley
said.

During their solemn assembly, Ser Boxley
called to “the ancestors who were sold into chattel slavery at the Forks to
offer them evidence we had gathered on July 13 to remember them.” He asked for
them “to rise up in their spirit and to join us in the caravan in remembrance
of their stolen lives and their history.”

Before leaving the Forks, Patricia
Mahammad, a volunteer, placed sprigs of rosemary in the shape of a triangle on
top of the chain monument at the site.

On the Natchez Bluff at the Silver Street
intersection, the audience heard from re-enactor Mandi Toy of Tupelo who
portrayed Mary Conway Shields Dunbar, the daughter of Francis Surget. Toy read
an account of the arrival of the Union soldiers in July 1863 and the later
account of the U.S. Colored Troops presence in Natchez.

Toy shared excepts from Elizabeth Dunbar
Murray’s book, “My Mother Used to Say: Memories of Mary Conway Shields Dunbar”
(The Christopher Publishing House, 1959).

Speaking after the program, Toy said she
appreciated the day’s commemoration. “Hearing a more holistic story, standing
in the place it occurred, was profound,”  she said. “I am grateful to have
been part of the day of remembrance and learning. It was a powerful day.”

From the Bluff, the attendees traveled to
the Under the Hill site of the U.S. Colored Troops barracks and contraband
camps near the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It was there that Ser Boxley gave a
presentation on the history of the sites. He also refuted claims about the area
known as the Devil’s Punch Bowl being a concentration camp for Blacks and the
site where they were tortured and buried under fruit trees.

During Ser Boxley’s presentation,
re-enactors Norman Fisher, Tylan Collins, and Cameron Grover made appearances
as members of the U.S. Colored Troops.

Certificate of Appreciation

Following his talk, Ser Boxley paused to
recognize one of his many volunteers. He called up Bonita Welch of Hinds County
and presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation. He said she was being
honored for her service to the U.S. 1st Mississippi Colored Infantry
Re-enactors.

“Her generosity [has] made a significant
impact, and we are grateful [for] her dedication and support,” Ser Boxley said,
reading from the certificate.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

At the Natchez National Cemetery, Ser
Boxley and the Julyteenth audience paid respect to both the known and unknown
members of the U.S. Colored Troops. Jacqueline Marsaw, a volunteer, placed
rosemary on their graves. She included the grave of Civil War Navy Landsman
Wilson Brown (1841-1900), a Medal of Honor recipient.

The final presentation of the day’s
program occurred at Watkins Street Cemetery, where Ser Boxley shared the
history of the African American cemetery. He was followed by Fisher, a resident
of Jackson, who delivered a passionate message about a U.S. Colored Trooper
Frederick Caldwell, who is buried at the cemetery. Fisher also shared the
history of his great-grandfather, Dennis Fisher, a member of the 51st USCT who
fought at Milliken’s Bend, La., and Fort Blakey, Ala.

Norman Fisher also spoke about the
contributions of Caldwell, who served in Dennis Fisher’s unit.

Additionally, Norman Fisher shared his
thoughts about the song, “Dixie,” which became popular with minstrel shows in
the 1850s where White actors wore blackface. The song became an unofficial
anthem of the Confederacy during the Civil War and is generally considered
offensive to African Americans.

Daniel Decatur Emmett of Ohio, a white
man, is credited with writing the song. However, said Norman Fisher, the song
was actually written by two Black men from Ohio, who were brothers: Ben Snowden
and Lou Snowden. The Snowdens were born to parents who were enslaved.

Norman Fisher said he used to wonder why
his feet would tap at the sound of “Dixie.” He said he eventually learned of
the song’s Black roots.

Re-enactor Norman Fisher of Jackson delivers presentation about a U.S. Colored Trooper at Watkins Street Cemetery. He told the history of his great-grandfather, a member of the 51st USCT who fought at Milliken’s Bend, La., and Fort Blakey, Ala. (Click on image to enlarge.)

The Julyteenth program ended with a
black-powder gun salute by Norman Fisher, Collins, and Grover.