Book Description

"The Awakening", The Seawright-Ellison Family Saga, Vol. 1, A Narrative History is the first volume of narratives about the descendants of two families who share a common ancestor, Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison. The family saga begins with Martha and her family, who were sharecroppers lived and worked on the Hugh E. Phillips plantation near Williston, South Carolina during the Reconstruction Era, and the circumstances that involved her marriages to Dave Seawright, Sr. and Joseph Ellison, Sr. The book documents the saga with contextualized resurrected stories of relatives that were forgotten and fragmented over the years, in addition to, an appendix section which consist of individual pictures, documented history of places and events, and primary sources relative to the family saga. The Seawright narratives include the stories of Robert L. Seawright, who charismatically and jovially survived the challenges of life despite his shortcomings and untimely the deaths of his young parents. The story of Robert's son, Wallace Seawright, Sr., a beloved husband, father, deacon at Baughmanville Baptist Church, Prince Hall Mason, and sharecropper, raised his family of sixteen children with clear moral values and supplemented his income which allowed him to survive the pitfalls of sharecropping life. The story of two brothers, Roosevelt and Henry Seawright, beloved husbands', and fathers, ascended to legendary status, skillfully in brick masonry and craftsmanship in the city of Aiken, South Carolina, and surrounding areas. The Ellison narratives include the story of Floster and Nora Miles Ellison, Sr., who were generational pillars of their community through service in their respective professions, families, and roles as deacon and deaconess respectively at Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church. Floster and Nora's son, Floster L. Ellison, Jr., who excelled in professional barbering and social work, inspired by the collective activism during the Civil Rights Movement, co-founded the Palmetto State Barber Association, and enjoyed a legendary career as chief of social services at Crafts-Farrow State Hospital, an agency of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. The story of Floster and Nora's grandson, Tommy Ellison, whose experiences as a youth singing on the children choir at Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church, inspired him to pursue a legendary career in African American gospel music, affectionately known by many of his fans as "Mr. Superstar of Gospel".