Patricia Moncure Thomas:
CLASS OF 1965
Ottawa Hills High SchoolClass of 1965
Grand rapids, MI
Patricia Moncure's Story
George Washington and George Mason will never know that we are relatives, but my African-American family learned more about our connection to the "founding fathers" when we came together at our 5th Annual Moncure Family Reunion, July 25-28, 2002 in Fredericksburg, VA. This was our first official meeting with white Moncures.
Our first official reunion, after many years of not meeting, was held in 1998.
In 2003, we met in Chicago, IL where 240 family members packed the banquet on July 25, 2003. We had to photo the adults and children in separate sessions. We have held a family reunion every year since 1998 in a different city across the United States. Our mission: to connect and document our huge family to each other for future generations to know and to research and gather the names of family members of long ago and the legacy that slavery has played in our Moncure family and continues to play in the lives of our families today. In 2010, we had over 500 family members eager to learn and connect family.
Have you ever heard the same family story or at least varying versions of the same story so many times that you begin to think you will scream? Well, that describes my beginning with the Moncure Family Story. Over and over, I heard the "Moncure Roots" sto...Expand for more
ry; I listened politely, never realizing the importance of those oral tales of years gone by. My sole mission during my younger years was to get to the end of the story without screaming. This remained my mission until several years ago. Now I eagerly seek the stories, research, and write about my Moncure Family. I work now to combine our history.
In 2000, I started communicating with white members of the Moncure Family. After our fourth reunion - 2001 held in Mississippi, Tom Moncure, of Fredericksburg, invited the African American Moncure descendants to come to VA in 2002. Our activities that year included a tour of Gunston Hall/Home of George Mason and Aquia Church where Rev. Moncure served from about 1752-1764. On Sunday, July 28, 2002 we attended church services at Aquia.
Finally, the most difficult part of my research is the limited information about the "black woman" my great-great grandmother; her name was Charlotte Shakespeare born 1840 in MS. A cemetery in Hinds County, MS, near Mt. Wade Missionary Baptist Church, our familyâÂÂs home church established in 1867, is filled with her descendants, but I do not know where she was buried. I will continue to seek her story for I know it is a story that must be told.
By: Patricia Moncure Thomas
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