Dedah Queen: A Memoir

By Eliza Marcus

Are you the family historian? Then this is the book for you. Have you ever wanted to get to the root of your familys history? This book is a compilation of three generations made available with family trees, revealing untold family secrets.
Revealing untold family secrets, for the very first time, will cause you to laugh, cry, and become a part of these special people. The results of these never before shared stories will become therapeutic for the family and inadvertently encourage you the curious reader.
The story of Dedah Queen (pronounced dere the queen) begins with a girl who was a Gullah speaking African American, living in Cross, South Carolina, who became a hard working mother, and grandmother. Her wisdom will make you shake your head as you read how she worked as a housemaid living on $25.00 dollars a week, in the twentieth century. Her survival as a spiritual woman who played the piano at church by day, and the boogie woogie, in her private chambers by night, will no doubt bring tears to your eyes. A deep dark secret of romance will unfold. And finally, with no formal education, this lovely lady left common sense sayings about life for all of us to use and to be encouraged by.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463412838

Eliza Marcus

Eliza Marcus is a Music Educator. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Claflin College in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1985. She earned a Master of Arts in Church Music degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center, in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998 and a Doctorate of Music Psychology from Calamus International University in 2007. Eliza has written a piano book called “The Four Seasons,” and is proud to have completed her first memoir, “Dedah Queen.” This is a story about her grandmother, Mariah Montgomery, who demonstrated stalwart ability in both her life and career. Eliza currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia where she continues to write both music and historical works.

Book preview

Contents

Dadah Queen

Introduction

Cross, South Carolina in the early 1900s

Jippy and Rhinah Brown

Dedah Queens’ Siblings

My Husband Willis

ALL MY CHILDREN

Florence, South Carolina

The Old House

The Journey to New Zion, South Carolina

Words of Comfort

Mariah the Musician

Grandma’s Famous Sayings

About the Author…

Dadah Queen

Revealing untold family secrets, for the very first time, will cause you to laugh, cry, and become a part of these special people. The results of these never before shared stories will become therapeutic for the family and inadvertently encourage you the curious reader.

The story of Dedah Queen (pronounced dere the queen) begins with a girl who was a Gullah speaking African American, living in Cross, South Carolina, who became a hard working mother, and grandmother. Her wisdom will make you shake your head as you read how she worked as a housemaid living on $25.00 dollars a week, in the twentieth century. Her survival as a spiritual woman who played the piano at church by day, and the boogie woogie, in her private chambers by night, will no doubt bring tears to your eyes. A deep dark secret of romance will unfold. And finally, with no formal education, this lovely lady left common sense sayings about life for all of us to use and to be encouraged by.

Are you the family historian? Then this is the book for you. Have you ever wanted to get to the root of your family’s history? This book is a compilation of three generations made available with family trees, revealing untold family secrets…

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Mariah Dadah Queen Brown Montgomery

Introduction

My name is Eliza Marshell Marcus, and I am the grand-daughter of Mariah Dedah Queen, Montgomery. In order understand this book with greatest comprehension, you must first become like a pair of binoculars equipped with zoom optical lenses. By living with my grandmother, I was able to observe and be a part of three generations. I find this amazing because I’m only thirty nine years old, as of this writing, and yet I’ve seen more than the average person of my age. This triad involves my grandmother’s way of living, my mother’s way of living, and finally, my way of living, which have compelled me to believe that our patterns are one. I hope these stories will help you grow in wisdom. While writing this book, I saw people, languages, traditions, customs, dietary patterns, fashions, family involvement, religious intents, the economy, love, health issues, marriage, death, occupation, good and bad times. I wish to tell you, not too much has changed over the year, and most of all, I’m a witness to this fact. My single desire is that families who read this book get as much out of it as I did in writing it. So, if you are ready to be enlightened, and encouraged clean your binocular zoom lens then, please turn to the next page!

A map of surrounding cities in South Carolina

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Cross, South Carolina in the early 1900s

Life as it was in Cross, South Carolina in the early 1900s was typical of the south. In 1918, Armistice Day brought about the end of World War I. The United States received no gain; the country only inherited heavy debt and the knowledge that all it sacrificed was in vain. Therefore, the Governor of South, Carolina, Olin D. Johnson, designated and proclaimed the week of November 4 to 11, 1938 as American Legion Week. This was, to set aside to