I wish Mrs. Ednir McManus was living so I could share this information regarding her grandfather, Rembert Beverly, who was born about 1865 in the Deep Creek community of Anson County.
I discovered that her grandfather was not originally named Rembert Beverly but was known as Remulus or Rembart Bennett from his birth in 1865 until just before his marriage in December of 1884.
On Feb. 2, 2015, while searching for information on the Sturdivant and Tillman families, I was reading over the marriage document of Walker Bennett, son of Vina Bennett, who married Patsy Tillman, daughter of Mariah Tillman, on Sept. 14, 1884 at West Deep Creek Church in Gulledge Township. The witnesses were Caroline Hubbard, Remulus Bennett and Caroline Niven.
The name of Remulus Bennett got my attention because the name of Remulus reminded me of Rembert Beverly. Caroline Niven’s name also got my attention because Rembert Beverly married into the Niven family. By the way, William L. Little applied for the marriage license of Walker Bennett.
Perhaps the Bennett name was his mother’s people and the Beverly name belonged to his father’s people and after he became a married man, he wanted to be known by his father’s name. That is just a guess. Some aspects of the family history will always remain a mystery.
The marriage license of Rembert Beverly states the following: William L. Little applied for the marriage license of Rembert Beverly, age 20, son of (unknown) and Emmeline Beverly, to Elizabeth Niven, age 19, daughter of Ned and Elizabeth Niven on Dec. 23, 1884 at Ben Niven’s home on Gulledge Township by the Rev. Calvin Meadows.
Calvin Meadows married Charlotte Sturdivant in December of 1869. He was born Calvin Little and changed his last name to Meadows in the 1870s. He was a son of Peter Meadows.
The marriage license of George Beverly (brother of Rembert) states the following: George Little applied for the marriage license of George Beverly, age 22, son of George and Emmeline Beverly, to Nora Sturdivant, age 18, daughter of Isham and Melinda Sturdivant, on Jan. 21, 1884 at the home of Isham Sturdivant in White Store Township. Witnesses were Remulus Beverly, Danty Sturdivant and Vincy Bennett.
I searched the 1880 census and made a great discovery: White Store Township, House No. 214 – Harrison Bennett, age 37 (born about 1843), farmer; Emmeline Bennett (wife), age 30 (born about 1850), housekeeper; Thomas Bennett (son), age 18 (born about 1862), works on farm; George Bennett (son), age 17 (born about 1863), works on farm, in school during the census year; Rembart Bennett (son), age 14 (born about 1866 or 1865), works on farm, in school during the census year; Wincy Bennett (daughter), age 12 (born about 1868), in school; Jim Bennett (son), age 6 (born about 1874), in school; Andrew Sturdivant (boarder), age 20, works on farm.
I don’t know if Wincy Bennett was a whole sister or half-sister of Rembert Beverly (Bennett) but I found that she married Benjamin Franklin Dargan in 1888. The marriage record stated her parents were Harrison and Emeline Bennett. Wincy or Winsie Bennett Dargan is buried at West Deep Creek Church, so I wonder if any of her descendants are on my Facebook friends’ list.
Rembert Beverly attended a one-room schoolhouse (which might have been the Nivens’ schoolhouse) near his home in the Deep Creek community in the 1870s. He then attended Biddle University in Charlotte, which would later be renamed Johnson C. Smith University. When he was a young man, he lived on the William B. Little plantation. Mr. Little was a productive farmer and Rembert learned a great deal from Little’s know-how of farming.
During the 1890s, he became interested in county politics and made an attempt to become the Anson County register of deeds, but gave up his plans because he commented to a newspaper reporter that politics was a dirty business.
Beverly was a special agent for the IRS in 1903-04. He also established the Afro-American Civic League in 1907 in downtown Wadesboro, which was a forerunner of the NAACP. He established a real estate company in Wadesboro and also established the Anson Brick Company along with two other partners in 1908.
He was a busy man during his lifetime. For a number of years, Rembert Beverly served Anson County as its first African-American farm agent, but because of failing health in the 1930s, he gave the responsibilities to his son-in-law, Mr. John A. Colson, who continued on through the 1940s.
He began buying various tracts of land in the Deep Creek community in the 1890s. His first farm consisted of 40 acres. By the time he was 50 years old, he was renting property to several sharecropping families in Gulledge Township. In 1919, he purchased 1240 acres in Ansonville Township that he rented to 35 tenant farming families, whereas this property was sold in 1971 to the Federal Wildlife Bureau.
Rembert Beverly also owned a 139-acre farm south of Wadesboro. Besides his rural holdings, he owned a family home in Wadesboro and also owned 22 small rental houses on what was known as “New Street” which became known as North Rutherford Street years later. He owned a row of eight brick houses commonly referred to as the “Brick Row” on Salisbury Street about two blocks from town.
His only living descendants in Anson County would be through his daughter, Annie Beverly Colson, wife of John Alexander Colson of Ansonville. Annie and John Colson are buried at Rocky Mount AME Zion Church on Grassy Island Road outside of Ansonville.
He was a member of First Baptist Church on Ballard Street, but his funeral was held on June 22, 1937 at Keslar’s Chapel AME Zion Church in Wadesboro. He was survived by his wife, along with one son and three daughters.
Steve Bailey is employed with the Anson County Historical Society and has specialized in local African-American family history for 20 years.