The Heart & the Old Farmer

Remember Kimberly’s cousin? She met with us that afternoon in Toledo too. I got the impression that she was a very strong and sharp-minded woman. She asked a lot of questions and took notes. She also has given me a statement about the descendants being invited to join us on the Worthington Project. With her permission, this is her statement:

“My name is Toyneka Jones-Carpenter, and I am a descendant of Archibald Worthington. This part of my family history was nearly erased and forgotten. During this period of time, it was a rare thing for a Black man to own land. Not only owning land to farm on but creating a community, with a church and a schoolhouse, and a cemetery. Archibald Worthington created and established a community for his family as well as other black families. It is amazing to rediscover my family history. It is also a pleasure to share our family history with the world. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the friends of Worthington Cemetery. Thank you for all of your efforts to preserve and recover some of the land that originally belonged to the Worthington family and for allowing us to discover this historic piece of land and include us—the Worthington descendants—to be a part of the journey.”

If all the documentation and facts of the research are the bones, this is the heart. These living, breathing descendants are key to passing the knowledge of Archibald and his cemetery down to future generations of his family. Archibald dedicated the land to his family and community. That’s an important legacy.

Another legacy integral to the story is of the “old farmer.” My first conversation with him was over the phone. Without hesitation, he said he knew about the cemetery and its location. He had also brought it to the attention of the landowners when they were planning to dig a lagoon for the water system. He was called upon when tombstones were found in a ditch very close to where the cemetery was. He was a partner in the project from the beginning.

He was humble and didn’t want attention for helping the project along. It was important to him that he help as much as he could. He shared the story of the cemetery with his family, and they knew of his involvement on the project with the library. That old farmer passed away last week at the age of 99. He was very involved in his family and community, similar to Archibald.

I went to the visitation at the funeral home for him. I spoke with one of his daughters, whom I had never met. She smiled as she shared with me that just a few days before he passed, he “was fussing about the tombstones in the ditch and the list of names he had written down so long ago.” She said that he was sure proud of helping with the project. He was even taken on a “field trip” in his last days out to the road where those tombstones were found trying to remember exactly which house, which driveway that was. She laughed and said that maybe that list of names will be found as the family goes through his house preserving memories.

I then spoke with his son, who still lives in the area. He has the farmer’s impish smile and eyes. He said the same thing his sister had told me, that his dad had really been proud of his input in the project. The farmer had been in the nursing home for over a year, so I asked if he had gotten to see the marker that was finally installed last month. He said yes, he had taken his dad to see it. Seeing it brought a huge smile to the old farmer’s face.

In the obituary for him, his activity in the project was acknowledged. The old farmer’s name is Nelson Okuley. I have included a link to his obituary here: https://www.schafferfh.com/obituary/Nelson-Okuley. It has been my privilege to get to know Nelson through this project.