Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Pastor Tobbie Berrian III and the congregation of Casa Bianca Missionary Baptist Church will be welcoming visitors from the Highland Descendants Council of Charlottesville, Va., for a historic meeting on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8-9. The Council's trip, sponsored by the Caplin Foundation, will bring together two groups of people, and two church congregations, whose linked history goes back across time and territory to at least the early 1820s. The public is invited to join in the special opportunity to learn about this part of Jefferson County's history. Events across the weekend will include presentations of historic research, sharing of oral histories, a tour of related sites in Jefferson County and a special worship service, all of which will be documented on film.
The events are being planned to illuminate, honor and build knowledge of this historic connection, which is only very briefly outlined here.
A number of modern-day Monticello residents who are descendants of individuals enslaved at Casa Bianca Plantation, in what is now Jefferson County, have historic connections to a group of descendants whose ancestors were enslaved at Highland, a former plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia.
President James Monroe had been the owner of Highland, and when he sold the plantation, he made a deal with Joseph Mills White, the owner of Casa Bianca Plantation, that resulted in five enslaved families being sent here in 1828. Over the past decade, research to reexamine the lives of enslaved people at Highland revealed the connection to Casa Bianca, including significantly the names of the families involved. The research, shared publicly on the websites “Take Them In Families” (taketheminfamilies.com) and “James Monroe Highland” (highland.org) was expanded to include the entire African-American community of Casa Bianca.
Two churches have figured significantly in revealing the early histories of African-American communities connected with Casa Bianca and Highland: Casa Bianca M.B. Church in Jefferson County, Fla., and Middle Oak Baptist Church in Albemarle County, Va. Families who had been emancipated from Casa Bianca established Casa Bianca M.B. Church in 1872 on the former Casa Bianca plantation land. Around the same time, Middle Oak Baptist Church was established not far from Highland, and today its congregation still includes many people descended from those enslaved by James Monroe. The memberships of the two churches thus have significant overlaps in their personal, congregational and community histories.
When the Highland Descendants Council delegation arrives in Monticello this weekend, it promises to be an unprecedented gathering, rich with shared history and opportunities to deepen connections and develop further lines of inquiry.
Events for the public will begin Saturday morning, Oct. 8, and continue through midday on Sunday, Oct. 9, at Casa Bianca M.B. Church, located at 1097 Waukeenah Hwy. in Monticello, Fla. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, there will be presentations and tables on the Casa Bianca research, the Highland research, genealogy and oral history, as well as a tour of selected sites in Jefferson County. The Sunday service at the church, beginning at 11 a.m., will include a special greeting from descendant Joyce Farmer.
For more information, contact Cumi Allen at (850) 661-7884, Sharon Berrian at (850) 345-1944 or Jennifer Stacy at (571) 594-4352.