One Family’s Journey to Reclaim Their Ancestral Land Gains Lawmakers Support

Members of the Arnwine family gathered for a family reunion in California earlier this year.

This holiday season, Candice Hammons is grateful for one of the greatest gifts she received this year: unwavering support for her family’s pursuit of their land.

For the past two years, Hammons and her immediate and distant relatives have organized to take back land near Jacksonville, Texas. In 1855, her great-great-great grandfather, Albartis, or Albertis, Arnwine, a slave owner who fled Tennessee and settled near Jacksonville, granted in his will his 900-acre estate and freedom to the folks he enslaved. Among them was Hammons’ great-great-great-grandmother, Gracie or Gracy, who he purchased in Memphis on the way to Texas. The land is now underwater due to construction in the 1950s


Read More: ‘We Owe it to Gracie’: A Look Inside This Family’s Quest for Reparations


Since Capital B reported the story in February, the descendants have received several letters of support from lawmakers nationwide, and a museum exhibit in Tucson, Arizona, is honoring their family’s history. 

Hammons, who lives in Arizona, is still shocked by it all. “It’s amazing,” she said. “Sometimes it seems like nothing’s going to happen. In our situation, it seems like we’ll be at a standstill, but then we’ll get support from other avenues.”

The hard work culminated in their story being documented in the congressional record, which was submitted by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin in November. “I would like to recognize the Arnwine Family for honoring their family’s legacy of perseverance, activism and dedication to create a more equal and just nation,” Moore said.

Despite the recognition near and far, Hammons and her family are still faced with a roadblock: finding legal assistance and raising enough money for an attorney. They are still raising money through a GoFundMe campaign to help.

“They’re not really wanting to take on a case without lots of money [so] It’s still kind of hard to find attorneys that will definitely help us,” Kimberly Crockett, who is also a descendant, said. “In the end, they will be rewarded too for helping us. We just really need an attorney to just close this.”

Unexpected support gives hope 

The response to the Hammons’ fight was almost immediate. In February, they began receiving donations to their GoFundMe, and by the summer, Hammons had received an outpouring of letters from local, state, and federal officials.

Many flooded in, from Ohio state Rep. Dontavius Jarrells and Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, to U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and James Clyburn of South Carolina and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia. 

Rather than focus on Albartis, the slave owner, each letter catapulted the story of Sterling, or Sterlin’, Arwnine, Gracie’s grandson, noting his commitment to share his family story reflects “a determination for justice that transcends generations,” Mayor Steven Reed of Montgomery, Alabama, wrote. Sterling, at the age of 94, gave a powerful interview of his family’s story in 1937 to the Federal Writers’ Project. 

In his will, Albartis instructed that the 24 enslaved people, including the women, young girls and one boy, he owned be released. He also gave them all of his property, including land, stock, and other property valued at $10,000. It stated they shall be his executors and “sent beyond the limits of the state as soon after my death as practicable.” 

Albartis’ two white nephews contested the will in court and introduced a new one, which included various sums of money and acres to several family members, and that his “slave hold property” be given to his brothers for three years, then grant them their freedom. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in Gracie’s favor, but the executors split the family up, Sterling shared in his interview. 

“Jedge Jowell [the executor] promised massa [Arnwine] on his deathbed he would take us to de free country, but he didn’. The women never did get that 900 acres of land Massa Arnwine willed to’em. I don’ know who got it, but they didn’. I knows I still has a share in that land, but it takes money to git it in cou’t,” he said.


Read More: Locked Up and Locked Out


Sterling’s story mirrors a larger pattern of Black land loss that has not only impacted individual families but has also contributed to broader disparities in wealth, education, and access to resources.

“Too often, we have been discovering situations like the Arnwine estate. Across the country, these stories seek justice and have to fight tirelessly to have what was theirs in the first place,” Pearson wrote. “I acknowledge the validity of the history, and honor should be restored by returning the estate and property to all descendants of Gracie Arnwine.”

Candice Hammons (left) poses with Beverley Elliot, executive director of the African American Museum of Southern Arizona. (Courtesy of Candice Hammons)

The legislative support continued following the launch of an exhibit curated by the African American Museum of Southern Arizona at the University of Arizona. In October, they debuted “A Slave’s Story,” which delves into the heartbreaking story of Hammons’ ancestor Sterling and her journey learning about her heritage. The museum hopes this story sparks conversations around equity, race, and social justice, according to a news release. 

“Many of us can trace our lineage back to slavery, but we don’t have a story,” Beverley Elliott, the executive director of the museum, told a local news outlet. “We have no idea how most of our families lived, where they lived, how they were treated or mistreated.” 

She added: “We are delighted to be able to bring this story because it might be the story of other African American families.”

On the opening day of the exhibit, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero issued a proclamation to set forth the Arnwine Family Fight for Justice Day on Oct. 17.

Hammons and Crockett encouraged families experiencing similar challenges to keep the faith. They’d love to get the land back and film a documentary about their journey, but overall, they just want closure through the courts, Crockett told Capital B. Their focus is to continue to unite and bring together their families. Earlier this year, they hosted a family reunion in California. Next year, they plan to host one near the site where their ancestors were enslaved in Texas. 

The next step, though, is to continue to look for resources to help their legal push.“It’s faith that has brought us here, and faith is what’s going to carry us to see the outcome and the results of all the hard work paying off,” Crockett said. “We had a lot of faith in the beginning, and we can’t stop now.”

The post One Family’s Journey to Reclaim Their Ancestral Land Gains Lawmakers Support appeared first on Capital B News.

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