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Lottie Miller

The Doswell/Fowlkes Family

Joseph McCord

Tesha McCord

Tovah McCord

Karen McCord

Gabrielle Salvatto

Saniyah Danielle McCord

LOTTIE BELL ROSE WALKER MILLER
(the grandmother of Jacquelin Salvatto McCord)

(The dates about Lottie's birth are questionable. Some say 1891, others say 1886. Since there were no birth records to verify, we are not exactly sure)

Maternal Grandmother: Native American
Maternal Grandfather: last name - Wilson, a carriage driver

"Lottie attended elementary school through the third grade. Children in those times had to complete farming and cleaning chores before attending school; so many times they couldn't finish their schooling. The family was quite religious, often she attended church and Sunday School. Baptized into Zion Baptist Church, Dinwiddie, Virginia at an early age. Her first jobs for salary were taken during her teenage years when she picked peanuts and cared for children.
She met and married Peter Walker at age 18. He lived 11 months before dying of poisoning. After her husband died, Lottie worked in Petersburg, Va. For about one year when she moved to Richmond, Va.

Chapter Two - From Richmond to Green Bay

Lottie went to Richmond seeking employment-mainly to pay a furniture bill she owed. Also, her sister Sarah and step-sister Lucy resided there. She found a job with a family called Griggs taking care of the children, cooking and cleaning. She lived with step-sister Lucy on her time off.

John Miller Lottie met John Miller through a friend named Lola Price.

John's Mother: Sallie - African American-

John's Father: Billy Miller - White American, we think of Jewish descent

John was born Dec 18, 1877 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. Sisters: Leila and Ami.

He had one son from a previous marriage: Roy. After his first wife died, John worked in Rhode Island. He often stated that it was so cold in Rhode Island-. that the spit would freeze before it hit the ground. He also lived- in New York, New York. He helped to build the Brooklyn Bridge.

Marriage: John and Lottie Miller were married (date unknown) in Richmond, Virginia. John drove the meat wagon for Armour- while Lottie took in laundry. After 5 years of childless marriage- they adopted Louise who was I years old. Their living conditions were good. They had nice furniture, telephone, etc. John grew tired of urban life and decided to relocate to Green Bay, Va. John has previously purchased 39 acres of land in February 19, 1917, at about $1.00 per acre from a Mr. John Wright. In approximately 1920, John, Lottie and Louise moved to Green Bay.

Chapter Three - The Stories

John and Cousin Oscar Powell built a 2 room house which served all functions. There was a fireplace for warmth and cooking in the kitchen. The bedroom had a fireplace and a wrought iron bed. Lottie bought a leather love seat and chair, a wind-up record player and record cabinet from her home in Richmond. Kerosene lamps were used for light. Lottie was upset in the beginning with such primitive living conditions and started to return to Richmond. However, she stayed.

Later John and Cousin Oscar built a log cabin kitchen a few feet directly across from the 2 room house. The log cabin, upon completion was furnished with a black wood stove, a China closet, wooden table and chairs. Wooden benches later replaced the chairs. A stable was built to house the racehorse and buggy John brought from Richmond.

Employment

John took a job in Baltimore, Maryland at Bethlehem Steel Mills. He came home to Green Bay whenever he could. This job lasted a couple of years.

Upon completion of this job, John started to build in Green Bay. He erected a chicken coup, pig pin, a tool shed, grain house, outdoor wooden toilet with 2 booths and enclosed a pasture with a barbed wire fence. They raised animals: chickens, pigs and cows. They began planting various vegetables and beans. Meanwhile John worked at the Saw Mill. He also farmed (share- cropped) with the Hodges (white neighbors) for a small daily income. Lottie took in laundry and helped with the family garden.

Children

John and Lottie had five children - All born at home in the 2 room house and delivered by a midwife.

1922 July 21 Mary Magdaline (Edward Wilson)

1925 Nov. 17 Sallie Elizabeth (Alvoid Goode)

1927 August 3, Carrie Virginia (James Davis)

1929 June 16 Naomi Margurite (Alfred Salvatto)

1931 May 31 John Wilbur (Rosa Winkler)

Life in Green Bay was clean and quiet. It consisted mostly of working and rearing the 6 children, attending Sunday School and Church. Sunday School was held in the Cherry Hill School, Church was at Mt. Mariah Baptist Church. When the family as unable to get to Church, they read from a large family Bible lead by Lottie and sang inspirational songs.

Lottie and John attended night school at Cherry Hill School in Green Bay while the children were still young.

School

The school was a one room building called Cherry Hill School. It consisted of one teacher and housed the 1st - 7th grades. After Mary completed the 7th grade the Cherry Hill School was closed. The other children continued their education at the Nutbush Elementary School in Nutbush. The high school was located in Victoria, Va. Victoria was approximately twelve miles from Green Bay. Black families in the area got a bus to carry their children to Victoria to the high school, so it was easier for them to get their diploma.

Lunenburg High School, as the school was called, went from grades 8-12. After completing the 7th grade, Mary was unable to attend high school for financial and commuting reasons. She left Green Bay, Va. October 1938 to work in New York. She sent money home to help out the family. This aided in helping the other children to complete their high school education.

Sallie left for New York in 1944
Carfie left for New York in 1945
Naomi left for New York in 1947, returned to Virginia and moved to New York in 1955
Wilbur left for Philadelphia in 1953. He went to live with Uncle-- Robert who was a longshoreman. Unable to find work he went Baltimore, Maryland where he worked for Bethlehem Steel.

John Miller's Death

John died April 2, 1952 at the age of 75. He had had an operation to remove a growth in the prostate area. He was hospitalized in Richmond for three weeks before his death- Lottie and Wilbur commuted each day to the hospital from Green Bay. The actual cause of death is unknown as no autopsy was performed.

Widowed at age 61 Lottie remained in Green Bay with her son Wilbur until he left in 1953. She continued to take in laundry and work the garden. In early summer 1952, Lottie, with the consent of all of her children had the some of the lumber on the property cut in the hopes of building a new house. By August 1952, the foundation and framework was completed. The fall of 1953, with the help of Mr. Earl Atkins and Mr. Wallington (both white neighbors), the new house was livable and almost complete. What a transition - from 3 rooms to 6 with 2 porches. Everyone was happy with this accomplishment.

Lottie visited her children in Yonkers, New York and brought back her grandson Jonathan Miller Davis to Green Bay to live with her. In 1954 Naomi's children returned from Detroit, Michigan to live with her and Jonathan went back to New York.

The neighbors along the Route, - Pulleys, Hodges, Atkins (Earl and Emie), and the Blankenships were all white. The only black neighbors were the Arvins.

Naomi left Green Bay for New York in 1955 leaving her four children with Lottie. It was a blessing to have the children. She still missed her husband John, who had died and son Wilbur, who had by now gotten married and moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Each of her children sent money and clothes to make life comfortable for her and the children. They visited Green Bay at various intervals during the year to see that she and the children had the necessary food, clothes and other things that were needed for the house.

Chapter 4- -The Golden Apple

New York City is often called the "Big Apple", but Yonkers in Westchester County was called the "Golden Apple." In early December 1959, Lottie and her grandchildren left Green Bay for Yonkers, New York. Lottie loved living in the country, but she was getting older and life wasn't as easy as it once was. Taking care of the children, the farm and doing laundry for the neighbors was getting to be too hard for her. She had no choice but to give it all up for a life in the city.

Lottie lived with her youngest daughter, Naomi and her family. She altered visits with each daughter, attended Messiah Baptist Church, visited many places and made numerous new friends and acquaintances. Lottie was a gentle kind woman who loved people and children. Everyone who was in contact with her loved her.

On December 2, 11th 1959, son John Wilbur died. What a shock, as he was young and apparently healthy. He left a wife and five year old son. Of course, this upset Lottie a great deal. However, a woman of great religious upbringing and enormous strength led the family through this trying time. John Wilbur was buried next to his predeceased father, John Miller in the small country cemetery of the Mount Mariah Baptist Church. Between these two pillars of the Miller family was a space left for Lottie.

Life for Lottie was pretty routine. She spent most of her time cleaning the house and cooking Naomi and her family. She continued to pray for each family member and read from her large family Bible every night.

The summer of 1972, Lottie had a slight stroke. She needed more help - ambulating. Her eyesight was also failing, she now had family members to read her the Bible at night. Still, she remained independent and never lost her wit and wisdom.

Then in 1973, eldest daughter Louis Miller Duren died May 30, 1973. She left behind her husband James with whom she lived in Richmond, Va. Again, Lottie was called upon to lead the family through a period of bereavement.

November 18, 1973, Loffie entered eternal rest herself. She died in her sleep, just as in life a peaceful loving woman. The loss of Lottie to the family and the community at large was devastating. Many people in the Yonkers community came out to say good-bye to Lottie. The Mayor of Yonkers and the President of the City Council sent proclamations stating how the entire city mourns the loss of this great citizen.

Lottie's body was shipped to her beloved home in Green Bay Virginia. Once again the family was assembled just the way Lottie would have wanted it - in her home. Her death was announced on the radio as it was to most expedient way of notifying the neighbors. Her pastor, Rev. Joseph Taylor, funeralized her in a standing room only service at the Mount Mariah Baptist Church. Her white neighbors who had been separated from her by the laws of Jim Crow, stood in the back of the church behind her relatives as "family", rather than sit on the side of the visitors. Lottie's family held hands and prayed for the strength to let go of the Angel whom God had called home to be with Him. "