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S.J. library showcases history of black family

Berlin Township is Toomers' home for past eight generations

Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
February 28, 2005

By HEATHER KLADZAN

For the Courier-Post WATERFORD

Just by looking at a family quilt, Floyd Riley can see what his family has accomplished since slavery and how large they have grown.

The quilt, along with old photos and documents, help tell the story of the Toomer family, which has lived in Berlin Township for eight generations.

The items have been on display over the past month at the South County Regional Branch Library in Atco.

"Since it is Black History Month, I asked the library if they would have a black family display their history,' said Riley, the grandson of Henry and Bertha Toomer. "It just makes history come alive.'

Family history

The quilt, made by Floyd's wife, Brenda, and her mother, Doris Beckett, has squares representing Henry and Bertha's 16 children, the four places the family has lived and the family emblem.

The emblem contains a cross to symbolize religion; a dove for peace and hope, and three drops for blood, sweat and tears.

There is a tree symbolizing life, open shackles to remember the past and show the family's present freedom, a black-eyed Susan for heads held high, and a spear for determination against adversity.

"The chains are opened because we'll never be slaves again . . . we're free,' Floyd Riley said.

All of the children on the quilt have their birth date, death date and a picture of something they enjoyed or did to help explain who they were.

"My husband and I went to the fabric store to pick up different types of material to fit the different characteristics of the family members,' Brenda Riley said. "We cut out materials and old photographs and did transparency iron-ons of those.'

Also on display are copies of the earliest known documentation of the Toomer family.

An 1858 slave deed from Houston County, Ga., lists Floyd Riley's great-great-grandmother, Caroline, and four children, including an infant daughter named Lucy. Caroline was 28 at the time.

An 1870 U.S. census document from Houston County lists Caroline, her husband, William, and six children.

"This 1870 census is the first that lists African-Americans by names,' Floyd Riley said. "This is important to us because it is the first time we have a family unit documented.'

The display also has two pictures, one of Lucy Toomer and one of Lucy's son Henry and his wife, Bertha Walker Toomer.

Family reunions

According to Floyd Riley, the Toomer family has had a reunion every two years since 1984. At each gathering, the family has an item of historic significance.

In 2004, the quilt was the historical item. Everyone at the reunion signed the back of the quilt and will do so for years to come, said Brenda Riley.

The reunions help members of the ever-growing family get to know each other and their shared history, Floyd Riley said.

"The purpose was to let everyone know who we were and give us our identity and be able to share it with younger people in the family,' he said.

In August 2000, Berlin Township renamed Elm Avenue as Toomer Avenue. Toomers had owned land and been living on the street since Henry and Bertha Toomer moved there in 1926.

"It was kind of like a dream of ours,' said Shamele Jordon, one of Henry and Bertha's great-great-granddaughters. "There are so many things we want to do, but you just have to take things one step at a time, and that just happened to be the right time for the street name.'

Before council would agree to rename the street, Jordon had to bring in a petition with the signatures of the street's residents and give reasons the family should be honored with the name change.

The reasons were many, according to the ordinance council approved.

The family's community involvement includes service on the school board and through local schools.

Close-knit community

Family members have participated in township and school athletics and were members of the civic association formed to close the segregated Berlin Annex in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

"On the day of the dedication we had town council there, the mayor, all the town clergy, plus family and friends,' Jordon said. "They were just as excited as we were it seemed.'

James Cecil Toomer, one of Bertha and Henry's children, also owned a nightclub in 1948 called the Tippin Inn.

Performers at his nightclub included Patti LaBelle, Little Richard and Ike and Tina Turner. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stopped by, said James Toomer's granddaughter, Priscilla Coleman Gardner. The Tippin Inn burned down in the late 1970s.

"I remember as a child, people being lined up all along the street, with the buses of people coming in from cities, and there was a lot going on,' Floyd Riley said.

Reach Heather Klazdan at (856) 486-2407 or at cpmetro@courierpostonline.com

Edition: x
Section: B
Page: 3B

Index Terms: TOOMER; HISTORY

Copyright (c) Courier-Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.

Record Number: chr2005030409333710

OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):

LIBRARIAN' NOTE: THE FOLLOWING CORRECTION APPEARED IN THE COURIER-POST ON MARCH 2,2005 ON PAGE 2A.

Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
February 28, 2005
Author: HEATHER KLADZAN; StaffCourier-Post

Estimated printed pages: 4

Correction:

Lucy Toomer, whose descendants have lived in Berlin Township for

eight generations, is pictured right. She was misidentified in a story

on Monday.

ToomerFamily.com, Toomers Today, family historian: Floyd M. Riley webmaster: Shamele Jordon,

© 2002-2006 All Rights Reserved.

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