Penny McRae was one of six siblings, with Lou Ann, Ola, Mary, Arthur, and Ed. Her sister, Lou Ann married Frank Felix Oliver, and was Eva Mae (Cousin Josie) Jenkins’ mother, and the grandmother of Eloise, Vernice, O’Neal, B.S., Cynthia Mae, Alice Ann, and James. Mary was Cousin Eula’s mother, and Willard and Aubrey’s grandmother.
Luke and his brothers decided to go to Oklahoma to see if they could improve their families’ lives. It was decided that they would go, and if things went well, Luke would send for Penny and the children. Things did not go well. Information is sketchy about this period, but it is a documented fact that an incident triggered a race riot in Tulsa that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of blacks, the destruction of their homes, churches and businesses, and an elaborate cover-up by white public officials to erase any traces of the black people on and around “Colored Wall Street.” Luke, Lester and Isaac Howell were never heard from again.
Penny never got word from Luke and refused several pleas from family members to go and see what happened. She feared the worst had happened to Luke, remarried, and a daughter Mary Lizza, was born to the union of Penny and John Bratcher.
John Bratcher had a daughter, Johnnie, and Johnnie and Oscar had a daughter, Maude; and Oscar had a daughter, Mildred. Mary Lizza married Kindrell Fletcher, and to their union were born John Everett, Darline, Kindrell Mae, Loyd, Kindrell Jr (Slim), Carl, Penny Jewel, Evans and Levane. Beulah married Tat Mack and had a daughter, Daisy and Daisy’s children were Marine (Mat) and Felton.
Martha and Lewis McRae were Cousin Versie’s parents. Betsy and Jordan McRae were the parents of Lander, John, Fred, Lawrence, Violet, Rosetta, Emma and Sis. John was the father of the twins Bessie and Jessie. Emma married F. J. Cray, and they were the parents of Z. O., E. W., Osia, Owen, Emory Sadie and Ida. Ida married Earnest Williams and they were the parents of Patricia Cummings. Cora Lee (Kemp) Batten and Lander had a daughter, Alma. Lander McRae married Penny’s daughter, Emma, and they had ten children: Woodrow, Lester, Bennie, Vera, Madison, Arrie D., Howell, Catherine, Allie Lee and Elizabeth. Lander also had a daughter, Alma, who is the eldest of his children.
God has richly blessed this family, and the generations since our common foreparents Penny McRae and Howell Bratcher, Luke Howell and John Bratcher have weathered many tragedies and triumphs.
McRae was a city in and the county seat of Telfair County, Georgia, United States. It was designated as the seat in 1871, after being established the previous year as a station on the Macon and Brunswick Railroad. Upon the city’s merger with adjacent Helena in 2015, the new county seat is the combined city of McRae-Helena.
Alma: was determined to have a reunion, so she ran up Maxine’s phone bill calling family and in the early 90’s, she and her offspring and Madison and his offspring had the first reunion in McRae, Georgia. One reunion in McRae, when the lake used to have water and there were alligators, Uncle Bud was lost and when Aunt Alma found him, she gave him a reminder not to wander. – Maxine
Woodrow: he was the oldest child of Lander McRae and Emma Jean Howell McRae’s children. He was born in November, two months after Aunt Alma. He was a joker. Lester said that one time the family was singing on the porch, and he appeared at the gate of Grandma Penny’s yard. Everyone ran, because he’d been dead awhile, but Lester was frozen in place. He disappeared just as suddenly, too. – Jan
Lester: when Woodrow was killed, my mother was the oldest surviving sibling (Woodrow died at 24). She was named after one of two of Grandma Penny Howell’s brothers-in-law. Lester, Luke (Penny’s husband) and Isaac Howell went to Tulsa OK because it was rumored Black people were thriving there. They never returned to Scotland GA; Grandma Penny later married John Bratcher. – Jan Interestingly enough, Aunt Les was known to be a God-fearing/gun toting woman. One evening, I drove her car to her home with her on the passenger’s side. When we arrived, she jumped out of the car, opened the gate, and motioned with the gun in her hand for me to “come on in.” – Cheryl
Bennie: he escaped a migrant camp in Florida, and moved to Charleston, SC. He started driving trucks, lost his right leg in an accident, so he couldn’t drive anymore. To make money, he sold peanuts on the sidewalk in downtown Charleston in front of a bank. Bennie didn’t read or write well; he spelled his last name “McCray.” – Jan
Vera: a caring, witty and kind confidant. Vera loved family unconditionally. If there was a need, she went out of her way to be helpful. Wise in all her ways she would tell a person: “If you can’t be good be careful.” One might see her as the glue that held many of us together. She always said: “family comes first.” She was scammed one time by someone using a family name to get money from her. I was angry. She was not. She said: “I don’t care. I thought family needed something that’s all that mattered.” – Dorothy
Arrie: was known as a “good and fast cook.” Everyone looked forward to her being in the kitchen. In her later years, she was really fast. While visiting with Vera on an occasion, she walked into the dining area to present some half-cooked eggs to the breakfast table. When I told her that the eggs were not done, Arrie’s reply was: “They’ll finish cooking on the way to the table.” Clearly, Arrie was also a comedian. – Cheryl
Madison Sr.: left Georgia as a teenager with two of his friends on the back of a fish truck. They ended up in Jacksonville, Florida, where he met Mildred Bernard. They moved to Detroit where he was near two of his siblings. They later moved to New Jersey and the rest is history. – Madison Jr.
Howell: known as Howard, was a character. While hospitalized, he suddenly had the taste for chicken feet. Of course the dietary staff knew nothing of this delicacy, so Howard threatened to walk out of the hospital if his request was not met. The hospital was unable to fulfill the request so Howard caught the metro bus to Arrie’s house in the hospital gown in pursuit of his beloved chicken feet. – William
Catherine: was known to be a hustler. Wherever a dime was to be made, she was hot on the case. Catherine loved antiques (especially antique glass)—and she bought and sold lots of it. At one point in time, Catherine alleged that she was legally blind. However, while shopping with her granddaughter, she picked up a box of Oatmeal and read the fine print. – Yvonne
