South Carolina’s Turkish People: A History and Ethnology

256 Pages·2018·34.031 MB·English

by  Terri Ann Ognibene, Glen Browder

South Carolina’s Turkish People

South Carolina’s
Turkish People
A History and Ethnology
Terri Ann Ognibene
and
Glen Browder
The University of South Carolina Press
© 2018 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
can be found at http://catalog.loc.gov/
ISBN 978-1-61117-858-6 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-61117-859-3 (ebook)
Front cover image courtesy of Greg Thompson Collection,
donated to the collection by Isaac Benenhaley/David Peagler.
To those from whom I come and of whom I am one, the Martin Frazier Ray
and Lani Hood Ray family. Your life experiences have moved me, perplexed
me, inspired me, strengthened me, encouraged me, and molded me into the
person that I am today. May this feeble attempt lend to your voices: Martin Sr.
(Papa) 1910–1996; Lani (Granny) 1911–1996; Melissa (Aunt Sis) 1932–2006;
Josephine (Aunt Jo) 1934–2010; Martin Jr. (Uncle Bubba) 1936–1992; Bufort
(Uncle Bufort) 1938–1963; Loretta (Aunt Ret) b. 1940; Pearl (Mom, the most
intelligent woman I know) b. 1942; Della Mae (Aunt Della) 1945–2008; and
Floyd (Uncle Floyd) 1948–2000.
Terri Ann Ognibene
To my daughter, Jenny, and wife, Becky. This project has made me more ap-
preciative of our family than ever before.
Glen Browder

Contents
List of Illustrations
ix
Preface
xi
Acknowledgments
xvii
Introduction: A New People and Voice in Regional Life
1
• Part One •
Who Are the Turkish People of Sumter County?
• Chapter One •
A Community Like No Other
15
• Chapter Two •
The Traditional Story of Oral History
30
• Chapter Three •
Probing the Legend of Origins
41
• Chapter Four •
Documenting the Patriarch and His People
63
• Chapter Five •
The Turkish Traditional Narrative Is Confirmed
101
Table of Contents
• Part Two •
We Are the Turkish People of Sumter County
• Chapter Six •
Our Voice: A Family Discussion
109
• Chapter Seven •
Our Journey: From Isolation to Assimilation
127
• Chapter Eight •
Reflections on Our Ancestry, Ethnicity,
Community, Race Relations, and Systemic Oppression
145
• Chapter Nine •
Life at the Dalzell School for
Turks and Integrating the White Schools
169
• Chapter Ten •
The Turkish Community Today
184
• Chapter Eleven •
Our Story Has Now Been Told
208
Conclusion: What Have We Learned?
212
Bibliography
219
Index
227
viii
Illustrations
Charts
Map of South Carolina and Sumter County, showing the Dalzell community 4
Excerpt of a survey plat dated 1815 74
Figures
General Thomas Sumter (1734–1832) 3
Joseph Benenhaley (ca. 1753–1823) 5
Eleazer Benenhaley 35
Matilda Ellison Benenhaley (1842–1936) 75
Lawrence “Curly” Benenhaley (1848–1923) 76
Noah Benenhaley (1860–1939) 79
Rosa Benenhaley (1857–1937) 80
Isaac Benenhaley (1927–2011) 81
Family and relatives of Noah Benenhaley (1860–1939) 86
Martha Ann Benenhaley Hood (1855–1919) and her
niece Martha Jane Oxendine Benenhaley (1866–1951) 86
John Benenhaley (1853–1923) 87
Family of William Joseph Benenhaley (1858–1920) 87
Jesse Noah/Noah Jr. (1896–1960) and Maybelle (1898–1972) 88
Isaac Benenhaley (1927–2011) and his sisters Leah and Lillie 88
The cemetery behind Long Branch Baptist Church 90
Springbank cemetery 91