PORTAGE, Mich. — While everyone commemorates Juneteenth in different ways, one Portage woman marks the occasion by reflecting on the life of her ancestor, a former slave who paved the way.
"I'm so proud to be his great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter," Jihan Young told FOX 17.
His name was Henry Clay Milner. He was born May 1, 1846, in Bartow County, Georgia. He was born into slavery, knowing nothing but brutality.
"What he experienced during slavery was not uncommon to many slaves. The brutality that he experienced, he was able to recount to the Battle Creek Enquirer when he was 94 years old," she said.
According to the 1940 article, he recalled kicks, blows and lashings that he received in pre-Civil War days.
"He talked about the fact that quote, 'I knew nothing but work with little sleep, and even less food. He said his one grim satisfaction was seeing his sale value increase steadily,'" Young said.
The Enquirer says he was sold more than a dozen times. His price went from $700 to $1,200.
"Many died during slavery. But Henry Clay Milner was able to endure this and he lived," she said.
According to the Library of Congress, four million enslaved Africans were freed by the end of the Civil War in 1865. Milner was one of them.
First, he found work and a new life on farms in Georgia. Then he later headed 900 miles north and settled in Battle Creek, where he's buried near loved ones.
"The fact that, you know, my family's heritage can come from him being born into slavery to his great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, breaking a barrier," Young said is the American dream.
As the first Black woman to be elected to Portage City Council, she says she owes it all to Henry's sacrifices.
"I do this knowing whose shoulders I stand on," she said. Young says her family will continue to keep his legacy alive for generations to come.
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