The Last Survivor: Matilda McCrear, Àbáké
Matilda McCrear is the defiant last survivor of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring Africans to America. She died in 1940 at the age of 82. Just by living, Matilda resisted.
At the age of two, Matilda was kidnapped from her home along with her mother, Gracie, and her three older sisters by the army of Dahomey, her two brothers left behind in West Africa. From the slave port of Ouidah (present-Benin), 110 captured men, women, and children—illegally bought by Captain William Foster—boarded the Clotilda, but only 108 made it alive to Mobile, Alabama - Matilda’s cousin and neighbour died during the harrowing six-week journey.
The year was 1860; the importation of enslaved people had been illegal since 1807 in the U.S. Matilda’s family was split in two. Matilda and her 10-year old sister, Sallie, were sold to Memorable Walker Creagh along with their mother while the older sisters went to another buyer. They were never reunited.
Matilda is remembered as a long-haired, dark-skinned, rambunctious woman by her grandchildren. She had three scars on her left cheek and these tribal marks trace her roots to the Yoruba people of West Africa. In fact, these scars (her ilà were àbàjà ethnic marks) reveal her given Yoruba name, Àbáké, which translates to ‘born to be loved by all.’ When their liberation came after the civil war, in 1865, her family settled in Athens, Alabama. They adopted the name Craigher which evolved from Creagh, Crear, Creah, McCreer, until Matilda’s preferred McCrear.
Two main stories illustrate the tenacity and will of Matilda McCrear. According to her own recounting, she had fled with her sister from their captors. They managed to stay hidden in a swamp for several hours until they were sniffed out by the overseer’s dogs. The second happened much later in life. In 1931, after one of her grandsons let her know that World War 1 veterans had received their overdue bonuses, Matilda walked 17 miles to Selma to demand compensation. Reparations, she insisted, were owed her (and another living survivor, Sally “Redoshi” Smith) because she had been kidnapped and brought to America as a little child. She presented her tribal marks as proof of her African roots. The judge denied her request. Matilda was interviewed by a Selma newspaper because of her long walk to Dallas County Courthouse.
Matilda became a mother pretty early on; at fourteen. The father of Eliza was a white man, and because of the prevalence of sexual violence by white men against black women and children, it is suspected that this pregnancy was a product of an assault. In Athens, Matilda had two more mixed-race children. After Gracie died of tuberculosis in 1879, Matilda moved to Martin Station, Alabama, where she began a long relationship with Jacob Schuler (a German immigrant). They did not marry or live together but they had seven children together over the span of 17 years.
Many of her children emigrated from Martin; a few settled close by. Johnny Crear, Matilda’s grandson didn’t know the details of his grandmother’s life and the Clotilda until this research. He however, had inherited Matilda’s passion and fire for justice. He was arrested during the Civil Rights movement for “stopping a white man who was trying to stuff a live snake down his throat.” He grew to become a community leader, a strong member of the Catholic community and a hospital administrator who provided for the poor.
Matilda’s legacy lives on. Despite being snatched up and away, despite the horrible crossing, despite the years of labour and injustices, Matilda McCrear is a representation of the many African-Americans who have persevered in the face of great loss and tragedy. She, and the many others, are loved by all.
