Remembering Cousin Whitney
Whitney Elizabeth “Nippy” Houston (August 9th, 1963 - February 11th, 2012)
It’s not often that I get to combine my passions: music and genealogy, so this particular blogpost is a rarity. Nearly ten years ago, these passions converged in my life as I was mourning the death of Whitney Elizabeth Houston, the greatest pop singer of all time.
As I researched her life, I became curious about her other famous family members, such as NBA point guard Gary Garland, singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and of course her mother Cissy Houston, who sang background on some of the world’s most important recordings. Mrs. Houston was born Emily Drinkard, and it was on her Wikipedia page that I found the following sentence: “The Drinkards had owned a substantial amount of farmland in Blakely, Georgia, at a time when it was unusual for black people to have large landholdings.” I was probably reading this on an iPod Touch in East Hartford, Connecticut at the time, but I knew Blakely, Georgia was a significant place. My grandmother was born there, and she never let me forget it!
A screenshot of Cissy Houston’s Wikipedia page.
I didn’t know hardly anything about my grandmother’s childhood. She always claimed Blakely was so small that it wasn’t even on the map, and that’s the limit of what she told us. Even with such little information, I was positive that Whitney Houston was related to my grandmother. If Blakely was truly that small, EVERYBODY from there must be related! That night, I subscribed to a genealogy research website for the first time. I didn’t realize how complicated my grandmother’s family was, and because I chose the cheapest possible family history website, I found absolutely nothing about my family. However, Whitney’s family is a lot easier to research, especially since it has been well documented for a long time.
I built up Whitney’s tree all the way back to the 1870 brick wall with no problems. Yet on my side, I couldn’t even find my grandmother in the 1930 or 1940 census. After many attempts, I left it alone to work on my grandfather’s side. His family was significantly easier and I also took that branch back to 1870. I did the same on my father’s side, while waiting for any hints on my maternal grandmother’s name. They never came.
Even as I log into that website in 2022, there are no hints for my grandmother. A crucial issue was the inability to search records by first name only. There were also limitations on the results when names were spelled differently than the indexed records. It was four years before I finally had some answers - when I finally got the nerve to ask my grandmother some questions. She was 90 years old in 2016, but had clear memory and excellent enunciation. For the first time in her life, she told me her parents’ names.
I already knew her mother’s name - well actually, I knew this woman in real life - but I had been spelling it wrong the whole time. Her obituary claimed her maiden name was Annie Mae McClendon, but my grandmother very clearly said her mother’s name was Annie Mae McLendon. That small difference was extremely audible, and I used it to search again. I immediately found my infant great-grandmother in the 1910 census with her siblings and her mother, Chesta Anna.
The McLendon family is split between two pages of the 1910 United States Federal Census in the 1140th District of Early County, Georgia. Each of the surrounding neighbors is also a close family member.
Four years of searching, and I finally found a record that my Early County (Blakely) family actually existed. I also learned that my great-grandmother had siblings named Mary, Bernice, and Bennie Lee. With the assumption that their last name may be spelled even differently in the 1920 census, I knew I needed to search for these siblings by first name only. This was not possible on the site I was using, so I signed up for a very popular (and more expensive) family history site. Their search engine was much more advanced, and allowed users to search census records with familial relationships. I searched Annie, Mary, Bennie, and Bernice together in Early County, without writing a last name, and was amazed at what I saw once I hit enter.
This is an excerpt of the 1920 United States Federal Census in the 510th District of Early County, Georgia.
I found all four names together, but with the surname Powell. Although my Aunt Bennie Lee was listed as male, I was still fairly sure this was my family. Chesta Anna’s name was miswritten as Christanna, and she had been recently married to Charles Powell. They were living in an area called Hilton, nearly 20 miles south of Chesta Anna’s family on Grimsley Mill Road in Urquhart. I continued to study these records over time, and eventually I noticed a familiar name near Charles and Chesta Anna.
John and Victoria Drinkard on the 1920 United States Federal Census in the 510th District of Early County, Georgia.
Cissy Houston’s great-grandparents were on the same page as my great-grandmother. The Drinkards were dwelling #119, while my family was #123. They were essentially neighbors. The Powells were the very next Black family on this page after the Drinkards. As I learned from the 1910 census, relatives are often found nearby on census records. I slowly discovered that Charles Powell was the son of Isabella Hansome Powell. Isabella was the sister of Victoria Hansome Drinkard. Charles Powell was the nephew of John and Victoria Drinkard.
The relationship between the Drinkards and the Powells has been confirmed through DNA.
Years later, I’ve learned so much about this area. I’ve learned so much about my family. Chesta Anna did not have any children by Charles, so my relationship to the Drinkards is only by marriage. I still consider it a close relationship, especially once I investigated the claim from Wikipedia about the Drinkards owing their land. John and Victoria Drinkard purchased a few acres of land lot #418 in the 28th district of Early County on August 11th, 1906. This land most likely remained in the family until November 5th, 1923, when seven acres from the same land lot were sold at the courthouse because Cissy Houston’s parents defaulted on a mortgage. This is evidence that they still owned the land at the time of the 1920 census, and it’s possible that Charles Powell was living on it with my family! This discovery was everything to me, because Charles accidentally shot and killed Chesta Anna at their home in 1921. I believe my ancestor died on Drinkard land.
From the Early County News, Blakely, Georgia
Nicholas or “Nitch” moved to Newark, New Jersey shortly after this land was lost. His first child born up north was named Handsome, after his ancestral surname. His wife, Delia, died in 1941, when their youngest child, Cissy, was eight years old. In 1946, Nitch married another relative of mine, Viola Jewell, who was the mother of my 2nd cousin Hubert. This marriage made Cissy and Hubert step-siblings. Nitch died only six years later on May 5th, 1952.
Cissy was married twice, giving birth to singers Gary Garland and Whitney Houston, while her sister Arthur Lee married Mancel Warrick and gave birth to Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick. Nitch originally encouraged his offspring to sing in 1938, and the results were legendary. The Drinkard Singers recorded the first ever major label gospel album A Joyful Noise. Dionne Warwick has sold over 100 million records in her career, and has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 56 times. Whitney Houston sold over 200 million records, and accomplished a record breaking 7 consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Regardless of the commercial successes, each member of the Drinkard family had a magical voice. Their sound is embedded in the fabric of American music today and I am very proud to share family members with them.
When I think about musical phenoms, I realize that many of them don’t spend much time here on Earth. Nat “King” Cole, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson, and of course Whitney Houston all left this planet too early. They each left a legacy that could never be erased and they exemplify the importance of learning cultural history. To end this blog post, I’d like to share some of my favorite Drinkard vocal performances. Rest in peace, Nippy.
