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These articles were excerpted from Tapestry, a weekly newsletter that examines the arts and entertainment world in Charlotte and North Carolina.

A DEI advocate learns about his family history from Historic Brattonsville in York County

The Brick House’s restored exterior is seen circa January 2021.
Culture & Heritage Museum
The Brick House’s restored exterior is seen circa January 2021.

Patrick Orciani was researching on ancestry.com to look for his and his sister's biological family. The siblings were adopted at the ages of 2 and 3.

"We found our father in 2018, who lived in D.C, six blocks away from my job, and we connected to him and that side of the family," Orciani said.

While getting to know his biological family better and trying to connect with them more, Orciani didn't expect what he would find out in 2020.

He learned that he was the great-great-great-grandson of Capt. James Williams, an African American militia leader and a formerly enslaved man from York County, South Carolina.

Through Ancestry, Orciani and his family were contacted by local historical interpreter Micheal Webb. He told the family about Williams and what a York County museum was doing to tell Williams' story.

Located in McConnells, South Carolina, Historic Brattonsville is an 800-acre site with exhibits that portray what it was like living in the Carolina Piedmont in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The site has living history programs that highlight seasonal activities, historical events, and untold stories, such as the life and death of Williams.

"(Williams) escaped from slavery in 1865. He joined and served the Union Army for 18 months," said staff historian Zack Lemhouse. "When he returns from service, he becomes a very active civil rights leader. He was vocally critical of the Ku Klux Klan, and the governor of South Carolina appointed him as the captain of a local established militia."

Lemhouse said that Williams is connected to Brattonsville, specifically the Brick House, through life and death.

"We wanted to tell the Reconstruction story in (the Brick House) — specifically, the story related to Capt. James Williams," Lemhouse said.

"We have records of him purchasing things from the Brattonsville store, and we know that because of his activism, his bravery and the fact he was vocally critical of the Klan, he was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, and he was murdered about a mile and a half from the Historic Brattonsville,” Lemhouse said.

Despite having a footprint in not only York County’s history but also American history, Williams' descendants didn't know about his story.

"It wasn't a story told from generation to generation because of Black trauma," Orciani said. "My aunt even said we didn't go back South… My grandmother used to say, 'Nothing good happened to us down there.' So it wasn't a story that was told, and they were as shocked as I was."

When the descendants of Williams visited the exhibit, they faced a slew of emotions — confusion, anger and tears.

"A lot of people in the Black community don't go to plantations," Orciani said. "It's one thing to step foot on a plantation where your ancestors were enslaved. It's another to step foot on the plantation of where your ancestor was enslaved and then ultimately murdered."

After receiving a private tour of the exhibit and hearing all the stories that came from Brattonsville, Orciani left with a sense of pride, especially since Williams fought for inclusion, equity and representation, just like Orciani, who works at the Legal Aid Society in Maryland.

"I do diversity equity and inclusion work now,” Orciani said. “I've been doing it for 10 years now. That runs through my blood."

Orciani said that every family should turn their trauma into something good.

"This should encourage other people to figure out their family history,” Orciani said. “People say, 'Oh, my great-grandmother was a slave.’ My great-great-great-grandfather was a slave, but there is a story there. They were more than what they did in the fields and in the house. They had lives. They had families. They had their own feelings. Find out what they are."

People can learn more about Williams and the other 139 enslaved people who were part of the history of Brattonsville at the site. More information can be found at chmuseums.org.

WFAE's weekly arts and entertainment email newsletter, Tapestry, will keep you in the loop on arts and culture in the Charlotte region.

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Dante Miller is a community engagement producer for WFAE and a Report for America (RFA) Corps members. Dante first joined WFAE in 2020 through RFA to work as part of a unique partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and Digital Public Library of America. Her work in that project allowed her to use radio, online stories, Wikipedia entries and events to meet the community's news and information needs.