our story

“We owe so much to those who walked ahead. Who kept the faith, who carried the lamp of freedom for us all.”

In the February 1992 edition of Ebony Magazine, the late Lerone Bennett, Jr., a renown African American scholar, journalist and social historian, chronicled the “10 Most Dramatic Events in African-American History.” His pointed out that, “A year before the arrival of the celebrated Mayflower, 244 years before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and 355 years before Brown v. Board of Education, a big ship sailed up the James River and landed the first generation of African Americans in Jamestown, Virginia.” The year was 1619 and many members of the Scruggs-Jopling family are certain of our ancestorial ties to the individuals onboard this ship who stepped onto American soil for the first time.

Continuing to trace our history, we know that on November 28, 1877, twelve years after the end of the American Civil War, Biddie (Adeline) Scruggs, a former slave, and her son, Albert, purchased a parcel of land containing 35 acres in Appomattox County, Virginia, for $75. The land was part of the “Redfields Plantation” where it is thought they were enslaved. 

Some might ask why we bring up history that occurred so long ago. The answer is simple: Yesterday’s history is our history, and we are the history that generations will discuss hundreds of years from now when we are no longer here to tell the stories. Our family ties to the land that Biddie and Albert Scruggs purchased goes back 149 years without the land leaving the family. We owe it to our ancestors to explore why they felt the land was so valuable, how they stayed connected to one another and the land, and what they envisioned would become of their dreams when future generations took the baton.

We share our story with the hopes that you will be inspired to research, share and celebrate your “limb”or bough of this beautiful family tree.