Montgomery Penson and Watkins Family rich history

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The Montgomery Penson and Watkins family extends back to the eve of  slavery when the concept of “Families” among blacks was unheard of and legally forbidden.  Many families had been separated and loved ones were lost.  The family’s roots begin in Alabama with its hot and sultry climate and fields of cotton and share croppers. 

From the red hills of Lamison, Alabama, Wilcox County, came our forefathers.  
Our lineage, as we know it to date, begins with the Montgomery Family.  There were approximately 15-18 brothers and sisters, all of which were born slaves.  Jim Montgomery, lovingly known as “Uncle Jim”, married LuAnn and carried forth the Montgomery name.  One of the sisters, Laura Montgomery married Albert Penson and started the Penson Clan.  Another sister, Amelia Montgomery, married Alfred Watkins and hence the Watkins Clan.  They were a family of people who were rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus and taught their descendants to love their God.

All of these men were farmers.  They built homes and educated their children to the best of their ability, instilling within them that the true path to freedom and success is through a good education. Fortunately, many of the next two generations would leave their homes in the south and travel north in search of a better life. Yet they took their basic family values of “God and Education” with them.  George Penson, Ervin Watkins Jr, and Archie Montgomery were three of the first family members to move to Ohio.  They settled in the Youngstown, and Akron area near the steel mills and the rubber plants.

The family learned early on in Alabama that the Family Unit is the most important institution God created.  The family maintained their love for God even after they left the south and was founders of the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Struthers Ohio where numerous family members continue to worship today.  Some of the original charter members of the Pilgrim Baptist church include: Annie Watkins Tate, Lucy Watkins Hall, Alfred Watkins, Pearl Penson and Ervin Watkins.  The family has always been a close knit unit. As a result, they continued to keep in contact with each other. The Montgomerys and Watkins would work and save money to send back to Alabama to assist the family there and to send travel expenses for others to move to Eastern Ohio Western Pennsylvania area.  As more family members migrated to the north, they moved into the area of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Montgomery Penson and Watkins family members possessed an entrepreneurial spirit which continues in the family today.  The early members had a plastering company in Akron and a plumbing company in Aliquippa.  Archie Montgomery was skilled as a plasterer and his work was well known throughout Northern Ohio. Alfred Watkins owned a plumbing business in Aliquippa, PA.

History records that Ervin Watkins Sr. was one of the few men in Wilcox County, AL who could read and write in the late 1800s.  He was highly respected among blacks and whites and was highly sought after for writing letters, conducting business, spiritual guidance and for arithmetic functions. Many of his brothers and sisters moved to the Bessemer, AL area and took that entrepreneurial spirit with them.  The family owned and operated the Watkins Grocers on the Bessemer Super Highway in Bessemer, Al.  Charlie and Tobie Watkins were among the first business owners in the family.   

Having migrated from the warm climate of Alabama, the family experienced unusually cold winters in the north that took a lot of adjusting.  Bessie Montgomery-Lucas, who lived in Akron, longed for the companionship of her cousins, Annie-Watkins Tate and Ervin Watkins, who lived in Struthers, Oh.  The long cold winters of Ohio restricted the movement of the family in the north in terms of visiting with each other.  “Aunt Bessie” planned a family gathering in the summer of 1927.  These family gatherings continued with the first reunion in Struthers being held in the backyard of Ervin and Georgia Watkins.  The women would work tirelessly for days preparing food, washing and cleaning in preparation for the family reunions.  The family members that traveled during the early days stayed in the homes of other family members.  The tradition of hosting the family continued for nearly 40 years with the reunions being held in either, Akron, Struthers, or Aliquippa.  Family members from the south did not participate in the early reunions in the north.  Instead, they had what is commonly called “Homecoming” or “Big Day”, which was held the 3rd Sunday in August every year at the family church, Canaan Presbyterian Church, Annemanie, AL and the 4th Sunday in August at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Lamison, AL.  Family members from the north would go home for these events but rarely would the southerners travel north to the Montgomery Penson Watkins Reunion.  

Just look where we’ve come from, We’ve come a long way’.  The family has come from back yard barbecues to four-star hotels.  During the last twenty years, the reunion has been in cities like, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, Washington DC, Orlando, Birmingham, Arlington, AL, Virginia, and Atlanta.  We are no longer restricted by geographical locations.  The family has continued to grow and spread through numerous cities and states to include, California, Philadelphia, PA, New York, Boston, MA, Orlando, Atlanta, and Pensacola with the largest concentration of family members still in the Ohio, Alabama, and Pennsylvania area.