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Celeste,
Following is an article I hope to publish as one of the first edition of a local history magazine that myself and others are trying to get started. Feel free to send any additional info. or corrections you nay have. Levin and Eunice Sockume are buried here in Gloucester City, NJ at the Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Levin Sockume and his Family
David T. Townsend
I had known that there was, here in Gloucester City in the late 1800s, a family named Sockume, who, were Native Americans hailing from the State of Delaware. What I did not learn until just recently was that they came hear to leave bigotry and persecution behind. For you see, in their own hometown their very ethnic identity was challenged successfully by white neighbors and the Delaware Courts.
Levin Sockume was born in Sussex Country, Delaware about 1807. He was born to a family of Nanticoke descent. The Nanticoke Indians were originally from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, but migrated in the early and mid-1700s to the Eastern Shore of Delaware along the Delaware Bay. Here they remained isolated and somewhat insulated until the mid-1800s.
There has been a great deal of research concerning the Nanticokes of Sussex and a neighboring group known as the “Moors.” Some individuals in these groups have African features, some look like Indians, and some like fair skinned Irish. They are sometimes referred to as “Mixed-bloods.” There are a variety of stories to explain their appearance.
Culturally as well as in appearance Levin Sockume was a Nanticoke Indian. He married another of his tribe about 1830. Her name was Eunice W. Ridgeway. Levin opened and operated a general store at Warwick Landing in the Indian River Hundred in Sussex County, Delaware. He reared his family and acquired some property. Like many of his people he was a Christian of the Methodist variety. He was by all accounts a good and decent man who would certainly be considered “successful.” Not all of his neighbors could appreciate his good fortune.
Like many states, Delaware had laws on the books that were designed to prevent the “Negro” from bettering himself, and also from arming himself. There was a law on the books in Delaware of the mid-1800s that made unlawful the possession of firearms by a Negro or mulatto, or the sale of the same, or ammunition or powder to a Negro or mulatto. In 1855 white, and apparently spiteful neighbors of Levin Sockume conspired to use these laws against him. They knew that he regularly sold ammunition and powder to his Nanticoke friends, family and neighbors.
They brought charges against Levin Sockume for the selling shot and gunpowder to a “Negro or mulatto.” The buyer was none other than his future son-in-law, Isaac Harmon. The trial was held on October 8, 1855 at Georgetown, Delaware.
Both Sockume and Harmon admitted freely to the transaction. They had never considered themselves black or mixed blood. But whites in the vicinity appeared ready to disenfranchise them by having them legally labeled as such. All the state had to do was to prove the black ancestry of Isaac Harmon. The State attorney general, George P. Fisher, prosecuted the case, and wrote about it years later. Even he noted that Harmon actually looked to be a Caucasian. Family members have described Sockume as looking every bit a Native American. At first no witnesses could be found to prove Harmon’s ancestry conclusively. Finally Fisher called in his star witness; an 87-year-old woman named Lydia Clark.
Lydia Clark was a relative of Harmon who was at least a half-breed and noted for being the only one in the state who still spoke the native tongue of the Nanticoke. She lived on property owned by one of the white landowners bringing the suit. Years later her people reported that she was coerced into doing what she was about to do by the landlord. She proceeded to prove, in the eyes of the court, that Harmon’s ancestors were in fact part Negro.
In her story set about twenty years before the Revolutionary War when she was just a little girl, a local woman of Irish birth named Regua had lost one of her male slaves. She went to Lewes, Delaware where a ship had pulled in with some slaves to sell. She purchased a man who was tall, dark and handsome; he was alleged by Lydia Clark to have been a Prince of the Congo. They married and had many children. Their children were not allowed to intermarry with the whites or the blacks, so they intermarried instead with the surviving Nanticoke Indians. This couple Lydia explained were the ancestors of the “Indians” of Sussex and other parts of Delaware. Even though her story was pure hearsay the court accepted it as truth.
Levin Sockume was fined $20 and made to pay the court’s costs. His attorney, C. S. Layton moved to appeal but it was denied. Levin’s enemies were not through with him. He was charged the following spring with possession of a firearm.
He again admitted to this thing readily. All whites and Indians in the area had firearms. His case was heard on April 14, 1856. This time, in order to win a conviction, the State had to prove that Levin Sockume himself was a Negro or Mulatto. Lydia Clark again testified. Sockume was again convicted, assessed a fine and the court costs. Delaware Historian, and the author of “Delaware’s Forgotten Folks,” C. A. Weslager tells us:
As a result of the heavy expenses of the two trials and
resentful of the treatment he had received, Levin Sockum
closed his store forever. He moved his family out of
Indian River Hundred and settled in Gloucester, New Jersey.
When he said goodbye to his neighbors, he was as proud
as he had ever been of his Indian ancestry. He knew he
was not a Negro and refused to remain in a society that
did not recognize him for what he was.
They did not pack up and leave right away. Levin James Sockume, Levin’s eldest son was first to go. He was, in 1860, living in Center Township (now Cherry Hill) working as a laborer. By 1862 the Sockumes were making their home at 217 Mercer Street in Gloucester City, New Jersey. The house no longer exists; it is the side yard for 215 Mercer Street. Out of this house the Sockumes ran a general store and later millinery, a place where women could buy or have hats made. They joined the 1st Methodist Church on Monmouth Street.
Levin Sockume lived but a few years after moving to Gloucester City; he died on Christmas day, December 25, 1864 at age 57. The previous year he had lost a son and a daughter and so already had bought lots 36 and 37 of section D of the Cedar Grove Cemetery on Market Street. He paid $22 for those. His epitaph reads: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my work, and I have kept the faith.
Levin and Eunice Sockume had several children. A daughter, Eliza A. Sockume was born May 10, 1832. She courted a well-to-do businessman from New York City. For some reason, according to the late Emma Burns (resided at 847 Monmouth Street in 1948) she kept her courtship a secret and her parents never met Mr. J. Perot until after he married her. After seeing her parent’s copper complexion he was not sure she was telling all about her background. He left her. Eliza A. Sockume Perot died broken hearted on September 7, 1862. She is interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
The aforementioned Levin James Sockume was born about 1835. He apparently worked as a laborer most of his life, and enjoyed traveling on the road. In 1891 he was at the Mercer Street address, but later removed to Millsboro, Delaware where he is buried. From Delaware Levin J. or “Old Jim” Sockume made many trips to Philadelphia and back visiting relatives. He shunned the ways of whites. He would on these trips carry a knapsack and at nights would find a cemetery to sleep in so no one would bother him.
Sarah Jane Sockume was born in 1837. She married to the above Isaac Harmon in 1856. They had 18 children; seven survived to adulthood. The Nanticoke Indian Association of Delaware, incorporated since 1881, was founded by many of Isaac and Sarah Jane’s descendents. Their descendents are still active with the organization. Isaac Harmon died in 1900. Sarah Jane Sockume Harmon died in 1908.
Peter Sockume was born about 1840. He married to Martha J. Palmer, daughter of Charles and Eunice Palmer. Martha Palmer Sockume died on September 21, 1896 and is interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Annie Sockume was born about 1844 and married to a Robert Harmon. Robert’s relation to Isaac is unclear.
Rebecca Tull Sockume, a dressmaker by trade, was born about 1845. On December 8, 1887 at age 42 she married at the 1st Methodist Church in Gloucester City, NJ to Benjamin Durham of Philadelphia. She worked in her parent’s shop on Mercer Street in Gloucester.
Robert M. Sockume was born on October 1, 1848. He did not marry and died young at age 24 on August 19, 1872. He could have been the son killed in either a drowning, or boating accident on Delaware River according to the late Albert J. Corcoran. Robert is interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Joseph M. Sockume was born in 1851 and died on March 21, 1863 at age twelve. He is buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Isaac M. Sockume was born on May 14, 1854. In 1870 he was employed at the Ancona Print Works at Gloucester. He was married to Ella Dean, daughter of William and Lavinia Dean of Philadelphia. They were married at the 1st Methodist Church in Gloucester City, NJ on May 20, 1875 by the Rev. P. Cline. Isaac was a barber by trade and had his shop at 225 Hudson Street. It no longer stands and is now the side yard of the Marks Family of 223 Hudson Street. Isaac died on September 6, 1889. Being so young he too could have been the accident victim mentioned above. He is interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Hamilton W. Sockume was the only child of Levin Sockume born in Gloucester City. He was born about 1862. He married in Gloucester City, NJ on January 3, 1888 to Mary A. MacKinney of Philadelphia. Like his brother Isaac, Hamilton was a barber working out of 225 Hudson Street.
The late Gloucester City Historian, Harry F. Green noted a Mary W. Socume who had a millinery in town. She may have been a daughter-in-law. Nothing more is known of her. Eunice (Ridgeway) Sockume, as we have just seen was left with a large family upon the death of her husband.
From 1864 until her own death in 1896, Eunice Sockume continued her millinery at 217 Mercer Street. She died at her home there on April 16, 1896 at age 83. The Camden Post Telegram of April 27, 1896 says: Mrs. Eunice Sockume, widow of the late Levin Sockume, aged 83 years. In Gloucester City, New Jersey. Died at her home on Mercer Street after a short illness. On April 16 1896. The deceased was one of Gloucester’s oldest residents. Interment at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Harry Green had recalled in one of his articles in the Gloucester City News that the Sockume family had been regarded by some residents as being “Negroes or Puerto Rican.” However, the late Albert Corcoran, Emma Burns and William Hammill recalled them as being very respectable and highly respected. They lived among whites, attended a white church and are interred in what was then a “white’s only” cemetery, so it appears that in general they were not treated as non-whites and the census record of 1870 listed them as white and Indian both.
Levin Sockume fought and lost his own personal battle to be recognized as a Native American, but in 1922, his descendents and other Nanticokes were finally recognized by the State of Delaware as the Nanticoke Association of Delaware. Perhaps old Levin Sockume has been sleeping at Cedar Grove Cemetery a lot easier since.
Sources:
1) C. A. Weslager, Delaware’s Forgotten Folks, 1943, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia
2) Article in Gloucester City News by Harry F. Green, 1950
3) 1870 Federal Census of Gloucester City, NJ
4) Mittsawockett website
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