On the Beat of Truth: A Hearing Daughter's Stories of Her Black Deaf Parents

3. Annie Dublin Nero and Martha Nero Brown

38 3 Annie Dublin Nero and Martha Nero Brown “Everywhere Mart went, Sina is sure to go.” Mama relished giving me an account of her relatives prior to her own birth. Yes, she enjoyed dramatizing events in Daddy’s life before he met her, but she reveled in sharing snatches of her own life, especially about her mother, Martha, a domestic worker; her father, Clarence, a farmer who became a bricklayer; and her grandmother, Annie Dublin, an honest-to-goodness businesswoman who invented ways to earn money, from selling vegetables grown in her backyard to doing domestic work. “Who was Annie Dublin?” I asked. “She my mother mother. I don’t know when she born, maybe 1875 or 1880,” she said, all the while nodding her head while signing to me. I gave my mother a blank stare, which prompted her to vividly describe my great-grandmother so that I could easily imagine her in my mind. “She have wavy long brown hair.” Mama took one hand and touched the top of her head and brought it down to her waist, shaking her hand slightly so I could see the waves. “She thin nose,” then Mama brought her hand to her nose and pinched the nostrils to illustrate how narrow Annie’s nose was, and then she pulled in her lips to say, “Her lips thin like your daddy.” Annie Dublin Nero and Martha Nero Brown 39 Next, she launched into her storytelling, shaking her head, left to right, explaining to me that no one knew who Annie Dublin’s mother and father were. Clearly, her mother or father had to be white, since she was often described as ‘‘near white” or maybe even white passin’ as “colored,” “ but Lord knows why would she do that,” is what people would say. Annie Dublin, with skin complexion described as “high yellow,” joined the rodeo as a dancer—skipping, jumping, and twirling ropes and hoops with ease. She proved to be wise with her money, saving it after traveling around the country, and returning to Concord, North Carolina, to buy a home. Her house, they say, was a mansion, costing five hundred dollars, almost three times the cost of an average house in Concord. It was hailed as one of the most beautiful in the area, with flowers continually blooming around it and a massive vegetable garden in the rear. The luscious tomatoes, vibrant green string beans, and leafy collard greens, along with peach and apple trees and sweet watermelons, made her mansion the envy of Concord. Annie Dublin Nero had two children, Martha and William Nero, by Jefferson Nero, a man few people knew. But what folks did know is that Annie Dublin Nero was smart, efficient, and thrifty, renting spare rooms in her newly acquired house and earning even more money as a laundress by washing , starching, and ironing clothes for white people who could afford to pay her. If Annie gained renown for owning a magnificent house, she gained even more repute for the lavish care of Martha and William. Both children were well groomed, always wearing meticulously kept clothing; well educated in the basics of reading and writing; and well accomplished in playing the piano. But for all of Annie’s devotion to her children, much On the Beat of Truth 40 to her dismay, Martha grew to be unruly and headstrong. Martha, often called Mart, born around 1897, ran off at the age of sixteen with Clarence Brown, a man Annie despised— giving credence to the speculation that Clarence Brown was too dark-complexioned for Annie’s taste, but worse yet, he was dirt poor. “You ain’t worth the time of day,” Annie said to Clarence, who promptly ignored her. Clarence, tall, with chocolatebrown skin, atypical wavy hair, perfectly aligned ivory teeth, and a ready smile, was quick-witted and charming, and of course, disregarded Annie’s infuriating admonition not to marry her daughter. He ran off with Martha to be married by a local Baptist minister, after which they fled to Edgefield, South Carolina, where Clarence had relatives. The first year, Martha miscarried a baby boy. A year later, she had Thomasina on May 6, 1914. More than two years after that, she bore a second baby, Della, in October 1916; two years later, in 1918, she had a third baby, Ruth; and in two more years she birthed Mary...