James Still, the "Black doctor of the Pines."

[dogg57]

Janet Carlson Giardina handed a large flower pot to Angie Furno, pointed her toward some mums, and crossed once again through the Medford farmhouse she is turning into an education center about James Still, the "black doctor of the Pines." On Sunday, the Medford Historical Society will inaugurate the center at 211 Church Rd., and on Friday volunteers were planting fence posts, mulching a children's garden, hanging drapes, and setting up chairs for opening day. Still, Carlson was not prepared for the sight of two contractors jacking a pair of stately white columns into place under the front-door eaves. "I love it," she said. "This is like a barn-raising." But even as guides escort visitors Sunday around the century-old farmhouse, teaching about the 19th-century African American whose herbal remedies made him wealthy and famous across South Jersey, some of Still's descendants will be fretting about the dilapidated bungalow next door.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20130918_In_Medford__house_restored_draws_attention_to_one_that_isn_t.html#k2hdIc1rRwAc5je1.99​

 

[bushwacker]

My friend and colleague is part of this family, they just celebrated their 145th family reunion. Truly a south jersey first family.

 

[Teegate]

They sometimes have their reunion in Lawnside near my house and there are hundreds of people from all over the country there. My kids went to school with one of the Stills and went to a party at one of their homes when they were younger.

 

[Jerseyman]

Over the past several years, I have conducted considerable research into the southern New Jersey Still family. Based on my research, I believe these Stills originated with a slave belonging to the Hugg family in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. This slave was reportedly of royal birth, but was captured by a rival tribe in Africa and sold to slave traders. Known as the Guinea Prince, his progeny were sold to other plantation owners in West New Jersey and primarily in Old Gloucester and Burlington counties. The oldest slave I have recorded is a Delilah Still, born in 1752, but I also have eighteenth-century manumission and other records for many Still family members in Old Gloucester and Burlington counties. These records all predate the arrival of Levin and Sidney (Charity) Still from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

When Levin and his family arrived here, his surname was Steel, not Still, and his father or grandfather likely served as a slave on the Handsell Plantation in Dorchester County, the home of the English Steel family since the mid-eighteenth century, which family owned 91 slaves in 1776. I think when Levin arrived in Evesham Township, Burlington County, about 1806 or 1807, he likely met several manumitted Still family members in the course of visiting stores or other activities. He probably learned that the Still family had been in West New Jersey for several generations and he thought it not a stretch to modify his surname from Steel to Still, thereby grafting himself and his progeny into the original Still family to further protect the identity of his wife and children from any slave catchers that would visit the area. I have not found, however, any direct genetic linkage between the original Still family and Levin or his progeny until you examine marriages and child birth three or four generations out from Levin.

So, while many members of the original Still family, and primarily those who reside in and around Lawnside, claim a familial connection to Levin, Charity, Peter, James, and William, this claim and belief is not borne out by the documentary evidence! I have run many family trees in the original Still family in an attempt to find a relationship to Levin and I have never found that connection!

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Teegate]

I hope you have not told the Lawnside Stills this. They may not be too happy with you

 

[Jerseyman]

Teegate:

I had the opportunity to briefly present my findings on the original Still family in February at a symposium. Following the close of the session I had a young man from Lawnside approach me and talk about what I presented. He indicated that my information really altered his thinking and he was going to return home and discuss my findings with his immediate family. He told me how much he appreciated my presentation, which really made my day!

For those who choose to cling to the fakelore often found in oral tradition, well, that's up to them.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Teegate]

I wonder if the older generation would think the same way as him?

 

[Jerseyman]

I wonder if the older generation would think the same way as him?

Hard to say, Guy. I think a certain segment of the Still family enjoy their perceived, but incorrect, familial connectivity with Levin, Charity, Peter, James, and William Still (Steel) because they have gained great renown for who they were and what they accomplished during their lifetime. The real story of the original Still family, however, is every bit as compelling as that of Levin and his family and they should embrace that story.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[MikeBickerson]

Did the sign go up recently or do I just not pay attention? I can't seem to find my pictures from the last time I was there (about a year and a half ago).