Rosa Courtney Quash was a citizen of Caroline, beginning her life in the Reedy Church area. In February of 2016, days before her 96th birthday, Rosa received a Resolution of Appreciation by the Caroline Board of Supervisors, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding achievements. Sadly, on Monday, 5 February 2018, Rosa passed away, just shy of her 98th birthday.
Caroline Progress reporter Bridget Douglas interviewed Rosa Quash for Caroline Magazine’s March 2016 article. Rosa was a lifelong educator who taught first and second grades in Madison County, Sunshine Elementary in Woodford, Dawn Elementary for 22 years and finally, at Bowling Green Primary for seven years. Although she did not have children of her own, after school, education and activities continued with Rosa generously mentoring children under her tutelage.
According to this article, Rosa stated, “People said every time they saw me, I would have a load of children going somewhere. When I was teaching, the parents did not always take their children around, so I enjoyed taking them different places.” Rosa was active in the Caroline Education Association, the Virginia and National Education Associations, the Caroline Literacy Council, the Caroline Chapter of VSU Alumni and the Caroline Retired Teachers Association.
In addition to her love of education, Rosa was very active in her community, as a member of the Caroline Community NAACP, the Dawn Area Planning Committee, the Dawn Progressive Association, the Caroline Cancer Society, McGuire Hospital veteran volunteers, Caroline Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts Inc., and the Caroline County Library Board. She served as both a co-founder and one of two former Vice Presidents of the Dawn Library.
Harkening back to earlier times, Rosa had been a member of the Second Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Dawn from the age of six. There, she later became president of the senior choir, treasurer of the pulpit circle, member of the senior missionary society, and a member of the scholarship fund committee, as well as Sunday school teacher.
I had the pleasure of speaking with a descendant of Rosa’s, her niece, Evelyn Dupree. Evelyn remarked that Rosa was indeed a generous person, and that Rosa served as Evelyn’s role model. Evelyn remembered Rosa as a mild-mannered person who would do anything for anyone – and that if anyone needed help, Rosa would either help them, herself, or facilitate help from organizations with which she was involved. Rosa is missed greatly to this day.
Clearly, Rosa Courtney Quash is an exemplary role model for so many, and her path to greatness began very early in life. It got me to thinking, who could Rosa’s early role models have been? I researched a bit for a possible answer. What I discovered was itself extraordinary.
According to delayed birth records, Rosa was born 25 February 1920 in Caroline to Mattie Lewis and Arthur Allen Courtney. Rosa’s paternal grandparents were Martha Ellen and William James Courtney, and Rosa’s great-grandparents were Sina (Nancy) Kay and John C. Courtney. It is often quite difficult to trace African American ancestry beyond 1870; however, Sina Kay and John C. Courtney were among the free black community of Caroline County, with records clearly identifiable, back to before 1830.
Sina Kay and John Courtney were married in Caroline on or about 11 March 1822, and had two sons and two daughters. In both the 1830 and 1840 Censuses, John and Sina Courtney were free. By 1850, John Courtney was running a farm of 50 acres, 25 acres of which had been improved. Livestock included three horses, two milk cows, other cattle and livestock, and the farm yielded 275 bushels of Indian corn, oats, and tobacco. In April 1859, John died, leaving a sizable farm to Sina, by then age 63.
With the Civil War quickly approaching, in 1860, Sina Courtney, born about 1796 and by then age 64, was a farmer by occupation. Living in the household with Sina was her daughter, Amanda, as well as her two granddaughters. Remarkably, according to the 1860 Agricultural Schedules, Sina owned and worked the family livestock, and planted and harvested 200 bushels of Indian corn that year, along with 40 bushels of wheat.
According to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Executive Producer, Writer, and Presenter of the series, “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,” approximately 90 percent of African Americans became free either during the Civil War or after the Civil War as a result of the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Rosa Courtney Quash served as a remarkable woman in Caroline’s history – as did her extraordinary female ancestors, all who made an indelible mark across time in Caroline.
Resources
Caroline Magazine, “Outstanding Citizen: Rosa Quash,” by Bridget Douglas, Caroline Progress Reporter, March 2016
Evelyn Dupree, personal conversation, February 2021
Ancestry.com, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 United States Federal Censuses (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., varying years)
Ancestry.com, U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010)
Ancestry.com, Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1911 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015)
“The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” website: article, “Free Blacks Lived in the North, Right?” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Ph.D., 2013
Barbara C. Lagasse