©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Hill resident proud of ancestor, richest black in colonial U.S.
by JEROME O’NEILL

Mt. Airy native Ernest Cuff stands outside his home in Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Jerome O’Neill)

Ernest Cuff was born in a house on the 500 block of West Mt. Pleasant Avenue on July 1, 1929. Paul Cuffe, an ancestor whose name appears in many history books, was born 170 years earlier in a house on Chuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts. However, it would take persistence, devotion and another 66 years before Ernest Cuff could refer to Paul Cuffe, the richest black man in colonial America, as family.

Ernest Cuff, an African American with strong Native American family ties, was the youngest of six children. He recalls fondly how he and his five older sisters would climb the big trees outside their house in Mt. Airy. He attended Germantown High, and Carol Houston, his lone surviving sister, still lives close by in Sewell, New Jersey.

In 1948, Cuff was married and joined the army, traveling to Fort Dix for basic training. From there, Cuff became a paratrooper at Fort Benning and served in Korea. In May of 1951, Cuff, a member of the 187th Airborne Combat Regiment, was battling in Inji, Korea. An enemy bullet ripped through Cuff’s right arm and chest. The bullet only hit nerves, but severe damage was done.

“I still don’t have complete use of my right hand,” said Cuff.

The injury sent Cuff to numerous Army hospitals before returning to Philadelphia. At the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, doctors performed extensive surgery to reattach ligaments, giving Cuff ample functioning in his right hand.

Cuff‘s experience emboldened him.

On February 3, 1816, almost 137 years to the day from Cuff’s discharge (in 1953), an American brig named “Traveller” sailed into the harbor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, carrying nine black families (38 passengers) in what was the first such voyage of people back to Africa. The ship was sponsored and captained by Paul Cuffe.

Ernest Cuff worked as a template maker for Edgecomb Steel, and his first marriage ended in 1976. He met his second wife, Drucilla, at the World Wide Church of God in Philadelphia. Together, they decided to go to a church sponsored festival in Fresno, California in 1977. Their stay in Fresno lasted until Drucilla’s death in October of last year.

“We had peace in California,” said Cuff. “I had no pressure and a good wife.”

While in California, Cuff worked for the postal service and enrolled at City College. He took courses in Black History and graduated in 1995. “I found time to read, and I was always interested in where I came from,” stated Cuff. “My mother always said our name was not Cuff; its Cuffe.”

At a library in Fresno, Cuff found Paul Cuffe: Black American and the African Return by Sheldon Harris. “I just said ‘Wow,’” Cuff explained. “Cuffe is a Nigerian name. Not many black people can trace their roots back to Africa.”

Cuff moved back to Chestnut Hill this year, and he brought his zest for uncovering the past with him. Together with four cousins, Cuff continues to map the genealogy and heritage of his family. Paul Cuffe’s father was a freed African slave and skilled carpenter. His mother was a Native American. Cuffe’s rise started at 14 working on whaling ships, and by 18, he built his own boat. During the Revolutionary War, Cuffe made a small fortune smuggling goods past British patrol ships that blocked the Boston Harbor.

“He had permission to raid British supply ships,” said Cuff. “After the war, he used the money to build a fleet of whaling ships.”

Cuffe was a friend of James Madison, founded a public school to educate free black children in New Bedford and became the largest black employer in America. He married a Native American and fathered 10 children, who took over his shipping business and settled in different ports throughout the colonies.

Cuffe spent his life trying to improve the lives of African Americans and ending the slave trade. He died with his family and friends around him in 1817. “He was a phenomenon,” said Cuff, “and to know your past gives you steadier ground to walk on.”

Cuff continues to trace his ancestry and hopes others will do the same. Along with his sister Carol, Cuff is joined by relatives Betty Cuff, Jeanne Wilkerson, Carol Mack (niece) and Sandra Morton (niece). Together they work to grow their family tree.

“The best advice is Shakespeare’s ‘know thyself,’” Cuff concluded. “Get relatives together, talk about it, and search for who you are and where you’re from.”