The Charles and Bettie Birthright House, Dunklin County, Missouri.Photo byColinhester, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On October 30, 2009, the Charles and Bettie Birthright House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Birthright House is located at 109 South Main Street in Clarkton, Missouri (Dunklin County).

The Birthright House was constructed in 1872. It was originally a double-pen home with a full-width porch. In 1914, a one-and-a-half story was added to the front. The foundation is brick and concrete.

Charles and Bettie were former slaves who were able to achieve economic independence and operate as philanthropists. They accomplished this while still building close relationships with the families who had them as slaves. At the time, Clarkton and Dunklin County were mostly white residents.

The Birthright House in 2013.Photo byGoogle Maps/Screenshot.

Collectively, they were commercially successful. Charles was a barber and Bettie was a seamstress. They were also involved with farming. They used their earnings to help the community by investing in its development. They also donated money to build Clarkton school buildings in 1884 and 1911.

After the deaths of Charles and Bettie, their estate went to the then-Stillman Institute, now Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Birthright Auditorium on campus is named after them.

Charles and Bettie Birthright were examples of African Americans who were well-regarded and respected in Clarkton and Dunklin County. Their house is important due to its ethnic heritage and its role in social history. Charles was the builder. At the time the house was registered with the National Register, it was owned by the Clarkton Historical Society.

Clarkton

According to the World Population Review, Clarkton has 942 residents. Dunklin County is one of two that form the bootheel of Missouri. In the early 1900s, the swamps were drained and today, it's known for having rich farmlands.

The Birthright House is on Clarkton’s Main Street. Today, the house sits between two commercial buildings.

The house

Charles and Betty built additions to the rear of the house, filling in the porch and adding rooms. In 1914, a large addition was built to the front of the house.

The Birthrights lived in the house for around 40 years. After Charles died, Bettie lived there for six more years. The front addition was built after Charles died. Bettie would spend her last years in that new addition in front.

In 2000, the house was purchased by the Clarkton County Historical Society.

Photo byFacebook/Charles and Bettie Birthright House - Clarkton, Missouri.

The Birthrights

The Birthrights are an interesting couple with a seemingly strong bond. Also interesting is the fact they belong to a part of history in Missouri that might not be known. On one hand, some believed African Americans shouldn't have the same rights as other American citizens, and on the other, we have Charles and Bettie who were living in a predominately white community and they were respected and accepted.

The Birthrights owned their home from 1872 to 1917 and during this time, they were contributing to the community. The Birthrights weren't looking to make history. They worked hard at their businesses and they farmed. Race relations after the Civil War were complex and yet, the Birthrights who were freed slaves had relationships in the community.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there wasn't a large African American community living in Clarkton or even Dunklin County. While the Birthrights acquired wealth, they didn't build a big house. Supposedly, Bettie was a mulatto (light complexion). This might have played a role in her acceptance.

The skills of the Birthrights were needed in the community, so that could have opened doors for them too. It could also be they were liked. They were hard-working and frugal, and they were generous. After they died, their white family passed down their stories.

Charles Birthright and Bettie Scott Birthright were born into slavery in Virginia. Charles was born in 1833 and was a body servant to a man named C.E. (Jack) Birthright.

The 1850 slave schedules show C.E. Birthright as having five slaves, one of which was an 18-year-old male which might have been Charles. At that time, the Birthrights had been living in Weakley County, Tennessee since at least 1845. The 1860 census shows C.E. Birthright as having 11 slaves, including a 25-year-old man that was likely Charles. While a manservant, Charles developed barbering skills.

Bettie stayed in close contact with her parents and siblings throughout her life. Her parents were Claiborne and Ann Scott. At some point, Claiborne purchased his freedom, and Ann remained a slave to the Betts family that included Sallie Walton Betts.

Bettie was born on the Huntington Plantation in Roanoke County, Virginia. Elisha and Sallie Betts gave Bettie as a maid to a niece named Sallie Jones. When Sallie Jones married David Y. Pankey in 1853, they and their slaves moved to western Tennessee. The Pankeys and Birthrights could have met then. By 1859, they were living close to Clarkton, Missouri.

Clarkton, originally Beach or Beach Grove, was settled in the early 1850s. By March 1860, Charles had proposed to Bettie. She wrote to her parents who were hoping to finish saving to purchase her back to reunite her with the rest of the family. Eventually, Bettie's parents let her marry.

The Pankeys and Birthrights also agreed to the marriage and they married in a church in Clarkton on September 29, 1860. It was hard times, especially before the Civil War. They would often separate and go live with their slaveholders.

In 1861, Bettie had to go back to Tennessee with Sallie Jones Pankey to help with Sallie's sick father. Then C.E. Birthright took Charles on a business trip to Arkansas in 1862 to prepare to move there. In the meantime, Bettie had given birth to a son, on September 9, 1862, and interestingly named her child Sterling Price, but called him Price.

Charles and Bettie spent the Civil War years with their slaveholders. Charles followed C.E. Birthright into the military. Bettie’s slaveholder, David Y. Pankey, served as a captain for the Missouri State Guard and later the Confederate Army.

Sadder than the separation was the death of their only child, Price, on January 26, 1863. After the war, they settled in Clarkton. Not too long after the war, Sallie Pankey died in an accident. Bettie continued to keep in touch with her children and grandchildren for the rest of her life.

Even though the 1870 census doesn't list the Birthrights, by then, they were likely well-established in Clarkton. By 1872, they raised enough money to buy a city lot. Charles ran his barber business from a little building not far from their home. Bettie cooked in a summer kitchen behind he house and had a catering business.

They were listed in the agricultural census of 1880 as substantial property owners with 75 acres. Compared to other census records, they were doing well. By 1889, they had 395 acres, purchasing even more the following year. In time, they had 500 acres of farmland in Dunklin and New Madrid Counties.

They also had a dairy farm, supplying milk and butter to Clarkton and the surrounding vicinity. Their home was on four city lots. They were also stockholders in the Bank of Clarkton and in the Clarkton Real Estate and Improvement Company. They were even making personal loans to farmers and businessmen.

Charles loved music and could play the fiddle. Sometimes he was asked to play at events. While he was not educated himself, he had committed to helping others. He founded the Clarkton School music program and was its first director. Charles and Bettie donated generously to their church and the Clarkton school system. In 1905, Charles and Bettie helped to secure a bond for the construction of a new school building that was completed in 1911.

It's interesting and amazing that Charles and Bettie were involved with philanthropy and that even after they died, their generosity continued.

Charles Birthright died in his home on December 30, 1911. After Bettie died on January 17, 1917, the Birthright farm property was given to Stillman Institute which it operated until 1967 and sold. The college also gave part of Bettie's estate to the Clarkton School District.

Thank you for reading.