Rosamond Press

This morning I talked with my sister Vicki for thee hours on the phone. Our conversation began with I telling her about the movie THE HELP that will premeire tomorrow. We then talked about our black nanny, Lena, who was like our second mother – even our real mother.

In recalling how Lena used to rock our late sister, the world famous artist, Rosamond. Christine did the painting ‘Lena and Her Sisters’.

I wrote the following in March of 2008, I giving much of my autobiography away for free, lest I join the outsiders who exploited my sister, put he to work for them, when she was alive, and when she was dead. All four of the Presco Children were THE HELP. Our parents forced us to work for them, and raise each other. I was the Family Cook since I was twelve.

Lena and Her Sisters

by Jon Presco

Copyright 2008

Above we see a painting the world famous artist, Rosamond, did of her black nanny, Lena, and her three sisters. Below we see images of Oakland's Produce Market where in a Victorian warehouse, our father, Victor Presco, opporated Acme Produce. Sometimes Vic had his whole family down there working. We were put out in fields gleaning tomatoes, or in giant warehouses, grading patatoes.

One Saturday afternoon, when the market was closed, and all the spoiled fruit and vegetables were thrown in the gutter, there appear old back folks from West Oakland with gunny sacks. They would wade into these piles and salvage food. It was a glimpse into real poverty. We four Presco children were poor and often went to bed, and school, hungry. Often this hunger was deliberate, a wicked tactic employed by our parents in their never ending battle to see who would
wear the pants in the family.

"Your mother and I never got along because she always wanted to wear the pants in the family!" Griped Captain Vic, who for a time wore a black patch over one eye.

When this Democracy was born, it was half-born, and not fully awake. This was because black folks were still slaves, and neither they, nor women, owned the right to vote.

Today, I discovered Oprah Winfrey has her roots in the same ground the Rosamond family have theirs, in Kosciusko Mississippi. Is it possible that the Rosamonds owned Oprah's ancestors, and they worked on the Rosamond plantation? Surely Oprah's kin knew the Rosamonds who
are still living and dying there. I just found another Frances M. Rosamond carrying on the family tradition of naming their children after Francis Marion.

"Temporary easement and agreement between Frances M. Rosamond and the Attala County Board of Supervisors."

Oprah backed Obama, and today, he just cruised to victory in the Mississippi primary I believe this Democracy is having an awakening like the kingdom of Princess Rosamond a.k.a 'Sleeping Beauty'.

Christina did a painting of four young black girls, titled 'Lena and her Sisters'. Lena was our nanny, she our surogate mother when Rosemary began to work after the divorce. Lena would take Christine home with her to meet and be with her sisters because Rosamary was not paying her eldest daugter enough attention. We see
these sisters captured at the Rosamond gallery. This image was one of four in a family partnership funded with Melba's legacy she intended for her grandchildren.

When my father refused to go to work, Rosemary sent her three oldest children away to live with relatives. Vicki, the youngest, stayed behind. Karen Snyder's parents took her under their wing, and she partially raised by them. They lived at the top of the canyon, two blocks from San Sebastian Avenue, on Hollywood. They too were treated
to the verbal battles that would commence ever Saturday morning after the children were shooed away. The angry voices of my parents echoed through the canyon. Our names were invoked all the time. No one ever called the cops. My father was a fierce man who boxed in the Merchant
Marines. Even the Italians in the Produce Market stepped aside when they saw Vic coming with his two young sons doing the work of Lumpers.at eight and nine!

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/gorneyj200/produce.html

"At 4 AM. fumes from propane-powered forklifts cut the soft aroma of green tomatoes and half-ripe bananas. Dawn is hours away, but the business day is in full swing at Oakland's wholesale produce market, four square blocks of open-faced stores with sweeping awnings just off Jack London Square. Lumpers – the colloquial term for workers who
unload produce – dart forklifts between a jumble of trucks, crates and each other, building a maze of Big Jim Oranges and Pim Fresh Cabbage along the sidewalks and storefronts. Other lumpers wheel dollies stacked with gnarled ginger, plump eggplant and vibrant chilies through the cold and onto rigs waiting to deliver them to customers. The fruits and vegetables arrived from farm shippers as
early as 1 a.m. As the sun rises they'll be trucked as far away as Napa County to chain grocery stores, independent markets, restaurants, caterers and other wholesalers".

I was sent to live with my aunt Lillian, and within days of arriving, I came down with Whooping Cough. My father never found enough money to inoculate his children, but, always had enough money to buy the barflys down at Oscar's Bar and Grill another round. When my brother and I worked for Vic, we would get to the produce market in Jack London Square around 4:30 A.M. We did not finish delivering produce
all over the Bay Area until around 7:00 that evening. Before we went home and had our dinner, Vic would park his red flatbed truck in front of his bar, and disappear inside for an hour or two to have his afterwork drinky-pooh or two. My brother and I were paid a dollar a day.

When we came home from our banishment, believing as children will that it was our fault our parents fought all the time, we became more stoic in our work, our mission in life, which was to make our father a millionaire. For this was his dream, and Rosemary was not buying it. She had jumped ship and went and found herself a job, and she
hired a middle-aged black woman named Lena to be our surrogate mother. In many respects, she was the only mother we Presco children had, for Rosemary was not a good mother. She was a lover of a no good bum, like her mother. She assumed the role of Scarlet O'Hara. Like her husband, she too was a very narcissistic person, and would crack
the whip over her children's heads when Lena was sent away.

Some mornings my father stayed in bed and didn't go to work. This is
because he had too much to drink down at Oscar's. Lena would show up
in the morning and see Vic lying in bed, and declare;

"I swear Mrs. Presco, you husband is the laziest man I ever did see!"

One morning, when Vic lie all pooped out by the load of bullshit he
carried at the bar, Rosemary went on got a handful of wooden matches
from the kitchen, and as Lena looked on in horror, she began to place
them gently in the gap between Vic's toes and sandals. He had passed
out with his clothes on. Striking a match, and ignoring Lena's silent
pleas, she took her revenge!

Both women were now tip-toeing for the front door, and no sooner did
it slam behind them, then Rosemary let out a yell!

"Run Lena! Run!"

"Halfway down the street, they giggling with glee, they heard Vic
come bursting on to the front porch shouting profanities. Rosemary
pulled up in order to get a good look at her husabands face, she
wanting to see his look, his snarl, because his slave had dare rebel
against him – one more time!

"Oh Ms Presco! Don't look back. Keep on running!"

In our home it was a war to see who was the children's bread-winner.
After Rosemary drove Rhett from our home with a knife, he refused to
pay any child support. Rosemary had bought a little English Ford that
Vic would steal from her time to time.

One evening she parked it in the parking lot in back of Oscar's, and
went around to the front. Captain Vic was prone to lay out a hundred
dollars in twenties on the bar, and drink with his cronies until the
twenties were all gone. His father was a professional gambler in the
Barbary Coast, and Vic had heard tales of his legendary father who
abandoned him at three. Hugo Presco was a very humorous and generous
man. When he died five thousand men came to his funerals including
the Mayor of San Francisco.

Vic was never generous with his children. So our mother understood if
we were going to have food for the coming week, she would have to
resort to stealing from her ex-husband……and in she swoop like a
Harpy, and before Vic knew what was happening, he felt a swoosh of
wind, and he saw a hand deftly grab his wad of Ego Money – and out
the back door she ran, she hopping into her English ford she left
running, and away she flew, like a lady bug.

"Run, Mrs. Presco – Run!"

The day after Rosemary drove my father from our home, after stabbing
him between the eyes with a peering knife, Vic emptied his sons' bank
accounts. Mark and I had about four hundred dollars apiece, which
represented the four hundred days of our Summer Vacation we worked
for a tyrant – a imposter – from the age of eight to twelve! He
worked us like his slaves.

I hated to be trapped in the truck with him, and begged my brother to
let me sit by the window. As we delivered produce I began to teach
myself to leave my body and project myself out the window. As the
landscape went by, I would take snapshots with my mind. "This would
make a good painting! Look how the yellow mustard grass is accented
against the grey clouds atop the rolling hill where grow a single
oak."

Twice in my life, my painting were chosen to tour the world in a Red
Cross show. I was somebody outside the realm of my narcissistic
alcoholic parents. This is why I fought so hard to keep this Creative
Window in the family, it is the window to our Freedom, a symbol of
our Liberation.

Christine painted `Lena and her Sister's as a symbol of her
Liberation, for Lenatook Christine home with her to stay the night.
Lena saw how neglected my sister was by her father – and mother! In
the love-hate relationship with her abusive husband, Rosemary never
did let Vic go, but, one by one, we were gone out the door, running
to God knows where!

At Lena's, Christine was safe, for now. Lena would take her round to
see her three sisters that lived close by in West Oakland. She wanted
her to feel their feminine bond and strength, and know no matter how
bad it got, you can overcome any tyranny.

Jon Presco

You may purchase a serigraph print of Lena and Her Sisters from
Christine's niece, my daughter, Heather Hanson.

Heather2303@yahoo.com

Amanda WINTERS was born on 13 January 1874 in Mississippi and
died on 1 October 1944 in Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi. She
is buried with her second husband, Charley Bullock, in Buffalo
Cemetery, Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi. Nelson PRESLEY and
Amanda WINTERS married on 22 March 1893 in Kosciusko, Attala County,
Mississippi and had the following children:i. Oscar PRESLEY was born
about June 1895 in Mississippi. He married Mabel Hasley. ii. Harvey
PRESLEY was born about November 1896 in Mississippi. He married Katie
Bullock. iii. Georgia PRESLEY was born about May 1898 in Mississippi
and most likely died prior to 1910. 7. iv. Hattie Mae PRESLEY v.
Emora PRESLEY was born about 1904 in Mississippi and married James H.
Hasley. vi. Isaac PRESLEY was born about 1906 in Mississippi. vii.
Ida PRESLEY was born on 2 May 1907 in Mississippi and died on 21
September 1975. She married McKinley Carr. viii. Katie Willie PRESLEY
was born about 1909 in Mississippi.

• Name: William Addison ROSAMOND
• Surname: Rosamond
• Given Name: William Addison
• Sex: M
• Birth: 17 Sep 1819 in Abbeville District, SC
• Death: 29 Nov 1900 in Weldon, Houston County, Texas
• Burial: Weldon, Houston County, Texas
• _UID: 35F634475BFDD511920DBCD0308C862D7E3B
• Occupation: Mill Operator
• Change Date: 30 Dec 2001 at 00:00:00Father: Benjamin ROSAMOND b:
1790 in , Greenwood Co., SC Mother: Susannah HILLMarriage 1 Martha
Canzada COLEMAN b: ABT. 1828 in South Carolina
Married: in Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi
Children
Susan J. ROSAMOND b: ABT. 1849 in Mississippi
Benjamin H. ROSAMOND b: 11 Nov 1852 in Kosciusko, Attala County,
Mississippi
Martha ROSAMOND b: ABT. 1855 in Mississippi
Enoch R. ROSAMOND b: ABT. 1856 in Mississippi
William E. (Bill) ROSAMOND b: Dec 1856 in Mississippi
James E. ROSAMOND b: Apr 1859 in Mississippi
Joseph Absolum ROSAMOND b: 14 Apr 1862 in Kosciusko, Attala County,
Mississippi
Minnie (Millie?) ROSAMOND b: AFT. 1866 in Texas
John Newell ROSAMOND b: Sep 1867 in Mississippi
Jonas Lever ROSAMOND b: 14 Feb 1870 in Arkansas