The Robert and Emiline Brewer Family Website

Lugenia “Lula” Brewer Huntley married John Huntley. The couple had ten children: Beulah, Jeretha, Annabell, Ailene, Ola, Thomas Elliott, Lester, Joseph Paul, Leroy and Robert. According to the book Training The Best about the life of Dr. Charles Herbert Flowers, Jr. by Dorothy Poole, “The Huntleys did well economically. Undoubtedly, some of their good fortunes had to do with the fact that they had good educations. The Huntleys were both high school graduates. They had a big farm and owned two cars (one of them was a Cadillac. Imagine a Black family owing a Cadillac back in those times. That alone spoke to their success. The Huntleys had one of the most successful farms in that area, and grew corn, sugar cane and cotton.” The Huntleys were well liked by the Brewers and considered one of the most popular branches.

Lula who passed away in 1929, was Robert and Emiline’s fourth child. She married John Huntley and lived in Wadesboro, North Carolina.   

The Huntley children followed in their parents’ footsteps and did well in life:

• The most famous Huntley child was Dr. Thomas “Tom” Elliot Huntley who gained prominence by leading the First Negro Ministers Prayer March on Washington, D.C. in 1948. This march prompted President Truman to enact a civil rights bill. Thomas Elliot was a former classmate, friend and associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are letters between the two men on the King website. His wife Elizabeth was a composer. They had no children.

• Beulah Huntley apparently never married or had children.

• When the wife of Reverend Julius Little, the prominent minister of the Brown Creek Baptist Church passed away, he ultimately married Jeretha Huntley and they lived in Monroe, North Carolina. They had no children. Reverend Little’s daughter Wilhelmina from a previous marriage would meet, fall in love with and marry Charles Herbert Flowers, Jr.

• Annabell Huntley married Charles Smith and had two daughters. One was Carol Hall who married a dentist and lived in Hollis, Queens.

• Allean married James Steele and they had one daughter- Vivian Steele Cox. They lived on the prestigious Convent Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

• Ola Huntley attended Lincoln Academy in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.  She met Charles H. Flowers, Sr. at the school. Each received their certificates for teaching and married in 1917. They had one child Dr. Charles Herbert Flowers, Jr. The Huntleys would go on to teach at the high schools in Anson County including White Pond Elementary School and Gatewood Station Elementary School. Charles also worked as an Insurance Agent for the pioneering and the highly successful African American North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. The Flowers were church-going people and became members of the Gatewood Station Elementary School. Their son Charles, Jr. became a Tuskegee Airman and ultimately a Flight Instructor. Ola like her grandparents would be instrumental in building a church cemetery.

• Lester and Ella Huntley were married; they had no children.

• Joseph Paul (J.P.) was a bit of a musical prodigy and could often be found playing the piano and his wife Penny had one son Stacy. J.P. . He moved to New York in 1931. Like most relocated Brewers, he loved his cousins and frequently visited them. Son Stacy married and had two children: Len and Sam Huntley.

• Leroy affectionately called Roy was married to Rose Huntley. They also lived in Queens. For many years, Roy was a highly respected deacon at the Calvary Baptist Church.  He had one son Attorney Ronald Huntley, Sr.

• Robert married Leona Bynum and had one son. They lived in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Source: Poole, Dorothy. Training the Best: Charles Herbert Flowers, Jr. Tuskegee Airman Flight Instructor (Robnor Publishing, LLC. Washington, D.C.) and personal remembrances from Bea Nivens.