The Robert and Emiline Brewer Family Website

Effie Brewer was the twin of Isaiah and the sixth child of Robert and Emiline. Her parents gave her the middle name of Taliaferro after Booker T. Washington who they must have highly respected. By doing so, they made a statement about their expectations for their beloved child. True to their hopes and dreams, she would be no ordinary Black child. She would rise above adversity to make her mark as a significant contributor to her community. At her funeral, both whites and Blacks came to pay tribute to her. 

Effie met and married William Nivens of Wadesboro, Anson County. She saw his ambition and drive, which made her fall in love with him. He was her perfect mate. Perhaps, she saw a little of her father Robert in him, too.

After they married, Effie would have to leave her beloved parents in Pageland and move fifteen minutes away to Monroe, North Carolina.  Soon after the wedding day, the Nivens family began prospering. William was a great provider, offering Effie a lifestyle that she had been accustomed to living. The couple had seven children: Victor, Beatryce, Vander, Bertha, Blanche, Thomas and Walter.

The very bright William Martin Nivens became an inventor (click to see his “Nivens’ Cotton Chopper”). His invention was patented in 1925. If you can imagine, he probably went through many trials and tribulations as a Black man trying to obtain a patent during that time period. But he persevered. He triumphed and  finally achieved his goal. Hats off to a Black man who fought to get his due and succeeded.

William Nivens was a very successful African American in his town. Effie was a housewife who took care of the Nivens children. But she was so much more. He was a leader and she was right by his side. 

The couple bought a lot of property in Monroe and built row or shotgun houses that became rental property for them. They truly cared about their renters. Even when one of the rental houses caught fire, Thomas J. Nivens risked his life to put it out.

Effie had a strong sense of herself, and this attribute was learned from her parents. She had seen her father fight the KKK and never backed down when faced with imminent danger. She believed in social justice and would fight to the end to see that it was accomplished. She was truly her father and mother’s daughter. She was not a pushover. She passed this fighting spirit to her children who gallantly took up the mantle.

Effie and William Martin were subjected to segregation and Jim Crow in life and even in death. When they died, their family had no choice but to bury them in the Negro cemetery in Monroe. To right this wrong, Effie’s son Thomas had his parents moved to the integrated cemetery in the 1970s. Rest in Peace…Effie and William. RIP. Submitted by Beatryce Nivens