Dicey Langston’s Salt Cellar – A Connection to History

Shortly after I released the book on Dicey Langston, a man named Brent Collinson of Atlanta contacted me. He’s a fellow-descendant of Dicey & Thomas Springfield (we’re 5th cousins). Passed down through his family is a crystal salt cellar which is said to have belonged to Dicey Langston Springfield. Because Brent had no one he could pass on this valuable keepsake, he graciously decided he’d like to gift it to me with the stipulation that I either “keep it in the family” or eventually place it in a Dicey Langston museum.  As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity!

On September 12, 2006, while in Atlanta, I stopped by to visit this kind gentleman. Brent also owns a dry point picture of Dicey and Thomas’ homestead. While visiting with Brent, he decided to call the original artist, Darell Koons, to learn the story on the piece. Mr. Koons, then in his 80’s, graciously obliged. It seems a woman came to him in 1969 with a photo of the Thomas Springfield home, which burned down in the 1930’s, and commissioned him to create a dry point of it. Mr. Koons made 45 prints of which Brent’s is one. He allowed me to take a photo of it, and you can view it along with pictures of the salt cellar in this post.

I don’t know what Brent Collinson thought of me, but I left his home feeling as if I’d made a dear friend. There is a connection that family brings – something indescribable, eternal, and binding. I have had the opportunity to meet and speak with more Dicey Langston descendants than most people have, and I must say that I have loved every one of them. They are kind-hearted, giving and loving people. Perhaps they all carry a piece of Dicey in their hearts.

Note: since the time of my visit with Brent Collinson, the salt cellar has spent some time in the Upcountry Museum in South Carolina.