Quasheba

She wrote “Quasheba, Quasheba,” about her biological father’s original New World ancestor, an enslaved Ghanaian woman who was transported to Grenada.

One song focuses on Polly Ann, the wife of the steel driving folk hero John Henry, while “Quasheba, Quasheba” is about Russell’s African ancestor who was bought as a slave.

Quasheba, Quasheba came to Russell late at night near the end of recording.

In former times, the negroes were generally known by the names of “Sambo,” “Pompey,” “Quashy,” “Quasheba,” &c., &c., but those days have long ago passed.

Old Quasheba and Betty Madge had each borne fifteen children, and sixteen other women had borne from six to eleven each.