Category: Phillips/Smith

Unlocking the Mystery of Joseph ‘AKA’ Young Smith’s Mother

My niece and I’d recently documented that Thomas Merimee of Nelson County, Kentucky was the father our 4th and 3rd great grandfather Joseph Smith who went by Young Smith. We are now on the quest to find Joseph’s mother. Was she the female slave between the ages of 10 and 23 who was listed on the 1830 and 1840 census in Thomas Merimee’s household? If she was Joseph’s mother, where was Joseph? The only slave listed in Thomas Merimee’s household for both the 1830 Jefferson County, KY and 1840 Nelson County, KY census was a female slave between the ages 10-23.

By 1850 Thomas Merimee had 4 slaves: a 25-year-old male; a 20-year-old female; 2 girls, ages 4 and 2; and a 2-month male child. The female slave who we theorized to have been Joseph’s mother was not seemingly among this group of slaves in Thomas’ household. Was the 25-year-old male Joseph? If so, in whose household had he been in 1840? According to Iberia Parish, Louisiana census records, Joseph Smith was born in 1835. Which means that he should have been included on the 1840 Kentucky slave schedule if not also on the 1830 schedule.

So, Joseph seemingly was not counted in Thomas Merimee’s household. Perhaps the female slave in Thomas’ home was not Joseph’s mother. Thomas Merimee and Maria Eliza Gardiner were married 1825 in Nelson County. Maria Eliza Gardiner’s family had lived since the 1700s in Maryland. Names on her family tree included: Clements, Edelin, Elder, Spaulding, Boone, Hamilton and Coomes. Could that young female slave have been a wedding gift? Who were her people? Did her relatives live in Nelson County, KY or in a neighboring county?

Map of Kentucky CountiesI searched in Ancestry for DNA relatives that lived in counties neighboring Nelson County. I found 6 DNA profiles, some who had family trees for people that lived in Marion County, KY. Four of those DNA 4 profiles belonged to people who were 1st and 2nd cousins to one another and included a father and daughter. These 4 profiles had shared DNA with my mother and also with 2 other direct descendants of Joseph Smith. One surname included in the family trees of 3 of the 4 DNA profiles was ‘Young’. Another surname that was included in the family trees of 3 of the 4 DNA matches was O’Daniel.

Four of the 6 DNA profiles that matched my mother and other Joseph Smith descendants have Alex O’Daniel who was born about 1838 at the top of their family tree. Three of the 4 have Robert Young, born about 1850, at the top of their family tree.

Two of the 6 Marion County, KY DNA profiles, don’t have family trees attached. Both DNA-profiled people are 2nd cousins to the previously identified 4 profiles that have O’Daniel-Young family members. I was able to make a partial family trees for both women using their profile names, obituaries and newspaper articles. The 2 women grew up in Marion County, Kentucky.

An interesting thing about the 2 DNA profiles is that they share DNA with my mother, the other Marion County, KY profiles and many more direct Joseph Smith descendants than the other 4 profiles. The 2 additionally share DNA with a key DNA match for whom we have been attempting to connect to our Smith-Phillips tree since 2015. This key profile person shares DNA with my mother and with her Merimee descendant cousins and a select group of Joseph Smith descendants. That select group of descendants have a family tree that includes Philip Eglin. Philip’s family traces back to Maryland. And although the family name in Louisiana was always written as Eglin, I think the original name may have been Edelin or Edelen instead.

And because I always look for patterns within patterns inside of patterns, I looked for Edelins that lived in Marion County 1830-1860s. I found a Leonard Edelen born about 1801 in Kentucky. He had 3 slaves in 1840 and 6 slaves in 1850. He died about 1865 in Lebanon, Marion County, KY. I found his son Leonard Edelin (sp) living in Rolling Fork, Casey County, KY in 1870. Casey County borders Marion County to the south. Listed in Leonard Edelin Jr.’s household was 50-year-old Catherine Young, sixteen-year-old Joseph Young and twenty-five-year-old Coulter W Young. In the next household was Robert Young, his wife Mary, and children: Catherine, Hannah and Alice D. Robert Young is the man at the top of 3 of the 4 matching DNA profiles mentioned above. The race of Robert and all the other Youngs on the page was listed as Black.

Is the Young family from Marion County, Kentucky related to Joseph ‘Young’ Smith mother? Three of the 6 profiles have family trees that include the surname, Young. Four profiles include the surname O’Daniel. The remaining 2 profiles do not include a family tree, but the tree that I sussed-out so far does not include either Young or O’Daniel. None of the 6 profiles seem to share DNA with Merimee profiles.

So, this group of 6 from Marion County, Kentucky is my base camp for looking for Joseph ‘Young’ Smith’s mother. These 6 profiles match many more Ancestry profiles. I will have to continue and search deeper so see if and how they connect to Jospeh ‘AKA Young’ Smith.

Best,

Tracing Charlotte’s Journey

The earliest record that I’ve found of my 3rd great grandmother, Charlotte Phillips, was an Oct 18,1851 ship manifest. She is listed as a 17-year-old female whose height was 5’ 1” and whose complexion was described as black. She was among 11 slaves, 3 women and 8 men for which Thomas Boudar was recorded as the owner or co-shipper. The manifest included the names of 153 slaves being shipped out of Richmond, Virginia to New Orleans aboard the Barque Virginian under the command of Capt. Nathaniel Boush. Barque, barc or barc were sailing vessels with 3 or more masts, of which all but the one at the stern is rigged with square sails.

Oct 18, 1851 Baroque Virginian Manifest, Charlotte Phillips, Thomas BoudarThe heading on the manifest read: Manifest of slaves intended to be transported…out of burthen Three hundred and nine, and bound from the Port of Richmond, State of Virginia, for the port of New Orleans.  I first found the manifest on Ancestry.com. In 2023, I learned of a database hosted by Rice University accessible at slavevoyages.org. I found Charlotte Phillips’ name listed on a manifest. Per the slave voyages database, Charlotte did not ship out of Richmond on Oct 18, but instead on Oct 22. Additional information was that the ship arrived in New Orleans on Nov. 11, 1851. This meant that Charlotte was aboard the Barque Virginian for 19 days. Where had she been between Oct 18 and 22?

Research on Thomas Boudar revealed that he and Bacon Tait were partners. Bacon Tait owned perhaps as many as 2 slave jails in the Shockoe Bottom district of Richmond, VA near 15th and Cary Street from about 1834-1851. Other operators of slave jails were Silas Omohundro, George Apperson and Robert Lumpkin whose area on Wall Street, now 14th Street was referenced as ‘the devil’s half acre’. The jails housed 30-40 slaves who were waiting to be auctioned and also functioned as boarding houses for out-of-state traders and plantation owners. Lumpkins jails were also known as breeding houses. I have not found any information that indicates if Charlotte was held in one the slave jails while in Richmond or if she was held aboard the Virginian the 3 days before it sailed. I found in the Chronicling America news database an ad that ran in the Richmond Daily Times, that may explain the 3-day delay in Charlotte’s departure from Richmond. See the ad below.

Richmond Daily Times, October 22, 1851

For New Orleans. Virginia and Louisiana line of packets between Richmond and New Orleans.

The following vessels compose this line, are all of the first class, with handsome state room accommodations, viz:
Barque Cyane Capt. Jesse Loveland
Barque Virginian Capt. Nathaniel Bousch
Barque —, new Capt. Hiram Horton

The above vessels are all of the first class, were built expressly for the trade between this city and New Orleans, and commanded by men of long experience, who will use every exertion to give satisfaction. For freight or passage, apply to Captains on board, to
David Currie, Haskins & Libby, or Chas. T. Wortham & Co

Richmond Daily Times, October 22, 1851 obtained from Chronicling America

All 153 slaves reportedly made the voyage to New Orleans. Among them were 2 slaves of interest: Susan Kent and Davy Bush. Interest in Susan Kent because her last name suggests she may have been a relative of Charlotte’s and Davy Bush because I was able to locate him alive in Louisiana on the 1870 and 1880 census.

Charlotte and family most likely lived in what was then St. Mary Parish. Iberia Parish was not created until 1870 from land taken from St. Martin and St. Mary Parishes. Union soldiers had arrived by 1863 to this part of Louisiana. A number of plantation owners fled to Texas with their family and their slaves. The Patout, Weeks, Brashier and Wilson-Huff families were among those who fled and hired out slave in Texas towns of Marshall, Brenham, Huntsville, Navasota, and in Texas counties: Falls, Fort Bend, Harris, Freestone, Smith and Walker. Several Civil War skirmishes were fought in St. Mary Parish. Cannon balls landed in sugar cane and cotton fields where slaves were working. Numbers of slaves followed the Union soldiers all the way to Morgan City and New Orleans and were called contraband. Some freedmen enlisted and served in the US Colored Infantry. A number were killed in 1863 on the Teche Bridge in New Iberia by Confederate soldiers while Union troops looked on. A large measle epidemic broke out in 1864 and there was a devasting flood or overflow as it was called in 1867 that wiped out crops for large numbers of families. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided provisions of pork, corn meal and molasses to those who suffered devastating losses, both Black and White. Were Charlotte and family impacted by these events? I have not found their names among those who applied for assistance. I do not know with certainty whose plantation Charlotte and Young lived or where they lived prior to 1870. I have not found marriage or death records for their older children; Maria, Eliza, Ida and Lincoln so I can not say where they were born. Luvenia death certificate indicates that she was born in St. Landry Parish, but I have not been able to verify that.

The next record of Charlotte is the 1870 Iberia Parish census. She is listed with 36 year-old Joe Smith and children Maria 16, Eliza 12, Ida 10, Lincoln 5, Lavinia 2, Addison 1 and Ella 4 months. Charlotte’s age is recorded as 35 and her birthplace as Maryland. Neither she or Joe could read or write. Their older school-aged children could read but not write. Joe’s occupation is listed as farm laborer and he had $100 in personal property which could be livestock, wagons or farm equipment. Charlotte’s occupation was recorded as ‘keeping house’.

Charlotte is next recorded on the 1872 purchase of 7 ½ arpents of land in Iberia Parish with ‘Young’ Smith from Lassolin Bonin and wife Cecilia Broussard. Her name is recorded as Charlotte Patout. My niece Latrice and I have puzzled over why her last name was as written Patout and have theorized that Charlotte and/or Joseph aka ‘Young’ were slaves on the Simeon Patout and Appoline Fournier family plantations. The Patouts had plantations in St Mary (now Iberia), Iberville and Assumption Parish. The Henry Wagner family was listed in the household next to Charlotte and Henry was a known slave of Simeon Patout. The Patout family was in fact located 4 pages away from Charlotte and family in 1870. The land purchased by Charlotte and Young was located on the west side of Grand Marais in a place called Isle Piquant (which means prickly or sharp, now known as Patoutville) and was bordered by property owned by Stephen Jenkins, Appoline Patout, Lassolin Bonin and John Baptist Davis (Adelaide Bonin).

Charlotte’s oldest child Maria was born in 1854 which meshes with Charlotte arriving in Louisiana in 1851. 1 year old Addison was Charlotte’s grandson and not her son–his mother was Mariah Smith. The next info on Charlotte is the July 15, 1878 marriage record of Charlotte Prichart and Young Smith. Why was her last name recorded as Pritchard and not Phillips or Patout? The witnesses were listed as Amos Rolison, Barney Thompson and Sidney Rollison, the minister as Rev T. Gates. I looked for a long time for Amos and Sidney Rolison and Barney Thompson before I discovered a Sidney and Emos Robertson living in Patoutville on the 1880 census. Perhaps the parish clerk PH Segura wrote the last names as he heard them spoken and as he thought they were spelled and may that explains the last name recorded for Charlotte.

I could not find Charlotte, Joseph or any of their children on the 1880 census. I know that Lincoln Smith and Lizzie Porter Jacobs had 2 children Charlotte Smith Jacobs Paul Lovette in 1885 and David Lincoln Smith in 1892 through the info on death and probate records. By 1880 the family would have been living in their newly acquired home which by all descriptions was in the middle of the Patout family sugar cane fields. Maybe the census takers did not count the family because they did not walk far enough down the road.

Charlotte was last recorded on the 1900 Iberia Parish census with husband Joseph Smith, and daughters Amelia 19 and Cora 15 and married son Oliver Smith 21. Included in their household were Eliza’s son Matthew Smith Schaffer, Amelia’s son Clarence Smith and Cora’s daughter Agnes. Charlotte had a daughter named Charlotte who with husband Thornton Tibbs were listed a few households away on the same census page. Charlotte was 70 years old, had given birth to 15 children of which 9 were still living. Using information from death certificates, census records, and the 1969 sale of the family farm, I have only been able to account for 12 children. According to census information, she and Joseph had been married for 35 years. Per census data, Joseph owned his farm, mortgage free. Amelia, Cora, Oliver and Matthew were farm laborers working either on the family farm or some other farm.

Charlotte’s daughters, Luvenia and Sarah were living in New Orleans at the time of the 1900 Census. Charlotte’s daughter Ella was married and was living with her husband Thomas Johnson in Patoutville. Luvenia and Ella would both later move to Lake Charles, LA with their families and were listed living in Lake Charles for the 1910, 1920 1930 and 1940 census. Sarah Smith, husband William Davis Sr and son lived in St Mary and Iberia Parish from 1910 until Sarah’s death in 1939. Amelia and Oliver Jenkins had at least 9 children together and lived in Iberia Parish. I don’t know if they lived on the 7-acre homestead of Charlotte and Joseph.

I have not been able to find out who lived in the house between 1910 and 1930 as I have not been able to find Amelia and Oliver for census years 1910 and 1920. Charlotte died March 12, 1913 in Lake Charles, LA and was buried in Tab Nicole Cemetery (most likely Tabernacle Cemetery on Pear and Griffin Street off Prater Road). Her death certificate listed her parents as Joseph Phillips and Charity. The informant was her son-in-law, husband of Luvenia Smith, James A Perkins. Parent names are often omitted or left blank on death certificates for formerly enslaved people. The names of Charlotte’s parents were vital in connecting her to her Calvert County, MD family.

Zion Tabernacle Cemetery-Pear and Griffin Street, Lake Charles, LouisianaI wonder what stories Charlotte may have told her family about her life in Maryland. I imagine that she must have spoken about the family that she left behind, at least about her father and her daughter Charity, because those names were recorded on her death certificate. I would later figure out that Joseph Phillips was her father and Charity was her daughter. The informant had the information partially correct, but provided just enough to help us connect Charlotte to her long left-behind Calvert County, Maryland family.

Once I knew that Charlotte last name had been Phillips, I started looking closely at my mother’s DNA matches in Ancestry.com. Three profiles were key to making that connection—the profile of Cora G who was my mother half 2nd cousin, 1x removed or 3rd cousin. The others were Destinysmom12 and beulah. Destinysmom12 was also a half 2nd cousins 1x removed or 3rd cousin. Beulah was a 3rd cousin 1x removed. As an additional bonus, I discovered Cora’s DNA in Gedmatch.com. Cora and my mother matched each other 106cM on 8 DNA segments. Two of those segments were on chromosome 23 suggesting that the common ancestor was female. I looked at Cora’s partial tree in Ancestry and found Hester Watts on the 1910 census, with husband Virgin Watts and children whose last name was Jefferson. Looking back to 1900 I found a widowed Hester Jefferson. When I looked back to 1870, I found Hester counted twice-once as Hester Fawney with parents Eliza and Major Fawney and siblings. On that same page was 74-year-old Hester Phillips and in her household was 36 year old Joseph Phillips, 22 year old Charity Phillips, 1 year old George Phillips and 14 year-old Joseph Tawney. So, there was Charlotte’s family, all on one page in 1870.  

Young Hester was recorded a second time on the 1870 census was as Hester Tawney, age 4 with her parents Eliza and Major and siblings. In the household preceding theirs was Rhody and William Peter Kent. 2 households away was 18-year-old Robert Jefferson, whom she would later marry. I found a 36-year-old man named Peter Phillips living in close proximity to Joseph Phillips Jr and Eliza Torney. Peter was Charlotte’s older brother. His death certificate as well as that of Eliza and Joseph Phillips Jr all listed their father as Joseph Phillips.

I have not been able to find any information about Joseph Phillips Sr or about Hester Phillips born about 1796. The Calvert County courthouse records were destroyed in a number of fires including one in 1882. So, there are no marriage, probate, death or deed records to document Charlotte or her family.

While I can’t say with 100% certainty, I believe that Charlotte and family were slaves on James Laveille Sr’s farm. James Laveille died 1857 and shortly afterwards his daughter Rebecca married Basil Sewell Dixon in Baltimore. Basil freed 4 slaves in 1863 so that they could serve in the Union army during the Civil War. He attested that he became possessed of Peter Kent, Thomas Torney, Samuel Key by marriage in September 1858. Thomas Torney died of typhoid fever in 1864 before leaving Maryland. His widow Anna Maria Green applied for his pension and described knowing Peter Kent at the time of her marriage to Thomas. She further testified that Peter Kent and Thomas Torney were cousins.

And while I don’t have any probate or deed records to prove that Charlotte’s family were enslaved by James Laveille Sr., the fact that Charlotte’s sister Eliza Phillips married Major Torney and that Basil Dixon is listed on the 1870 and 1880 US Census in very close proximity to Eliza and Major Torney as well as Joseph Phillips Jr. suggests that Dixon may have inherited Charlotte’s family by way of marriage to Rebecca Laveille after Charlotte was sold away. Basil Dixon owned 6 slaves in 1840, 14 in 1850 and 49 in 1860. None of his slaves were old enough to be Charlotte’s parents. By contrast, James Laveille owned 16 slaves in 1820, 19 slaves in 1840 and 30 in 1850. Some of these slaves were in the right age-range to have been Charlotte’s parents. The Laveille family had been in Maryland since the 1700s.

The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane, Leanna Williams
Charlotte’s great granddaughter Leanna Williams wrote, “The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane” in 2000 as a part of her church, New Canaan Missionary Baptist Church’s celebration of Texas/Louisiana Day celebration. The book was published in 2006. Leanna described the property so vividly that I could almost see it—a front yard filled with what she named ‘happy foods’; tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe and corn. Happy foods because they could be eaten with asking permission. She wrote that the property and was filled with the aroma from orange, plum and cedar trees. The house was unpainted and had a tin roof, wooden shutters and a fireplace that served the kitchen/living room and the bedroom. The house had back porch and Louisiana styled front porch with 2 entrances to the front of the home. From Leanna’s writing it clear that the trees were most likely planted before her father Livingston Jenkins moved into it in the mid 1930s. I like to think that Charlotte and Joseph aka Young or their children under the direction of Charlotte or Joseph, planted those trees with plans for feeding and nurturing themselves, their children and children’s children.

See a rendering of Charlotte and Joseph’s house as created by Latrice N. at

Video: The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZYGdVZejPQ

Best,

When the Person You Find Isn’t the Person For Whom You Were Looking

Ella Louise Smith Johnson was born March 1, 1870, in Patoutville, Iberia Parish, Louisiana. She was the sixth child of Charlotte Phillips and Joseph ‘Young’ Smith, my 4th great-grandparents. She was my 3rd great grandaunt. Ella and husband Thomas Johnson were listed on the 1900 Iberia Parish federal census with sons: Foote 12, Edward 10, Albert 9 and Joseph 8. Everyone in the household could all read and write. Thomas was employed as a day laborer. By 1910, Ella was recorded on the U.S. Census living in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana with three sons: Lincoln 22, Edward 20 and Albert 18. Most likely, Lincoln was the son named Foote on the 1900 census. Census details depicted Ella as a thirty-nine-year-old married woman who had given birth to 4 children who all were still living. Her husband Thomas and youngest son Joseph were not listed in the household–I have not found either man on any 1910 census roll. Ella and son Edward were still living together in Calcasieu Parish at the time of the 1920 census. Ella was then listed as a widow. Included in her household was a twenty-seven-year-old married male whose first name was recorded as ‘Johnson’, his wife Blanch 22 and 4-year-old daughter Ella. The twenty-seven-year-old male was most likely Joseph Johnson. I later found Joseph’s WWI draft registration form which indicated that he lived in Calcasieu Parish and was a married man with 1 child. I was initially unable to definitively find Lincoln or Albert Johnson in 1920. Ella and Edward continued to live with one another and were recorded together on the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census in Calcasieu Parish. Edward served in WWI in the 522nd Engrs Battalion, Company B. He sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey to Brest, France on August 30, 1918, on the Susquehanna. His mother was listed Ella Johnson, living in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He left France June 3, 1919, and arrived in Newport News, VA on June 11, 1919. Information on Ella’s 1949 death certificate provided her parents’ names as Joseph Smith, born in Frankfort, KY and Charlotte Smith. She was buried in East Side Cemetery. The informant was A. L. Johnson. Joseph Johnson was a little hard to trace because there were a number of men born about the same time with the same name. I was ultimately able to positively identify Joseph through his World War II draft registration form which listed his nearest relative as Blanche Johnson and his place of residence as Port Arthur, Texas. Once I knew that Joseph lived in Port Arthur, I was able to find he and Blanche listed in multiple Port Arthur city directories. I then found Joseph’s 1963 death certificate. His parents were reported as Thomas Johnson and Ella Louise Smith. The informant once again was A. L. Johnson. I theorized that A. L. Johnson was Foote and also referenced as Lincoln Johnson. I theorized that his name was probably Abraham Lincoln Johnson. I searched U.S. Census rolls for Abram or Abraham or Lincoln Johnson. I changed Foote’s name to Abraham Lincoln on my Ancestry tree and just like that, a leaf appeared. Abraham Lincoln Johnson appeared on family trees for several Ancestry.com users. Many of those trees had a Find-A-Grave link to an Abraham Lincoln Johnson who had died in 1964 in Galveston, Texas. Included on the Find-A-Grave listing was the name of Abraham’s wife Serena Washington and 2 children: Lloyd Johnson and Fabeola Johnson as well as a copy of his death certificate. His parents were recorded as Tom Johnson and Ella Smith and his birthplace as Jeanerette, Louisiana. A.L. Johnson was reported to have been a forty-two-year Galveston resident. The informant was Della Johnson. A.L. Johnson was buried in Mainland Cemetery. So, I now had information on A.L. aka ‘Foote’ or Lincoln Johnson and the names of 2 children. I researched backwards to find Lloyd and Fabeola Johnson with a mother named Serena living in Galveston, Texas. I found both children with a mother named Serena and a father named Abraham on the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census. The family lived in Beaumont, and not Galveston. In any case, I added Fabeola, Lloyd and siblings to my Smith family tree. There were stories about their marriages, deaths, etc. in Newspapers.com. I continued to run across many more family trees that included descendants of Abraham Johnson and Serena Washington. Every time I found a new tree I’d check to see in the profiled person was a DNA match to my mother and every time I was disappointed. This went on for 2 or 3 years–finding trees with Abraham Johnson and Serena descendants but none were DNA matches to my family. In the intervening years I’d obtained death certificates for Ella’s sister Louvenia Smith Perkins and their mother Charlotte Phillips Smith as well as a 1972 death record for Ella’s son Edward Johnson. Charlotte died March 12, 1913, in Lake Charles and was buried in Tab Nicole Cemetery. My niece later correctly identified the cemetery as Tabernacle (now known as Zion Tabernacle Cemetery). The informant on Charlotte death certificate was J. A. Perkins (her son-in-law and husband of Louvena). Louvena (Lavina) was born about 1868 and had also lived in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana from 1910 until her death in 1947. Louvena was buried in Pryce Cemetery. The informant was her daughter Effie Perkins. Quite recently I found the obit of James A Perkins. His daughter Effie Perkins Lewis was mentioned, as was Louvena’s daughter Priscilla Marshall Williams of Chicago. James was a member of Old Emmanual Baptist Church and was buried in the adjoining cemetery. My niece Latrice and I researched the locations of and the current names of the above-mentioned cemeteries in Lake Charles. I decided to drive to Lake Charles to visit the cemeteries and perhaps find headstones with the names of family members. I’d telephone the Old Emmanuel Baptist Church in hopes obtaining information related to Louvena and/or James Perkins. The phone number listed on the internet for the church was a non-working number, so I decided to just drive to Lake Charles to see what I could see. Well, I started for Lake Charles from Houston on what seemed a little overcast, but okay day. By the time I reached Beaumont, I’d begun to think about turning around. But you know that I didn’t. I continued driving. I was near Orange, TX and finally decided to pull off the road and wait for the thunderstorm to pass. An hour and half later, I was back on the road. I was close behind the storm, but I was, behind it. When I arrived in Lake Charles the ground was a little damp, but the sky was a beautiful blue. I drove to Old Emmanuel Baptist Church on 1200 N. Prater Street at See St. The church was a total wreck–it had been damaged by Tropical Storm Claudette in 2021. That explained why the phone number was no longer working. There was no one around to ask questions, so I walked the adjoining cemetery grounds. There were a number of headstones with the last name of Johnson, but not Edward Johnson. I found James A Perkins on the 3rd or 4th row nearest to the church. I did not any other names of interest. I next drove to Zion Tabernacle Cemetery located at 1304 Pear Street. The cemetery is a very short walk from Old Emmanual Baptist Church and is located off N. Prater and Griffin St. Because of how close the 2 locations are, I think that 2 cemeteries and church may have at one time served a united congregation. Charlotte Phillips Smith was most likely buried here. The cemetery covers almost a full city block. The grass had been freshly cut and the graveyard was free of debris and weeds. But the brick vaults are in bad shape and few headstone markings are legible. I feel Charlotte is here!! I just don’t know where. I wanted to go to Eastside Cemetery, which I think is the new name for Pryce Cemetery. Both Louvena Smith Marshall Perkins and Ella Smith Johnson are buried there. I’d researched the cemeteries online and have not seen headstones for either woman. I had almost 2 hours less research time left because of the earlier storm delay. So, I opted to go the courthouse to look up deed, marriage and probate records. In less than 15 minutes I found a 1924 deed recording the sale of land to Ella Johnson, born Smith, widow of Tom Johnson, by Mr. John L. Wasey. Lots 13 and 14in Sec 34 of the Joseph Lawrence Ryan Subdivision were conveyed to Ella for $1250 on October 13, 1924. I found a marriage record for Abraham Lincoln Johnson and Cerena Washington. Per the marriage certificate, Abraham was born in Jennings, Louisiana and his father was Vaurillya Johnson. This did not fit! My Abraham Lincoln Johnson’s father’s name was known to be Thomas Johnson. My Abraham Johnson was born in Jeanerette–I had a death certificate that correctly stated so. I drove back home and took another look at the Abraham and Cerena Washington family that was recorded on the U.S. Census in Beaumont for 1920 and 1930. After 1930 Cerena is no longer listed in a household with Abraham. Perhaps there were 2 men who lived in Calcasieu Parish named Abraham Lincoln Johnson–one who married Cerena and had children named Floyd and Fabeola in Beaumont and another who lived in Galveston for forty-two years and knew someone named Della. Who was Della? Finding out who Della was provided the answer to my question. I found a 1953 Galveston City Directory listing for a Della C and Abram L Johnson who lived at 1217 Avenue M. I searched earlier Galveston City directories and found a 1924 listing for Abraham L Johnson, (c colored) and Claudine living at 1512 34th Street as well as a listing in 1928 of Claudine and Abr L (transcribed by Ancestry as Afar L) Johnson. I next searched the 1920U.S. Census for Claudine Johnson and found a record for a nineteen-year-old Claudine Johnson and thirty-year-old Abron (sp) Johnson who worked at a cotton press. I later found a marriage record for Claudine Vincent and Abram L. Johnson dated May 14, 1919. I next found that someone named Abram Lincoln Johnson had married Mrs. Lucy Nichols on November 21, 1928. I found Abram and Lucy on the 1930 U.S. Census living in Galveston as well as twenty-nine-year-old Claudine Vincent. Claudine’s marital status was divorced. I have not yet found Abram on the 1940 census. I did find Abram L Johnson and Della on the 1950 U.S. Census living at 1217 Avenue M. Abram worked as a cotton stenciller at a cotton compress and Della as a ‘Telephone Girl’ for a plumber. I have not found a marriage record Abraham and Della, but I have learned that she had been previously married to L.D. Canada, hence the middle initial of C included on the 1953 Galveston city directory. Her maiden-name was Sledge. So, I went back to see what became of Cerena’s husband Abraham Johnson. I found his April 15, 1952, death certificate. Per the death certificate, he was married, lived at 546 Niecy Street in Beaumont and was buried in Blanchett Cemetery. The informant was Ivan V Garlow, a descendant of Serena Washington Johnson.  So, I’d found an Abraham Lincoln Johnson. A man whose family tree is easily traceable and has many branches. There are newspaper stories and several photographs of this Abraham Lincoln Johnson’s descendants. Unfortunately, this is not my Abraham or Abram Lincoln Johnson. I have not found that my Abraham ever had any children. His brother Edward died in Lake Charles in 1972. I found his probate at the courthouse. Edward was apparently married once, but his wife died while young and they had no children. Joseph Johnson and wife Blanche appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census with their daughter Ella. I have found a Blanche listed with a Joseph Johnson in Port Arthur, Texas city directories for 1931, 1933, 1933 and 1947. But I have not found a Blanche Johnson living in Port Arthur, TX without Joseph Johnson for any census after 1920. Similarly, I cannot find Joseph’s daughter Ella. When searching for a marriage record for Joseph Johnson and Blanche I keep getting leaves that pop up on my Ancestry.com family tree regarding a 1923 marriage in Manhattan, New York for Joseph Johnson and Blanch Curtis. I am quite sure this Joseph Johnson is not my Joseph! My last hope of finding a descendant of Ella Louise Smith and Thomas Johnson is with their son Albert Johnson who was born about May 1891 and last listed with the family on the 1900 Iberia Parish Census. I have temporarily included an Albert Johnson on who married Eva Woods and lived in Lake Charles Arthur at the time of the 1920 and 1930 census. He was listed in the 1917 Lake Charles city directory and on the 1940 U.S. Census living in Arizona. I have not yet found a death certificate for Albert to indicate the names of his parents. So, I’ll keep looking to see if this Albert Johnson causes any leaves to pop up on my family tree that lead to profiles with DNA matches to my mother! Or perhaps Joseph Johnson and Blanch Curtis in Manhattan are actually my Joseph and Blanch! Who knows? Best,

Have We Met Before? Unknown Kinship Crossings!

I began genealogy research in 2000 starting with my husband’s ancestral roots in Matagorda and Wharton County, Texas.  I quickly found that the Rivers branch of his family tree included a man born about 1840 by the name of Juan Rios.  Juan and freed slave Eliza Moore had several children, who were born in either Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas or Matamoras, Mexico and were recorded on the 1860 U.S. Census living in Brownsville.  Charlie Rivers and his siblings, Emily, Archie, Ben, Victor, John and Angela were listed on the 1870 Cameron County, U.S. Census with their mother Eliza Moore.  Juan was not included in their household and or any 1870 U.S. Census record.

I wondered what had become of Juan.  Charles Rivers was reported to have always told stories about his father being a Spanish soldier.  So, I kept looking for Juan.  I found him listed on the 1880 Cameron County, Texas census.  He was listed as a ‘laborer’ on both the 1860 and 1880 U.S. Censuses.  I have not yet found Juan on any census listing for 1900 but he was counted again on the 1910 Census in Brownsville.  He was listed as a 76-year-old laborer and widower who worked odd jobs.  I obtained Juan Rios’ death certificate.  His son, Leonides Rios, was the informant for the death certificate information.  He provided the names of Juan’s parents as Pedro Rios and Angela Lasas.  He also reported Juan’s occupation as “retired soldier”.  Juan’s military service appears to have been a highlight in his life.  So much so that both sons, Leonides and Charlie, recounted his service when asked about him.

I obtained Juan’s Civil War pension application and discovered that there was a big controversy in substantiating Juan’s military service.  Two men, both named Juan Rios, filed pension applications.  Both men claimed to have enlisted while living in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.  One of the men reported that he had been shipped to Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana where he fought in a couple of skirmishes.  This was quite interesting because my ancestral roots are in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.  I joked with my then husband that maybe our ancestors had crossed paths way back then!!  This Juan was later determined to have perhaps been an imposter whose actual name was Nabor Rios.  Nabor’s family contested his story and said that he had never served in the military.  The other man was deemed the true Juan Rios.  His testimony was that he’d served as a scout for the Union troops in the Brownsville area and that he had never left Texas while in the Army.  So, it seemed that my husband’s and my Louisiana family’s paths had not crossed.

I continued researching my husband’s family tree for the next fifteen years.  In 2015 I began to focus on my own Louisiana familial roots.  I joked that my husband’s Texas family and my Louisiana family might turn out to be related in some way or another through some distant shared kin.  I still had the story about Nabor Rios on my mind.

I’ve recounted in my blog, how I stumbled on my Morgan-Gibson-Riggs roots on John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Parish, Louisiana probate and my Guy-Jenkins roots on David Weeks’ 1835 and 1846 St Mary Parish succession records.  Research revealed that my Sam and Mima Riggs branches included grandchildren: Moses, William, Charles, Caroline and Sarah Woodlin.  Sam, his son Sam and daughter Anna and her children were freed upon Palfrey’s death by his John Gorham Palfrey.  Sam Riggs, Sr. elected to remain in Louisiana, but his newly freed grandchildren were shipped to Boston.  I found them on the 1850 U.S. Census, living in Ontario County, New York.  Additional research revealed that William P. and his brother Moses Woodlin both served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  I received William P. Woodlin’s pension application and learned that although he enlisted in Pennsylvania’s 8th Regiment, Co. G, his actual service was in Brownsville, Texas.  He recounted in his pension application that he and fellow soldiers marched from Brazos-de-Santiago to Brownsville, Texas.  So, I’d found a Louisiana ancestor, who by way of New York and Pennsylvania had found his way to Texas and may have crossed paths with Juan, Eliza or their children.

My niece Latrice and I visited Calvert County, Maryland in August 2023.  While there we did the usual genealogy research stuff—looked up deed and marriage records and visited cemeteries and churches.  We also received several research leads from Maryland natives: Beverly Foote and her sister Yvonne, David Buck and Michael Kent.  One of those leads helped uncover William “Peter” Kent’s Civil War story.  I am not directly related to Peter, but he was the grand-father-in-law of my 3rd great aunt Charity Gross.  Charity was my 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips’ daughter who she was forced to leave behind in Calvert County, MD.  Seventeen-year-old Charlotte was shipped to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1851 aboard the Baroque Virginian.

I requested and received Peter’s Civil War pension file.  The 100-page document was a very interesting and ‘entertaining’ read.  Peter served in the US Colored Troops, 7th Regiment that was present in several battles: Chaffin Farm, New Market Heights, the fall of Petersburg, Va and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The 7th was later shipped to Indianola, Texas.  Indianola is in Calhoun County, a neighboring county to Matagorda County which is where my former husband’s family lived.  Peter eventually travelled to Matagorda County where he met and later married Rhoda Woodkins.  Albert Gantt testified for Peter’s pension application that he’d known Peter since boyhood and that his cousin Basil Kell had served in the 7th Regiment with Peter and had witnessed Peter’s marriage to Rhoda in October 1865.  Gantt recounted Basil Kell’s story of how both he Basil, and Peter both dated Rhoda and how Basil fell in love with her only to learn that she preferred Peter.  Basil reportedly held a gun on Peter to ensure that he carried through with his marriage to Rhoda.  Yes, a truly entertaining story!  

In any case, Peter and Rhoda were married in St John’s Methodist Church in Matagorda County.  The church is located in the town of Matagorda on a little peninsula in Palacios Bay.  When I read that I thought, ‘hey I visited that church back in 2003’!  My husband’ s 2nd great uncle Anthony Moore’s mother Hester had attended that church and sat in the ‘Colored’ section while a slave.  His 3rd great grandmother Missouri Hayes had lived within blocks of that church until 1889 or so.  I don’t know if she or any of her children attended the church back in the 1860s, but they were definitely in the vicinity.  I also don’t know if Peter was ever on the mainland of Matagorda, but he was in the vicinity. 

Peter Kent and Missouri or her children: Isham, Sherman, Emily or Minnie Hayes may have crossed paths with Peter.  Did they know one another, did they speak to each other or simply nod as they passed one another on the streets of Matagorda? Who knows?

I don’t know why I continue to be surprised as I find instances where family members paths have crossed throughout time.  I would love to know if conversations or friendships, however brief, accompanied those path crossing encounters!  I most likely will never know, but hopefully I’ll makeup a story and write it all out one day! Who knows?

Best,

P.S.

I obtained 75 more pages of Peter Kent’s military pension file and learned more information on his life before and after slavery.  And out of the blue, just because, I got a message from an almost DNA cousin, Shelby Evans.  I say almost cousins because she and my mother don’t share any DNA, but they match people who match each other.  Shelby had obtained the pension file for her Calvert County ancestor who served in the Civil War and found Peter Kent’s name mentioned.  I reviewed Peter’s pension file and noticed that her ancestor was a reference for Peter.  So, she and I swapped pension files and didn’t have to pay the fee and then wait for 4 months.  And while I thought the original story about Peter and Rhoda was crazy, the details in what Shelby provided were ‘chock-full-of-wows’.  Who knew reading pension files could be so interesting??

Genealogy research uncovers so much unknown history.  I learned that many Maryland slaves escaped and/or were taken aboard British ships during the War of 1812.  Some were shipped to Caribbean Islands, some to Canada and others to Liberia.  Who knew?

I learned that approximately 60 other Maryland enslaved men were freed and shipped to Texas during the Civil War.  Peter Kent, Thomas Torney, Samuel Key and John Ross were all freed by Basil S. Dixon to serve in the Civil War.  Dixon received a bounty of $300 for each man that enlisted.  Each man received a ‘premium’ of $2. See Michael Kent’s book, Mulatto: The Black History of Calvert County.

Stallworth’s on My Family Tree?

Stallworth’s on My Family Tree?
That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda.

That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda. A descendant of Flora had included the last name of ‘Tucker’ on their tree for Flora. Her birthplace was recorded as Maryland on some census schedules. She was listed on the 1870-1910 census schedules as a part of the Stallworth family of Monroe County, Alabama. Adding to the mystery was that my mother’s other top 4 matches belonged to: 1 person who lived in the same Louisiana parish as my mother’s family, two others who lived in Calvert County, MD and 1 whose family tree was in Drew County, Arkansas.

Only my tree and the Stallworth tree included anyone from Maryland.

Perplexing right?

Yet, I was certain that that Maryland was the connecting piece of all 6 profiles. As I wrote earlier, I figured out 2 of my mother’s top matches were along the lines of my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips‘ tree through her sister Eliza Phillips Torney. About the same time, I figured out our connection to the Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Provost family profile. The Provost connection was through my 3rd great grandmother’s daughter Maria Smith who I never found after the 1870 census. Mariah’s son Addison Williams was Provost connection. Figuring out those connections took me about 2 years to piece together.

After a great deal of sleuthing around: ordering death certificates, looking up Maryland probates, searching among New York state census schedules and reading Newspaper.com stories, I was able to tie the third tree of Destinysmom12 to that same Calvert County, MD family. That Wright family connection was also through Eliza Phillips Torney, via her son Moses Torney.

So having found out that 4 of the connections were through Maryland, I stayed focused on connecting the Monroe County, Alabama, Stallworths to my known Maryland ancestors.


At my niece, Latrice’s urging, I purchased a 23AndMe DNA test kit. Latrice was on the trail of another vexingly, but close match in Louisiana. But I didn’t immediately ask my mother to take the test. Why not? Who knows! Maybe because 2022 was such a test for me.

Well, in 2023, I had my mother give me her DNA and I mailed it off on the same day. I waited anxiously for the results. As a matter of fact, I was talking to Latrice on the phone when my computer dinged to alert me that I had an e-mail message. And just like in books or the movies, the e-mail alerted me that my 23AndMe DNA analysis had been completed.

Excited was not a strong enough word to describe what I felt. Among my mother’s 23AndMe DNA matches were some people whose DNA was in Ancestry and whom I’d encouraged over the years to place their Ancestry DNA file in various other databases, FamilyTreeDNA and Gedmatch.com, so that we could see what chromosomes, and on which segments we matched. Anyway, I poked around in the new system to figure out how to best use it.

On that very first day I found 2 very interesting DNA profiles that matched my mother’s and both belonged to men!!!!!! One of the men was a descendant of Anderson Stallworth and Flora Matilda ‘Tucker’. When I compared my mother and the male Stallworth descendant, they shared DNA on 2 chromosomes. But here is where I began to scream and dance all around!

That Josephine Stallworth descendant, matched my mother on chromosome 23, beginning at about 113,000 and ending at about 121,000,000 about 11 centimorgans. Eleven of almost anything seems very insignificant, right. But the fact that a male matched my mother on chromosome 23 meant that he had inherited that DNA from his maternal line. I didn’t need to look at or try and figure out his paternal line at all. His last name was Longmire the same as one of my favorite NetFlix series. I quickly figured out his family tree. And there was Josephine Stallworth, daughter of Flora Matilda! I was ‘Happy Dancing’ all over the place now!!

And because good things often come in bunches, this Stallworth descendant also match my mom on another chromosome. He matched her along a segment that began around 21,000,000 and ended at about 41,000,000. My mother had 4 very close family members who also matched on that same chromosome with starting and ending segments also identical to Flora’s male Stallworth descendant. Men inherit maternal DNA from their mother but can not pass it on to any child. This means that most likely Flora Matilda or a female ancestor of hers was closely related to my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips or one of Charlotte’s female ancestors.

I feel that I am writing with just a little hyperbole. But the fact that a male Stallworth descendant’s 23rd chromosome segment match is also almost identical to the segment of 2 of my mother’s female DNA profile matches who lived in Drew County, Arkansas is still amazing to me. At the top of those Drew County, Arkansas trees is a woman named Chaney Fleming and her daughter Rosetta Fleming Goodwin. Both were born in Maryland.

I don’t know if the connection is through 1 or more females who were enslaved in the United States or if the connection goes back to Africa. My mother’s Stallworth matches are here 4th-6th cousins as are her Drew County, Arkansas matches. Interestingly, the Iberia Parish Provost family that matches my mother through her 3rd great grandmother Charlotte’s daughter Mariah, is also a 4th-6th cousin. So, maybe the woman or women that connect our Calvert County, MD, Monroe County, AL and Drew County, Ark families is someone who we can actually find and name.

Since 2015, the number of profile matches with the Stallworth surname and from Drew County, Arkansas has increased tremendously. More family members contributing helps to increase the success of connecting families.

So, I encourage you Stallworth families out there to take a DNA test and be sure to add the name Stallworth or Monroe County, Ala or something to your DNA result so that anyone looking doesn’t have to spend time researching what the connection might be.

As usual, there is always another tree that I am about to start to climb. And that tree has also got a Maryland connection. Henry Dorsey is the connecting person for this new family tree. He was born about 1830 in Washington, DC and shipped to California in the 1840s. Both of his parents’ birthplace was Maryland. His family is the Dorsey, Longrus, Andrews and Eiger families of Yolo County, CA. Henry may have been shipped to California by a ‘Forty Niner’ hoping to strike it rich. Who knows, or better yet, we’ll see!

So, I am still searching among the Stallworth branches for clues to solving our seemingly Maryland connected families and looking forward to starting up the tree. Yolo County, California, here I come!

Best,

Henry Jenkins

Henry Jenkins and Mary Mathieu (Matthews)

Henry Jenkins was my 4th great grandfather. He was born about 1860 and was the youngest child born to Bridget Guy and Robert ‘Bob’ Jenkins. As I’ve written in previous blog posts, it has been difficult to research Henry because I have not been able to find him in the 1880 US census and I have only found 1 marriage record for Henry–his 1898 marriage to Mary Mathieu.

Henry was recorded as the father of several children: Simon Felix, Oliver, Victoria, Louisa, Henry Jr., Matthew, Lloyd, Profit, Clarence, Agnes, Mary and Maviola. He was recorded on the 1900 US census, living in St Mary Parish, Ward 7, with Mary to whom he’d been married 2 years. He was listed as John Jenkins, instead of Henry. Included in their household were: Victoria, 7; Louisa, 5; and Henry, 3.

The 1900 census added the question regarding how many children a woman had given birth to and how many of those children were still living. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine how many children Henry or any man may have fathered. I obtained social security card applications for 2 of Henry’s sons; Simon Felix Jenkins and Henry Jenkins Jr. This provided me with the names of Henry’s 2 wives: Elsie Edwards and Madeline Charles. As mentioned in an earlier post, I believe that Henry’s earlier wives may have died shortly after giving birth. I could only find Elsie (Alcee) Edwards on the 1870 Iberia Parish census. I found a Madeline Charles on the 1870 St Mary Parish census, but have not been able to determine if this person was the mother of Henry Jenkins Jr. and presumably Victoria and Louisa as well, since both were older than Henry Jr.

According to the 1900 census, Henry worked as a day laborer who owned his own home and could neither read or write. Information was provided to the census taker that Henry’s parents were both born in Maryland, despite the fact that his mother, Bridget, was most likely born in St Mary Parish. Bridget’s parents’ place of birth was recorded as Maryland on 1880 census and as Louisiana and Virginia on 1900 census. That Maryland was listed as Henry’s mother, Bridget’s birthplace may indicate that he was aware of a connection to a Maryland ancestor.

Census data for 1910 Census data recorded Henry’s answer that he had been married 3 times. Henry, Mary, Louisa, Henry Jr as well as 3 children born since the previous census: Matthew, Lloyd, Crawford (Profit), were living together in St Mary Parish, Ward 7. Henry’s employment status was recorded as ‘working out‘ and he was described as a ‘renter’ and not as owner as he was per the 1900 census. I will see if I can find out if the term ‘working out’ meant that Henry was paying off a debt and that is the reason for the change in his home ownership status.

Missing from Henry’s 1910 household was daughter Victoria. I have not found Victoria on the 1910 census, but I know that she married Matthew Schaffer. I found a death record for a child born in 1915 to Victoria Jenkins and Mat Schaffer. I did find Mat Chaffer (Schaffer) listed on the 1910 St Mary Parish census as a twenty-seven-year-old man who had been married for five years but there was no listing for a wife in his household. Mat worked as a railroad laborer. All branches of my family tree originated from enslaved people that lived in Iberia and St Mary Parish. Because of this, I think it is inevitable that marriages would occur between the 2 branches. I have not been able to say definitively, but I theorized that Mat Schaffer was the eighteen-year-old Matthew Smith who was recorded in the home of Joseph and Charlotte Smith (my maternal 3rd great grandparents on my Smith tree) on the 1900 Iberia Parish census.

Henry and Mary were still living in Ward 7 at the time of the 1920 census. Four more children were recorded in their household: Clarence, Agnes, Maviola and Mary. The family lived on Pepper Road in a home that per the census was rented. No person in the household was recorded as being able to read or write. Henry, Mary, Matthew, Lloyd and Profit all worked as farm laborers.

Henry’s daughter Victoria , 25 and husband Matthew Chaffer, 31 (Schaffer) were recorded on the 1920 St Mary Parish census living on Jefferson Highway. Living with them were children: Beatrice, 8; Liza, 6; and Cigas, 1. The household listed next on the census included Matthew’s aunt Cora Smith. That household included Jack Elware, his wife Cora, his nineteen-year-old stepdaughter Agnes Robertson and his sixteen-year-old daughter Alma.

Henry’s son Felix and wife were living in Beaumont at the time of the 1920 census. Felix worked as a shipyard laborer and his wife Mary as a cook for a private family.

As I mentioned previously, Henry’s son Oliver Jenkins, wife Amelia Smith and family were missing from the 1910 and the 1920 census.

I have not yet found Henry’s daughter Louisa on the 1920 census, but I did find her on the 1930 St Mary Parish census living in the household with her in-laws, Thomas and Lucy Volter. Also living there were Louisa’s children Jacob, Thomas and Moses.

Henry died October 21, 1925. His age was recorded as seventy, suggesting that he was born in 1855. The information regarding his parents was recorded as unknown. The informant for the death certificate information was Henry’s son-in-law Nathan Volter. Henry’s burial place was ‘near Jeanerette’.

Henry’s daughter Victoria Jenkins Schaffer died Aug. 1, 1921 of breast cancer. Her place of death was listed as Albania. For the 1930 census, Victoria’s children Eliza Schoffer (Schaffer), 15; and Cedgis Schoffer (Schaffer), 11; were recorded in the household with their aunt, Cora Henry. Also in the home was Cora’s husband Jack Henry and her 6-year-old grandson LeRoy Thomas.

Henry’s widow Mary, son Clarence and daughter Maviola were living together on 1930 St Mary Parish census in Ward 7 in a home that they owned per census records. Both Clarence, 18; and Maviola 11; could read and write. Fifty-two-year-old Mary and Clarence worked as farm laborers. Living with Mary was daughter Agnes, her husband Charles Wesley and their son Henry.

Henry’s sons Matthew and Lloyd were married and living in Texas by 1930. Matthew Jenkins and wife Viola LaFleur were living in Jefferson County. Lloyd Jenkins and Ida Griffin were married 1929 in Harris County, Texas.

Henry’s son Oliver Jenkins and wife Amelia Smith who had were missing from the 1910 and 1920 US Census, miraculously were recorded on the 1930 Iberia Parish census. Their household included Oliver, 52; Media, 42; Livingston, 17; Olie (Oliver), 12; Solomon, 6; Charlotte, 15; and Cora, 10. Solomon was not Oliver’s son, but his grandson. Solomon’s mother was Elsie Jenkins. Olie (Oliver Jr.), Charlotte and Cora were recorded as being able to read and write. Oliver and Amelia’s children: Elzenia, Florence, Elsie, Gladys and Austin had all married and were living in their respective households in Iberia Parish and in California.

Henry’s Descendants

  • Felix Jenkins
  • Oliver Jenkins
  • Victoria Jenkins
  • Louisa Jenkins
  • Henry Jenkins Jr
  • Matthew Jenkins
  • Lloyd Jenkins
  • Profit Jenkins
  • Clarence Jenkins
  • Agnes Jenkins Wesley
  • Malviola Jenkins Franklin
  • Mary

Oliver’s Descendants

  • Elzenia Jenkins Newchurch
  • Florence Jenkins
  • Gladys Jenkins
  • Elsie Jenkins Hills
  • Austin Jenkins
  • Livingston Jenkins
  • Octavia Jenkins 1915-1915
  • Charlotte Jenkins
  • Oliver Jenkins
  • Cora Jenkins

Best,

Amelia Smith and Oliver Jenkins

If you have been following my genealogy trek to find my early ancestors, you know that telling Amelia and Oliver’s story has been complicated by the fact that Amelia’s parents were missing from the 1880 census records as were Oliver, his brother Simon Felix and his father Henry Jenkins, Sr. Additional complications to telling Oliver’s story was that his mother, Elsie Edwards most likely died soon after his birth in 1878 and Elsie’s parents, Handy aka Anthony and Versy aka Olivia Edwards, were missing from the 1880 census as well. It is only because I found Simon Felix Jenkins social security card application that I know the name of his mother. Felix died in 1941, but not before he applied for a social security card in 1935. That application gathered information supplied by the actual applicant and is often the only time we find the maiden names of mothers. When Felix died in 1941, his half-brother Matthew Jenkins provided the name of Henry Jenkins as Felix’s father for the death certificate but said that the mother’s maiden name was unknown.

One of the greatest unknowns about Amelia and Oliver is where they and family were for the 1910 and 1920 census. I spent a great many unsuccessful hours sitting at genealogy libraries, painstakingly turning the microfilm reader wheel slowly, looking at every frame hoping to see the family. I used every genealogy search engine–searching for near matches on variations of their names. I searched for them living in different states but still didn’t find them until 1930.

In 2012, I found a book written by Amelia and Oliver’s granddaughter, Leanna Williams that detailed the family’s life in The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane. She painted a vivid and inspiring glimpse into our shared family story. She described the house as being situated at the end of a road, separated from the quarters where other plantation workers lived. She told of the many fruit and nut trees that surrounded the house in addition to the acreage devoted to food crops and to truck farming. So, I thought that perhaps census workers overlooked the house when on their rounds. Perhaps the road was too muddy or the house too isolated and so the house was skipped? But Leanna also wrote that an uncle named David and his wife Sarah had lived in the house and it was only after Sarah’s death did her father Livington Jenkins and family move in to help him with the farm. She placed the family moving in with David sometime shortly after her sister Theresa was born. That would have been about 1933 or so.

This confused me because Amelia and Oliver were still alive in 1933–why weren’t they living in The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane? I’d theorized that Sarah Smith and her husband William Davis were actually the Sarah and David mentioned in Leanna’s book, but they were living in New Iberia at the time of the 1930 census. Sarah died in 1939 and by 1940 William was living in Patoutville, which is where the family farm was located.

Did Amelia have a brother named David? Answering that question is a unanswered puzzle. Amelia was born about 1881 or so and first appeared on the 1900 Iberia Parish census. 1900 census data revealed that Amelia’s mother Charlotte had given birth to fifteen children of which 9 were still living. The problem is that through all of my research, I can only account for eleven children, living or deceased: Maria, Eliza, Ida, Lincoln, Louvenia, Ella, Charlotte, Oliver, Sarah, Amelia and Cora. Four of Charlotte’s children: Maria, Eliza, Ida and Lincoln were never seen after the 1870 census. Were any of these 4 children alive somewhere. I have only found 7 of the 9 children reported to be living in 1900: Louvenia, Ella, Charlotte, Oliver, Sarah, Amelia and Cora. After more thinking, I wonder if Charlotte was counting among the 9 living children, her daughter Charity who lived in Maryland? Charlotte had been born in Calvert County, MD and then sold and shipped to Louisiana in 1851?

I tossed out my assumption that Amelia and Oliver were not listed on census records in 1910 and 1920 because they were living in The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane. My focus now was on their children and on what became of them. I want to tell know their stories! I know some of their descendants moved to Texas, California and Arizona. But I suspect that we, the Guys/Jenkins/Bernards/Charles/McGees, are out there in every state, county and continent on this great earth!

Amelia and Oliver’s children

  • Elzenia Jenkins 1901-1952 Iberia Parish, LA & Louis Newchurch
  • Florence Jenkins 1905-1961 Shasta County, CA & Sidney Benjamin
  • Gladys Jenkins & Polite
  • Elsie Jenkins & Ivory Hills
  • Austin Jenkins 1913-1986 CA & Corinne Rosette 1912-1984 AZ
  • Livingston Jenkins & Reverta
  • Charlotte Jenkins & Andrew
  • Oliver Jenkins Jr. & Sarah
  • Cora Jenkins & Phillip

And so, I invite everyone who is a descendant of Amelia and Oliver to join me in gathering stories and photos as well as celebrations of birth and of lives well lived. I hope you join me if only to ask a question.

Best,

Phillips – Smith Branches

I was able to add branches to my Calvert County, Maryland families: the Phillips, Torneys, Watts, Taylors, and Kents, thanks to Ancestry.com shared profile matches and Gedmatch.com’s DNA chromosome comparison tool. The problem I faced was that I’d found Joseph aka ‘Young’ Smith and Charlotte on the 1870 census but had not been able to find them on the 1880 census. I did not find them again until the 1900 Iberia Parish census. In thirty years their children had grown up, married and moved out and started lives of their own.

Living with Joseph Smith and Charlotte Phillips in 1900 was nineteen-year-old widowed Amelia Smith, who according to census records had given birth to 1 child. In that household also was fifteen-year-old Cora Smith who was also widowed and the mother of 1 child and Alava Smith who was twenty-two years-old and married for 2 years. In the household also was eighteen-year-old Matthew Smith and 2 children age 1: Clarance and Agnes. Finding those children previously listed on the 1870 census: Maria, Eliza, Ida, Lincoln, Lavinia, Lincoln and Ella proved to be challenging.

Adding to the challenge was that according to the 1900 census, Charlotte had given birth to fifteen children, of which 9 were still living. Adding the 7 children listed on the 1870 census to the 3 listed on the 1900 census brought the number of children known to me to 10. So, there were 5 children whose names I did not know. Joseph was born in Kentucky and Charlotte in Maryland, so I looked in houses near them on the 1900 census for people with the correct names whose parents were born in those 2 states. I did not find any.

I looked at Familysearch.org for marriage and death records for all of the children from the 1870 census and found only 1 marriage but no death records. I found an 1882 marriage record for Lovina Smith to Charles Jean Louis. The witnesses were Alfred Spencer and ??? Coleman. J.B. Livingston was the minister. Was this my Lavinia?

I then searched among the death records for Joseph Smith in Iberia Parish and found a 1939 death record for Sarah Smith Davis. Her parents were recorded as Joseph and Charlotte Smith. I had never seen the name Sarah, but I’d now found 1 of the missing 5 children. I scrolled down and found a record for Ella Louise Johnson who’d died in 1949 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The certificate listed her parents as Joseph and Charlotte Smith.

I next searched in death records for Young Smith and found documentation for 2 of the 3 children listed on the 1900 census: Amelia Jenkins’ 1948 death in Iberia parish and Oliver Smith’s 1930 death in Port Arthur. I still had 4 unknown children of Charlotte’s to find.

Searching on the name of the newly found child Sarah Smith, I found several Sarah Smiths living in St Mary and Orleans Parish for 1900. I looked at each one until I found a likely match–a Sarah Smith living on Eralto Street in New Orleans, Ward 2 in a rooming house with Lavinia Marshall 28 and her forty-year-old husband Nathan Marshall with whom she’d been married for 2 years. Also in the household was Priscilla Ely, 10. Sarah’s age was incorrectly transcribed as 3 even though the census taker wrote her birth information as Oct. 1876, which would have made her about 23. So, I had now found Lavinia and Sarah Smith as well as Lavinia’s daughter Priscilla.

Lincoln Smith

Lincoln Smith was a very hard person to track. I actually only found him alive on the 1870 Iberia Parish census when his age is listed as 5. I was not able to trace Lincoln or his family until 2018 when I found information on the auction and sale of the Young Smith Estate. Young and Charlotte purchased the land in 1872 from Lassoline Bonin and wife Cecile Broussard. I knew that the family had lost the land sometime about 1969 from parish tax assessor information and through records obtained from the Iberia Parish Court House. So, I looked in Iberia Parish Courthouse records online and searched on the name Young Smith and Joseph Smith. I found royalty payments from Dunlap Oil to descendants of Young Smith. Among the newly discovered names were: Lawrence Jacob; Pearl Smith Eglin, wife of Philip Eglin; Lizzie Walker, wife of Joseph Walker; Oscar Smith and Mamie Tibbs Hart.

So, I now had new names to research!

I found Lawrence Jacobs listed on the 1910 Calcasieu Parish census with his mother Lizzie Jacobs, a thirty-five-year-old widow and children Charlotte 26, David S 21, Alfred 10 and Lawrence 7. I searched the 1900 US census and found Lizzie Jacobs in St Mary Parish with her husband of 5 years, Alfred Jacobs. In that 1900 household were 2 older children: David 12, Charlotte 14. I assumed these 2 children were Lincoln’s children, because Lizzy had only been married to Alfred for 5 years. So, I looked for a marriage record for Lincoln Smith and Lizzie. I didn’t find one, so I looked for death records for David S Jacobs and his other siblings. I found a 1939 Beaumont, TX death record for David Lincoln Smith which listed his parents as Lincoln Smith and Lizzie Porter. David was born Feb. 15, 1892 in Jeanerette. All of the other children of Lizzie Porter took Jacobs as their last name.

Lizzie’s daughter, Charlotte Jacobs married a man named Julius Paul. She was listed on the 1910 Calcasieu Parish census twice; once with children Edward Paul, 8; and Lizzie Paul, 6. She was also listed as Charlotte P in the household with her mother Lizzie Jacobs. Charlotte Smith Jacobs Paul Lovett died 1937 in Calcasieu Parish. Lawrence Jacobs was a child of Lizzie Porter and was included in the estate of Young Smith. He and family lived in Beaumont until 1940. His family was included on the 1950 San Francisco census. I have not obtained any further information on Lawrence regarding his parentage.

The Lizzie Walker listed as recipient of Dunlap Oil royalty payments from the Estate of Young Smith was in fact Lizzie Paul, the daughter of Charlotte Jacobs Paul Lovett. Lizzie later married Jack Walker and continued to live in Lake Charles until her death, April 19, 1969. She was buried in Combre Memorial Park Cemetery.

I will stay on the look-out for information of any Lincoln Smith born about 1865 in Louisiana, but only as a back-burner item. Sometimes women and men say that that are widowed not because they actually are, but because they don’t know the location their husband or wife!

Sarah Smith Davis

Sarah had been in New Orleans in 1900 but must have returned to Iberia Parish soon after because I found an Oct. 10, 1905, marriage record for Sarah Smith and William Davis. Witnesses to the marriage were Thornton Tibbs, Pierre Domingue, Jr and Loulia Thompson. S (Stephen) Tillman married the couple. The 1910 US census recorded Sarah, husband William Davis and 3-year-old son William living in St Mary Parish, Ward 3. Census data indicated that Sarah could read and write, but that William could do neither. The family was next listed on the 1920 St Mary Parish census living on Alice B. Plantation Road. By 1930 Sarah and William had moved to New Iberia. The US census listed them at 537 St. Peter Street. The family of Celestine Bernard was also listed at that address. It is possible that William and Sarah lived in a rental unit adjacent to or in the rear on the property. William was sixty-nine years old and Sarah was fifty-nine. Census data recorded that Sarah as first married at the age of twenty-five and that William’s first marriage was at the age of nineteen. This indicated that his marriage to Sarah was perhaps his second marriage. Their son William Davis was not listed in their household for 1930.

Sarah died March 13, 1939. Her age was recorded as sixty. Sarah’s husband William was listed on the 1940 US census living Patoutville, Iberia Parish. According the Leanna Williams in her book, The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane, her parents Livingston Jenkins and wife Reverta moved into the home to take care of her Uncle David following the death of his wife Sarah. David was thought to be the brother of Amelia Smith, Livingston’s mother. I believe that the uncle Leanna wrote about was actually William Davis, husband of Sarah Smith.

Sarah’s son William Davis registered for WWII in Maringouin, Iberville Parish, LA. Interestingly, his birth date was recorded as May 8, 1896 in Patoutville, although he first appears in Sarah’s house as a 3-year-old on the 1910 census. On the registration, William’s nearest relative is recorded as Rosa Christian whose address was 540 St. Peter Street in New Iberia. I believe that William mistakenly reported his year of birth on all public records. His father, forty-five-year-old William Davis appeared on the 1900 Iberia Parish census with wife Mary and children: Allen 17, Rosa 12, Junius 6 and Samuel 3. Per census data, William’s wife Mary had given birth to 4 children, all of whom were still living. There was no child name William in this 1900 household suggesting to me that William Davis Jr. is the son of Sarah and William and the same son listed on the 1910 and 1920 census living in their household.

I found William Daniel Davis‘ name on the 1969 disposition of the Estate of Young Smith. William’s address was Maringouin, Louisana. I found him on the 1950 US census living on Gross Tete Bayou Road in Maringouin, Iberville Parish with wife Stella Winsey. Census data recorded that he worked on a cattle farm for sixty hours per week. His Nov. 1993 death records indicates that his parents were William Davis and Sarah Smith. I did not find any children for William Daniel Davis.

Louvenia Smith Marshall Perkins

Lavina (Louvenia) was in New Orleans for the 1900 census but in Calcasieu Parish for the 1910 census. In her 1910 household was: husband JA Perkins,39; daughter Effie Perkins, 9; son-in-law James Williams, 29; married daughter Priscilla, 19; and grandson Lee Howard Williams, 2. Everyone in the household could read and write with the exception of Lee. Census records indicate that JA Perkins owned his home.

Luvenia and Effie were listed on Calcasieu census records living together through 1930. Louvena is living alone by the 1940 census. Her death certificate records that she died Oct. 19, 1947 and that she was born in St Landry Parish. Her daughter Effie Perkins provided the names for Luvenia‘s parents: Joseph and Celeste Smith. The death date, (1947), on Luvenia’s death certificate is very interesting, because Luvenia was listed as a seventy-eight year old widow on the 1950 Chicago, Ill US census living in the household of John M, Luvena and Lee H Perkins.

I could not find Priscilla Perkins, husband John M Williams and Lee Howard on the 1920 census but was able to find them for US census years 1930-1950 living in Chicago. Per the 1930 census, John worked as a mechanic at a garage and Lee Howard as a laborer at a tractor company. The family lived on E. 43rd Street. By 1940 John’s occupation was sewer construction. He and Priscilla lived at 4212 Wabash Ave. The 1930 census data reported that everyone in the household could read and write. Priscilla’s death records her birth as Oct. 20, 1890, in Jeanerette and her death as Jan. 31, 1957.

Lee Howard Williams was born 1907 Lake Charles, LA. The WWII draft registration form described him as 5′ 8 1/2″ with a dark complexion. He was married twice. He and first wife Ruth Evelyn Harris had at least one child, Joy Lavern Williams. His second wife was Hibernis Dangerfield. Lee worked for International Harvestor and lived at 25 E. 23rd Street per the 1950 US census.

Louvenia’s daughter, Effie married Paul Lewis and was listed in the 1961 obit for stepfather James Perkins. That James died after Luvenia told census takers that she was a widow, highlights a thing that I’ve seen over and over again–people often record their marital status as widowed when they were most likely abandoned by a living spouse or separated and not divorced.

Mariah Smith Williams

Maria or Mariah Smith was born about 1854. I only found her on the 1870 Iberia census living with parents Joe and Charlotte Smith. What little I know of Mariah has been gleaned from other family member trees and through limited conversations with cousins. What I’ve been told is that the 1-year-old boy, Addison, listed on the 1870 census was not the son of Joe & Charlotte, but instead the son of sixteen-year-old Maria. Addison’s father was Peter Williams. I have not been able to find any records for Peter Williams and have not been able to trace Maria after the 1870 census.

Mariah’s son, Addison Williams was married twice, once to Alice Mary James. Their children were Sanders James 1896-1936 and Matthew James. His second marriage to Mary Nancy Turner produced at least 6 children: Tarleton, Timothy, Trinity, Sedonia, Beulah and Josephine.

Ella Smith Johnson

With newly found information, I was able to find Ella and husband Tom Johnson on the 1900 Iberia census with their sons: Edward, Abraham Lincoln ‘Foote’, Albert and Joseph. Ella and family were later found on the 1910 census and later years in Calcasieu Parish. Ella died 1949 In Lake Charles, LA. Her death certificate indicated that her father Joseph Smith had been born in Frankfurt, KY and that her mother’s name was Charlotte Smith. She was buried in East Side Cemetery. The informant was A.L. (Abraham Lincoln) Johnson.

Ella Smith’s Descendents:

  • Albert Johnson and Eva Woods
    ->Albert, Wilmer, Geneva, Curtis, Mary L and Victoria
  • Abraham Lincoln Johnson 1890-1964 Galveston adn Serena Washington
    ->Floyd, Lloyd, Abraham Lincoln, Fabiola, Leolo, Gracie Mae and Frankie
  • Joseph Johnson 1898-1963 Port Arthur & Blanche
    ->Ella Johnson born 1916
  • Edward Johnson 4/3/1890 Patoutville – 1972
    Served as a Private, Co B, 522 Engineers Service Battalion, shipped out of Hoboken, NJ on 4/8/1918 on the Susquehanna and returned to Newport News on the USS Siboney on 6/3/1919

Charlotte Smith and Thornton Tibbs

I found an April 1, 1895 marriage record for Charlotte and Thornton Tibbs. Witnesses to the marriage were Charlotte Alexandria and William Metts. When I re-examined the 1900 census page that listed Joseph and Charlotte Smith and family, I now noticed that Charlotte and Thornton Tibbs were also listed on the same page with a 4-year-old daughter May E. The same family group was recorded on the 1910 census. By the time of the 1920 census, the household included a 5-year-old daughter named Thelma. Also included in the home was Charlotte’s sixteen- year-old niece, Florence Jenkins (Amelia Smith Jenkins’ daughter).

Charlotte’s daughter May appeared on the 1920 census as Mamie Self, married and living in Longville, Beauregard Parish, LA. I found a marriage announcement in the Era-Leader (Franklinton, LA) June 2, 1921 for Mamie Tibs and Henry Hart.

Charlotte, Thornton and family had moved to Bogalusa, Washington Parish by the time of 1930 census. Thornton worked at sawmill and the family lived at 620 Avenue S. Census data recorded that the family did not own a radio and that Thornton was married at the age of eighteen and Charlotte at the age of fifteen.

The 1940 US census recorded Charlotte, Thornton and children Thelma, Herman and Joy Dee living in Bogalusa, LA. I found something interesting in education data for the family. Charlotte had 2 years of high school education and Thelma 1 year. Thornton had a 3rd grade education and Herman a 6th grade education. Charlotte died Sept. 24, 1941 in New Orleans. The certificate recorded her father’s name as Joseph Smith. Thelma, husband Forest Whitaker and her father were listed on the 1950 US census still living at 620 S. Avenue S.

  • Mamie Tibbs 1896-1964 Bogalusa, Washington Parish, LA and Henry Hart
  • Thelma Tibbs 1818-1978 & Forest Whitaker
  • Herman TIbbs 1919-1967
  • Joy Dee Tibbs b1932

Coming soon, the story of Amelia Smith and Oliver Jenkins

Oliver Smith and Alzena Griffin Morris

I first found Oliver on the 1900 Iberia Parish census recorded as Alava Smith, living with parents Joseph and Charlotte and his sisters, Amelia and Cora (Clora). His marital status was married for 2 years, but there was no woman included in the household with him that appeared to be his wife. I searched census records again and found another result for an Oliver Smith living in St Mary Parish. The St Mary household listed Oliver Smith, 21, married 2 years. Also listed in the household was Alzina Griffin Morris, 20, married 2 years and a 5-year-old Elsie Smith. I assumed the Alava Smith in Iberia Parish and the Oliver Smith in St. Mary Parish were the same man.

My assumption was proved to be correct. Listed on the 1910 US census living in St Mary Parish were: Oliver Smith, wife Elzenia, eight-year-old daughter Pearl and stepdaughter Elsie Haywood. Oliver, Alzena and Pearl were listed on the 1920 Jefferson County census living in Port Arthur, TX.

Pearl Smith and husband Philip Eglin were listed on the 1930 Jefferson County, Port Arthur, TX. They were still living in Port Arthur at the time of the 1940 census with son Theaphlus.

So, now I’d found eleven of fifteen children born to Charlotte Phillips and Joseph a.k.a. Young Smith. Charlotte’s known children now included Mariah Smith Williams, Eliza Smith, Ida Smith, Louvenia Smith Marshall Perkins, Lincoln Smith, Ella Smith Johnson, Oliver Smith, Charlotte Smith Tibbs, Sarah Smith Davis, Amelia Smith Jenkins, Cora Smith Henry.

I am not able to definitively say that I’ve found Eliza or Ida Smith after the 1870 census. I have several DNA matches who have an Ida Smith at the top of their maternal family lineage. I have not yet figured out the names of Ida’s parents. Ida was listed on the 1900 census in St Mary Parish with husband Jim Hines and children: Beulah, Pearly and Elias Johnson as well as 1-year-old son Joseph Hines. Ida most likely died between 1900 and 1910. The only child of Ida’s that I have been able to positively identify after 1900 is her daughter Beulah Johnson. Beulah was recorded on the 1910 US Census living with her stepbrother James Robinson, age twenty-five. Beulah married Horace Yelling and it is her descendants that are shared DNA matches a number of key Maryland descendants of Eliza Phillips Torney. Beulah’s death certificate listed her parents as Ida Smith and Jim Key.

I am on the lookout for the names of Charlotte Phillips’s 4 remaining unnamed children. At the time of the 1900 census, it was recorded that she given birth to fifteen children of which 9 were still living. Seven of those 9, that I know were alive in 1900 were: Amelia Smith, Charlotte Smith Tibbs, Ella Louise Smith Johnson, Louvenia Smith Marshall, Oliver Smith, Sarah Smith and Cora Smith. Who were the remaining 2 that were living in 1900? Was it Mariah, Eliza, Ida or Lincoln?

Best,

What’s in a Name, Part 2

In the year 2000 while researching my Jenkins branches, I found Amelia Smith and Oliver ‘Alava’ Jenkins on the 1900 census, living in two separate households.  Amelia was living with her parents Joseph and Charlotte Smith, her brother Oliver aka ‘Alava’ Smith, her sister Cora, her nephew Matthew Schaffer (Smith) and her son Clarence Smith.  Another ‘Alava’, Oliver Jenkins, was living with his brothers Simon ‘Felix’ and Henry Jenkins and his partner Henry Wagner in a separate household.  Were both ‘Alavas’ the same man who was being counted twice, in 2 different households, or 2 different men?

I looked for Amelia and Oliver and their children on the 1910 and 1920 census pages but could not find them in any electronically indexed website or on any microfilm. The 1930 census would become available to the public in 2002 and so I waited impatiently for the release. As soon as 1930 census was available online, I logged in and typed Oliver Jenkins in as search terms. And wonders of wonders, I found him. His name was spelled correctly–he wasn’t Alava as he had been listed on the 1900 census. But Amelia was listed as Media! That didn’t matter because listed with them and near them were their children: Livingston, Oliver Jr., Charlotte, Cora, Gladys, Elsie. Also listed were Elzenia, my great grandmother and my grandmother Sarah.

Where had Oliver and Amelia been for the 1910 and 1920 census pages? Who knows, probably living in The House Surrounded by Sugar Cane!

And what had become of Joseph aka Young and Charlotte Smith? I searched for death records for them in Iberia and neighboring St. Mary Parish but could not find any. Then I searched Ancestry.com for public trees that had Joseph and Charlotte Smith. I didn’t find any. So, I searched for Young and Charlotte Smith. And to my surprise, I found a tree with Younger Smith and Charlotte who lived in Iberia Parish. I had found additional offshoots to my Smith branch–Provosts, Williams, Turners, Benjamins, Harris, etc.!!

Since I’d had luck finding Young and Charlotte, I looked to see if anyone else had a Young or Joseph Smith or a Charlotte Smith on their public tree. And I found another tree that listed a Charlotte Smith and included her death record in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Joy of joys, Charlotte’s death certificate included the names of her parents: Joseph and Charity Phillips. Charlotte was born in Maryland in 1828. So, now I had names of people possibly born before 1800.

Several family members had taken the Ancestry DNA test. There were a number of people who closely matched all of us and they lived in Calvert County, Maryland. I typed Joseph Phillips in the Ancestry.com search boxes and chose Calvert County, Maryland as their place of residence. There in my search results for 1870 were Joseph and Carrity (Charity) Phillips. In the same household was a 74-year-old Hester Phillips and a young boy, Joseph Tawney. And on that very same page was the Tawney family that matched our DNA in Ancestry: Mager, Eliza, Peter, Lloyd, Rebecca, Moses, Joseph and Hester Tawney (Torney).

So, Joseph and Charity ‘Carrity’ were Charlotte’s sister and brother and Hester was her mother. Charlotte must have spoken often about Joseph and Charity Phillips, because someone remembered those names and included them on Charlotte’s death certificate. They may not have remembered the relationship of Joseph and Charity Phillips to Charlotte totally correctly, but they remembered their names. I later found Joseph Phillips’ Maryland death certificate and found out that his father’s name was also Joseph Phillips.

My tree had suddenly grown vertically! Wow!!

What’s in a name? A whole lot!

Proverbs 22
A good name is more desirable than riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Learn about destinysmom12 and our Calvert County, Maryland connection.

Finding Phillips/Smiths Who Flown the Coop by 1900

Henry Jenkins, How Many Wives Did He Have

What’s In a Name?

In researching my Smith branches of the Smith-Jenkins family tree, I was confused and unable to determine who were Amelia Smith’s parents. Amelia was born about 1883 and her death certificate listed her father as Young Smith and her mother as ‘S’. Right away I was able to find on the 1880, 1900 and 1910 census a man named Young Smith who was the right age to be her father. His wife’s name was Hester or Esther. This all seemed to fit Amelia’s death certificate. The names fit, but I could never find Amelia in Young’s and Hester’s household or living anywhere near them. Young lived in Glencoe, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana and not Patoutville, Iberia Parish where I was told that Amelia lived.

Amelia’s husband was named Oliver Jenkins. So, I searched for him on the census pages in St. Mary/Iberia Parish beginning with 1900. I couldn’t find him anywhere. Amelia and Oliver’s children were born and grew up in the Patoutville area, so I knew they had to be somewhere on the 1900 Iberia Parish census page. I used Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org and Heritagequest.com, with no luck. I gave up trying to use electronically indexed web sites and went to a local genealogy center and pulled out the microfilm. I painstakingly scrolled page after page and almost gave up until something caught my eye. What I found was a Joseph Smith, his wife Charlotte, two daughters Amelia and Cora and a son named Alava. I turned the reel a half turn or so and then scrolled back. I’d found them!!

Oliver was Alava! But, he wasn’t Amelia’s brother, he was her husband. And, her father’s name was supposed to be ‘Young’ and her mother’s name was supposed to start with an ‘S’.  Charlotte could be spelled with an ‘S’–Sharlotte. So, I threw out Young and Hester in Glencoe as Amelia’s parents and instead placed Joseph, aka ‘Young’ and Charlotte, aka ‘S’.

Best,

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