Finding Eliza – Family history blog

H – HARJO Jackson

Harjo Jackson first appeared in the probate record of Crawford Motley Jackson. Crawford M. Jackson was Harjo’s slave master and probable father. He died in 1860 of pneumonia leaving his 135 enslaved people to be divided up between his siblings or auctioned off. Harjo was nine years old and was auctioned off along with his mother and five siblings. He was valued at $500. Follow the links for more information.

From the 1861 Appraisement of the Negroes Belonging to the Estate of C. M. Jackson

Prissy                35          $1000
Harjo                  9             $900
Griffin                8              $900
Frank Prince    6              $650
Delia                  2             $200
Iba                 12           $1004
Mary               4            $450 (Poppy’s mother)

I could not find Harjo in any more records for years. He didn’t appear in the 1870 census with his mother and siblings. Recently I found three items in the Montgomery Advertiser, all were for deaths of infants of Harjo Jackson.

On March 25, an infant of Harjo Jackson died of inanition which according to Wikipedia is the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water.

**The Weekly Advertiser** Montgomery, Alabama • Tue, Mar 29, 1881 Page 2

On September 18, 1883, a child of Harjo Jackson died of Neonatal tetanus (trismus nascentium), a form of generalised tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity from an immunized mother are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. (from Wikipedia)

**The Montgomery Advertiser** Montgomery, Alabama • Sun, Sep 23, 1883 Page 1

On August 13, 1886 Another child of Harjo died. There was no cause given this time.

*The Montgomery Advertiser* Montgomery, Alabama • Fri, Oct 5, 1883 Page 3

Well, I was horrified to find that my maternal grandfather, Poppy’s uncle had lost so many children in such terrible ways. And I wondered why I hadn’t found more about him, since he was alive. Today I decided that he might have changed his name as other family members had, to a more common name, like Joe.

I searched for Joe Jackson and have found several promising leads that even involve shared DNA. I’m going to keep digging and if I find anything new before the end of the A to Z, I will work it in.

G – Graduates

“…my former servants … Tresey Maxwell and Betsey Doneghy (also of color) the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars each.” From the Will of Marietta Foster Ray, 1871.

$150 in 1870 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,741.81 today, an increase of $3,591.81 over 156 years. CPI Inflation Calculator

Teresa Primus Maxwell was one of the seven children that Foster Ray was allowed to bring into Kentucky for his personal use. She received $150 from Marietta Ray Foster in 1871. I don’t know how she used the money.

Teresa married Henry Maxwell, a Civil War veteran with the United States Colored Troops. They had ten children, all but one lived to adulthood. Emma and James Basil, the youngest, graduated from the 8^th grade in one of the “colored schools” in Lebanon, Kentucky.

The public school system wasn’t developed in Kentucky until after 1865, when the Civil War ended. Schools were segregated in Kentucky until after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling desegregating public schools. The process was slow with some schools taking until the 1960s.

In 1906 the Kentucky Legislators opened two Normal schools to prepare white teachers. Eventually one was also opened for black teachers. It wasn’t until about 1920 that a Normal School degree was required to teach. The salary for male teachers in 1895 was $50.72 a month and $32.61 for women.

Because so many teachers lacked qualifications, sessions were held during the summer that offered more training through lecturers, papers presented and discussions. A reading circle was started to expose them to a wide variety of relevant literature.

Emma Maxwell married Frank Rice, an undertaker. They had one child who died in infancy and Emma continued to teach until 1918 when the family relocated to Paducah Kentucky where she began working as a nurse at the Illinois Central Hospital, for men injured while working on the railroad.

Mrs. Emma Rice Funeral Monday

Funeral services for Mrs. Emma Rice, former Paducahan, will be held at 10 a. m. Monday at Rosary Chapel, with the Rev. C. P. Riney officiating. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery, Mrs. Rice, who was the widow of Frank Rice, died early Wednesday morning in a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital after a prolonged illness. She had been making her home in Buffalo with her niece, Mrs. Hazel Walker, for several years. She is also survived by several other nieces and nephews. Mrs. Rice was a native of Lebanon, Ky., coming to Paducah 50 years ago. She was formerly employed as a nurse at the old Illinois Central Hospital. She was a member of Rosary Chapel, where she had served as president of the Altar Guild. Members of Rosary Chapel will meet at Mundy Funeral Home at 7 p. m. Sunday to recite the Rosary.

T.C. R. R. Hospital, Paducah, Ky
Image photographed by R.D. Clements. This was called the Trans Continental Railroad Hospital. Also called the Illinois Central Hospital.

James Basil Maxwell married Annie Carter and they had eight children. They all at least completed high school. He taught until the family moved to Santa Monica, California in 1918 where he worked as a plaster and eventually as a mechanic and finally a janitor until he died in 1987.

F – FRAGMENTS

After publishing B – Betsy I got the following question from my daughter Ayanna:

“I wonder what the house with 12 people in it was like. Did the home have indoor plumbing? Where did they sleep? Where did they eat? Food storage? What was a regular weekday meal? Were they near a park or other outdoor space that they could access? I have so many questions!”

In 1900, sixty year old widow, Elizabeth “Bettie” Doneghy lived at 815 13th Street in Louisville, Kentucky with her large family. Included were her daughter Katie (washerwoman) and her husband William (coachman) and their son one year old Charlie; Her daughters Marcie and Laura were both laundresses; Her son Sam (cook at the Lou Hotel) and his wife Emma and two little sons; and sons Wesley(waiter) and Tingsley (cook at the Union depot). All the adults were literate except Elizabeth and Tingsley.

The house shared by the twelve people in the Doneghy family is highlighted in green. Click to enlarge.

This house is the same type as the one they lived in, but not an exact replica.

The family stayed in the west Louisville African American community, but moved around often. They rented the brick house on 13th for about three years. The main portion of the house was two and a half stories high, that is two full stories and a third story that was not as large as those below because of the sloping roof but it added more room.

Indoor plumbing was a rare luxury. In the early 1900s only 1% of homes in the United States had indoor plumbing. There would have been a pump in the backyard. Bathing was done through sponge baths with pitchers and washstands, or by heating water on a stove for a tub bath. Most families bathed once a week. An out house in the backyard would suffice for a toilet.

The family ate the basic southern diet, cornbread, beans, sweet potatoes, greens. Maybe fish if they went down to the Ohio River and fished. Maybe they had a small garden, perhaps a few chickens. The yard looks big enough for that. They most likely cooked with wood and heated water the same way. Although there were ads for ice boxes for $3 or less, googling tells me that poor people didn’t have ice boxes. I doubt there were leftovers needing refrigeration. Maybe they bought milk for the children.

There were public parks in Louisville, but at that time they were for whites only. Later there was one for African Americans. In 1905, the Western Branch Library for black people opened.

The family was Catholic in Lebanon, I’m assuming they continued to be. St. Augustine Catholic Church was the black Catholic church and it was in their area.

I hope I answered all of Ayanna’s questions!

E – EIGHT cabins

Lot to unpack here… my mind snagged on 75 people in 8 “cabins” Opps, I miscounted the first time, there were 48 people in eight cabins with four young girls, ages 12, 13 and 19 being rented out so that they weren’t living in the cabins.

By 1860 David Cleage had real estate worth $20,000 and a personal worth of $90,000. He now owned 48 people who lived in eight cabins.

Below is the 1860 slave census with those on David Cleage’s plantation being listed by age, sex and color Mu(lato) or B(lack). Unfortunately they are not arranged in family groups. Sometimes a family shared a cabin. Sometimes a group of unmarried young men shared a cabin.

The 1860 Slave Census for David Cleage

Names and approximate ages of some of the enslaved people that lived in the quarters in 1860 on David Cleage’s plantation. They are in family groups.

Charles A. 32
Martha 25
Julie 11
Hillard 9
Frank 3
Philip 1

Charles 20
Mary 4
Richard 2
James 1

Jerry 33
Charlotte 25
Harriett 10
America Emaline 8
Joseph 3
Mary 2

Henry 36
Jane 29

Joseph 45
Amy 35
Henry 3
Jeff 2

Isaac 32
Fanny 35
William 13
Mariah 12
Neppie 10
Steve 9
Isaac 6
Malinda 3

Fanny 38
Martha Jane 20
Mary 18
Lydia 16
Ellen 14
Sydney 12
Jacob 9

From The New York Public Library. Click photo to go to page.

The pictures of these cabins are not from those on the Cleage plantation. None of those remain. They were probably similar. The cabins were grouped together near the house which allowed for community interaction. The cabins, at least some of them, had a loft that was used for sleeping, along with the downstairs. After all, quite a few people lived in most of the cabins.

A Cabin Story
“The rectangular one-story, two-room, weatherboard-clad building is constructed of southern yellow pine. It includes an overhanging porch roof, a brick masonry fireplace, and a back door. The original design featured a single front doorway, an open floor plan, and a loft. As many as 10 to 12 enslaved people were held in bondage in the cabin, where they slept in the open space and the loft.
” After freedom came, formerly enslaved Black people served as sharecroppers and lived in their former slave cabins, which they retrofitted in an effort to make them homes. They added newspaper for insulation. They added a wall dividing the large common area into two rooms. They also manifested their freedom by adding a back door, enabling them to come and go as they pleased, no longer under surveillance from the single entryway.”

In Fanny Cleage Turks application for a pension due her because her husband, Isaac Turk served in the United States Colored Troops, Charles A. Cleage gave the following testimony. Both families were enslaved on David Cleage’s plantation.

“…Charles A. Cleage, who, I hereby certify, is a respectable and credible person, and who, being duly sworn, declares in relation to the aforesaid claim as follows: that he and the said soldier Isaac Turk were slaves and belonged to the same master during the year 1849 and on up to the war of the rebellion they lived as the custom was, within a few nods of each other, both being married and having children; he further states he is enabled to fix the date of birth of Mariah Witt, daughter of said soldier Isaac Turk, by the birth of his own daughter Juley Ann Watts, which as his family Bible Record shows, occurred July 29th 1849, said Mariah Witt being born just one month later which would make the birth of said child Mariah August 29th 1849.”

Sallie Marsh said in a testimony in the Katie Cleage pension case:
“When his mother died she gave Phillip to me to take care of. Phillip slept in my house upstairs, until he went in the army. He slept with my oldest boy. My boys name was GEORGE Cleage, I don’t know whether he is living or not. The last I heard of him he was at Corinth, Mississippi.“

D – DAVID Cleage Bill of Sale

In 1850 slave holder David Cleage, his wife Martha and their two little sons lived with his father Samuel Clegg in Athens, Tennessee. The spelling of “Clegg” was changed to “Cleage” after the Civil War. Samuel’s occupation was farmer and he had real estate worth $20,500 and enslaved 31 people.

David was a bank cashier with $1,000 worth of real estate and owned 32 men, women and children. Later that year, his father was killed by his overseer and David, and his three older siblings, Alexander, Elizabeth and Sarah, divided their father’s property and enslaved people.

By 1860 David Cleage had real estate worth $20,000 and a personal worth of $90,000. He now owned 52 people who lived in eight cabins. Among them was the family of eight he had purchased from John Armstrong in 1852.

Register
147
John Armstrong }
Bill of Sale }
David Cleage }
Know all men by these presents that I John Armstrong, of the County of McMinn, and State of Tennessee, for and in consideration of the sum of two thousand six hundred and fifty-five dollars to me in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have bargained, and sold, and delivered unto David Cleage, of the County and State aforesaid, the following named negro slaves, for life, to wit, Fanny aged about thirty years, Martha Jane, aged about twelve years, Ellen, aged about ten years, Mary aged about eight years, Lydia, aged about six years, Sidney, aged about four years, Jacob, aged about one year, there being seven in number and all Children of Fannys. Each of said Negroes I warrant Sound and healthy. both in body and mind, and free from any defect whatever – and slaves for life, and covenant and agree that the title is clear of any incumberance whatever, and also Warrant the title of the same to the said David Cleage, his heirs or assigns, against the lawful claims of all persons whatever, for which I bind myself, my heirs Executors & C – Will in testimony whereof I have here unto set my hand and affixed my seal this the fifth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty two – –
Witness           }
H P Wilson       }
Thos A Cleage }              John Armstrong Seal

This is the third slave holder who bought a family with seven children in these first four posts. We will find out more about this family in a later post.

Other posts related to Samuel and David Cleage.

C is for Cleage Bricks – About 1820
Article of Agreement Between Sam Cleage and Overseer – 1834
Bill of Sale for Bob, age 13 and Jim age 11 – 1843
Death of Sam Cleage – July 20, 1850 Athens, TN
The Death of Sam Cleage – part 2 – 1850

C – CATHERINE Cleage

Catherine, known as Katie, was born on the Hurst plantation in Mouse Creek, McMinn County, Tennessee. She was the fourth of the seven known children of Hulda Hurst. When Katie was 13, Alexander and Jemima (Hurst) Cleage bought her from Jemima’s brother, Lewis Russell Hurst. She was put to work as the seamstress.

Phillip Cleage was born into slavery about 1843 on the plantation of Alexander Cleage in Athens, McMinn County, Tennessee. Phillip was the third child of the four known children of Julie Ann Evans. He grew up to work on the farm. Sometimes he drove the coach.

In 1862, when Phillip was 19 and Katie was 16, they were married by the slave holder, Alexander Cleage. They had two children together. The first was stillborn. The second died soon after birth.

When Sherman’s army came to the area, Phillip and other men from the Cleage plantations joined the 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery (USCT).

As the confusion of war intensified, Katie decided she would leave too. She first went to Cleveland, Tennessee and after working a variety of sewing jobs, eventually ended up in the USCT camp in Chattanooga. She lived on the base with her husband until he died of smallpox on 9 February 1866. In 1883 Katie filed for a widow’s pension.

Her life story is told in her depositions and those of members of her community, including others who had been enslaved on the Cleage plantations, neighbors, men who served in the same unit as Phillip and members of the slave holding Cleage family.

Using these testimonies and related information I reconstructed Katie’s life in a series of blog posts in 2019. Recently, I found this Bill of Sale between L. R. Hurst and his brother-in-law Alexander Cleage for Katie (Catherine), and her siblings. They are not related to me, but are part of the community that my Cleages were also a part of on Alexander’s plantation.

**1857 L. R. Hurst Bill of Sale to Alexander Cleage**. Click to see image on familysearch.org

Register
L. R. Hurst – bill sale – Alexander Cleage
State of Tennessee McMinn County October 19th 1857, For and in Consideration of the sum of Six thousand five hundred dollars, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, I have this day sold and delivered unto Alexander Cleage Six negroes, Vis, Charles, about eighteen, Abram, aged about sixteen, Isaac aged about fifteen years, Catharine, aged about thirteen, years, and Horrace & George, twins, aged about eight years, slaves for life, I bind myself to warrant and defend the title to said property given under my hand date above, witness, J. S. Hurst, L. R. Hurst

“My husband purchased her when quite a child…” – Jemima Cleage
Katie Cleage Civil War Pension File

B – BETSY

Betsy, also known as Elizabeth, was born into slavery in Maryland around 1837. She was eight years old when her family was sold to Foster Ray and taken to Lebanon Kentucky “for the use of him and his family.”

While enslaved she married Stephen Doneghy. They had several children before he left in 1864 to join the United States Colored Troops and fight in the Civil War. After slavery they remained in Lebanon, Kentucky. Stephen worked as a farm laborer and as a servant. Neither Betsy or Stephen could read or write. In 1870 their oldest son, Thomas was attending school. The younger sons at six and two were not yet old enough.

The following year, Marietta Ray Foster, the former wife of slave holder Foster Ray died and left bequests to some of her “former servants”, including Betsy. She left her $150. According to the inflation calculator that would be worth almost $4,000 today. There was also a bequest directing her nephew to spend $500 on the education of “Tim”, who I assume is Thomas. Thomas did get educated and became a teacher.

On October 4, 1879 Betsy and Stephen’s youngest son, Wesley, was born. Two months later Stephen died of unknown causes at home, unattended by a doctor.

In the 1880 census Betsy and eight of her children remained in Lebanon living at 144 Main Street. The children were Thomas (20), Samuel (17), James (12), Tinsley (10), Katie (7), Laura (6), Mary (3) and Wesley who was eight months old. The two oldest sons were working as servnts. Betsy was 48 and keeping house.

Click to enlarge to see where Betsy and family lived in Louisville. Houses highlighted in red.

In 1893 Thomas died at 33 years old. By 1897 the family had relocated to Louisville, Kentucky – 67 miles to the north. Louisville was a destination for many leaving Lebanon. Betsy’s house at 815 Thirteenth Street was full. Three daughters, three sons, two spouses and three grandsons made up the household. Everybody was employed except Sam’s wife. There were two laundresses, two domestics, two cooks, a waiter and a coachman.

In 1902, the family address in the city directory, was around the corner at 1204 W. Madison. It was there that Samuel died of meningitis in November of 1901. Tinsley followed him in December dying of inflammatory rheumatism. Betsy herself died of senility on January 1, 1906.

Previous posts in this series.

Foster Ray – Slaveholder
Marietta Ray Foster’s Death and Will – 1872
Thomas Ray Allen 1847 – 1907
Agnes Primus
Clara Hoskins Green – Thomas’ Mother
A – ASSUMPTIONS

A – ASSUMPTIONS

This is my 13th year participating in the A to Z Challenge. This year I will be writing about the families that were once enslaved on the plantation of Foster and Marietta Ray in Lebanon, Kentucky.

I first learned what plantation my grandmother Pearl’s family were enslaved on when I discovered her uncle Thomas Allen who was part of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. The information was in his petition file. Since then I have found more information and more names of the members of that community.

I found several news items from 1845 that appeared in the local Lebanon paper and mentioned that Foster Ray had asked for and received permission to bring in nine enslaved people for his “personal use”. At this time it was illegal to bring people into Kentucky and resell them, but keeping them for yourself was okay. I assumed that these were nine unrelated people until I found another item saying that the group was a family, Basil and Dinah and seven of their children – Felix (12), John (11), Agnes (10), Betsy (8), Treesy (6), Virginia (2) and Basil (1).

I found Basil and Dinah in only one record, a baptismal record for Basil at St. Augustine Catholic Church. I assume they died before slavery in Kentucky ended with the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865. It was one of the last places in the U.S. to emancipate enslaved people.

All the children survived to be free and I found records for them – census, marriage, death records and the Will of Marietta Ray Foster, who left bequests to several of them along with two of my family members. I had assumed that all of them were unrelated and started separate family trees for each. I also assumed that they took the name of “Ray”. They didn’t. All but Basil took the name “Primus”. Which I assume was the name their parents used.

While looking for a picture to illustrate this post, I came across the one below. It was another mother with seven of her children. They were born in Maryland, as was the Primus family. You can click on the picture for more information about Anna Marie Jackson and her family who were not from the Foster Ray plantation.

A mother and her seven children who escaped to Canada after her husband died. Not related to my group.

I will write about several members of the Primus family during this challenge.

_______________________

Previous posts in this series.

Foster Ray – Slaveholder
Marietta Ray Foster’s Death and Will – 1872
Thomas Ray Allen 1847 – 1907
Agnes Primus
Clara Hoskins Green – Thomas’ Mother

Family and Friends – A to Z 2026 Reveal

AtoZChallenge theme reveal 2026 March 9 to 14

During this, is my 12th A to Z Challenge, I will be writing 26 alphabetical posts about my paternal grandmother’s and maternal grandfather’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a few neighbors. I think I have a few partially written drafts, but I’m far from ready.

See you in April.

Maternal grandfather Mershell C. Graham and paternal grandmother Pearl R. Cleage

Clara Hoskins Green – My 2X Great Grandmother

Cabinet card of an unidentified woman photographed by JP Ball & Son, 1887-1900. James Presley Ball put his work to use in the service of the anti-slavery movement, for example by exhibiting pictures and paintings that showed the institution’s cruelty, in a Cincinnati show in 1855. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Clara Hoskins was my 2 X great grandmother and first appeared to me in a family tree my paternal grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage wrote for me.

My grandmother Pearl Cleage’s handwritten family tree.

Clara was born in Kentucky about 1825. In 1870 she lived in Lebanon, Kentucky with her husband James Green, ten year old Benjamin Green and five year old granddaughter Josephine “Josie” Campbell. I do not know if Benjamin was their child, another grandchild or a nephew. He was attending school and was able to read. Clara did not work outside of the home. James was a carpenter. Both were illiterate. Her three children lived within walking distance of her home. The neighbors on both sides were also carpenters.

20 Nov 1871 • Lebanon, Marion, Kentucky, USA
“Item: I give and bequeath to Clara Greene and to Sara Jane Primas and to Virgie Ray and to Jim Ray all of color and my former servants the sum of one hundred dollars each .”

In the 1880 census James and Clara lived alone. Although James was sick and disabled, his occupation was still listed as carpenter. Several people living nearby had consumption.

My great grandmother Anna Reed lived next door with her six children

Clara died before her husband. I do not have a death date because Marion county did not keep death records at that time, however, on October 31, 1895, Frank White was appointed to administer the estate of James Green, deceased. As there was no mention of Clara, I surmise that she was already dead.

Clara was Catholic so I hoped that I would find her and her family in the Baptismal or Burial records for Marion County. I found her daughter Sarah and her children listed as being baptized at St. Augustine Catholic church. I did not find Thomas or Anna listed. A Clara was listed, but if Clara was born in 1825, I hope that she would nor have given birth ten years later.

“Ceremonies of baptism supplied, 6-21-1835, to St. Charles Catholic Church of Susanna Rebecca, servant of Widow Osking or Hoskins. Age 7 weeks. Sponsor, Teresa, servant of Th. Spalding. Mother: Clara, servant of Widow Osking or Hoskins.” from the CD “Marion County – Black Baptisms”

One of Clara Hoskin Greene’s great grandsons, my father, ready to take photos.

CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN

Sarah Jane Ray 1845–1907 – Born into slavery, Illiterate. Day work after husband (Felix Primous) died. Birthed nine. Eight lived to adulthood.
Susan Primous – 1863–1915
Elizabeth Primous – 1864–1911
Frank Prymous – 1867–1942
John Thomas Ray Primous – 1870–1927
Estella Jane Primous – 1872–1880
Edna Ulalia Primous- 1876–1956
Joseph William Primus – 1878–1931
Martha “Mattie” Prymous – 1883–1938

Thomas Ray Allen 1847–1907 – Born into slavery; learned to read and write as an adult; served with the United States Colored Troops; hostler (takes care of horses); married twice; childless.

Anna Ray Allen 1849–1911 – Born into slavery, never learned to read or write; laundress; birthed eight children all lived to adulthood.
Josie Campbell – 1865–1900
George A Reed -1867–1945
Sarah Jane Reed – 1871–1954
Lillian Louise Reed – 1873–1938
Hugh Reed Averette – 1876–1951
Minnie Averitt Reed – 1878–1963
Clarence Elwood Reed – 1882–1954
Pearl Doris Reed – 1884–1982 (My grandmother)

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Other posts in this series

Marietta Ray Foster’s Death and Will – 1872
Agnes Primus