While looking through the 1894 very fragile copy of The Freeman, I came across a column called Lost Relatives. There were many columns like this after the Civil War where people wrote hoping to find family members – mothers, brothers, sisters, children – that were sold away to other plantations. This column was written 29 years after the war and people were still hoping to find their loved ones. As my friend historian Paul Lee wrote:
The notices demonstrate that, though slavery inflicted lasting damage on black families by ruthlessly dividing them, it could not erase the love and loyalty that family members felt for one another — even after decades of separation.
The notices make clear that, through all of slavery’s horrors, many bondsmen and -women found reasons and ways to maintain their sense of familyhood, and acted upon it when freedom finally arrived.
Pinkey Porter holding baby William Turner. 1920 (copyright Becky Leach)
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free and their descendants. They are not my ancestors.
One day last month I saw this photo on my friends facebook page. All she knew about it was that the baby held by the servant was her husband’s father. And what was written on the back – Pinkey’s name and the date. I decided to see what I could find. I started by looking for the 1920 census on Ancestry.com. I found her employed and living in a multigenerational white household in Petersburg, Virginia. The members of the household were:
Julitte Robinson Head 69 William O Robinson Son 31 James M Turner Son-in-law 49 Sue R Turner Daughter 27 William Turner Grandson 4 mths Pinkey Porter Servant 25 Maud Macklin Servant 20
Pinkie was born in 1895 in Virginia. Both of her parents were also born in Virginia. She was working as a cook and lived in the family’s home. She was literate.
Next I did what I do and began to search for Pinkie Porter in other records. I found three in the Petersburg City Directories. One for 1907, one for 1909 and one for 1920. The entry for 1920 gave her name, occupation as cook and the address was the same as where she worked in the 1920 census. In 1907 and 1909 directories, the Pinkie Porter born in 1885, would have been too young to to be listed.
I looked in the marriage records to see if Pinkie had married and changed her name. I found two Pinkie Porters who married in Petersburg. The first was born in 1885 and married Robert Mcdougold in 1909. I think this was the one who appeared in the 1907 and 1909 city directories. Pinkie and Robert moved back to his family farm in North Carolina where I found them in the 1910 census. Unfortunately, Robert Mcdougold died of TB in 1914.
The other marriage record was for Pinkie Porter born in 1893 and Alex Martin. They were married in 1918. Alex appears in the 1922 directory working as a laborer. This could be the Pinkie in the photograph because ages often vary by a year or two (or more) in different records. But if this was Pinkie from the photograph, she would have had to leave her husband, go back to her maiden name and go to work as a cook to appear in the 1920 census. Which could have happened.
I found only one Pinkie Porter in any of the censuses living in Virginia. She was born in Surry County, Virginia in 1868. She married William Henry Lestage in 1888 in Surry County. Pinkie Porter Lestage died in 1900 after giving birth to her fourth daughter. The baby’s name was Pinkie.
I want to thank Becky Leach for sharing her photograph and allowing me to use it in this post.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free and their descendants. They are not my ancestors.
Otis Graham was born in Elmore County in 1869, to John and Anna Graham. She grew up surrounded by family. Her grandparents lived next door and her uncles lived nearby. All of them were farmers. The family was recently out of slavery, which ended in 1865, and they were unable to read and write. Otis lived with her uncle Henderson after her father died. She attended school through the 2nd grade.
From FamilySearch.com
Otis was married to Edward Avery on October 21, 1885 at The Good Baptist Church in Elmore County by Elder Rames. Edward’s father, Frank Avery was a witness.
By 1900 Edward owned his farm, with a mortgage. He was 33 and could read, but not write. Otis, at 32, had given birth to seven children and all were still alive and living at home. The two oldest, 13 year old Willie and 11 year old Daisy attended school.
I do not know what happened during the next twenty years because I could not find them in the 1910 census. In 1920, the family was living and farming on rented land in Liberty, Autauga County. Otis was 50 and Edward was 54. There were four children at home. All of them had been born after 1900. That makes at least 11 children in the family. Mary was fifteen and the oldest child at home. She and thirteen year old Gertrude were both literate. Eleven year old Boss and eight year old Graham were not. No one had attended school in 1919.
Edward died before 1930. 65 year old Otis and her youngest son, Graham were back in Elmore County. They lived in a rented house. Graham supported them doing general labor. Otis was not employed.
In the 1940 census we learn that 23 year old Graham Avery completed 6th grade. He was doing farm labor. 75 year old Otis was a laundress working from home. She had completed 2nd grade. They were in the same area living in a rented house.
I found a death record for an 88 year old Otis Avery in Mobile Alabama for 1959. It does not include parents or husbands name because it is just an index entry and not the death certificate, so I am not positive it is for her.
Most of the children remained in Elmore county. One daughter and her family moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Graham ended up in Birmingham, AL.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free.
I was looking for one of my enslaved ancestors named William Graham when I found an 1860 estate file on Familysearch.com for Judge William A. Graham with a list of slaves to be divided between his heirs. I hoped my great grandfather was one of those named. I decided to go through the list of 60 plus and see what I could find out using online records. I still don’t know if the William on the list is mine or not, but it has been interesting to find out what happened to those listed after they were freed in 1865.
Nelson Graham was born into slavery in Georgia. Both of his parents were born in North Carolina. Caroline was born into slavery in Alabama. Her parents were also born in North Carolina. They ended up on the plantation of Judge William A. Graham in Autauga County, Alabama and appear on the 1860 estate list. They appear in lot 1 with their three youngest children, six year old Sallie, five year old Duncan and one year old Fanny. They were to go to Judge Graham’s daughter Eliza Fay of Autauga County. Two of their older children, eleven year old Caroline and thirteen year old Nelson were included in lot 5. They were to go to Judge Graham’s daughter Maria McLemore of Autauga County. Twenty year old William was in lot six which went to Judge Graham’s son Alfred Graham of Rusk, Texas. Seventeen year old Henderson was in the undivided group.
Nelson and Caroline’s family as they appeared on the Estate List. The amount they were valued at is in the last column.
In 1870 Nelson and Caroline were living in Montgomery. Five of their children were living with them; Caroline, 20; Sallie, 16; Duncan, 14; Fannie, 8 and five year old Elsie. Nelson had no occupation. Caroline was keeping house. No one in the household could read or write.
In 1880 Nelson Graham and his family lived on Peacock Track in Montgomery. Of their children, only their 21 year old Fannie still lived at home. There were four grandchildren living with them – thirteen year old Willie Graham, six year old Duncan Wilkerson, five year old Sarah Powell and three year old Irene Holtzclaw. Nelson worked as a drayman. Fannie was a house servant. The two older grandchildren were in school and the two little ones were at home. Caroline did not work outside of the house. Neither of the parents were literate. Fannie and Willie were.
Nelson appears in the Montgomery Directory in 1883 and 1893 as a laborer living on Peacock Track. After that I cannot find him or Caroline.
On back of photo: Margaret Ally (colored) who was at Grandmother Peaslee’s wedding when she was married at College Hill in 1874. Often Margaret used to come over and make jelly for us.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free and their descendants. Most of them are not related to me.
Today’s post started with the photograph above. My friend Zann shared it with me. It is one of the things that made me chose “Telling Their Stories” for my A to Z Challenge theme.
Margaret Lane Alley was the daughter of Allen Lane – Born 1810 in Kentucky (Click the link to see his story.). James Hardage Lane owned Allen and three others. He set all of them free in his will. Margaret and her siblings were owned by someone else. Who, I do not know. I spent most of today looking through slave censuses trying to figure it out, but the enslaved were not named in the slave censuses, just age, sex and color were given. Without names it was a guessing game and I gave up.
Margaret and her husband John Alley were both born into slavery in Kentucky. They were married in 1861 and relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio after they were free. Both of their children were born in Ohio. In 1870 the family lived in College Hill, Cincinnati Ohio. John did day labor and Margaret kept house. Neither could read or write. Their children were five year old John, Jr. and three year old Louisa.
In 1880 the family owned their home on North Bend Road in College Hill. John, Sr. was a laborer and could read, but not write. Margaret was keeping house. The children had both attended school the previous year and were literate. The census says that John, Jr. was out at service so he was also working. Margaret’s younger brother, Thomas was living with them. He was a laborer, could read and write and had consumption. He was thirty years old.
“On the south side of North Bend Road not far from Savannah was a little green frame cottage,…. in which an African American family lived. We have learned that this lot was bought in 1880 by John Alley, Sr. from the College Hill railroad. … Mrs. Rosemary Forbes remembered of seeing a tall, thin black man who played a ‘squeeze box’ living in the green cottage, which had no foundation, only stones supporting the four corners.”
In 1900 John was sixty. He had been out of work for 11 months during the previous year. Margaret was 61. Their daughter Louisa’s two oldest children were living with their grandparents. They had attended school. The youngest daughter was with her parents in Kentucky where Louisa’s husband was a minister. The Alley’s owned their house free and clear.
In 1910 John Alley was 79 and no longer working. Margaret was 72. They were living in their house on North Bend Road. Their son, John Jr, and his wife both died in 1904. Their twelve year old son, Frank was living with his grandparents.
Margaret Alley died on August 28, 1910. She was 72. John Alley died in 1917 in Indianapolis, Indiana where he was living with his daughter Louise and her family. He was 86 years old.
In 1935 the property was sold to Dr. Theodore Walker, who tore down the cottage and built his brick house on the site. He was the doctor to the African American community in College Hill. Image from Google.
I wish I could have figured out where Margaret and her siblings were enslaved after their father was freed around 1840. That left them as slaves for over 20 years after he was free. I found the information in Census records, death records and directories on ancestry.com and familysearch.com. Special thanks to Zann Carter and Lisa Schumann for their help.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free and their descendants.
Today I write about Libbie Logan Stewart who was the daughter of Ellen Logan, the cook for the Peaslee family both during and after slavery. You can read about Ellen at this post Ellen Logan – Louisville, Kentucky.
Libbie was born into slavery in 1863 in Louisville, Kentucky. Alice Norcross Cane describes her thus in her book Slightly Historical. “She (Libbie) was smart and capable and almost white. She and her little brother, from their likeness to a Northerner stationed in the neighborhood, were evidently his unacknowledged children.“
“By early 1862, Louisville had 80,000 Union troops throughout the city. … By May 1862, the steamboats arrived and departed at the wharf in Louisville with their cargoes. Military contractors in Louisville provided the Union army with two hundred head of cattle each day, and the pork packers provided thousands of hogs daily. Trains departed for the south along the L&N railroad.” Louisville, Kentucky, in the American Civil War
In 1870 six year old Libbie lived with her mother Ellen, her siblings and the other servants in the two-story building in back of the Peaslees. In 1873 when Libbie was nine years old, her mother and newborn baby died in childbirth. It was not rare for girls as young as this to act as nursemaids, usually with an older person to oversee them. Perhaps those were Libbie’s duties. By the time she was sixteen in 1880 Libbie was literate. She continued to work for the Peaslees until her marriage to Frank Stewart, a coachman, in May of 1886. They married at the house and Alice remembered it in Slightly Historical:
“She was married from our house to the coachman of the Henning family. A hack drawn by two horses took them away the night of the wedding. This was the first wedding my sisters and brother and I had ever witnessed and was, for us, a big event. … Libby made her home one we enjoyed visiting. She kept it apple-pie condition. Her tiny front yard was ablaze with flowers and she herself was always neat in appearance.”
Libbie and Frank moved to their home at 1958 Sixth Alley. There Libbie had a yard full of flowers. They never had children. Frank continued to work as a coachman until 1908 when he became a butler. Libbie did not work outside of the home until that same year when she is listed as a laundress in the city directory.
The next year she began working at the Louisville Girls High school where she continued working for the next six years. Frank also began to work as a janitor. During this time they rented their house on Sixth Alley, eventually moving to another rented house on Levering Street Rear where Frank continued to live until his death at 71 years in 1928. Libbie remained there and worked as a domestic until at least 1935.
She died suddenly of a heart attack on October 24, 1942. She was 79 years old. Both she and her husband are buried in Louisville Cemetery. Louisville Cemetery was incorporated by several prominent black citizens in 1886.
I found my information in “Slightly Historical” by Alice Norcross Cane; in census, marriage, death records and Louisville city directories on Ancestry.com, familysearch.com and rootsweb Kentucky death records. Also helpful was the Wikepedia description of Louisville during the Civil War.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free.
I was looking for one of my enslaved ancestors named William Graham when I found an 1860 estate file on Familysearch.com for Judge William A. Graham with a list of slaves to be divided between his heirs. I hoped my great grandfather was one of those named. I decided to go through the list of 60 plus and see what I could find out using online records. I still don’t know if the William on the list is mine or not, but it has been interesting to find out what happened to those listed after they were freed in 1865.
Page 2 of the estate file of Judge William Graham. Kate’s name appears on the line with the dot. Click to enlarge.
Kate appears on page two of the 1860 estate file of Judge William A. Graham. She was three years old and valued at $300. Kate was not in a family grouping. She was among a group of children that appeared to be without parents. Kate was placed in lot 4 along with 16 year old Emily and child, six year old Jane and 18 year old John. They were to go to William A. Graham of Autauga County, Alabama. Out of that group I have only been able to trace John, who I wrote about at Betsy & John Graham.I was unable to find Kate in the 1870 census or beyond.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free. I was looking for one of my enslaved ancestors named William Graham when I found an 1860 estate file for Judge William A. Graham with a list of slaves to be divided between his heirs. I hoped my great grandfather was one of those named. I decided to go through the list of 60 plus and see what I could find out using online records. I still don’t know if the William on the list is mine or not, but it has been interesting to find out what happened to those listed after they were freed in 1865.
Estate file of Judge William A. Grahams. Page 1 of several pages of the enslaved with names, ages and values. 1860. Click to enlarge.
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I wrote a bit about Emanuel Graham and several generations of his descendants here. Today I am going to take a closer look at Emanuel’s son James. James Graham was born into slavery in 1848, probably on Judge William A. Graham’s plantation. His parents were Emanuel and Elsie Graham. In the 1860 estate file, James appears with his family group as a six year old valued at $700. James, his parents and his two year old sister Clara were in Lot 2, which was to go to to the Judge’s daughter Ellen Graham Strain in Shelby County, Alabama. James older siblings were in separate lots. Ten year old Betsy was in Lot 6 to go to Alfred Graham in Rusk, Texas. Eleven year old Harris was in Lot 9 to go with Sarah Graham Sims in Macon County, Alabama. Thirteen year old Charles was in Lot 7 to go with Lenora Graham in Prattville, Autauga County, Alabama. The settling of the estate seemed to drag on for several years and I am not sure if they were separated.
In 1870 Harris, 22; Betsy, 20; James, 16 and Clara, 12 were all living with their parents in Prattville. Clara was the only one attending school. Emanuel was a farmer with $100 worth of personal estate. Elsie was keeping house. Harris and James worked as farm labor on the family farm. Betsy was a domestic servant. Nobody could read or write.
James married Cynthia Gibbons in 1877. They were both about 23. In 1880 they were working for the Northington family. They had two children, two year old Mary and one year old Christopher.
By 1900 they owned their own farm free of mortgage. James was farming. Cynthia had given birth to ten children and all were still living, nine in the family home. Their ages ranged 22 down to four year old Samuel. Nobody had attended school that year. Viola and Elsie were able to read. Manuel and Albert were laborers on the home farm. Cynthia’s brother Robert owned and farmed the land next to them.
In 1910 Five of James and Cynthia’s sons were living at home and working on the farm. They were all literate. One of the children had died. James does not appear in any other records after 1910.
In 1920 Cynthia and the youngest son, Samuel were working the home farm. Son Manuel and his family owned land and were farming next door. Son Haywood and his family rented and farmed next to Manuel.
Samuel died in 1926. His mother Cynthia does not appear in any more records. I was unable to find death records for James or Cynthia Graham. Of the children that I was able to follow, all remained in Autauga farming except for Haywood who moved with his family to Youngstown Ohio where he worked as a laborer until he died in 1979.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free. Sometimes I also write about their descendants who were born after slavery.
In 1880 Nelson Graham and his family lived a few houses from Ed Patterson and his family in the Peacock Track in Montgomery, Alabama. Both households held a couple and five children. In Nelson and Caroline’s house only their 21 year old Fannie still lived at home. There were also four grandchildren – thirteen year old Willie Graham, six year old Duncan Wilkerson, five year old Sarah Powell and three year old Irene Holtzclaw. Nelson worked as a drayman. Fannie was a house servant. The two older grandchildren were in school and the two little ones were at home. Caroline did not work outside of the house. Neither of the parents were literate but the younger ones were.
At the Patterson home in 1880, Ed was a carpenter, his wife Anna kept house. She was listed as deaf. Their children were young, nine year old Katie, six year old Anna, five year old Mary E., three year old Eddie and one year old Mary A.V.G.. The parents were literate. The two older children were in school.
Twenty years have passed and by 1900 Nelson Graham and his family have disappeared from the records. The Patterson family had moved to Clay Street where they owned their house free and clear. The young children from 1880 were now grown and out of the house. Their twenty year old daughter Gertrude and sixteen year old son Neamiah attended school. Twenty two year old Irene Holtzclaw was also a member of the Patterson household and was identified as Patterson’s adopted daughter. Ed and Anna’s daughter Mary Ella had married William H. Holtzclaw. Mary Ella and William were both graduates of Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.
On October 10, 1900 Irene Holtzclaw married Samuel Dupree, a widower. Their daughter Ethel Mae Dupree was born the following year. Samuel worked as a laborer in the early years and ended up as a grocer. I found Samuel in a number of Montgomery city directories but was unable to find the family in the 1910 census. Their address was listed as 343 Jeff Davis Ave. with the store located at 216 S. Hold. After combing the second ward in which those streets are located, I found the house at 343 Jeff Davis Ave. Instead of Sam and Irene and baby Ethel Mae, I found Jim Dupree, Sam’s father living there with his family. No sign of Irene and her family. I did stumble across others that I knew as I went page by page through the three enumeration districts located in the 2nd ward, I saw Ed Patterson, now a widower but still worked as a carpenter. His son Neamiah was living with his brother’s family. I saw my 2X great aunt Beulah Allen Pope and her family. But no Irene Holtzclaw Dupree.
In 1911 Samuel and Irene’s daughter Margaret was born. I cannot find a death record for Irene, but in 1915 Samuel then 45, married Ella Albritton age 21. In the 1920 census he was described as a retail merchant. Everybody in the house was literate. Nineteen year old Ethel and nine year old Margaret both attended school. The family owned their home free of mortgage. A few blocks away, at 235 Jeff Davis lived my Aunt Beulah and her family.
Loose Ends
In 1922 Samuel Dupree died. He was 53 years old. In 1927 daughter Ethel died at age 26. In 1930 daughter Margaret, now 19, was living with her stepmother Ella, in the house on Jeff Davis. They have a border who is a brakeman on the railroad. Ella was a waitress at a cafe. Margaret was in school. They didn’t own a radio. I lost track of Margaret but Ella stayed in the old home and worked as a cook through the 1940s and into the 1950s, even starting her own cafe. She died in 1958 at 63 years old.
Irene Holtzclaw, led me a merry chase through the records as I traced her life. Some things are still a mystery – who were her parents? When and of what did she die? Did she have more children in the years I lost her? I enjoy searching in Montgomery because I always run across relatives and other people I know.
This is my 4th year participating in the A-Z Challenge. I am writing about people who were born into slavery and lived to be free and their descendants.
Today I will write about Henderson Graham of Alabama. This is another case of the name appearing in the estate file of William A. Graham of Autauga County and then turning up with his family in 1870 in Elmore County. Elmore County was created from parts of several other counties, including Autauga. I need to look and see who the Graham slave holders were in that area. William A. Graham and his children can’t have been the only Graham slave holders in the area. Or maybe they were. At any rate, here is the story of Henderson Graham as pieced together from records.
Henderson appears in the 1860 estate file as a seventeen year old young man given a value of $700.00. He was born about 1843. In 1870 the only Henderson Graham in the area is found living with his family in Elmore County. The family includes Eli Graham, 48; Hester Graham, 47; Henderson, 15 and 12 year old Eli. Eli senior was a farmer. Hester was keeping house. Living next door were John and Anna Graham and their two children Otis and Ester. John was also a farmer.
Click to enlarge.
On October 23, 1873 Henderson married Caroline Duncan in Elmore County. When I looked at the marriage license, I noticed that Griffin and Texas Jackson were the couple above them. Griffin was Prissa Jackson’s son. Both couples were married by George Washington.
In 1880 Henderson was farming. He rented the land for shares, that is he had to give part of his crop in payment. His father and brother Eli were also farming this way. Henderson worked 50 acres. He had $90 worth of livestock. The estimated value of everything produced on the farm in 1879 was valued at $400. He had one milch cow and one other cattle; six swine; ten barnyard fowl who produced 20 dozen eggs in 1879. He planted 18 acres of Indian Corn which produced 180 bushels and 36 acres of cotton which produced six bales. He grew 15 bushels of sweet potatoes on a quarter acre.
Henderson and Caroline had two small children, a daughter Alice three years old and a son Judge one. His niece Otis lived with them. She was eleven and attending school. Hester Duncan, Caroline’s fourteen year old sister lived with them and worked on the farm, as did Mary Long. Henderson did not live far from his father and his siblings. His dwelling was #279 on the 1880 census and his father was #311. None of them were literate.
Between 1880 and 1900 three more sons were born, Eli in 1885; Butler in 1887 and Clinton in 1889. Caroline died sometime after the birth of Clinton. In 1899 Henderson married Patsey, who had one daughter, Minnie King. In 1900 Henderson was farming. He owned his farm but it was mortgaged. His four sons and step-daughter, ages 22 to 13 were living on the farm. Only the oldest, Judge, was able to read and write. They were all listed as farm labor and none were in school. Patsey had birthed five children and four were still alive.
Henderson’s daughter Alice, her husband William and their three year old daughter Rosa lived next door. They had been married three years. Alice had birthed two children and one was alive. William was farming on his own mortgaged farm. He was illiterate while Alice was able to read and write. Nine year old Alfried Owens lived with them and is listed as ‘nurse’.
In the 1910 Henderson is listed as 62 years old. Every year he gets closer to that birth year in the estate file. He and Patsey had been married nine years. It says this is his 3rd marriage and her 4th. I take this with a grain of salt as I have found no other marriages. He now owns his farm free and clear (Yay!) His son Clinton lives with them and works on the farm. Two step-grandchildren, Patsey and Peter Duncan live with them. Fourteen year old Patsey attended school while eleven year old Peter did not. Both Clinton and Patsey are literate. Henderson’s son Eli rents a far down the road and farms with his wife Mary.
Patsey died in Montgomery in 1915. Henderson died on January 4, 1925 in Elmore County, Alabama. He was buried in Goodship Cemetery. He was 82 years old and his birth year is given as 1843, which finally gets us back to the birth year in the 1860 estate file.
I saw a lot of tangents to go off on while researching Henderson and I plan to come back to this family later in the month. I especially enjoyed finding the connection with an extended family member of mine in the marriage record book. I am glad he was able to own his farm free and clear.
