Echoes of My Nola Past

I previously did a post with all my Ancestors Surnames that I knew about up until this point.

I have some more information that I want to share.

Looks like my Robertson Line used two other Surnames: Robinson and Roberson.

I knew about the Roberson Surname because on the 1870 Census the Family was listed as Roberson, but by 1880 and beyond it was Robertson.

Now on the 1870 Census there was a Charity Roberson that was listed as a daughter and she was age 10. Never thought anything of it, just thought Mandy started having children a little early. By 1880 Charity had moved on and married Edmund Livingston. Charity and Edmund had seven children: Frank, Aurela, Emanuel, Mary, Ella, Hattie, and John.

Frank married Ida and had 6 children: Rosie, Artis, Isie, Frank, James E, and Cora E.

Ida passed away sometime between 1910 and 1920. Frank then married my Great Grandmother Amanda and had a son: Amos Livingston.

Not really sure what happened to Amos, just asked my Mom and she said “No one ever mentioned Amos”. Her Mom or Uncle Joe never mentioned him. What happened to Amos?

Frank Livingston passed away January 26, 1919. I checked his death record on Family Search.org. His father was listed as: Edmund Livingston and his mother was listed as: Charity Jackson.

Jackson, where did this Surname come from? If my Great Grandmother Amanda was the Informant for Frank, she would have known Frank’s Mom Surname since they grew up in the same household maybe.

Was Charity kin to Ben or Mandy or was she just someone that they took care of? Who knows I know I have to find this out since the Ancestors guided me here.

For the rest of the Family I found and obtained Death Certificates for:

Minerva Roberson Lewis: who was married to J D Lewis(Nickname was Babe). Babe was connected to the Longs. Minerva passed away March 08, 1940. Babe was the Informant for her death and her Mother and Father was listed as Amanda Roberson and Ben Roberson both from GA. Minerva and Babe had one son named Son and he was Mentally Challenged.

Reverend Cornealous Robinson: son of Ben and Mandy. Cornealous passed a way July 24, 1943 and his wife Angeline was his Informant.

Babe Roberson: daughter of Ben and Mandy. Babe passed away October 12, 1954. She was listed as a widow and no information on a husband or her parents was listed on her Death Certificate.

Amanda Bryan Roberson/Robertson: My Great Great Grandmother herself. Mandy passed away March 19, 1926. Was able to obtain her Death Certificate from the information obtained from Minerva’s Death Certificate. She was listed as Roberson not Robertson and that is  why I was unable to find a Death Record for her. She died from Influenza and she suffered from it for at least a month or so.

Looks like Babe was buried at New Zion Cemetery in Minden and no burial information for Mandy, but looks like she passed away in a Hospital somewhere in Minden(rural).

I am slowly but surely putting some puzzle pieces together, but each one leads somewhere else and where ever these pieces lead me to I’m going to put my Tree together one piece at a time!

Source cited: Louisiana Secretary of State, Family Search.org, Cousin Eddie McMurray(Sam Long’s Nephew), and Cousin Clarene Long(Sam Long’s Granddaughter)

I have been Researching my Louisiana Line for over a year now and have never posted the Surnames and the information that I have about each one.

So here goes:

Robertson: Ben Robertson born in GA about 1844. Married Mandy Bryan(t) around 1865 and had 11 children: Charity?, Henry, Georgia, Jennie?, Minerva, Thomas, Cornelius, Emma, Mary, Babe, Amanda, Martha, and Annie(Charity and Jennie are not for sure known children of Ben and Mandy, but show up on the census in the household in 1870), No known date of death for Ben.

Robinson: Not sure of the connection yet, but do know that some of the Robertson children used this Surname. (Rev Cornelius Robinson).

Bryan(t): Mandy Bryan(t) born in GA about 1850. Married Ben Robertson. No know siblings at this time. Mandy was found on 1920 census living with her son Cornelius and wife Angeline. No know date of death for Mandy.

Amos: James Manuel Amos born in Minden, Louisiana about 1870. Married my Great Grandmother Amanda Robertson about 1898 and had four children: James, Willie, Joseph, and Odessa(my Grandmother).

Bell: Martha Robertson married Robert B Bell February 8, 1900 and had 7 children: Alberta, David A, Dezeria, Jesse B, John B, Robert Jr., and Savannah.

Long: Emma Robertson married Sam Long sometime before 1910 and had 8 children: Martha, Cleveland, Paul, Albert, Carter, Coleman, Julia, and Central. Sam and Emma were members of Saint Peter Baptist Church and are buried there.

Banks: Odessa Amos(my grandmother) married Augustus Banks sometime around 1922 or 1923 and had 2 children: Earl Carey Banks(Carey is Augustus’s father first name) and Augustus Banks Jr. (My Uncles)

Randle: Martha Long married Garfield Randle sometime before 1930 and had 3 children: Margaret, Thomas, and Howard

Pyles: Savannah Bell married Charles Pyles sometime before 1930. No known children at this time.

Lewis: Minerva Robertson married J D Lewis(John) sometime before 1910 and had 2 children: Theleon(?) and Lizy.

Pierre: Georgia Robertson Robert Pierre about 1896 and had 1 known child: Evie E

Dennis: This Surname belongs to Sam Long half sisters and brothers: John, Louvella, Lannie, Jossie, and Nina Mae.

Harris: This Surname belongs to Sam Long half brother: Calvin Harris

Levingston: Charity Robertson(not sure if this was a child or sister of Ben Robertson) married Edmund Levingston about 1876 and had 6 children: Aurela, Emanuel, Mary, Ella, Hattie, and John. (Edmund is believed to have married my Great Grandmother Amanda Robertson sometime around 1917).

Hampton: Julia Long married Luther Hampton and had 1 known child: J C Hampton.

King: Central Long had 2 boys by someone with this Surname their names were: Ollie and Samuel.

James: James is the last nameof Annie Robertson 2 children: Mabel and Oliver James. They were found on the 1920 census living with Robert and Martha Bell.

If you know any of my family, please contact me and share. Thanks!!

Sources: Most of the information was found on Ancestry.com  and Clarene Long, Sam and Emma Long’s Granddaughter.

During research of African American Ancestors, sometimes we come up against all kinds of brick walls, because our ancestors were property and were not enumerated until 1870.

One of my easiest lines to research after 1870 was the ROBERTSONS. Only because the family literally stayed in the same area in Webster Parish, LA. I was able to find to all the sisters, sisters children, sisters children-children, etc…(still no info on Henry or Thomas), but the other ROBERTSON boy Corneilus, stayed in the area and Mandy was living with him in 1910. She was living alone by 1920.

Makes for such easy research, but at some point we do have to go back further and it can be difficult at times(I will say 85% of the time).

I previously wrote a post on Edmund W HODGES as being a possible owner of my ancestors, boy was I so wrong. Although he was a neighbor to Ben and Mandy, thats all he was. Could not find anything further.

The real problem was that I was thinking that the HODGES owned Ben not Mandy. One day on one of my long trips home from work, I thought lets look at the research that way and see what happens. So my research began.

First I revisited my notes and emails between myself and LCAfricana. We both were able to see that the HODGES name was all over Bossier Parish as slave owners during the 1950s and 1960s (I believe this family were the biggest slaveowners and witnessed a lot of Bill of Sales) in the area.

I concentrated more on the 1860s since Mandy was born abt 1850(GA). There were 4 HODGES slaveowners in Bossier Parish in 1860:
John L HODGES owned 129 slaves
John C HODGES owned 9 slaves
E W HODGES owned 50 slaves
E W HODGES JR and his partner D P BECK together owned 15 slaves.

E W HODGES did not come to the area until 1858 (source: thunder88 public tree on Ancestry.com named Edmund Kennedy HODGES), so those two HODGES were eliminated from my list. That left John L and J C HODGES, which J C only owned 9 slaves and none of their ages matched with Mandy. That leaves JOHN LITTLE HODGES!

John L HODGES was born September 1, 1803 and died March 24, 1866 in Haughton, Bossier Parish, LA.
Father was: Edmund K HODGES: 1765-1843
Mother: Patience HODGES: 1763-1835
John L was brother of Mathew and Robert HODGES. Mathew was father to E W and grandfather to E W Jr., which were neighbors to the ROBERTSONS in 1870.

What really caught my attention was that John was married to a Mary Bryan Hamilton HODGES and Bryan was Mandy’s maiden name.

There were 3 Bryan slaveowners in 1860:
J N Bryan owned 55 slaves
J J Bryan owned 79 slaves
J D Bryan owned 23 slaves
They all were neighbors to John L HODGES in 1860.

I remembered seeing some notes that I had written up on the HODGES from NO LAND…, ONLY SLAVES!! (by: Edith Smith & Vivan Lehman), they were as follows:

Book 4 page 455 18 Dec 1858/21 Dec 1858 nr Hodges, Edmund W to Hodges, John L abt 9 or 10 slaves, $6,900.00 witnessed by Hodges, John L Jr., and Hodges, John C, and Hodges Nat

Book 2 page 255 nr 25 Apr 1851/5 Dec 1851 Bryan, Joseph D to Hodges, Robert and Hodges John. Bill of Sale for 45 slaves, $23,000.00 one named ELIZA(Mandy was listed on 1870 census with this name).

There you have it, I believe JOHN LITTLE HODGES was my true ancestor owner of Mandy not Ben. Oh Yeah!, John was also neighbors in 1860 to: Lewis Monzingo and John F Applewhite. These names will only make since to LCAfricana. Thanks so much Toni. I really appreciate all of your time and support and truly letting me figure this out on my own. I DID IT!! Will be sending the book and my notes soon.

There also was an M C ROBERTSON that was a slaveowner in Bossier Parish, LA in 1860(New research project).

Now that I have all this information: WHATS NEXT?
Felicia

As you all know I have been trying to get information on my Louisiana Line. I have reached out to living family that might have some information on the Robertson/Robinson line, but no one had sufficent enough information. Was able to get bits and pieces here and there. Enough to build on my family tree.

Since I know of the website AnyWho.com, where you can but a persons name, city and state and it would let you know of those that live in that area. I decided to put several of my ancestors last name in and see what happens. To my surprise I was able to get at least three families in Cotton Valley that had my ancestors last name.

Last night I decided to compose a letter to these families and here is a copy of that letter:

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Felicia R Mathis and I am researching my family genealogy and I am hoping you might have some connection to my family and are willing to share or can connect me with someone who has some information and might be willing to share some information on my family. Let me start by giving you some of my family history that might show a possible connection.

My family history began in Webster Parish Police Jury Ward 2, Cotton Valley. My families surname is Robertson/Robinson. Some family used either name but I think Robinson was the one used most. My family members are:
Ben Robertson
Mandy Bryant-Robertson
Henry Robertson
Georgia Robertson
Minerva Robertson-Lewis
Thos (Thomas) Robertson
Cornelius Robertson
Emma Robertson-Long
Mary Robertson
Babe Robertson
Amanda Robertson-Amos-Livingston
Martha Robertson-Bell
Annie Robertson

The family members that I have information on are: Emma, Amanda, and Martha. I know Emma Robertson married Samuel Long and had 8 children, Martha, Cleveland, Paul, Albert, Carter, Julia, Centralia, and Coleman. Martha married Garfield Randle and Julia married into the Hampton family and had a son named J.C. who married a woman named Hattie. Amanda Robertson (my great grandmother) married a James Manuel Amos and had 4 children: James, Willie, Joseph, and Odessa (my grandmother). My grandmother Odessa married Augustus Banks and had 2 children: Earl, and AJ, she also married a Robert L Smith and had 2 children: Beverly Esther Smith-Mathis (my mother), and Robert Smith Jr. My mother remembers Martha, Cleveland, and Centralia as my grandmother cousins. Sometime in the 1920s, Amanda moved the family to Chicago, IL. Where she later died in 1926. My grandmother Odessa died in 1969. Martha Robertson married Robert B. Bell. She married Robert Bell around 1900 and they had about 7 children: Savannah, Robert Jr., Jessie, John, David, Dezeria and Alberta. Savannah married Charles Pyles and Dezeria married into the Cook family. I was hoping that there might be some descendents in the area. My grandmother Odessa had some cousins from the area, there names were Bob and Arthur Robinson. Their mother was believed to be one of the Robertson girls. Bob had a wife named Colona. Somewhere in the family there is a Mary Lee and her mom is one of the daughters also. I know some of the family moved to California, Chicago, and some stayed in LA.

I know this seems like a lot of information to take in, but this is what I have learned through my research, and if you are not of knowing any of my ancestors listed above I am really sorry to bother you and want to thank you for taking the time to read my letter. If some of this sound familiar to you, then fill me in on the blanks that I have missed. Please consider my request for information and if you have any photos of the family you are willing to share so I can add to my tree, I would love to have them. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Now what if this is not my family? What if I get no response? Do I seem crazy? I am so scared that the families might not know anything, or they might even be my ancestors.

My question is: What woud you do if you recieved a letter like this?
Felicia