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 don’t remember my maternal Grandmother Odessa Amos(Big Momma to some but I like calling her NaNa). She passed away when I was 2 years old.

My Mom and Dad worked the evening shift and NaNa Odessa babysat for my brother and I a lot, especially since her and my Mom lived across the hall from each other in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, IL.

I’m quite sure we spent many evenings in the kitchen talking, sharing recipes, and eating together.

I’m thinking thats where my like for cooking and baking came from. Mom said NaNa always made her cakes from scratch and would have a strong dislike for the instant cake mixes that they sell today.

See NaNa Odessa left Cotton Valley, LA with only a third grade education and knew that she wanted something better for her children. She made sure all of her children took advantage of any and all opportunities that were provided to them. Each one recieved a Degree and two recieving a Master Degree(my mom being one of them).

She never wanted my Mom to marry my Dad, but of course my Mom did, but by the time my Mom recieved her Degree NaNa Odessa was already gone. I know she was proud of my Mom nevertheless.

One of the hardest things NaNa Odessa had to do was bury a child.

My Uncle Augustus Banks Jr. passed away sometime around 1968. What strength she must have shown while inside dying from a broken heart. She knew she had to go on for the rest of her children and be strong for them.

I still have all the cards and well wishes that was sent to my NaNa. I can tell she was well liked and really cared about the Community. I have her Voters Registration Card from 1964 and I am quite sure she voted every chance she was given as soon as African Americans were given the opportunity to vote. Since I found her card, I decided to vote every chance I get and Volunteer more in my own Community.

One thing that I have learned from her is her STRENGTH. Coming from a Community in LA with no electricity and runnung water, to a Community where she worked as a maid and raised her children to recieve College Degrees.

I watched my Mom bury 2 of her 3 brothers and keep it together like no other. She never lost it in front of us and I can see NaNa Odessa doing the same.

After everything that my Family and I have been through within the last six months, one thing that we remained is Strong. A trait that was passed on from generation to generation. I can hear my NaNa Odessa Spirit saying to me “Its ok Lisa, everything is going to be alright”.

See thats what she named me. Never being able to pronounce Felicia correctly she told my Mom “I’m calling this baby Lisa”, and that is what my Family and close Friends call me to this day. She also noticed that the spelling on my Birth Record was incorrect. I have a slash through my middle name on my Birth Certificate and the real spelling is above that.

I can hear her now teasing my Mom “Beverly why you name this girl after the Whale on Moby Dick. My middle name is Rachelle, but on my birth record it was spelled as Rachel and thanks to my NaNa, Rachel was crossed out and my true name was added.

No matter if I can remember her or not, her Spirit is with me everyday. Everytime someone says my name or I have to show a copy of my Birth Certificate.

Some of the stories about her I found out after starting my Research, but I knew about my name change at such an early age and that is the story about my NaNa Odessa that I carry with me everyday and deep in my heart. I know she  is so proud that I was choosen to tell the Nola Story, wouldn’t be surprised at all if NaNa had a hand in it all like all Grandmothers do!!

Mr Blakburn was one of NaNa’s Suitors! Tale has it, this was supposed to be my Grandfather!

Left to Right: Augustus Banks Jr.(some say my son Jayson act just like him), Gloria(Earl’s girlfriend), Earl C Banks. Sitting: NaNa Odessa

The date on this card was September 1964. My brother was born in March. I will assume NaNa Odessa decided she wanted to make the city a little bit better for her grandson.
Felicia

This is a picture of my grandmother Odessa Amos and her friend Rue or Ruthie(this is what name mom remembers). Not sure of what year this picture was taken,  but they do look like they are having a good time. Actually they look like they are up to something. See if NaNa Odessa would have stayed around a little longer I am so sure that my noisey self would have asked all those questions that I am asking now. I am so sure that she would have answered all my questions or just told me that I talk to much for my age. How I wish to hear those words now.
Felicia

ODESSA AMOS
1907-1969

Today as I was shared with a co-worker about what I have learned about my family history so far. I shared with her that my Robertson/Robinson line of women were Mulattos. As I explained to her that Mulatto was a negative word that was used for mixed race. I joking said that someone in my family slept with and Indian or the slave master. We laughed but how true this is. The problem is that whom ever started this color line in my family, was not happy to do so.

I shared with my co-worker that my mom shared with me. She always told me that my grandmother Odessa was so light that she could pass for white. She said that growing up, their neighbors looked down on them because her and my uncle Bobby were light also. My mom said she used to hear them say “here comes Ms Odessa with them light kids of hers.” My mom said that one of the things neighbors said they think they are better because of their skin color.

How not true this is. My Grandmother had my mom and uncle at such a late age in life that after she had my uncle, she started having health problems. They were raised in the Robert Taylor projects in Chicago down on State Street. My grandmother worked cleaning homes and did whatever she had to do to help raise her family. See, my grandfather Robert was so messed up by the war that my grandmother was on her own with two kids and health problems. So how is that thinking that you are better? She went threw the same thing that every women went threw no matter what their skin color is.

My co-worker shared with me that she has the same issue in her family but in reverse. See Carolina is from the Dominic Republic and she shared that most women mixed with men from Haiti. She stated that her grandmother used to tell her” get you one of those men with the blue eyes and light skin.” That might not be the exact quote but you all know what I’m talking about. I told her just like in my family, all the light women went for that dark skinned man!! Even her(she has one of the cutiest little baby), my mom, my grandmother, my great great grandmother and so on.

See I am a true believer that it is not about the color of your skin, but about what you have in your heart and your character, but if you think about it no matter what color your skin is Mulatto, Light skinned, or dark skinned we are all African Americans and Children of God. I just wish things could have been different then and now!!

Hello,

As I sit here today in 2009, I have always been fixated on the past. Reading, Movies, etc. Whatever contained the past (anything before 1960). That’s why I decided to trace my family and do a family tree.

As I began I found out that my mom did not have a whole lot of information on both sides of her line. So my journey began. I started with the information that was given to me by my mom, by her having so little, was not much to go by. All she knew at that time was that her mom was born in Cotton Valley, Louisiana that is in Webster Parish. Searched my grandmother’s name Odessa Amos but could not find her. At that point I found Ancestry’s message boards and found a Board for African Americans and left a post under the state Louisiana. To my dismay, someone answered and told me my great grandmother Amanda was living with her sister Martha in Police Jury Ward 2, Webster Parish with her 4 children, but the spelling was off. Ah! that’s why I Could not find her.

That’s one thing that I’ve learned about this research, education was not top priority back then, so spelling of names and what year a person was born may be off, waaay offf!!

Starting from there I learned that my great grandmother Amanda was part of a real big family(my mom said that her mom always said that it was 8 girls). My biggest problem with that is the family name. It was known as ROBINSON, but during my research I found the family under ROBERTSON. Which I learned later is actually the same surname. I was later able to locate my great great grandfather Ben Robertson in 1880. He was a farmer and owned and farmed his own land. He was married to my great great grandmother Mandy (surname Bryant) At that point there were only 8 children in the home and there were at least three boys.

My great grandmother Amanda was born in 1881, she was born after the census was taken, her sister Martha was born in 1883, and there was a sister Annie born about 1885. there 8 girls and 3 boys. The 1890 census were destroyed in a fire, so I was never able to locate the family in the same household. Fast forward 1900, not able to locate Amanda and her children, but family was still in the same area and Martha had married Robert B Bell. Forward on to 1910 and 1920 was able to locate Amanda. She passed away in 1926 in Chicago, IL. Thus that is where Odessa settled and met my grandfather Robert L Smith and had my mom who had me.

The reason for the blog is for those that are beginners and pros to leave posts about their families. I love the fact that I was able to locate all Ben’s children in that one area Webster Parish Policy Jury Ward 2. See to me that’s what family is. We stick together through thick and thin. We might not always get along, but no one else can bother us. I was able to locate the sisters, the sisters children, and some of the sisters children children up till the 1930 census. One thing that I have learned was that the family stayed in that area and stayed together. Even those that moved to Chicago stayed in a general area. I was able to get in contact with one of the sister’s Emma Long granddaughter Clarene LONG (Emma Long married a Sam Long). My tree contains all the sisters, their husbands, and their children.

My research is not done. Ben and Mandy are from Georgia. What city and county, do not know and that is what I am working on now. Ben’s last name was ROBERTSON and Mandy’s last name is BRYANT. If you are from GA, and looking for family that migrated to LA with these two surnames, leave me a message. MAYBE WE ARE RELATED!!!!!

FELICIA