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!!

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.

I have been researching my ROBERTSON line for some time now, and when I read this story I thought “This could be one of my ancestors.” I found the story interesting and I hope you do too!!

On October 1, 1871, Nancy ROBERTSON a freed slave, was found dead at her home in South Bossier Point. Mysteriously, the house was locked from the inside. Neighbors could see her lying dead on the bed through a window and called for the parish coroner.

Earlier another freed slave had collapsed while plowing a field, from what white doctors diagnoised as fluid on the brain brought on by the heat of the summer. But fellow freedman were not convinced by the doctors diagnoses and remembered that the summer before this, Nancy had fell out with the man and had made vague threats against his life. The freedmen decided that Nancy had bewitched the man with a curse. The man lingered for a few days and died.

The local coloreds quickly arrested Nancy ROBERTSON and sent for Charles Steele, a freedman and a celebrated witch doctor to have her tested for being a witch.

Charles Steele had gained fame earlier for invoking a “miracle cure” upon another colored women. This women had been sick for months with chronic chills and fell into a general state of poor health. Charles informed her she was bewitched, and that he could cure her. He prepared a nauseous dose that caused her to vomit freely. Afterwards, he held up the vessel in which she had purged and showed her several lizards, toads, crickets, and such therein. He told her that they had caused her sickness, pronounced her cured and she did indeed become well.

While on their way to get the infamous witch doctor they came across a fellow white neighbor who warned them that they may face consequences for taking the law into their own hands. The white neighbor told the freedmen to have a post mortem examination to see if the man was poisoned. When physicians examined the man, they announced that poison had nothing to do with the death (they believed it had been caused by fluid on the brain.)

Apparently the freedmen were not happy with this explanation and still presumed the death to have been caused by Nancy ROBERTSON and her “bewitching.”

When the coroner, with his jury and physician arrived, the mystery of the locked house murder was solved. They broke into the house and quickly deduced that the woman had been shot through a crack in the wall with a shotgun. Indeed several of her neighbors had heard that shot, but had failed to investigate. Three of the pellets penetrated her heart and killed her instantly. An arrest warrant was soon issued for Anthony Williams for the murder of Nancy ROBERTSON.

Although Nancy was murdered, I can not dismiss the fact that she was suspected as being a witch and her last name is ROBERTSON. My research on this family is not complete, but I feel like she is apart of my family and in some way in me. How may times have we just wanted to say to people “Drop Dead” in this case Nancy would say it and it would happen.

It kind of makes since to me since my mom said someone had put a root on my great grandmother Amanda for messing around with married men or a married man, not sure which one. I know someone has the true story and would love to meet the ancestors of the person that put the root on Amanda, and ask why?

I know there are some that don’t believe and are skeptical, but it is always the unknown that gets the most none believers. Thats why we research, to make the unknown known.
Felicia

(Disclosure: The article is from Bossier Parish History The first 150 years 1843-1993 by Clifton D. Cardin pg. 204-Witch Found Dead in a Locked House. Sources; Buried Treasure; Atlanta Times, (Georgia) February 13, 1872, Sunday Edition, Ray B Fults and Witch; Bossier Banner, October 7, 1871.)

Amanda is my great grandmother on my maternal side of the family. I have been trying to find out whatever information on her and her famiy that I can.

I have made serveral descendant contacts of one of the ROBERTSON sisters, but they do not have much information, because Amanda died before they were born and even Amanda’s sister had passed away also. Cousin E had gotten a hold of an aunt that knew all the ROBERTSON girls. I have tried to call and she has not returned any of my calls. Even offered to send a letter if she doesn’t want to talk to me, but I don’t see her not talking to me as a possibility because she gave me her phone number and now cousin E have not returned my calls.

All I am trying to do is get to know all my great aunts and my great grandmother and hopefully get some information on my great great grandmother and grandfather.

I know your spirit is with me Amanda, because of the stories that I have heard about you , we do have somethings in common. All I am asking is for your spirit to guide me to that one person or that one thing that will give me the information that I am looking for. I am so close, but sometime spirits have to guide us to answering that email, letter, or phone message. So close, I feel you Amanda.
Felicia

As we all know some progress can turn out to be no progress. I was excited to see a link that could answer some question as to how my family got to LA from GA. It turned out that I had really more questions than answers and really may have jumped the gun a little as to this link having information on my ancestors.

I sat scratching my head to the responses to my blog, I understood what my Genealogy family was telling me to do, but actually putting it together had me confused. Now I think of myself to be a pretty smart person(no genius) but I can read my way out of almost anything. I knew I had a task ahead of me and I was up for the challenge and what a challenge?!

I had a conversation with http://www.lcafricana.com/ and she gave me something to do that I never thought of. Things were in front of my face the whole time. Gosh!! Was I that blind. So I want to share what I have accomplished and where I am. http://www.lcafricana.com/ told me to view the whole 1870 census and check for any white families from GA living around the Robertsons and this is what I found:

I went through the 47 pages of the 1870 census Ward 6 Bossier Parish.. I mostly concentrated on the first white family before my ancestors no# came up and after their no#. I was able to find a E A Fulgan and wife Elizabeth both from GA counted as family 71. Then you have E M Hodges and wife Gussy both from GA counted as 75. The ROBERTSONS were counted as 82 and there were a few black families before and after the ROBERTSONS. The next white family was E A Smith born abt 1810 from GA and he was counted as 93.

As I was going through the names and writing them down 2 names stood out to me which were Hodges and Denman. The Hodges surname stood out because there were so many from GA scattered throughout the Ward and Denman because this was one of the names listed on the RedRiver website that owned 27 slaves and his property was worth 10,000.00. Hmm!! Although there were other slave owners living in Ward 6, William S Denman was the only one from GA.

At this point I went a little further, my heart could not let me stop there. I checked the 1880 census and found five families from GA living around the ROBERTSONS and some are on my orginial list. The Hodges are still on the same page as the ROBERTSONS. Only one family still remained in 1900 and that is the Robys and they were from GA.

Now out of all that information I have three names to focus on, Denman, Hodges, and Roby. Googled Denman and it brung up some will information from Bibb County, GA. Looks like I have a new area to research. Macon, GA and Oglethrope, GA came up for some other possible areas for the other two names.

Wow what a project and with such a good result. I have not done much further, but I have a brand new direction and a new focus. Oh yeah in 1870 on the same page as Ben and Mandy ROBERTSON, there was another ROBERTSON family from GA with a Jas, Eliza, Andrew, and Bennie born abt 1835. Could this be Ben’s brother and father. My heart tells me yes and once further research is done they to will be identified. With many thanks to all that took me in this direction. I am discovering my ancestors and a whole new family that I have and the true meaning of family. Thanks Again!
Felicia

AS I sit here today I just knew I was at a dead end with my research of my LA line, but as we all know there are no dead ends, because when a door closes GOD always opens a window.

Maybe about a month ago I was trying to locate Ben and Mandy in the 1870 Census in Webster Parish. No luck, but then I remembered that I read somewhere that Bossier, Bienville, and Clairbourne Parishes merged around 1876 and thus formed Cotton Valley in Webster Parish. So looked up Ben in Bossier Parish and there he was. He was listed as ROBERSON instead of ROBERTSON but I knew it was him. Mandy was listed as Eliza and Henry and Minerva the oldest of Ben and Mandy were listed also. I Attached record to my tree and concentrated on trying to find out where they were from in GA.

Until today!! Luckie Daniels of OurGeorgiaRoots tweeted me a link: http://www.redriversankofa.org/redriverchurch.html that lead me to Plantation in Bossier Parish. I was reading about GoldPoint Plantation and came upon Church and Plantation records. Even had names listed.

The names that caught my eye on Church records list were, Ben, Eliza(Mandy), Henry, and Minerva. Could this be? Could this be my family and how did they get from GA to LA? Were they sold? So many questions and few answers.

I am more determined than ever now! This is a true mystery to me and there is no one left to put the pieces to this puzzle together but if it takes the rest of my life I will do this.

My Genealogy Family tell me what you think? View records and voice your opinions. Thanks for Listening!
Felicia

EMMA ROBERTSON: 1876-1941

As you all know I recieved feedback from a post that I have left on ancestry and actually Mr. McMurray was one of the persons that I sent my letter to in Quest For Information. Here is his response:

Felicia,

WOW! I can’t believe how serendipitous your letter is for me. I was just about to wade back into this family history since I’m having to do a historical book on THOMASVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL here in Sarepta. I started the research into our family while I lived in Atlanta, GA. I am a native of Sarepta, born, bred, and “buttered” here. Sam Long was my Grandmother’s oldest brother. He indeed married Emma Robertson, and if EVER there was a CHRISTIAN WOMAN and a woman of VIRTUE, it was Emma Robertson. She was a beautiful person, loving, kind, and her mantra was “Honey, don’t get angry, it’s a sin to get angry.” She lived that, because Uncle Sam was NOT an easy man to live with. Sam Long was perhaps the most influential man to be born in Webster Parish after slavery. He was well respected, revered and feared because his control of this area was ultimate. What Sam Long said, was LAW. His funeral in 1958 was attended by anyone and everyone, and he is responsible for the inchoation of nearly every church throughout Webster Parish/Louisiana, and Columbia County/Arkansas.

I say this not to venerate him, though he richly deserves that, but to show by contrast that Emma Robertson was actually the DRIVING FORCE behind him and the source of his strength and ability. Had she been a woman of lesser character, Sam Long would NOT have been as successful as he was. My mother is Juanita Wynn McMurray, and she always speaks with disdain of the fact that Sam Long grave is at the front of the cemetery and when Aunt Emma died, they buried her in the back and now you cannot find the grave, though I have looked and will continue to try to locate it. Uncle Sam was my MOTHER’S uncle and her mother’s oldest brother.

I hope to hear from you soon and I’d relish the opportunity to compare information with you. My contact information is as follows:

Eddie R. McMurray
P. O. Box 494
Sar
Home: 318
Cell: 318

Evenings are best, but I’d love to hear from you anytime.Warmest, friendliest regards,
Eddie

Notice the kind things he had to say about my great great aunt Emma. Boy would I have loved to have met her and know just a bit more about my Robertson line. Can’t wait to talk to him. Will keep everyone posted.
Felicia

In modern time for Friday we say “TGIF”, but did our ancestors say that? I think not! Even after freedom.

My great great grandfather Ben Robertson owned his own land and farmed on that land. From census record in 1880, all children over 10 worked that farm, so that meant his eldest Henry and Georgia had to work. Minvera and Thomas was able to get some education but you can believe as soon as they were old enough they worked the farm also.

Our ancestors did not get a chance to say TGIF!! I see my ancestors working seven days a week. Maybe a half a day on Sunday, because church was in the morning. I can see even those that were in school probably working the farm after school and all day on Saturdays. Ben had such a big family and he worked and worked and worked to take care of everyone and produce his goods, and rumor is that Ben had enough land and left each one of his children a piece of that land. Now I see why he worked as hard as he did.

So when our work week end on Friday, think of those ancestors that did not have an end to their work week. Think of their work ethic and how we can instill some of that in our lives today. I guess we do in some way since us researchers are researching seven days a week. I guess we do have those work habits!!

In my research for my Louisiana line I realized that there were three boys in the family: Henry Robertson born abt 1868, Cane Robertson born 1874, and Thos Robertson born abt 1872. Now I had to really figure out what those two brothers names stood for. We all had nicknames as children.

In my research I would always come up against this names Corneilus Robertson in Webster Parish Jury Ward 2. I decided to save the record to my shoebox, but never thought about it again. Thos Robertson, came across a few records for Thos, but not in the area of my research. Henry Robertson is a true mystery, because there are so many Henrys and I believe he did not stay in the area. Probably wanted his own life and not the farm life.

I ended up leaving a post on one of ancestry message boards about something total different, but the person that answered my post was able to locate death record for that same Corneilus and it had my great great grandfather’s name Ben and wife Mandy listed as his parents.

I go back to that census record that I saved and realized that due to my instincts I had saved one of my ancestors records, and the crazy thing about it was that Corneilus had the same birthday as my Cane.

I firgured out that my Cane was Corneilus and Thos had be short for Thomas. I know genealogy is mostly detective work, but when it comes down to the spelling of these names, we become more than detectives. Instead of really listening to what our ancestors was saying their names were, someone took it upon themselves to give them a totally different name and left it up to us to figure out who is who. If census takers can not spell names at least get close as possible. Cane is not close to Corneilus and Thos, why not add the ma and you would have had the whole name. One thing that I found out about this research is you have to follow your instincts. Truly, if I would not have saved Corneilus’s records to my shoebox, although I had the information on death record, I would had to do a whole new census record. Was able to add another record to Mandy since she was living with Corneilus in 1920. I wanted to say Corn, why not Corn? Sounds much closer than Corneilus.

To all the researchers, FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS!! That is the only way you are going to find your ancestors!!
Felicia