In Praise of Southern Women Writers

My research on the history of slavery began in the early 1990s when I read two books by women authors:  A Diary from Dixie by Mary Boykin Chesnut and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.  I recommend that you obtain copies of these books for the shelves of your library but if you are a modern reader, you will find each of these titles is hyperlinked to free online versions.

Both of these books are filled with insightful analysis of the elephant in the room of American history: slavery.  A Diary from Dixie  contains Mrs. Chesnut's observations in her diary from February 1861 through August 1865. In the beginning of Mrs. Chesnut's diary, she had the overview of the landscape that was afforded while riding the elephant.  Mary Boykin Chesnut was the wife of James Chesnut, Jr., United States Senator from South Carolina, 1859-1861. Senator Chesnut also worked as an aide to Jefferson Davis and was a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. Four long years of war took their toll on Mrs. Chesnut.  On July 26, 1865 she wrote:

"I do not write often now, not for want of something to say but from loathing of all I see and hear."

Mrs. Jacobs had the graphic view of those that are forced to endure the crushing weight of the elephant in the ante-bellum period. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1861 and begins with her recollections of childhood, the trials of girlhood and the jealous mistress.  She continues with observations on the fear of insurrection, the church and slavery and continued persecutions among many others.  Her last chapter is "Free at Last."

"Trials of Girlhood" was the Victorian style of titling what slave girls had to endure:

"But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl.  My master began to whisper foul words in my ear.  Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import."

Mrs. Chesnut also offers her opinion on the morality of the Southern male:

 "August 27, 1861...I hate slavery. I hate a man who - You say there are no more fallen women on a plantation than in London in proportion to numbers. But what do you say to this - to a magnate who runs a hideous black harem, with its consequences, under the same roof with his lovely white wife and his beautiful and accomplished daughters? He holds his head high and poses as the model of all human virtues to these poor women whom God and the laws have given him. From the height of his awful majesty he scolds and thunders at them as if he never did wrong in his life. Fancy such a man finding his daughter reading Don Juan. 'You with that immoral book!' he would say, and then he would order her out of his sight. You see Mrs. Stowe did not hit the sorest spot. She makes Legree a bachelor."

Keep in mind if you read the online edition of Mrs. Chesnut's diary that it is an edited version published in 1905 which is subject to several deletions by the editors of that day.  Fortunately, they left the preceding paragraph intact.

The 1905 edition contained about 150,000 words while the manuscript copy of the complete diary contains closer to 400,000 words.  Some of the 1905 deletions might have been to avoid offending persons then living. However, some of Mrs. Chesnut's frank views of slavery were also excluded from the 1905 edition and have since been included in versions published in the last quarter of the 20th century.  The copy that I have on my shelf was edited by Ben Ames Williams and originally published in 1980.

As genealogists, we seek to understand the trials and travails of our ancestors.  These two books are crucial to an understanding of our shared American family history.  The family historian must have historical context when evaluating historical records of genealogical value such as the U.S. census.

For example, I am currently working with a client whose family has historically identified as white but has oral history about African ancestry.  We have been able to find several records that substantiate the stories of African ancestry.  In addition, DNA analysis has also confirmed the African ancestry.  The research has lead us to a mulatto woman, named Evaline Brenham, in the 1880 census of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.  She was also found in the 1870 census in the same parish but she was listed as white.  The head of household in both of these censuses is a white man named George H. Richardson.   The theory is that George Richardson may be the father of Evaline Brenham.  In 1860, we find Mr. Richardson in Concordia Parish working as an overseer and listed between two major landowners, Farrar B. Conner and Henry Chotard.

The goal is to find the mother of Evaline Brenham and to connect George H. Richardson as an employee of one these major landowners.  The next step in this research project will be to begin reviewing microfilm from the Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations that are available at many university and public libraries.  We will begin with the records of the Conner and McMurran families that owned the Killarney plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana.  The collection includes many business records and letters related to the operation of the Killarney plantation and many others in the Natchez district.  Many of these letters were written by women.

The early life of Evaline Brenham and the name of her mother is currently shrouded in mystery.  We may never know their precise identity, but reading books and letters such as those described above will give us a better idea what life was like for their contemporaries.

Playing Clue Game with Genealogical Documents

The year end holidays present a perfect opportunity to entertain ourselves with games and puzzles. One of my favorite games is Clue: The Classic Detective Game.  The object of the game is to solve a murder mystery by finding clues about the identity of the murderer, where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects, and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players.  When you have collected sufficient clues you can announce that it was Professor Plum, in the Hall, with the revolver!

Genealogists are detectives that collect clues from historic documents.  Many of those clues will lead to other documents that help us to deduce the facts about our ancestors.  Who were they?  How did they arm themselves to make a living?  Where did they live, work and socialize?  The clues to answer these questions are found in genealogical and historical documents.  Names, occupations, dates and places are clues that help us identify the most likely suspects of our family history.

Some people get excited about receiving holiday cards in the mail.  I get excited when I receive an envelope with a vital record for an ancestor.  On December 15, I mailed a check for $5.00 to the State of Louisiana, Secretary of State for the Death Certificate of Price Bishop 1890-1955.  On December 17 a staff researcher at the Vital Record office found the death certificate and put it in the mail to me on the same day.  I was really excited about how quick and inexpensive it was to order a death certificate from Louisiana.

The death certificate for Price Bishop contained some amazing clues about his identity and his last days in New Orleans.  These clues lead me to other documents and images which help to illustrate his life.  Let's use this death certificate as an example of how to analyze clues in historic documents.

Death Certificate of Price Bishop 1890-1955

Box 7 on the death certificate contains the date of birth of the deceased: April 17, 1890.  This date matched the date of birth that I had from his World War I draft card so I knew I had the right man.

World War I Draft Card of Price Watson Bishop born April 17, 1890 in Cleburne, Johnson County, Texas.

However there is a slight discrepancy between the two documents.  The death certificate states that Mr. Bishop was born in Dallas, Texas.  The draft card states that he was born in Cleburne, Texas. These two cities are only sixty miles apart.  Mr. Bishop was residing in Dallas in 1918.  Usually the draft card would be considered a more reliable source since the information is a first hand account from the man himself. The informant on the death certificate would be considered a secondary source relying on his memory in a stressful time after the death of a friend or loved one or perhaps the informant knew very little about the person.  To further emphasize this point, the informant did not know the names and places of birth of the parents of Mr. Bishop.

Price Bishop was residing for four months prior to his death at a hospital or institution at  4000 Dumaine Street in New Orleans.  The physician attended Price Bishop from 7 February 1955 to the date of his death which is a four month period.

You can discover a lot more than your ancestor's name and address in city directories.  The clue from the death certificate was that there was a hospital or an institution located at 4000 Dumaine Street in New Orleans.  Instead of using a general search, it is best to search directly within the City Directory database.  The image below shows the City Directory search page which can be accessed from the card catalog at Ancestry.com.

Access the City Directory search page from the card catalog at Ancestry.com to conduct a keyword search.

I used the address "4000 Dumaine" as a keyword search and limited it to the year 1954 which was one year before the death occurred.  Several names came up as matches for this address.

As I scrolled down the list of names at 4000 Dumaine, I found nine people were residing at that address.  I also found a curious name: "Patients Accepted Bedridden."  Clicking on the link led me to a directory listing for the Elysian Convalescent Home as follows:

ELYSIAN CONVALESCENT HOME
  OWNER: MRS ELSIE O'CONNOR
  FOR CONVALESCENT PATIENTS AND AGED PEOPLE
  BEDRIDDEN PATIENTS ACCEPTED
  24 HOUR CARE BY LICENSED NURSES
  4000 DUMAINE
  TELEPHONE GALVEZ 3420
  (See opposite page)

On the opposite page was this advertisement in the City Directory:

Advertisement in the 1954 New Orleans City Directory for the Elysian Convalescent Home at 4000 Dumaine Street.

A search of Google Maps for the address of 4000 Dumaine led to this map and a street image:

4000 Dumaine was located very close to the New Orleans City Park.

This building was certainly large enough to serve as a ten-bed nursing home in 1955.

The death certificate also showed that his burial place is listed as Grand View Cemetery in La Porte, Texas.  His body was removed to the cemetery on the same day that he died: 11 June 1955.   Grand View Cemetery is located very near the borders of La Porte, Deer Park and Pasadena, Texas which are all part of the Houston Metropolitan area.  I found a current listing for the cemetery as follows:

Grand View Memorial Park/Bethany Cemetery
Website http://www.dignitymemorial.com/grand-view-funeral-home/en-us/index.page
Address: 8501 Spencer Hwy, Pasadena, TX 77505
Phone:(281) 479-6076

Unfortunately, the cemetery has been unable to find his burial record to determine the location of his burial.  Apparently, this cemetery files their burial records under the name of the owner of the cemetery lots.  We tried looking under all of the names associated with the four daughters of Price Bishop but the cemetery staff could not find his burial record.  There is no record for him on FindaGrave.com either.  Some clues lead to more questions: why was Price Watson transported from New Orleans to the Houston area for burial?  He did have family in the Houston area but none of them are buried in this cemetery.

All of these clues from the death certificate provide useful information about the circumstances of the death and burial of Price Bishop.  The advertisement from the City Directory gives some reassurance that Mr. Bishop received good care.  Hopefully, the cemetery will be able to find precisely where he is buried.  More mysteries need to be solved as to why and where he was buried in Grand View Memorial Park.

If you would like to learn more about genealogical research techniques, please contact me.

Purchased Lives & Lost Friends- The Legacy of Slavery in New Orleans

The Historic New Orleans Collection recently hosted an exhibit entitled: Purchased Lives - New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808-1865.  This museum exhibit examined the lives of the human beings that were traded as property and considers New Orleans role as antebellum America's largest slave market.  We had the good fortune of visiting this exhibit twice last week before its conclusion on July 18.  To view a brief summary of the exhibit go to the website of the Historic New Orleans collection: Purchased Lives Exhibit

Slave Auction; ca. 1831; ink and watercolor; The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1941.3

In the six decades before the Civil War, approximately one million enslaved people were forced to leave behind their homes and families and were sent to labor in the sugar cane and cotton fields of the Deep South.  They traveled by steamboats and sailing ships, wagons and railcars but most came on foot. When they arrived in New Orleans, the traders would advertise the sales of enslaved men and women in the local newspapers.  The newspapers were also regularly used to post rewards for the return of runaway slaves.  The exhibit presented many of these advertisements in a booklet which was a very thorough compilation of images and text of the exhibit.  The booklet is not currently available as a PDF but I have made a request with the Historic New Orleans Collection that the guide be published online.

One feature of the exhibit that has been placed online is the Lost Friends database.  The contents of the database are described here:

• Two dollars in 1880 bought a yearlong subscription to the Southwestern Christian Advocate, a newspaper published in New Orleans by the Methodist Book Concern and distributed to nearly five hundred preachers, eight hundred post offices, and more than four thousand subscribers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The "Lost Friends" column, which ran from the paper's 1877 inception well into the first decade of the twentieth century, featured messages from individuals searching for loved ones lost in slavery.

• This searchable database provides access to more than 330 advertisements that appeared in the Southwestern Christian Advocate between November 1879 and December 1880. Digital reproductions of the Lost Friends ads are courtesy of Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries.

I performed a few searches for surnames of my client, Gesenia Sloan Pena to see if any of her family names were listed.  I only found two matches for the surname "Sloan."

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on March 11, 1880.

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on May 13, 1880.

After reviewing the description again, it became clear that the online database only includes one year of the advertisements that were published for over forty years by the Southwestern Christian Advocate newspaper.  It is also clear that the contents of these ads are a treasure trove for African American family history researchers.  The first ad directs pastors to read the requests from their pulpits and to report any cases of reunions which were facilitated by means of the letters published in the Southwestern.  I would certainly like to read one of those reports.

The Lost Friends database can be searched by first name, last name or full name or they can be searched by state, county or city.  The advertisements also can be browsed.  Perusal of these advertisements tell many stories of lost family and friends.  The names of slave owners are listed along with names of parents, spouses, children and other family members.

Here is an article that I found with a search of Brenham, Washington County, Texas:

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on November 13, 1879.

This next article shows how names that were used during slavery often changed after emancipation.  The Rev. B.M. Taylor used the surname of his slave owner, Louis Taylor.  Presumably his brothers, Sam, Peter and Jeff and sister Amy also went by Taylor.  However, their lost sister, Darkens Taylor changed her name to Maria Walker.

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on March 25, 1880.

Perhaps if we contact the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC), we can encourage them to publish the rest of this wonderful Lost Friends collection in their database.  Also please contact HNOC if you would like a PDF copy of their Purchased Lives exhibit brochure.  The Historic New Orleans Collection can be reached at (504) 523-4662, www.hnoc.org

Since the letter from Rev. B.M. Taylor mentions Huntsville, Texas, it would seem an appropriate time to remind you that I will be making a presentation on Immigration and Emigration Records on July 31, from 8:30 to 12:30.  Here are the details for the event which runs on both Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, 2015:

Frances Sprott Goforth Memorial Genealogy Weekend
Cost: Free
Location: Huntsville Public Library, 1219 13th Street, Huntsville, Texas 77340

The Weekend is hosted by Huntsville Public Library & Walker County Genealogical Society. The Huntsville Public Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.

Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information go to www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com or contact: Mary Kokot, Adult Services Coordinator at 936-291-5471.

61 Bullets- The Death of Huey P. Long: Assassination or Friendly Fire?

One of the most tragic events in Louisiana history occurred here. On September 8, 1935, U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long was shot in the hall beside what is now the Speaker's Office. He died two days later as a result of his wounds.

We are spending a week in Louisiana in celebration of  our July birthdays, my wife, Robin's 60th birthday and my 61st.  We were in Baton Rouge yesterday and toured the Louisiana State Capitol.  We enjoy visiting state capitols having lived so many years in Sacramento and having so many family connections with state government.  The Louisiana State Capitol is the tallest in all of the 50 states. I was intrigued by the observation deck on the 27th floor as there are not many opportunities to get a bird's eye view of the terrain on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana.

As we entered the Capitol there was a docent who encouraged us to look inside the House and the Senate chambers and to view the relics of the death of U.S. Senator Huey P. Long.

Mourners pass by the open casket of the late Sen. Huey P. Long.  Huey Pierce Long, Jr., nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until gunshot wounds led to his death in 1935.  The documentary '61 Bullets' examines whether his death was due to an assassination or friendly fire from his body guards. (Oscar J. Valeton Sr. / The Times-Picayune)

We hurried to the observation deck to enjoy the view of Baton Rouge and were intrigued to learn that Senator Long had been buried on the south lawn and that a statue of him had been erected over his grave.

View from the south side of the Observation Deck showing the statue of Huey Long in the center of the lawn.

We continued our travels to New Orleans Saturday afternoon and have been enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of this wonderful city.   We were headed to our hotel when a poster about an exhibit on slavery caught my eye.  We looked into the window of the Williams Research Collection at 410 Chartres St. and the staff opened the door and invited us to attend a free screening of a documentary about the death of Huey P. Long.  We looked at each other and smiled at our good fortune and were ushered into the documentary in progress.

The Williams Research Center at 410 Chartres Street is located in a former police station and criminal courthouse.  This was a fitting location for a screening of 61 Bullets: The Unsolved Mystery of Louisiana

I was struck by the interviews of the descendants of Sen. Long and Dr. Carl Weiss who is alleged to have been the assassin.  The following summary from IMDB was written by one of the filmmakers:

September 8, 1935. Bullets ricochet through the marble corridors of the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. When the shooting finally stops and the panicked screaming subsides, two men have been fatally wounded. The first: populist United States Senator Huey P. Long, the most powerful man in Louisiana, and one of the most prominent political figures in 1930s America. The second: Dr. Carl Weiss, a respected local physician, and Long's presumed assailant. Weiss is riddled with sixty bullets, some of which have passed through his body and lodged in the alabaster walls. Blood soaks through his white linen suit and onto the ornate floor of the State Capitol. Huey Long, known as "The Kingfish," is rushed to the hospital, but pronounced dead thirty hours later. Louisiana politics - and the lives of the two men's families - will never be the same. Through the debate over how Huey Long was killed, 61 Bullets explores a piece of history that is as contentious as the man himself. We watch two families grasp for closure in the wake of a tragedy with ongoing political and personal ramifications. We engage those who know the most (Long experts) and those who care the most (the families of Long and Weiss) in a juxtaposition of competing narratives of the biggest political killing between McKinley and Kennedy. As the Weisses seek to rewrite history and clear their family name, the Longs strive to defend the legacy of their patriarch and preserve his iconic status.
- Written by David Modigliani

The screening was followed by a panel discussion including one of the filmmakers and two experts.
The discussion made it clear that this documentary does an excellent job of navigating a very difficult terrain of two families caught in a series of very tragic events.  History is left with an enduring mystery made more poignant from the family stories that are told through dozens of interviews.  Experts examine every angle of the limited evidence.  In the end we are left with another "Ancestor Puzzle."

For an additional touch of irony and coincidence we walked across the street and enjoyed an excellent meal at Kingfish Restaurant.  We watched as one of the panelists entered the restaurant and had her picture taken in front of the mural size picture of the "Kingfish", Huey P. Long.

For more information, visit the website for 61 Bullets: http://www.61bullets.com/

Anatomy of a Slave Narrative: The Recollections of Agatha Babino

 I happened upon one of the most fascinating short stories that I have ever read while preparing for a presentation on African American genealogy.  While searching for slave records in the Ancestry.com card catalog, I noticed that there was a database entitled U.S., Interviews with Former Slaves, 1936-1938.  I was looking for Texas examples to cite in my lecture so I began to browse the names of those interviewed in the Lone Star State.  

The name Agatha Babino immediately caught my eye.  My friend, Rev. William Henry King III, had agreed to let me use his family history as a case study for my class.  Pastor King’s mother was Madell Babino and Agatha Babino was his mother’s great grandmother.  This was one of those times when I felt that the spirits of the ancestors were calling me to uncover their long forgotten stories.

Ancestry.com user "bobknow" originally shared this to her Babineaux Family Tree, 26 Mar 2011

As I read the narrative, I was impressed by her courage in telling the details of her life.  She remembered that the slaves were given “shabby houses” built of logs with dirt floors.  She knew the names of her “Old Marse” and “Old Miss.”  Her plantation master was a “bad man” who would beat his slaves until they bled and then rubbed salt and pepper into the wounds.   Her uncle was brutally killed by the Ku Klux Klan for refusing to vote Democratic.

Mrs. Babino’s story was jam packed with names, dates, and stories which revealed a life filled with triumphs and tragedies. I felt like I was a CSI Investigator examining the evidence from the scene of a crime.  Armed with the names of people and places, it was relatively easy to find corroboration for her story in online history and genealogy.  I could not find “Carenco” but I was able to find a place called Carencro in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.

Source Information:Ancestry.com. U.S., Interviews with Former Slaves, 1936-1938 [database on-line].

The name of her slave owner, Ogis Guidry was a challenge at first.  His actual name was Augustin Guidry and he lived in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana from 1806 to 1872.  The transcriber of the interview apparently spelled the name phonetically.  Census records show him in Lafayette Parish in 1850, 1860 and 1870.  Her father’s slave owner, was Placide Guilbeau.  The Guilbeau family history is well documented here.  

The real gem was the fact that she listed the names and birthplaces of her parents, Dick and Clarice Richard and all of her siblings.  Their names did not come up in the 1870 census index at Ancestry.com.  I prepared myself for the tedious task of scanning every name in the township where the former slave owners where residing.  I scanned ten pages after the listing for Augustin Guidry but did not find them.  I found them two pages prior.  The last name was given as Richardson instead of Richard.  Dick and Clarice were the parents and the names of the children matched with the account given by Mrs. Babino.  Now I had the ages and the birthplaces from the census to add to the family record.  This helped to uncover many more records including census and vital records in both Louisiana and Texas.

Census Year: 1870; Census Place:  , Lafayette, Louisiana; Roll: M593_516; Page: 316B; Image: 126; Family History Library Film: 552015.

The interview with Agatha Babino included many pieces which are helping to solve this “Ancestor Puzzle.”  By revealing a more complete image of the family story, we can see that there are more records to be consulted.  Mrs. Babino stated "When freedom come we have to sign up to work for money for a year.  We couldn't go work for nobody else.  After de year some stays, but not long."  The agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau encouraged the former slaves to continue working for their former masters,  The agents wrote contracts between the planters and the farm workers.  Copies of many of those contracts have been microfilmed and some have been digitized in the Freedmen's Bureau records which are online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.

Pastor King attended my presentation so he could see the richly detailed picture of his family history that was emerging.  He told the audience that he was especially moved about the story of the uncle who was killed for exercising his voting rights.  He currently serves on the city council of Dickinson, Texas and has always treasured his right to vote.   Now he understood that there were profound historical reasons for cherishing his voting rights.  We embraced in appreciation for the bond we now shared.

If you would like to order a copy of my full report on this topic, please contact me through the contact box in the right hand column.