Thinking about my great Auntie Lizzie and how my Mom used to bring her over in the summer to sit in the yard. My Mom would be in and out doing housework and such. My brothers and I would be in and out doing our children thing. Whenever any of us would check on Auntie Lizzie she would always say, "Mmmm, I'm just enjoying myself." In the colder month, Auntie Lizzie would sit inside and in addition to the other statement, she would sometimes say, "I like to sit by the window and watch the peoples go by." I'm calling on her spirit of contentment and gratefulness as ugly recently stopped by and tied to take me down. I'm living my life and it's golden! (posted on Facebook March 11, 2021)
Elizabeth Brown Mason was born March 5, 1905 in Mississippi. Her family moved from Mississippi to Ohio during that Great Migration of southern, rural Blacks to the Northern states. As a five-year old in the 1910 census of Simpson County, Mississippi she was living with her widowed mother, Mary, and six of her siblings: Ida (18), Whittie (17), Simon (16), Willie (15), Sam (14), and Noah (9).
I have written more about the family and their migration in my post "One-Mississippi".
As a 20-year-old Auntie Lizzie married 21-year-old Cornelius Mason in Ripley, Chautauqua County, New York on June 16, 1925. Her witness was her sister, Ida Brown. Also along for the ride was Elder Joe Williams ("Minister of the Gospel") of Ashtabula, Ohio who performed the ceremony. The residence listed for Auntie Lizzie is Ashtabula, Ohio and for her groom, Cornelius, it's Winston Salem, North Carolina. The marriage record further indicated "Future address Ashtabula Ohio".
From Ancestry.com: New York, County Marriages, 1847-1849; 1907-1936I don't know if all parties traveled by car, bus, or train but two of the routes the wedding party could have taken from Ashtabula to Ripley would have been under two hours. (The quickest route, I-90 wasn't built until the mid-1950s as part of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower). Unfortunately, I'll probably never know why the wedding field trip was made to Ripley, New York, especially when everyone (except maybe the groom) was from Ashtabula, Ohio. It is interesting that her mother, Mary Stamps Brown, died in April and Auntie Lizzie "ran-away" to get married in June.
Growing up I had been told that Auntie Lizzie was divorced and looking at records now, it seems her marriage obviously didn't last long. By 1929 Auntie Lizzie was living with her brother, Noah and his family in Buffalo, New York. So far I have found her with the family in the Buffalo, New York City Directories of 1929, 1933, and 1938. My Mom remembers Auntie Lizzie living with them.
In the 1920 U. S. census 14-year old Elizabeth is living with her mother and her brothers William, Samuel, and Noah in West Park, Cuyahoga County, Ohio -- the census was weeks before her fifteenth birthday. I haven't been able to find Auntie Lizzie in the 1930 census. The next census I find her in is the 1940 census of Buffalo, Erie County, New York living with her brother Noah and his family -- his wife, Lucy and their children Verlie, Arthur, Vivian and Evelyn. That census also indicated that she lived in Buffalo in 1935. The census also confirms her continued residence with her brother and his family.
In the Buffalo City Directories of 1961, 1962, and 1963 Auntie Lizzie and her older sister, Ida Brown are living together in a 2-bedroom apartment building -- the building has long been razed but I clearly remember it and the apartment layout. When my family moved to a new school district in the city, there were a few months that I lived with Auntie Lizzie as I completed sixth grade -- my final year at P.S. #47. In the spring of 1965, I occupied the second bedroom which had been Aunt Ida's until her passing in 1964. The apartment building was a walk-up, no taller than three stories. On the first floor were storefronts, one business was a laundromat -- I don't remember about the rest. Auntie Lizzie's last residence was a one-bedroom apartment in the Roosevelt Apartments, a building for seniors and the permanently disabled.
As I remember her, Auntie Lizzie was that epic sweet little old lady -- she was no taller than 5-feet and I always remember her having a pleasant disposition. She looked forward to the annual "Bowl" parades on tv, enjoyed our family holiday get-togethers and spending time in our yard during the warm months. She absolutely adored my daughter, who I named Elizabeth. She was very proud of visiting the Grand Canyon and later flying to Hawaii in her senior years -- as part of a senior group. Auntie Lizzie was very honored to become a Church Mother at the Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ. She took her church membership and responsibilities to heart; tithing and faithfully attending services. Auntie Lizzie loved her church and her family -- and we loved her!
Copyright © 2021 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.
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