African American Veterans Monument -- Buffalo NY

On September 24, 2022, an unveiling and dedication ceremony was held for the African American Veterans Monument in Buffalo NY. The monument honors African Americans who served in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard in twelve U.S. wars from the Revolutionary War to the current war on terrorism. This is the first (and only) such monument in the United States.

The monument was designed by the late artist Jonathan Casey.  There are 12 black pillars: 10 feet tall and 3 feet wide placed in chronological order to represent the 12 U.S. wars with the spacing between pillars representing the times of peace between one war and the next. 

There are pavers on the ground engraved with a veteran's name on a metal plate the shape of dog tags. Pavers are still available for the public throughout the country to purchase to honor a military veteran. In lovingly memory I purchased a paver for my father, Willis B. Williams, who served in the Army during the Korean Conflict and one for my uncle, Arthur Brown, who was a Military Police Sargent in the Army during World War II.

Arthur Brown, cira 1947

           

Willis B. Williams, cira 1951

Thank you to all who served! 

Thank you to the African American Veterans Monument, Inc. for your vision!

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

My Daddy's Shirts -- Holding On

My father, Willis B. Williams, made transition on March 31, 2011, in his adopted home of Buffalo NY where he lived for 70 years. He was brought to Buffalo in 1941 after the transition of his beloved mother, Florence Clay Button Burkette.  During his time in Buffalo, he continued his primary education, joined the military, married, and raised a family. 

One of the hardest tasks in the transition of a loved one is going through their earthly possessions. As the only girl -- aka, "Daddy's girl" -- I have an abundance of memories, but I wanted to hold on to something special. So, I had a quilt made of some of Daddy's shirts which is my watch-tv-on-the-couch-wrap providing me added comfort on chilly Buffalo nights.

Shirt quilt at my home, Buffalo NY

2014 Genealogy presentation at Buffalo Genealogical Society of the African Diaspora

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

Gravesites of William Turner Williams and Mary Jane Clark Williams

William Turner Williams and Mary Jane Clark Williams are my paternal great-grandparents. They are the parents of my grandfather, Willie Frances Williams, who is the father of my father Willis Burkett Williams.

Headstone of Mary J Williams
Photographed by Patty Shreve
Find-a-grave site

 MARY JANE CLARK WILLIAMS

Through a series of leads today (8/29/2022), I virtually saw the gravestone of my paternal great-grandmother, Mary Jane Clark Williams. It started with that Ancestry hint which led me to Newspapers-dot-com. Click. There was her death notice in The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia) from Sat, 6 Nov 1948 (page 10). I easily recognized my great grandfather's name, W.T. Williams, as her surviving husband, along with their eight daughters: Annie, Virginia, Hattie, Fannie, Maggie, Daisy, Edna, Mary Jane and sevens sons: Joe, Willie (my grandfather), George, Carl, Herman, John, Harris. Each name had the city where they lived at that time -- verifying information and in some cases, providing me with new information.

Other new information included the name of her sister, Mrs. Sina Pound of Macon; the names of two sisters-in-law Mrs. Eliza Clark and Mrs. Ola Clark both of Macon. My guess is that they are her brothers' wives. Wow, my great-grandmother had at least one sister and two brothers.

Further information: "Funeral services will be held at Williams Chapel AME Church near Haddock, the day and hour to be announced later. Hutchins' Funeral Home." In a search I found two churches with the same name near Haddock, so I decided to first reach out to the funeral home, asking for a funeral program. I was surprised with a same-day response that took me back another generation!

"We do not have a funeral program. We only kept cards back in the 1940's.

This is the information on the card:

Name:  Mary Jane Williams

Date of Death: November 3, 1948   Age: 54

Place: Macon, GA

Date of Birth: March 25, 1894 

Place: Jones Co. GA 

Father's Name: Austin Clark - born in Jones Co. GA

Mother's Name: Marth(a) Pounds - born in Jones Co. GA

Occupation: Laborer

Cause of Death: Unknown

Informant: Fannie Hudson

Funeral: 2:00 p.m. 11/8/1948 at Wiliams Chapel AME

Burial: 11/8/1948 at Williams Chapel AME cemetery in Haddock, GA"

*NOTE: Her birth year is about 1864.

   

I was so excited about the information provided by Hutchins Funeral Home that I immediately looked at Find-A-Grave for the Williams Chapel AME Cemetery. I added all the new information from the funeral home, along with the picture of her gravestone to my family tree. 

WILLIAM TURNER WILLIAMS

Then it dawned on me, what about my great-grandfather, William Turner Williams? Another email to Hutchins Funeral Home provided information on him. Again, it took me back another generation.

Not sure if this is the right person but it's the only one in 1954 that came close.

Name: W.T. Williams

Residence - 2195 Neal Avenue

Place of Death - Macon, GA

Date of Death - July 29, 1954

Date of Birth - August 25, 1884  age 64

Place of birth - Jones Co., GA

Father's name - John Williams

Mother's name - Annie ? (Maiden name)

Occupation - Farmer

Spouse - Mrs. Mary Williams

Informant - Mrs. Rufus Hudson

Funeral - 1:00 p.m. August 2, 1954 

Williams Chapel AME - Burial in church cemetery at Williams Chapel AME

*NOTE; His birth year is about 1858.

Headstone of William Turner Williams
Photographed by Patty Shreve
Find-a-grave site

I am beyond grateful to the "angel" who took the time to photograph my great-parents' headstones and to the person at Hutchins Funeral Home who responded to my inquiries. I have both shouted for joy and cried happy, mournful tears over this new information which, of course, leads me to more questions to research.

*NOTE: Their death dates of 1894 and 1884 were clearly typos because their daughter Fannie Williams Hudson (Informant) was born in 1898.

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

Looking Beyond a Death Certificate

I love genealogists and genealogy groups -- so willing to help find an answer! I could not make out the Place of Burial (line 19) or the Undertaker (line 20) on the death certificate of my 2nd great-grandfather, Ned Washington, born abt 1825, so I asked for assistance from members of the Facebook groups Mississippi Genealogy Researchers, Mississippi Genealogy Network, and Mississippi Genealogy "Family Tree" and History Group. I thought Mississippi folk might be familiar with both or either of the places.

Facebook post to: Mississippi Genealogy Network

Date: April 11, 2022

Today I got my 2nd great-grandfather's death certificate in the mail. He died May 31, 1918 in Holmes County, Mississippi. He was buried June 1, 1918. I can't make out the cemetery or undertaker. Is anyone familiar with either? He was a Black man, so probably buried in a "Colored" cemetery.

There were several RESPONSES, these were the most promising:

• Barr-Gwin Co. Undertakers were in Lexington, Holmes Co. during that time period.

• Shady Grove Cemetery? There are many of them, but there is one small one in Goodman, Holmes Co, MS. https://www.findagrave.com/cem.../62701/shady-grove-cemetery

 (My response):     Thank you, looks promising since it is an African American cemetery

• I can't find any hits for East Shady Spruce (which this seems to be) however East Shady Grove had a school+church, and therefore probably a cemetery in that time period. There's a record approving for a grant to be sent to them to buy supplies and repair damages in 1919

(My response): Thank you. Where did you find that information?

• newspapers.com I found another article that might help

Most promising RESPONSE from Mississippi Genealogy "Family Tree" and History Group

• East Shady Grove, there is a african american section and a white section.

                   https://www.msholmes.org/.../shady-grove-cemetery-african...

Trying to gather as much information as I could, I also sent an email to MDAH.

Email to: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Subject: Undertaker and cemetery circa 1918

Date: April 12, 2022

Hello,

I recently received my 2nd great-grandfather's death certificate. He died May 31, 1918 in Lexington, Holmes, Mississippi. The undertaker listed is Barr-Gwin Co. and the cemetery is East Shady Grove. Ned Washington, age 98, was a Black man and given the time period I am wondering if the undertaker and cemetery only catered to "Colored". If you can find any history about either place, I would appreciate it. I'm always interested in more than names and dates of my Ancestors. My name is Sandra Williams Bush and email is sanwbush@gmail.com

RESPONSE April 13, 2022

Reference Desk <refdesk@mdah.ms.gov>

Thank you for your query to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. We checked our holdings, but unfortunately we do not have any information on Barr-Gwin Funeral Home. We also checked our WPA Cemetery Guide for the cemeteries listed in Holmes County. There was not an "East Shady Grove Cemetery" listed, but there were three cemeteries listed under the name "Shady Grove." The first Shady Grove Cemetery was African American, located four miles northwest of Ebenezer, and was located in Section 18, Township 16, Range 2 East. The second Shady Grove had both white and African American burials, was also located four miles northwest of Ebenezer, and was located in Section 30, Township 14, Range 2 East. The third Shady Grove did not list whether it was white or African American, was located "near Goodman," and did not have the Section, township, and range listed.

J.G.

Taking another step, I searched the Library of Congress Chronicling America site and found some information about the Barr-Gwin Co.

• The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.), 14 March 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024271/1919-03-14/ed-1/seq-4/>

• The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.), 21 Nov. 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024271/1919-11-21/ed-1/seq-1/>

However, Barr-Gwin seemed to have a hand in everything

As with all genealogy, answers to questions lead to more questions . . .

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

AncestryDNA Sideview & Me

In April 2022, Ancestry-dot-com introduced DNA SideView technology that reconstructed a person's parental DNA; splitting the 50% of each parent's DNA that a person inherits. This technology is derived by comparing DNA matches from the database.

One evening I tried to figure out which parent was which in this DNA puzzle by comparing the DNA cousins of my parent with 0% from an area to the DNA cousins of my parent who had some type of percentage from the same area. 

I looked at two paternal first cousins and two paternal second-third cousins. 

DW  1st cousin 1x removed

        

There are no maternal first cousins in my DNA Matches; I looked at the four highest 2nd - 3rd matches.

MALI

Parent 1 has 8% DNA from Mali which I inherited while Parent 2 has 0% from Mail. However, looking at the top four DNA matches, both paternal and maternal DNA cousins have DNA from Mali at about the same percentage. Paternal is 4-10% and maternal is 5-12%.

SCOTLAND 

Parent 1 has 0%  DNA from Scotland. Parent 2 has 8% DNA from Scotland that contributed the 8% DNA that I inherited. Looking at those same cousin relationships on my maternal and paternal sides, I see that the closest DNA cousins from my father's side have 0%  DNA from Scotland while the closest on my mother's side have 0-5%  DNA from Scotland. Could it be that Parent 1 with shown Scottish DNA is my father and Parent 2 with the 8% DNA is my mother?

SENEGAL

Parent 1 has 3% DNA from Senegal which I inherited while Parent 2 has 0% from Senegal.  However, looking at the same matches, both paternal and maternal DNA cousins have DNA from Senegal at about the same percentage. Paternal is 4-6% and maternal is 3-4%.

IRELAND

Parent 1 has <1%.  Parent 2 has 3% DNA from Ireland that contributed the 3% DNA I inherited. With those same eight DNA cousin comparisons, I see that the closest DNA cousins from my father's side have 0% DNA from Ireland while the closest on my mother's side have 1-8% Irish DNA. This again, suggests that my father is Parent 1.

So as of now I'm leaning toward Parent 1 as my father and Parent 2 as my mother. Yes, the sampling of DNA cousins I looked at is small and yes, I only get a glimpse of 50% of each parents DNA -- but I am not a science nor math person and it was all head-spinning for me. Overall, it was an interesting parlor game, but as it stands now I don't see how it really matters which parent contributed which of the 50% DNA I inherited. And for me, the paper trail is still more interesting.

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

1950 U.S. Census Anticipation

The 1950 U.S. census was released on April 1, 2022. There has been so much hype about its release, especially in the past month -- on the date of the release, there were even virtual parties during the "midnight hour". 

I wasn't excited about it at all, and I attended one webinar that left me so confused. But by the evening of April 1st, curiosity got the best of me, so I found myself taking a look at the Ancestry.com site and National Archives site. Both had prominent link assistance on their home pages for the 1950 census. To me, it seemed that Ancestry wasn't quite ready for the release (see image below). I found the National Archives site much easier to work with because I didn't have to figure out an enumeration district. There were other major sites that had assistance on their landing pages but since I was overwhelmed with all the hype, I just concentrated on the two sites I mentioned.

I already knew who I primarily wanted to find in the 1950 census: my parents, Willis B. Williams and Evelyn O. Brown; my maternal grandmother, Lucy Brown; my mother's siblings; my father's grandmother, Mary Lane Button; and my father's siblings.

I didn't like that I had to have an address to find the enumeration district (ED) on Ancestry. The whole point of my looking at the 1950 census was to find out where family lived.

Image from Ancestry.com on 1 April 2022 at 8:06pm

National Archives site

I liked that I could put in name, city/county, and state on the National Archives site. However, I didn't have much hope in finding m Brown family because it's such a common name.

MY MOTHER'S FAMILY

I was so happy that my maternal grandmother, Lucy Brown, and her children were the first "hit" when I did the search on Archives.com

1950 U.S. census, Buffalo, Erie County, NY, ED 65-124, sheet 15, household 111, lines 1-5 (Lucy Brown family); U.S. National Archives,_1950 Census_(https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

In the top image, my grandmother, Lucy Brown, 46, is listed as a widow, living at 586 William St., Buffalo, Erie, New York. Living with her are all her children -- daughter, Verlie, 25, a registered nurse, employed in private duty; son Arthur, 23, a presser at a tailor shop; daughter Vivian, 21, a college student; and daughter Evelyn (my mother), a waitress in a cafeteria. 

The second image is from the bottom of the census page. Sample #4 from the supplemental questions is my Auntie Vivian.

Maternal grandfather, Noah Brown and his sister, Ida Brown living in Cleveland Ohio was a surprise. I initially looked for Noah in Buffalo NY and then looked at Cleveland because that was his place of death in 1966. Interesting that Noah is listed as widowed (as is my grandmother in Buffalo NY). My happy surprise was finding my great-aunt Ida because I haven't been able to find much information on her as an adult.

1950 U.S. census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH, ED 92-897, sheet 6, household 61, lines 17-18 (Noah Brown and sister Ida Brown); U.S. National Archives,_1950 Census_(https://1950census.archives.gov/search/). 

Also in the household is Jordan, *unknown*, number 19 with "SEE NOTE" which is at top of census form.

MY FATHER'S FAMILY

Richard L. Davenport and Anna M. Davenport raised my father, Willis B. Williams and his sister, Joan Williams, when their mother passed in 1941. Anna M. Davenport (Button) was one of his mother's sisters. In this record, my father isn't listed because he's in the Army from 1949-1951 during the Korean Conflict. However, his sister, Joan, age 19 is listed. They live at 209 Walnut Street in Buffalo NY.

1950 U.S. census, Buffalo, Erie County, NY, ED 65-150, sheet 1, household 7, lines 22-24 (Richard Davenport family); U.S. National Archives,_1950 Census_(https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

In 1950 my father's grandmother, Mary Button, was living in Detroit Michigan, with a daughter, Verna and son-in-law, Robert Bynum. Finding my great-grandmother was another guessing game because at the time of her death in 1955 she was living in Buffalo NY with her daughter and son-in-law, Anna M.  and Richard Davenport.

1950 U.S. census, Detroit, Wayne County, MI, ED 85-1072, sheet 3, household 18, lines 25-29 (Robert Bynum family); U.S. National Archives,_1950 Census_(https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

I am pleased with the family I have found. However, I did not find my father's siblings in Detroit, Michigan. Their surname is Burkett. I only got one hit on that name, followed by pages and pages with various name spellings. So finding them will be a search for another day.

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

Genealogy Angel Opens a Door

I am the oldest of my siblings and the only girl. Growing up, I was sometimes in places where my brothers weren't, hearing snatches of adult conversations. One of the whispers I heard was that in my mother's paternal family there were two aunts -- sisters -- who were "crazy" and died in a mental institution. Of course, as a child I never questioned or spoke of it but there was a cloud over that branch of the family and by extension me.

I mentioned my questions and the whispers briefly in an earlier post Brown Family Secrets 

So, after decades of wondering if my great aunts were admitted to the Massillon State Hospital for mental illness, I finally got the answer -- thanks to a genealogy angel.

I belong to several genealogy groups in the areas where my ancestors lived. In a monthly meeting of one group, a member stated that she would be willing to help anyone with Ohio research -- my antenna went up and I made note of her contact information. When I reached out to her, she was helpful beyond measure! 

This is what I have known about my great aunts (sisters of my maternal grandfather, Noah Brown)

Luella Brown Berry was born 30 Jan 1888 in Mississippi, married William Erza Berry about 1905 in Simpson County, Mississippi. She died 17 Aug 1928 in Massillon State Hospital of TB.

Fannie Brown McCall was born Feb 1890 in Simpson County, Mississippi, married Horace McCall on 21 Aug 1919 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  She died 23 Jun 1926 in Massillon State Hospital of TB.

My question: 

Did they go into the hospital as mental patients or TB patients?

The answer for my great aunt Luella is in her hospital Admittance Card. Written under CONDITION AND TERMS is "M. DiDep?" CAUSE Unknown. The term seems to be some type of dissociative disorder (using Google as my guide).

Luella Brown Berry was committed to the Massillon State Hospital in Massillon, Ohio on 28 August 1923. She was 37 years old, a housewife and her residence listed is Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Ohio. She was institutionalized just under five years before she died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 17 August 1928. 

On the back of the card are the names and addresses of family: William E. Berry, husband, with a Rossford, Ohio address; and Noah Brown, brother. There is an additional notation to address all correspondence to her brother. Her mother, Mary Brown's name and address are crossed out along with the notation that she died April 25, 1925.

Fannie Brown McCall was committed to the Massillon State Hospital in Massillon, Ohio on 11 February 1924. She was 35 years old, and her residence is listed as Kingsville, Ashtabula, Ohio. She was institutionalized for two years and four months before she died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 23 June 1926. CONDITION AND TERMS box is left blank, CAUSE Unknown

On the back of the card are the names and addresses of family: Horace McCall, husband, with a Cleveland, Ohio address; and brothers, William Brown and Noah Brown. There is an additional notation to contact the brothers in case of illness or death. Her mother, Mary Brown's name and address are crossed out along with the notation that she died April 25, 1925.

The information from the hospital files, led me to reach out to the Massillon Public Library and I was sent the death notice of Fannie McCall from the local paper. The email with the death notice included a brief message: "The Massillon State Hospital was a statewide facility for tuberculosis patients and mentally handicapped at that time. All deaths were reported in the Massillon newspaper regardless of the hometown of the patient, but not a true obituary."

It took a few days for me to process the information that I received on the hospital Admission Cards. When I did, I was overcome with sadness -- and more questions. What was the behavior that led to my great aunts being committed? What was the treatment and how were they treated during their time in the facility? Why were their brothers listed as the contacts and not their husbands? Did their family visit them or were they put away and forgotten? They are both buried in the Massillon Cemetery -- did they have a funeral service?

I had taken an extended break from researching my great aunts when I received their death certificates a few years ago that listed the Massillon State Hospital as the place where they died, even though I had questions on why they were there. I am torn about this post, but I feel someone will need to know. Although they died decades before I was born, Aunt Luella and Aunt Fannie will forever have a place in my heart.

Copyright © 2022 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.