One of my biggest regrets in life is not talking with my maternal grandmother, Granny, about her growing up life in rural Mississippi as well as her migration North. Not talking with our Elders is a common regret with family historians and genealogists. So, my journey into Granny's life is following her paper trail. I have pieced together Granny's life in a collection of records that include census, city directories, marriage, social security application, and public records.
Lucy Washington was born on November 1, 1904, the youngest of the five living children born to Peter Washington and Mary Barrett Washington. In the 1910 U.S. federal census of Holmes County, Mississippi, she was five years old and living in a multi-generational home that included her parents, an older sister, Estella age 12, two older brothers: Ned, age 9 and Gilbert, age 7 -- also in the household were her paternal grandparents: Ned and Darkis, both listed as 85 years old. Her oldest sister, Lena, was married and living with her husband and his family in the same area.
All my life I had heard that my maternal grandparents got married in Erie, Pennsylvania. One year my daughter and I took a day trip to Erie PA to get Granny’s marriage record. I was so happy to get this record because there was so much information to verify. This took my back another generation for my grandfather and another surname – his mother’s: Stamps. One of the things that stuck out was that Granny’s mother’s maiden name is listed as Baird – I can imagine that with her Mississippi accent that’s what the person who recorded the information heard. Her maiden name was Barrett. Questions: Why were they in Ashtabula OH? Why did they go to Erie PA to get married when they lived in Ashtabula? Were other family members living at the Ashtabula addresses?
While it seems that Granny worked most of her adult life as a domestic, she was probably getting paid "under the table". Her Social Security application was issued in 1940, at 36 years old. Her employer was the Town Club in Buffalo, New York -- a private club along what was called "Millionaires' Row". A place that wouldn't have accepted her as a member. A place where she probably had to enter through a back door or servants' entrance.
I was amused by the 1950 Census where both my grandparents list their marital status as "Widowed" when they were married to one another but living in two different states. However, in thinking about it, the status of widowhood was more respectable than a married couple being separated (or divorced) during that time period.
United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29
United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29
What the records don't show is how she was full of love and how she lived her Christian faith. I carry her memory in my heart forever. An earlier post of my favorite photo with Granny.
