Lucy Washington Brown, My Granny

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.

Copyright © 2024 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

WASHINGTON: A Family Surname

During my teenage years, I remember my Aunt Verlie proudly telling me that we were related to George Washington. Much, much later my education taught me he did not father any children so we couldn't be biologically related to ole George.

Decades later doing family history research, I found out that the Washington surname is considered one of the top names the formally enslaved chose as a surname after emancipation. Some articles even reported that WASHINGTON was the "Blackest name in America". According to the 2000 U.S. Census there were 163,036 people counted that year with the surname WASHINGTON and ninety percent of them identified as African American --  this was a higher percentage than any other surname.

It seems that my family chose the surname WASHINGTON after enslavement. which was the surname of Ned's wife, Darkas. Ned's mother Sylvia first used the surname Adair, and later Washington. In my blog post Connecting to An Enslaved Ancestor -- Sylvia Adair Washington I show the connection of my 3rd great-grandmother and her enslaver.

My Maternal WASHINGTON family line

My research was validated when I found the hand-written research notes of my Aunt Verlie about our Washington family line on 3-ring loose leaf paper. (1) On this sheet, she has circled "last name Adel was changed" (should be Adair). There is a spelling variation that I attribute to the time lapse in the telling or perhaps the teller never knew how to spell Adair. (2) In the margin Aunt Verlie indicated that her great-grandmother, Dorkie Washington and her great-grandfather, Ned Washington were slaves and that she checked. There is a spelling variation in the name Dorkie (it's Darkas on her death certificate) but her death date is the same as what I have found. Initially, Aunt Verlie wrote her great-grandparents as her maternal family -- which they were, so this leads me to believe that she was interviewing her mother, Lucy Washington Brown. Ned and Dorkie Washington would have been the paternal grandparents of Lucy Washington Brown but the maternal great-grandparents of my Aunt Verlie.

Notes from research on Washington family by Verlie Mae Brown Walton, date unknown         (expanded top portion from full page below)

Notes (full page) from research on Washington family by Verlie Mae Brown Walton, date unknown

When my aunt made transition in 2021, my brother, Ray and I cleaned out her house. We found a number of these hand-written pages on our family history. Unfortunately, my aunt was very secretive about her family history research, and I had asked her many, many times about it. Maybe now she is guiding me to build on what I have been able to find and document.

WASHINGTON surname articles

        Washington, Eric. "The Irony of the 'Blackest Name In America'". Historical Horizons, February 26, 2016. 

        Washington, Jesse. "Washington: the 'blackest name' in America". NBC News: The Associated Press, February 21, 2011. 

Copyright © 2023 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

A favorite photo with Granny -- Lucy Washington Brown

Evelyn Brown Williams (left), Sandra Ann Williams, Elizabeth Bonds (on lap),
Lucy Washington Brown (right); Buffalo NY, 1978
 

The above picture represents four-generations of my direct Washington family line.

        Elijah Washington (born abt 1797)

            Ned Washington (born Feb 10, 1825)

                Peter Washington (born Dec 1872)

                    Lucy Washington Brown (born Nov 1,1904)

                        Evelyn Orthelia Brown Williams

                            Sandra Ann Williams

                                Elizabeth aka Libby

From the time my daughter was born, my mother wanted a four-generation picture with herself, her mother, me, and my daughter, so one Sunday we went to Granny's apartment after she came home from church. My brother, Raymond Williams, took our picture. Unfortunately, this is the only four-generation picture that we ever took, even though we had many other opportunities. 

Lucy Washington was born in Lexington, Mississippi on November 1, 1904, to Peter Washington and Mary Barrett Washington. Her obituary (April 15, 1996) stated that she "united with the Church of God in Christ at an early age in Mississippi. Upon moving to Buffalo, she joined the Saints Home Church of God in Christ where she was a faithful member for many years. Later she transferred her membership to the Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ where she was happy to be made Church Mother."

Granny was among the millions of African Americans who migrated to the North from their rural Southern homes, starting with the Great Migration in 1916.

Copyright © 2023 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.

Granny's Bible Held Family Records

When Granny (Lucy Washington Brown) passed (10 April 1996) and we packed up her apartment, one of the items that came home with us was her Bible. It wasn't until later in that year that I looked at the Bible closely and saw she had recorded the death dates of several family members on one of the middle pages. Through the years the dates have been very helpful as I analyze various records and verify family connections through records.

I know this is Granny's writing because I have seen her handwriting many times while she was alive. Below are the entries I transcribed as Granny wrote them and my parenthesis for the family relationship to Granny. 

Ida Brown, 2-24-64 (Sister-in-law)

Darker Washington, Aug 6 1920 (Grandmother)

Ned Washington, May 30 1918 ( Grandfather)

Frankie Washington, 1968  (Sister-in-law, wife of brother George)

Noah Brown, died 1966 (husband)

George Washington, Jan 24 1980 (Brother)

Mary Washington. Dec 17 '42 (Mother)

Peter Washington, May 1953 (Father)

Gilbert Washington (Brother)

Estela Tyus, Oct 10 1985 (Sister)

Charles died 1984; Charles Craddock, 4-1-84

     (son-in-law, husband of daughter Vivian)

Mamie Washington, 1983 Nov* (Niece, daughter of brother Ned)

     *(Social Security Death Index lists death date as Nov 1985)

Arthur Brown, 12-28-86 (Son)

George Washington Jr, my nephew, 1983 Nov

Ned Washington, May 1984 (Brother)

Mary B Chatman, Aug 8, 1972 (Niece, daughter of sister Estella)

Mr. Lee Grisham, 2-13-82 (friend)

Mrs. Grisham, 1967 (friend)

     The last entries are names I am unfamiliar with and harder for me to transcribe

L??? Wadley, Aug 2 1990

Liza, Aug 4 1987

Mary M???, 1-8-93

Copyright © 2020 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

Two-Mississippi: Ashtabula bound: We're Going North

My mother's maternal grandparents are Peter Washington and Mary Barrett Washington.  They were married on December 31, 1894 in Floyd County, Georgia.

Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978

Peter was born in Georgia December 1872.  In the 1880 U.S. census he is 8 years old, living with his parents, Ned and Darcus Washington and his four brothers: Silas, Newton, Elijah, and Ned.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Barkers, Floyd, Georgia; Roll: T9_146; Family History Film: 1254146; Page: 314.1000; Enumeration District: 71; Image: 0635.

By the 1900 census my great great grandparents --  Ned and Dortes (her name is different in every census) had moved to Holmes County, Mississippi. The family unit included Peter, his wife Mary and their two children: Lena and Estella.

That census is the earliest information I have found for Mary Barrett.  It shows that she was also born in Georgia with the birth month/year given as April 1875.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Beat 1, Holmes, Mississippi; Roll: T623_810; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 34.

According to the 1910 U.S. census, my great grandmother had given birth to seven children of which five lived: Lena, Estella, Ned, Gilbert, and Lucy (my grandmother).  All of the Washington siblings eventually left their home state of Mississippi and moved Ashtabula Ohio.  So far, it seems to be between the years of 1918 and 1924.


Also in the 1910 U.S. census, Lena had already left her parents' home. She and Howard Huggins had been married one year and had a four-month old daughter, Bessie. They lived with his parents and his siblings in Holmes County, Mississippi. On July 3, 1919 they had their first child in Ashtabula Ohio, Amos Huggins,.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 1, Holmes, Mississippi; Roll: T624_742; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1374755

By 1918 Estella (aka Aunt Stella) was living in Ashtabula, Ohio. She and her husband, William David Tyus had their first child, Leroy Tyus, in Ashtabula Ohio on April 20, 1918.

Ashtabula, Ohio, City Directory, 1918

In 1920 Uncle Ned, 20, was living in Ashtabula OH with his wife Virginia (from Mississippi) and newborn son, George. Also in the household was Uncle Gilbert, age 18 -- both men are listed as laborers on the railroad.





On April 10, 1924 Lucy and Noah Brown were married in Erie Pennsylvania -- I don't know why when all their siblings were in Ohio. Maybe they eloped???

However on their marriage license, Noah listed his address as 79 Bancroft Street in Ashtabula OH. Granny listed her address as 20 Depot Street in Ashtabula OH. Their first child, Verlie, was born in Ashtabula on March 1, 1925. Their second child, Arthur, was born in Buffalo, New York on March 23, 1927. Their last two daughters, Vivian and Evelyn were also born in Buffalo.

Ashtabula, Ohio, City Directory, 1926

So both sides of my mother's family --  her Washington aunts and uncles and her Brown aunts and uncles (earlier blog post One-Mississippi) moved from rural Mississippi to Ohio.  Why?


Whatever the reason, they were part of that Great Migration of Black folk leaving the south and moving to the north.  And as was the custom then, it seemed that each family member that moved north, reached out and helped those who followed.

Pieces of Me -- Saints Home C.O.G.I.C.

On October 1, 2014 the church I had known as Saints Home Church Of God in Christ was demolished.  Until news reports and the preservation efforts I did not know that it was the oldest synagogue in Buffalo NY, although I knew it had been a synagogue.

"Preservationists chain themselves inside oldest synagogue to prevent demolition
from The Buffalo News (Buffalo NY), October 12, 2014, page C3

Saints Home Church of God in Christ is where I was first touched by those soulful spirituals that still comfort me today.   Some of them include:

A Little Talk With Jesus

I Shall Not Be Moved

I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray

His Eye Is On the Sparrow

Every Time I Feel the Spirit

Pass Me Not

In addition to my parents and grandparents, this is the place that shaped my moral character.  I fondly remember what I now think of as "church before church" when the Mothers and/or Deacons of the church led Testimony  --  a tradition where you would stand before the congregation and publicly thank God for his blessings.  I also fondly remember Sunday School, chicken dinners, Easter programs, Christmas programs, and the first family of the church  --  Rev. and Mrs. Carl Roberson and their children, my church friends.

My father, Willis B. Williams, painted a larger-than-life picture of Jesus and it was dedicated in a ceremony in the Spring or Summer of 1961.   I am guessing at the season because my little brother Raymond was born in November 1960 and he is the baby in my mother's arms. The painting was right behind the pulpit and commanded your attention as soon as you entered the sanctuary.  

Adults:  Willis B. Williams, Evelyn O. Williams, Lucy  Brown; Children: Raymond L Williams (Baby), Steven A, Williams, Richard L. Williams, Willis Barry Williams, Sandra A. Williams

I remember my father on the floor of the living room painting this picture over a period of time.  Daddy painted the picture to donate to Saints Home in honor of my grandmother, Mrs. Lucy Brown  and my mother because that was their home church.  It was the first time I ever saw Jesus as a man of color.

This painting by Willis B. Williams was inspired by the scripture:

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.   Revelation 3:20 King James Version 

Although I did not attend Saints Home after puberty, I still feel saddened by the demolition. A piece of my growing up past no longer physically exist  --  for decades I passed the building that once housed Saints Home C.O.G.I.C.   Sometimes I even went out of my way to see it because it spoke to me in a way  --  connected me, transported me, and grounded me. The building may be gone, but . . .

Documenting Granny (Lucy Washington Brown)

I know Granny existed because she was a part of my life  --  but that doesn't matter in genealogy research.  As a genealogist/family historian I was so excited to find various records to offer proof to others that, yes, Lucy Washington Brown was here.  In this post I supplied a few of the documents that I have found.

Granny (Lucy Washington Brown) first appeared on the 1910 United States Federal Census in Mississippi, Holmes County, Beat 1, District 0039.

Although Granny and her siblings were born in Mississippi, her parents were born in Georgia.  At age 5, Granny lived with her parents, Peter and Mary; sister Estella (age 12); brothers Ned (age 9) and Gilbert (age 7); and paternal grandfather Ned and grandmother Darkis (spelling?)

Below is the marriage license of Lucy Washington and Noah Brown who were married April 10, 1924 in Erie, Pennsylvania..  My daughter and I made a day trip to Erie  for this copy.  I was so excited to get this  --  so excited that it took me awhile to realize that Granny's mother's name was wrong.   My great-grandmother is listed with the maiden name of "Baird" when her maiden name was "Barrett".

Reverse side  "Consent of Marriage of Child or Ward" signed by Harold P. Dundon as Guardian and also signed by Florence L. Weber, Asst Clerk of the Orphans Court.  Mr. Dundon resided in Erie PA (probably an employee for the department/court)

Granny was 19 years old and Mr. Brown (my biological grandfather) was 21 years old.

Here is a copy of Granny's social security application in her handwriting. Her mother's maiden name is listed as Barrett.  I figure Granny should know but my job is to prove Mary Barrett existed and was the wife of Peter Washington; mother to Lucy Washington.

The Town Club, 805 Delaware, Buffalo NY where Granny was employed when she applied for a social security card.

Honoring Granny

I grew up knowing one grandparent  --  my maternal grandmother, Lucy Washington Brown.  Granny was born November 1, 1904 in Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi.  Unfortunately she never spoke about her growing up years and she never took her children to Mississippi, so I have no "down home" stories to draw from.

As an inquisitive teen I would ask my mother, Evelyn Brown Williams (aka Mommy), about Granny but as the youngest child my mother wasn't told much  --  I've told her more than she ever knew as I make strides with my genealogy searches.

But Mommy did know that Granny got married in Erie, Pennsylvania  --  about five years ago my daughter and I took a day trip to Erie for Granny's marriage license. So much information!  But the big question for me is why did Granny and her husband, Noah Brown, come from Mississippi to Ashtabula,Ohio but got married in Erie PA and end up in Buffalo, New York?

Granny was beautiful  --  both physically and spiritually.  I remember her long silky, unprocessed white hair and her soft, even brown complexion that was dotted with freckles on her high cheekbones.  She always smelled just clean  --  the only products she used was Ivory soap and Ponds cream, no perfumes or sprays; no make-up.  Wonderfully clean & fresh & simply beautiful!

Granny had a way of asking who I was dating and when was I going to get married (no pressure but after all that's the circle of life).   I got married January 6, 1996 at the age of 42.  Granny made transition on April 10, 1996.  I cannot remember anything that happened in my life for the rest of that year.  There have been times that I've wondered since then, if I didn't get married would Granny have lived longer.  Crazy, I know.