Census Sunday: Grandma Cleo Had Two Homes

It's been a while since I've done a Census Sunday post, but this one has been on my mind for a while. I started drafting it a year-and-a-half ago, when I realized that I was going through my first holiday season without a living grandmother - my Grandma Cleo, or Cleola (Johnson) Whaley-Ballour, passed away back in the summer of 2023. (As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that maybe I'm posting this now because the anniversary of her death is June 3rd). For whatever reason, I didn't post it back then, but it's such an interesting snapshot of a moment in her life, and also an example of why we need to look closely at Federal Census records, that I'm finally putting it up!

You see, she shows up in the 1950 Census not once, but twice.

Too Many Eliza Scruggses!

Back in January, I began a series of posts diving into my research on the question of who were the parents of Laura Ann (Scruggs) Evans, my 2x great-grandmother. I didn't get very far though - I was splitting my time between this project, work, and some other cool genealogy and research projects that I'll maybe write about at a later date. But I'm circling back today!

In one of my recent posts, I noted that I had a hypothesis: that Eliza Scruggs was Laura Ann’s mother. The only problem was, I didn’t really know who Eliza Scruggs was. Eliza and Laura Ann only show up together in one document that I’ve found so far, and that’s the 1900 Census. They were a household of 3, under the surname “Scriggs”: 

 

1900 U.S. Federal Census, Alabama, pop. sched., Precinct 8, Dooley, Montgomery County, ED 111, Sheet 3B, Lines 88-90, Eliza Scriggs and Family. National Archives and Records Administration, via FamilySearch.org.

Mystery Monday: Who Are the Parents of (James) Steven Evans and Laura Ann Scruggs?

Many months ago – perhaps midway through the year - one of my Alabama cousins reached out to ask if I had learned anything about the parents of our great-great- grandparents, (James) Steven Evans* and Laura Ann Scruggs. Unfortunately, my answer at the time was “No.” When I’d been focusing on that branch, I’d really been focusing on their children, including her great-grandmother Jannie Mae and my great-grandfather Steve/Theodore. I was tracing across and down, rather than up. And if you’ve been hanging around the blog for a bit, you know that for the past few years, I’ve really been focused on my maternal line, rather than my paternal – I thought I was working on a quick research project, lol.

But, well, you know what happened next…

Mystery Monday: Seeking Philip and Susie Sheppard in the 1940 Census

This past summer, I poked around in my research related to the ancestry of my maternal grandfather, Louis Shepherd, as I prepped to see some of my family at an upcoming reunion. Louis’s father is currently a mystery to the family, but I’ve been learning more and more about his mother, Katherine Shepperd’s, people over the years. Still, it’s not voluminous, and there are lots of holes.

One such hole was a seemingly simple one, regarding Katherine’s paternal uncle, Phillip Sheppard, and his wife Susie (née Blackston/Blackson). I just wanted to find them listed in the 1940 U.S. Census. I had them in 1920 and 1930, and had recently found them in 1950. Why couldn’t I find them in 1940?

1920: Phillip and Susie Sheppard on Fennimore's Bridge Road in New Castle County, DE. 1920 Census. National Archives and Records Administration, via FamilySearch.org.

Finding Gilbert Wilkerson: My 3x Great-Grandfather

We all know we “come from people,” but to learn their names and to begin to imagine their lives is a powerful thing. They become real.

I’m excited to have one more name to speak aloud, one more life story to dig into: my newest 3x great-grandparent, Gilbert Wilkerson.

Finding July Cooper

I probably shouldn't say this too loudly (shhh!), but I've had a little extra brainspace over the past couple of weeks. And you know what I do when that happens!

Ever since I visited my mother's family's land in Georgia, I've been really interested in digging deeper into the stories of the Coopers who lived there and came before. So a good part of my evenings and weekends has been spent reviewing the records I already have, along with the family trees our Cooper family historians have previously put together and the memoir my cousin wrote, and then plotting how to find out more. That's resulted in a number of city directory listings and some useful World War II Draft Registration Cards, among other things.

I am ashamed, however, to say that it also resulted in a new census record, and one I definitely should have found before. You see, in 1880, my great-great-grandfather, July Cooper, Jr, was living in the 114th Militia District of Hancock County, GA. Living with him was his wife, Scoatney, written here as Sconey. You can see them highlighted in purple, below.

Time Traveling Along the Whaley Family Tree

Well, you know the first thing I did after visiting with my paternal grandfather was spend a few days researching my Whaley family roots. I'm actually surprised by how far back I was able to go in such a short amount of time! Armed with his memories, birth certificates that connect me to his dad (my great-grandfather), and the census and vital records available on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, I have a pretty credible chain that takes me back to a man named Joe Whaley, who was born about 1823! This makes him - my 3x Great-Grandfather - one of the earliest relatives on my family tree!

Here's a quick and dirty climb up the family tree, starting with my Great-Grandfather, Morris Lee Whaley. (Note: Because my grandfather is still alive, I'm not posting his personal information here. This is my general rule on this blog, for privacy's sake.)

This is the 1920 Census for Morris, living in Baker County, Georgia. He's barely a teenager - 13 years old - and living with his parents, my 2x Great-Grandparents, Kit and Grace Whaley:

Census Sunday: Beatrice Harris in the 1930 Census

Seeing my ancestors and relatives in historical documents is really exciting for me. They were there, then, doing something! They existed not just to me and my family, but in some way, to the world. I love uncovering the layers of their lives.

The very first document that I found on my paternal great-grandmother Beatrice Harris was the 1930 Census, also known as the Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 Population Schedule. Taken every 10 years and released to the public 72 years later, federal census records are a great way to track families and individuals over time. At their most basic, they tell us where people were living when, who they’re living with, where they’re from, and how old everyone is. Depending on the year, we can also learn what they do for a living, whether or not they can read or write, how many children they gave birth to, whether they are veterans (and in which war they fought), whether they own or rent their home, what they pay in rent, what they earned in the previous year, and more. Treasure trove of info.

Here’s a snippet from the page listing Beatrice in 1930.

So what did I learn?

Jefferson County, AL

First off, she’s living in the unincorporated town of Majestic, Alabama. Located in Jefferson County in north-central Alabama, Majestic was a coal town just north of Birmingham, which was a huge population center and major economic powerhouse in the South because of booming coal, steel and iron industries, supported by a thriving network of railroads.

Ardenia (Jackson) Harris and daughter Lillian

Beatrice is 16 years old and living with her mom, 33-year-old Ardenia Harris, and her 14 year-old sister Lillian. Ardenia – my grandmother’s grandmother – is married and has been since she was 16, but her husband (whom I would assume is still Solomon Harris, as they married in 1914) is apparently not in the household. Where’s Solomon? Ardenia’s obituary notes that he died before her – perhaps they were in Majestic because he worked in the coal mines and something happened to him while they were living in that community? She was remarried by 1935. Or perhaps he’s elsewhere in the community – while I’ve had no luck name-searching him in 1930, I’ll go back and browse page-by-page to see if he can be found that way.

In addition to the three women of the family, there’s also a baby in the house, Robert Johnson, listed as Ardenia’s grandson. He’s listed as only 4 months old! (While this census doesn’t specify, we know that this is Beatrice’s son, my grandmother’s oldest brother.) So that’s three generations in this one record!

But wait, there are other people in the household, as well!

Four boarders, men who rented rooms in the house and perhaps took meals cooked by Ardenia or her daughters, are living in the home. Given the absence of a husband, it seems this is how Ardenia was able to support her family and make ends meet. Well, hello there, entrepreneurship!

Census taker's notes on Ardenia's occupation and industry, 1930 Census.

There’s 44-year-old Will Austin, a widower from Florida, plus 20-year-old Lawrence Roy or Ray, 21-year-old Luzzill Ross or Rass, and 19-year-old Marshall Evans, all single and all from Alabama. All were coal miners. I wonder, was it fun and exciting for these teenage girls to live in the same building as these single men? Or was it scary and uncomfortable?

What else do we learn?

• Ardenia is renting their home in Majestic, for $6 a month. This would be about $85 in today’s money.
• Everyone in Beatrice’s family is listed as having been born in Alabama, as are all of their parents. In fact, the vast majority of folks in this community, black and white, were from Alabama.
• Neither Beatrice nor Lillian had a job (at least one that they told the census taker about), but neither had they been in school at any point between September 1, 1929 and April of 1930. However, both girls, as well as their mom Ardenia are listed as being able to read and write. 

Interestingly, this is the only Census record that I can find for Beatrice. Since she was born in 1915 and census records are available up to 1940, I should be able to find her both in 1920 and 1940. But I haven't. Yet. But this just makes me even more grateful that I was able to find her in this one - it's an interesting snapshot of what her life looked like as a teenager, and it's a jumping off point for a few stories I'm going to be exploring later on.

Do you know anything about the family's life in Majestic, AL? Or where Ardenia's husband is? Please share!