52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Taxes

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of April 9, 2018, is Taxes.

I had planned on writing about the property tax records for my second great grandfathers who lived in Lowndes County Georgia, but while I was searching these records, I came across lists of Freedmen and their employers. 

I spotted my maternal great grandfather Remer Young's name as an employer to several Freedmen.  I wrote about Remer and some of his former slaves in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - The Old Homestead. I recognized the name of one of his employees, William Johnson, whose photograph is in that blog post.

As I continued scrolling through, I found a record of the Freedmen who worked for J. R. Young. This might be John Remer Young, son of Remer. 

I couldn’t find an exact date for these records, even with scrolling backward and forward, looking at pages 1 and 726 (the last page of this digitized record) and pages in between. Since these two particular Freedmen records are near the end of the digitizations, they could be from 1877. Below are the transcriptions of the names of the Freedmen and a digital copy of the record. 

Employed by Remer Young on the former Mineola plantation in north Lowndes County, Club House District, Militia District 658:

H. Stafford
William Johnson
R. Darcy
J. Moore
Robert Moore
Abe Robberson
M. Butter
E. McKinnon

H. Stafford had stock animals worth $2 and household and kitchen furniture worth $5. William Johnson had stock animals worth $8 and household and kitchen furniture worth $5. There is no property noted for the other employees.

Freedmen working for Remer Young, possibly 1877, Lowndes County, Georgia, Clubhouse District, Militia District 658, from Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892, Lowndes 1871-1877. Digitized on ancestry.com

Employed by J. R. Young on land in south Lowndes County, Clyattville District, Militia District 662:

Ned Johnson Jr.
Jerry Slater
James McKinney
John Young

Ned Johnson, Jr., had stock animals worth $7 and household and kitchen furniture worth $5. James McKinney had property valued at a total of $158, very high compared to the other Freedmen employees: stock animals $120, household and kitchen furniture $10, plantation and mechanical tools $6, and other property $22.

Freedmen working for J. R. Young, possibly 1877. Lowndes County, Georgia, Clyattville District, Militia District 662, from Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892, Lowndes 1871-1877. Digitized on ancestry.com

As the above record for Remer Young indicates, at least one of his former slaves, William Johnson, worked for him after emancipation. William was Remer's former body servant. These Freedman tax records would be another way to research enslaved ancestors to find out who their former owners might have been. 

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - The Old Homestead

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of March 26, 2018, is The Old Homestead. I thought I’d write about the old plantation for this topic instead, because I’ve always wondered about the exact location of the land that belonged to my maternal 2nd great grandfather Remer Young, and I received some photos of some of  the people Remer owned before the Civil War.

Remer Young owned a plantation in north Lowndes County Georgia in an area called Mineola. According to a post on findagrave.com about the "Old Young Plantation" (author unknown), a portion of the land was originally part of the estate of Francis Rountree. In 1841, Michael Brady Jones bought Lots 36, 56, 82, and 83 in Land District 12 from Rountree’s estate. The following year, in 1842, Jones sold the land to Matthew Young. Young sold these lots plus two others (Lots 36, 56, 57, 81, 82, and 83) to Remer Young in 1857 (see the map below). By 1860, Remer had acquired more land, totaling 6,000 acres: Lots 36, 37, 56, 57, 81, 82, 83, 102, 103, 128, 129, and 149 (see map below). 

I don't have a citation for this map. I saw it at the South Georgia Regional Library in Valdosta laid out on a table in the genealogy room. There's no information on the map or date. I've marked the Remer Young property: yellow for the lots he bought in 1857, red for what he owned as of 1860.

The land includes a slave cemetery, noted in Church and Family Cemeteries in Lowndes County, Georgia 1825-2005 Part 2 as “Northwest of Valdosta: Approximately 1/2 mile northeast of junction of N. Valdosta Road and I-75, on what was formerly the ‘Young Plantation.’ No Markers.” The findagrave posting adds that the cemetery is about 300 yards northeast of the intersection of N. Valdosta Road and I-75 in a stand of trees, but sometime in the 2000s, the trees were cut down and a subdivision established. I wonder what happened to the cemetery?

The 1860 U.S. Slave Schedule for Lowndes County, Georgia, Districts 663 and 1200 (ancestry.com), shows that Remer Young had a total of 88 slaves in 17 “slave houses.” That's about five people per small cabin. The oldest person was 56 years old and the youngest was only two months.

In the winter of 1904 to 1905, my 2nd great aunt, Lawson Young Pendleton, came down to Valdosta from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, to visit relatives in the Valdosta/Lowndes County area, including her sister Catherine Young Roberts (my maternal great grandmother). (Lawson and Catherine are two of Remer Young’s and Mary Wyche’s children.) Lawson brought three of her daughters, Amena, Constance, and Freda Pendleton. 

The day after Christmas in 1904, Freda and Constance visited the Young plantation in Mineola with their uncle John Young, who owned the property at the time. In Confederate Memoirs, Constance Pendleton (1958) describes the visit to Mineola:

The family house was gone, and the place was not being cultivated, but timber was being cut, and there was a sawmill, a small group of houses, and a commissary or store near the railroad station. The overseer’s old house was a little distance away, and the site of the family house at least a mile beyond…A number of old family servants [slaves], too old to work, were living on the place in small houses here and there, and were permitted to draw rations from the commissary, free of charge.

Constance and Freda met several of the people who had been owned by their grandfather, Remer Young: Judy, Easter Johnson, Mose (former foreman of the plantation), Emily Johnson (former dairy maid), William (Wilts) Johnson (Remer’s former body servant), and Nancy (who ran off to the circus after the Civil War but returned). 

Near the end of 2016, my Pendleton/Young cousins from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, Erik Odhner and Alan Pendleton, began the laborious task of scanning old family photographs. These included some of the former Young plantation slaves taken during the 1904/1905 trip to Valdosta: 

Judy

Easter Johnson

Mose, Emily Johnson, and William (Wilts) Johnson

"Mineola hands" (former slaves)

I'm grateful to my Bryn Athyn Pendleton/Young cousins Erik and Alan for scanning and sharing these photographs (among others) and to Constance for writing about her visit to the former Young plantation. As much as I love maps, seeing photographs and reading written accounts bring the past to life, however painful. 

Catherine

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References:

Clifton, Geraldine McLeod and Dorothy Peterson Neisen, Church and Family Cemeteries in Lowndes County, Georgia 1825-2005 Part 2. Reprinted 2007 by Genealogy Unlimited Society, Inc., Valdosta, Georgia. 


Constance Pendleton, ed., Confederate Memoirs: Early Life and Family History, William Frederic Pendleton and Mary Lawson Young Pendleton. (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1958)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Strong Woman

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of March 5, 2018, is Strong Woman.

For every female ancestor I considered for this prompt, Strong Woman, I discovered I’d already written about her in previous posts, so I had a hard time coming up with someone unless I went even further back in the generations. And the further back I go, the less information I have and the harder the women are to research. 

Any of my female ancestors who survived long enough to give birth to a healthy child who became my ancestor was a strong woman indeed. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. In fact, any woman who survives to adulthood is a Strong Woman, whether she leaves behind children or not. 

So as I perused my family tree and looked up a few ladies, I settled on my maternal 6th great grandmother, Amy Goodwyn/Goodwin, for no other reason than I haven’t written about her before nor have I done any research. As soon as I began researching, I found that she’d been married twice and had children by each husband.

I don’t know if the dates of birth and death that I have for Amy are correct. I don’t even remember where I got them, probably from someone’s family tree on ancestry.com before I knew better than to just copy trees. She may have been born on August 31, 1732. A findagrave memorial says she married my 6th great grandfather, Thomas Mitchell, in 1747 and they had seven children: John, Henry, Thomas Goodwin (my 5th great grandfather), Tabitha, Winifred, James, and Richard. Amy’s first husband, Thomas, died about 1762 or maybe before, as she married her second husband, John Raines, that same year, on October 5, 1762. After marrying John, she gave birth to four more children: Thomas, Robert, Cadwallader, and Amy. 

Amy died February 14, 1773, in Sussex County, Virginia. 

Here’s my descent from Amy:

Amy Goodwyn/Goodwin and Thomas Mitchell (my 6th great grandparents)
Thomas Goodwin Mitchell and Ann Raines (my 5th great grandparents)
Susannah Mitchell and Littleton Wyche (my 4th great grandparents)
Thomas Clark Wyche and Catharine MacIntyre (my 3rd great grandparents)
Mary Barry Wyche and Remer Young (my 2nd great grandparents)
Catherine Young and John T. Roberts (my great grandparents)
Leona Roberts and William Redles (my grandparents)
Leona Redles and Albert Pendleton (my parents)

I also didn't find much online about Amy's first husband Thomas. Maybe one day I'll get back to this research.

Catherine

Two Parramore Boys Drown, August 4, 1900

A while ago, on one of my many visits to Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta, Georgia, I visited the graves of my paternal 2nd great grandparents, Susan Dasher and Noah Parramore. While there, I photographed all of the headstones on the Parramore lot. 

The Noah and Susan Dasher Parramore family plot in Sunset Hill Cemetery, Valdosta, Georgia

I was intrigued by the headstone for two young Parramore boys—Frank and Herman, sons of John and Martha Parramore. They have one headstone divided into two parts. The dates on the headstones are hard to read, but it appears they died the same day in 1900, and it looks like they are buried in the same grave. 

Double headstone for Frank and Herman Parramore who drowned on August 4, 1900

Later, my Parramore/Roberts cousin Lilla Kate told me Frank and Herman drowned together, and our uncle John Young Roberts, who was just a boy at the time, rushed to town to bring the sad news about his young friends. Lilla Kate said the incident was written up in the Valdosta newspaper, so I headed to the library to look it up on microfilm.

The article in The Valdosta Times is dated Tuesday, August 7, 1900, and titled, “A Double Drowning Saturday, The Sad Death of Little Frank and Herman Parramore.” On Saturday afternoon, August 4, twelve-year-old Frank and ten-year-old Herman were with a group of boys and girls headed to the branch on my paternal great grandfather A. S. Pendleton’s property north of town for a swim. Then several of the boys, including ten-year-old John Young Roberts (son of my maternal great grandparents John T. Roberts and Catherine Young), Frank and Herman Parramore, and ten-year-old Fred and twelve-year-old Albert Pendleton (sons of A. S. Pendleton and Susan Parramore; Albert was my grandfather) and some other boys decided to go to Pine Park. (Pine Park was the fair grounds at the time.) They wanted to swim in the pond there that had been used for diving horses the previous year. 

Location of Pine Park in Valdosta, northeast of the current location of Valdosta State University (Map from Google maps. Boundaries for Pine Park from Streetcars in Valdosta)

A wire had been strung across the pond, and the boys used it to hold themselves up in the water. When Frank, Herman, and Fred were holding onto the wire, it broke. Fred was able to get to shore, but Frank and Herman slipped underwater. Neither one of them could swim.

Some workmen nearby heard the screams of the group of boys and ran over. One of the men dived in to look for Frank and Herman. They had been under water about ten minutes by the time they were brought out. Men from the Edgewood Dairy hurried over and helped with resuscitation, but Frank and Herman could not be revived. They were wrapped in a sheet and loaded on a wagon from the dairy to be taken to town.

In the meantime, John Young Roberts jumped on his pony and rode to town to bring the sad news. He “was so excited that he could hardly talk,” so the family hoped what he told them wasn’t true. Frank and Herman’s father John and Dr. Ben Burton immediately headed for the pond but met the wagon carrying the boys on the way. The newspaper article said, “the grief stricken father stood mute and motionless over them. His frame shook with emotion, but the great grief which had come so unfairly upon him was too deep for tears.” Dr. Burton pronounced Frank and Herman dead, and their bodies were taken to the Parramore home on Central Avenue.

The funeral for Frank and Herman was held on Sunday, August 5, at four o’clock in the afternoon, and their two coffins were put in the same grave. The funeral procession was one of the largest “ever seen here and deep sorrow was felt by all.” The article noted that their mother Martha had had a premonition “of a great bereavement” some time before her sons drowned. She had already lost two children in the month of August (Susie in 1896 and Thompson in 1898). She had told a friend that she dreaded to see that month come. Now, two more of her children had died in August.

I can’t imagine the sorrow and pain in losing a child. John and Martha Parramore lost four children within a four-year time period.

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #42 Catherine Young

It dawned on me the other day that I've been remiss in writing about my maternal great grandmother Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young. I've mentioned her a few times, so I guess that made me think I'd written about her before.

Kate was born on January 25, 1855, to Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche in Thomas County, Georgia. Her siblings were Thomas Wyche (1846-1870), Susannah Elizabeth (1848-1929), Henry Michael (1850-1914), Mary Lawson (1851-1938), Sarah Hannah (1853-1936), and John Remer (1856-1905).

Remer's uncle gave him a plantation in Mineola, Lowndes County, Georgia, (now a residential and business section in north Valdosta), so the family moved there. Kate was six years old when her mother Mary died. After Mary's death, Remer sent Kate and her siblings to live with their maternal grandparents Catharine MacIntyre and Thomas Clarke Wyche in Thomas County. The children stayed with them until their father remarried to Sarah Frances Goldwire in 1865. The children returned to the plantation in Mineola.[1] Kate's half siblings were James King (1866-1926), Mitchell Jones (1868-1870), Burton (1873-1884), Coma (1876-?), and America Remer (1884-1974).

The children of Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche, April 4, 1888.
Back row: Hannah, Kate, and John Remer. Front row: Susannah, Henry, and Lawson

Kate married John Taylor Roberts on October 25, 1883, in Lowndes County.

Marriage record for John Taylor Roberts and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young (from Georgia's Virtual Vault, Marriage Records from Microfilm, Lowndes County Marriage Book 1870-1890, page 73) 

An article in The Valdosta Times dated October 27, 1883, says they were married at 7:30 in the morning of October 25. Then the couple boarded the 10:00 a.m. train to attend the Louisville Exposition. From there they were probably going to visit Kate's sister in Chicago.[2] (This sister was Lawson Young who was married to my paternal great, great uncle William Frederic Pendleton. They lived in Chicago for a few years.)

The young couple first lived at 412 East Hill Avenue in Valdosta where possibly the first six of their nine children were born: William Leland (1884-1864), Kathleen Wyche (1886-1980), Maie Dell (1887-1976), John Young (1890-1953), Stella (1891-1968), Margaret (1893-1986), Leona (1895-1955, my grandmother), Edwina (1897-1969), Mary Remer (1900-1990).

412 East Hill Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia.
The fist house of Catherine Young and John Taylor Roberts.

John and Kate moved their large and growing family to their new home at 206 Wells Street after the property was deeded to John in 1894. This house is known in my family as "the Big House," but it is also known as the J. T. Roberts House or the Wisenbaker-Wells-Roberts House. The original part of the house was built in 1845 by William Wisenbaker. It's part of the Fairview Historic District.

The J. T. Roberts house at 206 Wells Street, Valdosta, Georgia. I took this photo in 2008.
It's now owned by the Valdosta Heritage Foundation. 

This house was continuously occupied by the Roberts family for nearly 100 years. My mother Leona and her sister Catherine also grew up here.

Education was very important in the Roberts household. All of the children went to college (except for Edwina), but not all of them graduated. Kate was the glue that held the family together. Her children knew they could always come back home. She would stretch out on the living room floor for a 15 minute nap and then be off and running again. She never knew how many people would show up for dinner because of the large size of the family, which included grandchildren and cousins. [3]

Catherine (Young) Roberts

John died on January 19, 1920, and Kate died nine years later on June 24, 1929. Both are buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta.

The grave of Catherine (Kate) Young Roberts, June 1929, Sunset Hill Cemetery, Valdosta, Georgia

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.

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[1] Constance Pendleton, ed., Confederate Memoirs: Early Life and Family History, William Frederic Pendleton and Mary Lawson Young Pendleton. (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1958), 153-155, 160.

[2] Wayne and Judy Dasher. Wiregrass Weddings and Births, Volume 1, The Valdosta Times - April 10, 1875 to December 30, 1893; Berrien County Pioneer October 19, 1888 to March 20, 1891; The Tifton Gazette April 17, 1891 to December 22, 1893. Privately published, 2000. Repository South Georgia Regional Library, Valdosta, Georgia.

[3] Catherine Redles, interview by Catherine Pendleton, Valdosta, Georgia, 2 November 1997; Albert S. Pendleton, Jr., "The John T. Roberts Family," Lowndes County Historical Society Newsletter, V, no. 1:2-3, 1975.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #13 Mary Barry Wyche

Mary Barry Wyche was my maternal second great grandmother. She was born on March 27,1827, in Thomas County, Georgia, to Thomas Clarke Wyche and Catherine Barry MacIntyre. Mary's siblings were Martha Susan (1829-1864), Elizabeth Hannah (1832-1858), George Archibald (1833-1934), Catherine Caroline (1836-1929), Thomas Lawson (1838-1844), and Alice Maud (1840-?).

Mary's paternal grandmother was Susannah Mitchell, about whom I wrote in a previous 52 Ancestors post. I mentioned Mary's mother Catherine MacIntyre and Mary's daughter Catherine Young (my great grandmother) in a Fearless Females post about my namesakes during Women's History Month in March 2013.

Mary married Remer Young on May 7, 1846, in Thomas County, and she gave birth to seven children: Thomas Wyche (1847-1870), Susannah (Susan) Elizabeth (1848-1929), Henry Michael (1850-1914), Mary Lawson (1851-1938), Sarah Hannah (1853-1936), Catherine Margaret (1855-1929, my great grandmother), and John Remer (1856-1905).

Marriage record for Mary Wyche and Remer Young, Thomas County Marriage License Book 1835-1865, p. 140, 7 May 1846; digital images, Georgia's Virtual Vault, Marriage Records from Microfilm (http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us:8888/cdm4/countyfilm.php : accessed 5 April 2014).

Mary's husband Remer ran his uncle's (also named Remer Young) plantation in Thomas County. The uncle gave Remer a plantation in Lowndes County at Mineola, which was outside of Valdosta at the time. Now it's a residential and business area in north Valdosta.

Mary was only 34 years old when she died on May 14, 1861. She's buried in the Wyche family cemetery on Mill Pond Plantation in Thomas County beside her son Thomas. After Mary's death, Remer sent their children to his in-laws' plantation in Thomas County for four years. When he remarried in 1865 to Sarah Frances Goldwire, he brought the children back to Mineola.

I found the photograph below in my mom's collection. At first I believed it was Mary Barry Wyche because of what my grandmother Leona Roberts wrote on the back:

Is this Mary Barry Wyche or Sarah Frances Goldwire? See below.

The back of the above photograph:

"Grand Mother Young
Mother of
Kate Young"

If the woman in the photograph is the mother of Kate (Catherine) Young, then this is Mary Wyche. However, if this is Mary Wyche, none of her children look like her, in my opinion. Could this be Remer's second wife Sarah Frances Goldwire instead? Below is a photograph of Mary's children still living at the time it was taken.

Front row: Susan, Henry Michael, Mary Lawson. Back row: Hannah, Catherine, John Remer

Sarah Frances Goldwire died in 1907 when my grandmother Leona was 12 years old, so she would have known Sarah Frances and probably thought of her as her grandmother.

I have yet to visit Mary's grave. The family cemetery is on private land, and I would need to get permission. One of these days, I'll make arrangements to go there.

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.



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Some of the above information came from: Constance Pendleton, ed., Confederate Memoirs: Early Life and Family History, William Frederic Pendleton and Mary Lawson Young Pendleton. (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1958), 153-155, 160.

The Roberts Family Circa 1900

While going through my dad's papers, I found this great photograph of my maternal 2nd great grandfather William Roberts with some of his grandchildren (the children of his son John Taylor Roberts and Catherine Young) taken about 1900 in the front yard of the J. T. Roberts house on Wells Street in Valdosta, Georgia. (We call it the Big House. It's now owned by the Valdosta Heritage Foundation who is restoring it a second time after a devastating fire.)

My maternal 2nd great grandfather William Roberts with the children of his son John Taylor Roberts and Catherine Young in the front yard of the J. T. Roberts house in Valdosta, Georgia

Starting on the back row, from left to right: William Leland (Big Bubber), Maie Dell, the nurse holding Mary Remer (Dinah), Stella, and Kathleen (for whom I named my daughter). On the front row, left to right: John Young (Little Bubber), Margaret, William (my 2nd great grandfather), Edwina (Midge), and Leona (my grandmother). I love that Uncle John Young is all dressed up sans socks and shoes.

I shared a photograph of these children all grown up in my post Wordless Wednesday: Brothers and Sisters. They're also in the photograph behind my blog title, but you can go to my post The J. T. Roberts Family--A Group Photo ca. 1936 to see who's who.

Finding this photograph was a wonderful surprise!

Catherine

Nearly Wordless Wednesday - Restoring John and Kate's House

A couple of months ago I went by the home of my maternal great grandparents John Taylor Roberts and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young mainly to just visit the house but to also see the rebuilding progress. A fire on January 30, 2011, gutted the interior and burned off the roof and attic.  The first photograph was taken of the entrance hall in 2008 before it was renovated by the Valdosta Heritage Foundation who is current owner and who is restoring/rebuilding the house as funds allow. The second photograph was taken in 2013 after rebuilding had begun "post fire."

The entrance hall in my maternal great grandparents', John Taylor Roberts and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young, house in 2008, three years before the January 30, 2011, fire that gutted the interior.

Rebuilding progress of the entrance hall as of July 27, 2013. Don't worry. I didn't go inside. I took this through the plate glass window on the front door. 

For further reading about this great house that we call the Big House (aka the Roberts House and the Wisenbaker-Wells-Roberts House) see The Big House and After the Fire. The photo behind my blog title was taken of the Roberts descendants on the side porch on the south elevation of this house.

Catherine

Fearless Females March 3 - Namesake

Lisa Alzo of TheAccidental Genealogist is having the fourth annual "Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts" for the month of March to Celebrate Women's History Month. There is a topic for each day of the month of March to commemorate the "Fearless Females" in our families. The topic for March 3 is, in part, "Do you share the first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern."

I was named after two Fearless Females in my family. I'm named Catherine after my mother's sister Catherine. My middle name is my mother's name Leona.  My first and middle names come from two separate lines on my maternal  side. I thought I'd see how far back I can trace these names.

Pretty Ladies - My mother Leona, my aunt Catherine, and my grandmother Leona. Probably taken in 1945 when my mother graduated from Ward Belmont, a junior college in Nashville, Tennessee.

Catherine

Aunt Catherine was named for her and my mother's maternal grandmother (my great grandmother) Catherine Margaret Young.  Catherine Young may have been named for her grandmother Catherine Barry MacIntyre. I'm not sure about the spelling. I've seen it spelled Catharine. Or it's possible that she was named for her mother's sister Catherine Caroline Wyche.  Maybe she was named for both. There is a Catherine Lawson who is the great aunt of Catherine MacIntyre and sister of my sixth great grandfather Roger Lawson.  She may be for whom Catherine MacIntyre was named. Here's where the trail ends for me in tracing my first name Catherine.

Leona

My mother Leona was named after her mother (my grandmother) Martha Leona Roberts. My grandmother Leona was named for her aunt Martha Leona Roberts, her father John Taylor Robert's sister. The trail ends here.  I don't have enough of these branches filled out on my tree to trace this name any further back.

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These names have continued for at least one more generation but in variations of the names. I named my daughter after my great aunt Kathleen Roberts, my grandmother Leona's sister. I was told that Kathleen was a derivative of their mother Catherine Young's name who was called Kate for short. My oldest brother named his daughter a shortened version of our mother's name (Lee) combined with her other grandmother's name.

I had a professor in college who decided he was going to call me Kate. He said "Catherine" was too long. I don't like being called a nickname, but I told him I'd allow it since that's what my great grandmother was called. To this day, he still calls me Kate. 

Catherine

Found Letters—Lavinia A. Young, Quitman, Georgia

When I was going through the paper piles in my dad’s home office a while back and more recently in the studio that he first used as a home office, I found a manila envelope and an old wood box filled with late 1800s to early 1900s letters, notes, receipts, and “farmers” or “planters” notebooks. Most of the letters are addressed to L. A. Young in Quitman, Georgia, but one or two of the envelopes have the name spelled out—Lavinia A. Young. Also written on the envelopes is “C/O E. J. Young.” My sister Helen and I opened some of the letters to see who they were from and to look for clues as to the identity of Lavinia A. Young. Several letters are from “M. J. Young” or “Mitchell Young.” Some are from “Jim.” Both men ended their letters with “your son” or “your devoted son.” There is a ledger that states, “The estate of J. E. Young 1874 in account with L. A. Young Extrx.” (See scans below. Click on images for a larger view.) I wondered who she was and why my dad had her letters and other papers. I figured she must be a relative on my mom’s side since my mom’s grandmother was a Young (Catherine Margaret Young). I found enough clues in the letters and papers to figure out that I was right.

Lavinia A. Young (1823-1911) was the daughter of James Young (1784-1859) and Lavinia Jones (1794-1868).* Her father was a brother of my maternal 3rd great grandfather Michael Young (1797-1856). Lavinia married her first cousin James Everett Young (1821-1874), son of Michael and Sarah Everett Young. (Oh, what a tangled web our relatives weave for us when they marry their cousins!)
The M. J. or Mitchell in these letters is Lavinia’s son Mitchell Jones Young. E. J. Young in the “C/O” on the envelopes is her son Edwin Jelks Young. “Jim” is her son James M. Young.

Envelope addressed to Mrs. L. A. Young in Quitman, Georgia, in care of E. J. Young (Edwin Jelks Young), her son.




Envelope addressed to Mrs. Lavinia Young in care of Mr. Ed Young (Edwin Jelks Young), her son.



“Your devoted son, M.J. Young.” Letter to Lavinia Young from her son Mitchell Jones Young.



“Your devoted son, Mitchell.” Letter to Lavinia Young from her son Mitchell Jones Young.


“Your devoted son, Jim.” Letter to Lavinia Young from her son James M. Young.



“1874 The estate of J.E. Young in acct with L.A. Young Extrx” (James Everett Young and his wife Lavinia A. Young)

“Planters’ Pocket Companion”
“Etiwan Works
Charleston, S.C.
WM. C. Bee & Co., General Agents.”

A few letters are from some of Lavinia’s grandchildren:

“My dear Grandma” from “little school-teacher Mary L.” (Mary L. Young, daughter of Mitchell Young)

“Dear Grandma” “from yours Pet” (I haven’t figured out who this is.)

“Hello Grandma” from “India” (daughter of Edwin Jelks Young)

“My dear Grandma” “your loving grandchild” Walter Young (son of Mitchell Young.)

Maybe a descendant found these and gave them to my dad. Who knows. Since this Young branch lived in Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, I don’t know if he planned to use them to write a newspaper article or a newsletter for the Lowndes County Historical Society, since for both of these mediums, he would focus on Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. Maybe one of Lavinia’s children or grandchildren or great grandchildren lived in Valdosta. A. C. Felton, in The Young Family, traces one of Lavinia’s branches down to a surname of a family who lives in Valdosta. Or at least they did years ago.

I’ve put all of these documents in some acid-free, archival sheet protectors, which is better than what they were in! I’ll keep them at my mom’s until I find a descendant who would like to have them. Maybe the Lowndes County Historical Society will take them if I can’t find anyone. This a real treasure trove!

Catherine
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* To piece the relationships together I used: A. C. Felton. The Young Family of Georgia. Macon, Georgia: Self published, 1953.

The Youngs in Sunset Hill Cemetery, Valdosta, GA

A few weekends ago, my sister Helen and I went on the hunt for relatives in Sunset Hill Cemetery (in Valdosta, Georgia). As I noted in my previous post, I realized that I didn’t know where any other maternal Roberts relatives were buried except for those I visited on a regular basis. I also didn’t know where my maternal Young relatives were buried except for my great grandmother Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young (1855-1929), wife of John Taylor Roberts. I wanted to know where her parents and siblings are buried, so while my sister and I were at Sunset Hill Cemetery, we located some of the Young clan.  (Click on each photo for a larger view.)

This monument has YOUNG engraved on the side facing the main cemetery road. The two graves in the background are my maternal second great grandfather Remer Young (1826-1888) and his second wife Sarah Frances Goldwire (1838-1907). His first wife, Mary Barry Wyche (1827-1861), was my second great grandmother. My Pendleton/Young cousin Alan referred me to a website that notes that Mary is buried in the Wyche family cemetery on Millpond Plantation in Thomas County, Georgia.

The side of the monument facing forward in the photograph says: “John R. Young, April 7, 1856. Nov. 18, 1906. He was devoted to duty and the good of others.” He was the youngest son of Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche (see below). Unless otherwise noted, these graves are in Section A205 Block 21 of Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Close-up of the engraving on my maternal second great grandfather’s gravestone. It simply says “Remer Young.” The side of the marker facing his grave in the above photo reads: “Remer Young, April 5, 1825, April 21, 1888. An honest man is the noblest work of God.”

Close-up of my great grandfather Remer’s second wife’s gravestone.  It reads: “Sarah Frances Goldwire, wife of Remer Young, Nov. 19, 1838, June 10, 1907. God thought to give the sweetest thing, In his almighty power, and deeply pondering, What it should be—one hour, In fondest joy and love of heart, Outweighing every other, He moved the gates of heaven apart and gave to earth—a mother.”

Buried next to Remer Young and Sarah Frances Goldwire are the graves of their two young sons. The headstone on the left reads: “Mitchell J. son of R. & F. Young, died, Feb. 20, 1870. Age 2 years.” The headstone on the right reads: “Burton son of R. & F. Young died Feb. 15, 1874. Age 1 year 2 mo.”

This is the grave of Henry Michael Young, the second son of Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche. His gravestone reads: “Henry Michael Young, Mar. 21, 1850 – Apr. 11, 1914.” Next to Henry is his wife Mary Ulmer (see below).

This is the grave of Henry Michael Young’s wife, Mary Ulmer. Her gravestone reads: “Mary Ulmer Young. Nov. 12, 1853-May 30, 1918.”

This is the gravestone of John Remer Young (see the transcription for him on the monument noted above), the youngest son of Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche. It reads: “John Remer Young.” According to The Young Family of Georgia, John was a bachelor.[1]

This is the grave of James King Young, the oldest son of Remer Young and Sarah Frances Goldwire. It reads:  “James King Young, Apr. 11 1866-Oct. 30, 1926.”  According to The Young Family of Georgia, James was a bachelor.[2]

Remer and Mary’s oldest daughter Susannah (Sudie) Elizabeth Young is buried with her husband Jeremiah Berry Jones in Section C302, Block 2 in Sunset Hill Cemetery (that’s the cemetery office building in the background). The large marker in the middle of the plot says “Jones.” Their gravestones are to the right of the marker (see photos below).

This is the grave of Susannah Elizabeth Young on the Jones plot in the above photo. Her headstone reads: “Sudie Young wife of J. B. Jones, 1848-1929.”

This is the headstone of Susannah’s husband Jeremiah Berry Jones in the Jones plot in the above photo. It reads: “Jerry B. Jones, 1844-1919.”

This is the grave of my maternal great grandmother Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young, the youngest daughter of Remer Young and Mary Barry Wyche. Her headstone reads: “Kate Young Roberts, Jan. 25, 1855, June 24, 1929.” She’s buried with her husband John Taylor Roberts and eight of their nine children in Section E110, Block 7 of Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Remer and Mary’s oldest child was Thomas Wyche Young (1847-1870). I haven’t located his grave, and he’s not listed in the Sunset Hill Cemetery online interactive map. He may be buried in the family cemetery on Millpond Plantation in Thomas County, Georgia. Mary Lawson Young (1851-1938), the second oldest daughter of Remer and Mary, is buried in the Bryn Athyn Cemetery in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, with her husband William Frederic Pendleton (my paternal great grandfather’s brother). See findagrave.com for her memorial. Her gravestone reads: “Mary Lawson Young, wife of W.F. Pendleton, September 27, 1851, December 31, 1938.” The third oldest daughter of Remer and Mary, Sarah Hannah Young (b. 1853), is probably buried in Phoenix, Arizona. She was married to Henry C. Peeples in 1880.[3] He died in 1905 in Valdosta, Georgia, and is buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery (see his grave below).[4]  Hannah (the name she went by) was living with their daughter Allene Peeples Stine in Phoenix, Arizona, by the 1920 census and died in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 17, 1936.[5, 6]

The grave of Sarah Hannah Young’s husband Henry Camp Peeples. It reads “Henry Camp Peeples, Nov. 21, 1852, Mar. 20, 1905.” He’s buried in Section C302, Block 2 in Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Remer Young and Sarah Frances Goldwire had two daughters, Coma Young (b. 1876) and America (Mec) Remer Young (1884-1974). Coma Young married first William Brosius Fender (see below). Her second husband was William Lawrence Manning Austin.[7] He died on February 23, 1931, and is buried in Simpsonville, Greenville County, South Carolina. (See his memorial on findagrave.com.)

The grave of William Brosius Fender, Coma Young’s first husband. His headstone reads: “William Brosius Fender, Sept. 3, 1875, Dec. 20, 1920.” He’s buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Section B219, Block 21.

I haven’t found a death record for Coma, but some family trees on ancestry.com give her death as 1957 in New York. Her son William B. Fender was living in New York by the 1940 census, so it’s possible she moved to New York to live with her son after the death of her second husband and died there.[8] America (Mec) Young married James Waddy Austin on November 2, 1908, in the home of her sister and brother-in-law Coma Young and William B. Fender in Valdosta, Georgia.[9] Mec and James lived in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Mec died there on 14 April 1974.[10] She may be buried in Atlanta, but I haven’t found her burial place yet.

Looking for the graves and burial places of my Roberts and Young relatives has offered me the opportunity to learn more about them than I knew before, which was actually next to nothing, except for my great grandparents John Taylor Roberts and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Young. I already knew a bit about Kate’s sister Lawson Young because she married my paternal great uncle and provided me with some double cousins (my Pendleton/Young cousins). My dad stayed in touch with a few of them over the years, and now I’m in touch with some of those double cousins of my own generation.

The next thing I’d like to do is visit Millpond Plantation in Thomas County to find the graves of Mary Barry Wyche and Thomas Wyche Young. Road trip!

Catherine

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[1] A. C. Felton. The Young Family of Georgia. Macon, Georgia: Self published, 1953.

[2] See footnote 1.

[3] Ancestry.com. 1900 U.S. Census, South Bend, Fulton, Georgia.  Page 5A.

[4] Macon Telegraph. Mr. H. C. Peeples Dead at Valdosta. Macon, Georgia, 21 March 1905. Accessed November 25, 2012, genealogybank.com.

[5] Ancestry.com.  1920 U.S. Census, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona. Page 12B.

[6] "Arizona, Deaths, 1870-1951," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLV8-THF : accessed 26 Nov 2012), Hannah Y. Peeples, 1936.

[7] Ancestry.com. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

[8] Ancestry.com. 1940 U.S. Census, New York, New York. Page 1A.

[9] “The Young-Austin Wedding: Brilliant Nuptials to a Charming Valdosta Girl and Atlanta Man.” Valdosta Daily Times. 3 November 1908. Georgia Historic Newspapers: South Georgia, accessed 27 November, 2012.

[10] Ancestry.com. Georgia Deaths, 1919-98 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001, accessed 29 November 2012.

Fall from a Buggy: The Death of Sarah Everett Young

Born in 1797 in Bulloch County, Georgia, Sarah Everett was my maternal 3rd great grandmother. Her parents were Jane Carter and Joshua Everett. She married Michael Young in Bulloch County in 1819, and their son Remer Young (1826-1888) was my 2nd great grandfather. By the 1830 census, the Youngs are living in Thomas County, Georgia.

While I was researching Sarah’s mother, Jane Carter, I looked up the Thomasville, Georgia, newspaper on South Georgia Historic Newspapers which has digitized copies of the Thomasville Times Enterprise from 1873 to 1922. While the articles don’t go back far enough to research Jane, I decided to see if there was an obituary for Sarah. I found an article about a buggy accident that later resulted in her death [1].


Sarah was headed into town on a Thursday from her home three miles away when the “horse took fright, and started to run.” Sarah and the young girl who was with her were thrown from the buggy. The young girl wasn’t hurt, but Sarah hit her head which knocked her unconscious. She was taken to the home of her son (“Col. Young”—probably William Joshua Young who was a Colonel in the Confederate Army) where she had been living and was given medical treatment, but there was no hope of recovery [2]. She died two days later on Saturday, April 15, 1876, never regaining consciousness [3]. She was in her late 70s. Funeral services were held at her son’s house, officiated by Rev. Mr. Quaterman of the Presbyterian Church, and she was buried in the “new cemetery” in Thomasville [4]. The April 22, 1876, issue of the Thomasville Times Enterprise notes, “Her spirit gently took its flight from the bruised body which had been its tenement for near three score years and ten” [5]. The matriarch of the Young family of Thomas County, Georgia, was gone. Rest in Peace, Sarah.


Catherine
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[1] Sad Accident, Thomasville Times Enterprise, April 15, 1876, p. 3. Presented online by the Digital Library of Georgia.
[2] See footnote 1 above.
[3] Article about the death of Sarah Young. Thomasville Times Enterprise, April 22, 1876, p. 3. Presented online by the Digital Library of Georgia.
[4] See footnote 3 above.
[5] See footnote 3 above.