Tuesday, January 7, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Emma Austin's story

Emma, my great great great-grandmother, was born somewhere in Georgia as a slave.  Now, when she was born is questionable for documentation, like census and headstones list her birth year anywhere from 1837 to 1866.  Now we know 1866 isn't correct for she had a son, Henry, in 1858.  Her birth has been narrowed down somewhere between 1837-1844.  The verbal history is she was born in Georgia and was impregnated by a "Dutch Sea Captain".  After freedom, left Georgia with her son, Henry and traveled to Alabama to find kin.  Henry race is listed as a mulatto.
Emma settled in Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama before 1870 and lived the rest of her life in this northwest area of Alabama.  She married, Joseph Austin and they had additional children, worked on a farm and she witnessed her son, Henry's success before her death in 1927.

Emma, according to the 1900 Census, lost one of her children to death (believe it was her daughter Charity).  The mysteries of Emma is where she came from in Georgia, her maiden name, whether she left Georgia with her son, Henry or with some of her other children who list Georgia as place of birth and in some cases list Joseph as their stepfather.  One also wonders whether she found her kin in Alabama.