52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Week 27 - Henry Carroll/Cal Jr.

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Week 27 – Henry Carroll/Cal Jr.

Henry Carroll was born on the 24 September 1894 in Town Creek, Alabama and appears to be the seventh son of Henry Carroll/Cal and Celia Sherrod.  The date of birth changes depending on the documents found.  I’ve decided to use the military records for his birth.  The Carroll/Cal line is designated like this for in the early records, the last name is recorded as Carroll and evolves to Cal. 

Henry, along with his brothers, Dallas, Charles, John, Robert and Earnest worked on their father, Henry Carroll/Cal Sr.’s farm and registered for the World War I draft as required by the government around June 1917.  Henry Jr. appears to be the only brother the records show enlisted in the army on 12 December 1917.  The army was still segregated under the command of President Wilson.  Henry became a Private in Company A, Unit 308 SV, BN in the military and served throughout the war receiving an Honorable discharge on 25 July 1919.  Verbal history from his niece, Dorothy is that he peeled potatoes and performed prepping work for the cook and was stationed in France.  I’m still looking for records that would support  Co. A, Unit 308.

Henry Jr. had a child named Henry Jr. that was born in 1913 before he entered the military.  The Alabama Death Index shows that child died 13 June 1914 at 18 months old in Lawrence County, Alabama.  The record also lists the child’s mother as unknown, which is rather puzzling.  On 5 June 1917, when Henry Jr. registered for World War I draft he is listed as farming and being single living in Colbert County, Alabama.  This was on land his father, Henry Carroll/Cal Sr. own.

Henry Jr. married Georgia Bell Hampton on 6 April 1924 in Lawrence County, Alabama.  The US Census records for Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama show he lived in Town Creek in 1930 and 1940 with his wife, Georgia Belle Hampton. Georgia Belle’s nickname was “Sugarbabe”.  Henry Jr. and Sugarbabe had one son, Lennis (1903-2003).  This appears to be before they married in 1924.  Lennis Cal had a son, Lennis Cal Jr., born 17 March 1955 and died 21 Nov 1976 at about twenty-one years old.

Georgia Belle applied for the application for a military headstone and received it after his death in 1959.    Henry Jr. died on the 11 June 1985 and is buried in the Cal Family Cemetery in Colbert County, Alabama.  So while I’ve never known my great uncle, Henry Carroll/Cal Jr., he participated in World War I and made a contribution to World War I.  He also had what my cousin calls an “outside child” Emmett Cal.  Emmitt was born in December 1913 in Alabama and I’ve yet to find out his mother’s name.  Emmitt married in 1938 and lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee most of his life.  He had at less one son, Emmitt Jr.  Following Henry Jr.’s descendants open doors to the Cal Family in Chattanooga, specifically John Henry Cal and his wife, Hannah Napier both born in Town Creek, Alabama that relocated to Chattanooga.  Always, wondered if there is a connection.  They lived with Emmitt according to the Chattanooga Directory so who knows.  Hopefully, it will lead to solving the mystery.

There is much to be discovered about family on this family journey.

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks John "Carroll" Cal Week 14

John Cal

I label him "John Cal" for other than the 1900 US Census, Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama, he is always listed that way.  John is my great grandfather and one of Henry Carroll/Cal's  and Celia's (Sherrod) older sons.

John Carroll/Cal was born in Leighton, Colbert, Alabama, on 12 Jan 1885 (according to some records). His draft registration card of 1918 states he was born 12 January 1881.  So he may be the first or the third child of Henry Carroll/Cal Sr. (May 1858) and Celia Sherrod (October 1864). Dallas Carroll (07 May 1883), Charles Carroll/Cal (07 January 1884), Sielas Carroll (06 March 1886), Robert Carroll (August 1891) 5, Henry Jr. Carroll/Cal (15 June 1892), Earnest Lee Sr. Carroll/Cal (15 July 1893) 6, Berta Estell Carroll (November 1896) 4, Percy Carroll/Cal (25 November 1899) and Otis/Odis Carroll/Cal (1 Apr 1900) 1,7 are his siblings. He shows up on the1900 US Census in Leighton, Colbert, AL, USA.  John was one of ten children of this marriage.

On 3 Dec 1905 he married Sally Copeland (1887) in Town Creek, Lawrence, AL.  Rev. Sherren, Minister of the Gospel married John Cal and Sally Copeland.   John was twenty and Sallie was eighteen years old (born in 1887 in Alabama).  She is the daughter of Julius and Praline may be Pearline (Burt) Copeland of Creek, Alabama.  Julius Copeland was a member of the United States Colored Troops and joined in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1863 before his marriage to Pearline.  John and Sally lost their first child between 1904 and 1907. No name or sex of this child was found.   Their first surviving child was Minnie Pearl in 1908.  John was twenty-three when his brother, Silas died on the 13 of November in 1908 at the young age of 21. He went on to have four children with Sally Copeland (1887).   Minnie Pearl Carroll/Cal (24 May 1908), Richard C. Carroll/Cal (1909), Henry Howard Carroll/Cal (12 May 1910) and George Alvin Carroll/Cal (15 May 1912).  John and Sally lived with her parents while they were married.   When John Carroll/Cal was 25 years old, his mother Celia Sherrod died on 26 December 1910 and this was prior to him leaving Alabama.  About 1911, before the birth of George "Alvin", John found himself in a situation due to a struggle or death of a white male in the area.  John had to leave the area, end up in jail or face some other penalty for the situation.  He left Alabama for Virginia and West Virginia finally settling in Marting, Fayette, WV working as a coal miner.  Conditions of working as a coal miner could have been and most likely a rough lifestyle.

According to legal documents, Sally filed a complaint stating that John left the area with Alberta Bowling in 1915.  While she expressed this in a legal complaint, no proof of her statement could be found and Sally amended her complaint in 1917.  John was in Marting, Fayette County, West Virginia on September 12, 1918 according to his WWI Draft Registration Card. He listed Sallie Cal of Town Creek as his nearest relative. However, on 14 Nov 1921, Sally Copeland Cal divorced Johnnie Cal in Moulton, Lawrence, AL, when he was 36 years old.   She had satisfied the requirements of placing a newspaper notice and posting an announcement on the Moulton courthouse.  Johnnie Cal did not reply or show up at court to answer the filed complaint.

Whatever the mystery of John's Alabama departure was significant enough to keep him away until his   later years.  John suffered with diabetes, lost one leg while in West Virginia and the other one after family member brought him back to Town Creek, Alabama.  Rumor was that his wife (ex) waited for him the rest of her life and she died in 1962.  John never remarried but had lived with another woman, Rena, that was a widow with one daughter from her previous marriage.  She went by Rena Cal and died in 1945.  John was the informant on her certificate yet did not list himself as her husband.  John died in 1975 and is buried in the Cal Family Cemetery that his father started in early 1900's.  He is buried next to his daughter, Minnie Pearl Cal without a headstone.

The journey of this family historian is sometimes sad yet at the same time worth the journey to find and document the stories.

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Wk. 12 Whispers of Lillian D. Copeland

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Week 12 Whispers along the Journey – Lillian D. Copeland

Lillian D. Copeland, birth 15 January 1902, Alabama.  You whispered to me yet I didn’t pay attention on more than one occasion.  I snapped a picture of your headstone at the Cal Family Cemetery in Town Creek, Alabama over two years ago and wondered who your where.  The carved words explained yet it didn’t fit what I knew so not too much attention was given to the engrave letters that spelled it out.

I hunted for your father, Richard W. Copeland born 20 Oct 1973 and found him living with your mother and wife, Lillian in the 1910 Town Creek Census yet you were not listed.  I figured he was one of the two living children of Julius and Pearlina (Burt) Copeland but wasn’t certain.  Your father, Richard Wallace Copeland listed your mother Lillian as the nearest kin in his Draft Registration Card of 1918.  I saw him living in Birmingham Alabama close other family members, Robert and Rose Carroll yet your mother wasn’t in that household in the 1920 Census.  I questioned and wondered but looked no further.  I hunted and hunted for the marriage record of your father and mother in the Alabama Marriage Index without results.  Yet the 1900 US Census for Precinct 22 ½ Town Creek, Alabama stated they had been married for fourteen years without any children.  Of course, it took awhile to find them for their names were recorded as Bichar and Lilin Copelan so at first I didn’t realize it was them.  Looking beyond the index at the written records noticed that Bichard was Richard and someone had no idea of how to spell Lillian.  The birthrates matched, the location was the same as 1910 and the birthplace of them and their parents matched.  Felt certain this was the Richard Copeland that I was looking to document. 

Along the way, at Family Search.org noticed a Lillian Copeland in the death index for Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama, a female that was 11 yrs. 10 mos. with a birth years of 1901.  Immediately wrote it down with the source for future reference.  Now my paternal grandmother’s brother Ocie Watkins adopted a Carroll in Indiana, Pennsylvania.  It was within the last couple of years that I learned his daughter was a Carroll and it was long after his death.  He called me ONCE a year since I moved to Atlanta up to his death in the 1980’s.  What amazed me was how much he seemed to know about the Carroll’s and the tidbits he would tell me.  Once I learned his adopted daughter was a Carroll, what he knew made sense. 

So yesterday and today, I found him whispering in my ear to a point that I had to stop and pay attention.  Mostly, what I heard was “Mr. Copeland was your Grandmother Sally’s brother”.  My response was I hear your Uncle Ocie but I loose track of him in 1927, the last document found where he was a miner in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.  So I went back again to learn what I could about Richard trying to document him as my great grandmother Sally’s brother.  Found his Draft Registration for WWI in Jefferson County Alabama where he listed his next of kin as Lillian in 1918 (good good thought I was making headway).  In the 1920 Census he is living alone and no signs of Lillian not even in the Alabama Death Index.  Okay for some reason he went on to Pennsylvania alone yet no record of death found in Pennsylvania or Alabama.  I know his father and sister visited Pennsylvania in 1930 so what the heck happened to him and where was Lillian, your mother.  Frustrated I pretty much decided to record what was found and leave it alone.  My great Uncle Ocie continued whispering in my ear as I was driving to and from an appointment.  My response was what is it what do you want me to know????  Came home got on my computer again and something told me to go to my records on the Cal Family Cemetery in Lawrence County Alabama.  Sure enough I found what Lillian D. and Uncle Ocie wanted me to find today.  A newly found cousin that died much too young.  So now how or what did you die of at such a young age? Thank you Lillian D. and Uncle Ocie for leading me to tie this much together.  Not sure I'm leading this Journey or following and with finds like this, I'll go with the whispers of my ancestors.

52 Weeks 52 Ancestors - Silas Sherrod #5

In this fifth week of the 52 Challenge, I choose Silas Sherrod, my third great grandfather.  Silas was not an ancestor that I had heard about until three years ago. The verbal history shared by a cousin three years ago was that he is the father of Celia Sherrod who married Henry Carroll/Cal in 1882 Lawrence County, Alabama.

After hearing the verbal history of Silas Sherrod being Celia's father, the search was on to find what I could about this third great grandfather.  The spelling of his first name in the records varied greatly, Cyrus, Silas, Siras and Sirrus.  He was born in 1827 in Alabama.  I found the first listing of him in the 1866 Alabama State Census living in Lawrence County, Alabama with two males, one between 30-40 and the other 80-90, along with two females, one under ten and one twenty to thirty.  The line under Silas' listing is Selina Sherrod.  She will be covered in my next posting.

The most exciting find about Silas Sherrod was a US Commission Claim.  In 1871, Silas/Cyrus Sherrod files claim to US Claims Commission Deposition stating he was own by Benjamin Sherrod then Walter S. Sherrod before freedom.  He owned a cow and calf that he received from his granddaddy who was allowed to keep them by his master, Col Benjamin Sherrod.   Walter Sherrod was Silas' last owner and stated Cyrus was a good servant, owns the cow and calf and did blacksmithing for the Union soldiers.  Silas describes hiding his family from the soldiers who entered his home during the war.  T

In the 1870 US Census for Township 4, Range 8, Lawrence County, Silas is living with Patsey Sherrod age 100 that was born in North Carolina along with Louisa Sherrod.  Now Louisa later turned out to be Silas wife, Louis Shackleford.  Silas was forty-two so it is highly possible that Patsey, listed as head of household could have been his grandmother.  He had mentioned in his US Commission claim that his grandfather left him the cow and calf.  During my twenty some years research journey, I've not found anything so detailed for my African American family during slavery.  I was dancing and searching all over the place for every detail of Silas' statements in this document.  The search revealed how history truly was made up of our family members and much more than dates, names, events and places that we've read.  You may know that but when you can place your family in the middle of notable history in the making, it means a great deal more.  I search officers mentioned, slave masters and their relocation to the NW area of Alabama.

Now Patsey was born in NC where Benjamin Sherrod's roots are, then he moved to GA, where he married Elizabeth Ricks Watkins.  After her death in 1818, he moved to Northwest Alabama from Wilkes Co. GA, bringing  his wealth including slaves.  He own slaves and some estimates are 700 that worked on several plantations in the area. The colonel made quite an impact in the area and died about 1845 passing his wealth on to his son.

Silas was born on one of these plantations in 1827.  Have yet to find what happened to his parents.  Unfortunately, he didn't name his grandfather in the claim but we did find his grandfather was own by Col. Benjamin, own property as a slave and passed those items on to his grandson and perhaps even the trade of blacksmithing.  The claim filed by Silas to the US Commission seems to be a bold move, supported by his former owner, Walter Sherrod (learned he was not a supporter of either side).   The claim was turned down for Silas Sherrod could not afford to send witnesses to Washington, DC to testify on the claim.  Oh well, Silas went on working as a blacksmith and farmer as a newly freed person in Alabama.

Another trail on my Journey as a Family Historian!

52 Weeks - 52 Ancestors - Week 3 Joseph Austin

52 Weeks – 52 Ancestors – Week 3

Joseph Austin –

This week I’m stepping back to Emma, my third great grandmother with a focus on her husband, Joseph Austin.  In week 1 of this challenge, I wrote about Emma, a slave born in Georgia between 1837-1844.  She had a son, Henry with a “Dutch Sea Captain” and after freedom traveled to Alabama to find kin, so the family verbal history goes.   Verbal history is always iffy and more than likely changes over the generations.  Henry was a mulatto and DNA of a male descendant gives some credence to the verbal history of Dutch ancestry.  The part that Henry traveled with his mother from Georgia to Alabama is just part of the story.

By 1870, Emma is living in Township 4, Range 8, Town Creek, and Lawrence County, Alabama and is listed as Joseph Austin’s wife (1900 US Census states they have been married 32 years and making it about 1868).  Joseph is head of the household until 1900 records.   The following children, Henry, Harriett, Charity, Charley, Missy, Willie and Babe (later known as Cora) lived in the household.  The children always used the Austin surname with the exception on Emma’s first child, Henry.  One point of surprising interest as it pertains to the family verbal history is some of the other children were born in Georgia, Charity, Harriett, Missy and Charlie from 1862-1869.  Questions arise about the verbal history for it may have been more than Emma with her son, Henry leaving Georgia after freedom.  Did Joseph and Emma meet in Georgia or after her arrival in Alabama?  How did a young recently freed woman travel with children?  Did Joseph and Emma have children together before marrying or are there other fathers involved (later records state Charlie’s father was born in AL and Joseph was his stepfather)?  When did the family arrive in Alabama?  Where did Joseph and Emma marry, Georgia/Alabama or is there any documented proof?  Some questions will be answered by research and others may not be answered.  In 1870, there are five children born in Georgia with the youngest one, child not named that is one month old.  Later records show his birth as in May.  So it is fairly safe to say with the 1870 Census in this area taken place on 11 July 1870, the Joseph and Emma family recently settled in Town Creek.  By the 1880 US Census, the family lived in Town Creek with two additional children, both born in Alabama, Willie and Babe (Cora) Austin. 

Joseph Austin was born in Virginia about March 1820.  No record has been found where he was in the military and it’s fairly certain or rather assumed that he was a slave yet somehow ended up in Alabama from Virginia.  Looking at records prior to 1870 and during slavery days, there are a number of Austin families in Northwest Alabama.  William Austin, Thomas Austin and Daniel Austin were a few of the planters/farmers in the Lawrence County area that more than likely owned slaves, considering the amount of land possessed by them.  Thomas Austin was born in Virginia in 1807 and in the 1850 Census lived in District 5, Franklin County, Alabama; not too far from Lawrence County.  He has a few things in common like born in Virginia, with Joseph and could have a tie to my Austin Family.  Joseph apparently led in the household as a farmer, shared his surname, perhaps from a former owner with his wife and children living there along with those he fathered with his wife, Emma.  Henry was listed twice in the 1880 US Census twice as Henry Austin.  Once Henry is listed in the household where he lived with his mother, Emma and stepfather, Joseph along with his siblings.  He is again listed as a laborer in the household of Mr. Pullman, his employer. 

Joseph from 1870-1900, records appears to have been a farmer as a sharecropper or living on a tenant farm in Town Creek.  By 1900, he is living in the home of his stepson, Charlie and biological son Willie or William.  Joseph was eighty years old and probably could no longer maintain a farm by himself with his wife Emma.  The children were grown and began their own families.  In the 1910 Census, there is no record of Joseph Austin and Emma is living with Charlie, listed as a Widow.  No death certificate is found for Joseph.  He left his legacy with the Carroll/Cal Austin branch of our family for his son Willie had fifteen children with the Austin surname.  Thank you, Joseph Austin for marrying Emma the slave girl from Georgia and raising the children along with giving them your surname.  He not only shared a bloodline, he contributed more than we can possibly know.