52 Weeks 52 Ancestors Louisa/Lucy Shackleford Sherrod

52 Weeks 52 Ancestors - Louisa/Lucy Shackleford

This week's ancestor or not is Louisa/Lucy Shackleford.   Documentation or lack of it leads me to wonder which.  Verbally, Louisa/Lucy, wife of Silas Sherrod married 1860 in Lawrence County Alabama is related to our family.   They were buried on family own property a number of years, ago.  Sadly, the property was sold and the graves not moved.

Digging into the records in the beginning looked solid yet later on the information left more questions than answers.  A record of Louisa/Lucy (Shackleford) Sherrod’s birth is February 1827 according to 1900 US Census for Lawrence County.  She appears by name from 1870-1900 Census for the area married to Silas Sherrod.  In the 1880 census her mother, Kitty Shacelford (Shackleford) was born in Virginia and was listed as Silas' mother-in-law.  Louisa/Lucy's information showed her mother and father where both born in Virginia.  This information led to who and what impact the Shackleford family had in the area where my family lived.

The door opened on the Shackleford/Shackelford family and led to a ton of information.  Appears the Shackleford family history in this country began in Virginia with migration all over the South.  My interest is Alabama. Dr. Jack Shackelford was born March 20, 1790 in Richmond, Virginia migrated to Shelby County, Alabama about 1818, was forced to sell a plantation he own there and by 1829 was in Courtland Alabama.  Dr. Jack Shackelford was a doctor that cared for both white and black people in the area as well as a cotton planter.  He had been on Andrew Jackson staff in 1812 and helped build the Decatur Alabama Railroad.  Dr. Jack's son, Samuel W. Shackelford first married Margaret McMahon then married Addie Sherrod who inherited a plantation in Lawrence County Alabama from Col. Benjamin Sherrod mentioned in my previous posts.  Dr. Jack died January 27, 1857.  This was the key information for my family branches.

Shackleford/Sherrod connections were made on both sides of the color line. The histories of these families are intertwine somewhere along the way.  Previous research determined that Silas, Louisa/Lucy's husband was own by the Sherrod family.  It is possible that Louis/Lucy and Silas met on a common plantation owned by Samuel W. Shackelford and Addie Sherrod when they were slaves.  Prior to freedom, they were married (1860) and the 1900 Census records show Louisa/Lucy had one child and that child was living.  If we can trust the record, one question is how can the verbal history be valid that she is the mother of my second great grand mother, Celia Sherrod along with her sisters.  My family believes Louisa/Lucy is and I question whether it can be true.   Obviously, she has ties and was very much a member of the family.

52 Weeks 52 Ancestors – Week 6 Patsey/Patsy Sherrod

52 Weeks 52 Ancestors – Week 6 Patsey/Patsy Sherrod

This week’s challenge is about Patsey/Patsy Sherrod, born 1770 in North Carolina and living in Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama by 1870.  She very well could be my fourth or fifth grandmother but the dots have not all been connected.  It is a work in progress that is being shared in this post.

The challenge of knocking down a brick wall, real or not can be very difficult.  Determination and a great deal of creative digging may offer the tools needed to make a crack or if fortunate knock the wall completely down.

Patsey/Patsy had no verbal history that has been shared with my branch of the family.  She was first found in the 1870 US Census in Town Creek as head of household.  The census did not list relationship of others in the household. Household 292 was no different than the others.  Patsey was living with Silas Sherrod and Louisa (Shackleford), both born Alabama during 1827.  Verbal history and records show them to be the parents of Celia Sherrod Carroll who is my second great-grandmother, born 1864 in Alabama.  Silas and Celia where written about in previous post.  Silas and his grandfather were own by Colonel Benjamin Sherrod who moved to the northwest area of Alabama about 1818 from Wilkes County Georgia.   Colonel Benjamin owned several plantations in and near Town Creek.   He died in Lawrence County, Alabama and his will was probated January 20, 1847 that left his Town Creek Plantation to his son, Sam Watkins Sherrod.  Sam then left the plantation to his son, Walter Sherrod before 1871.

In a US Commission Claim filed by Silas and supported by his former owner, Walter Sherrod, Silas referred to his grandfather without stating his name.  He stated Colonel Benjamin Sherrod own his grandfather.  This gave solid information about Benjamin owning this branch of my Sherrod family.  Finding Patsey/Patsy being head of household in Town Creek at age 100 leads me to believe that Silas was doing the Blacksmithing and Farming work to sustain the family.  Patsey/Patsy being born in North Carolina where the Sherrod came from provides the strong possibility that her owner, believed to be Colonel Benjamin Sherrod, moved her to Alabama with other slaves and property.

Trying to break my real or invisible brick wall by tracking the Benjamin Sherrod family that own a plantation in Town Creek. They clearly owned Silas’ grandfather and Silas.  More than likely this family own Patsey Sherrod during slavery.  Patsey would have been fifty-seven years old when Silas was born so she is probably Silas’ grandmother.    I’ve not found a copy of Benjamin’s will where perhaps slaves were listed.  Patsey may have  listed in the will.

Tracking the Benjamin Sherrod family, I found that his daughter, Susan Adelaide Sherrod, born September 14, 1825 inherited Hard Bargain plantation in 1847 that is southwest of Courtland near Town Creek.  She later married Samuel N. Shackelford and who did Silas marry, Louisa Shackelford.  This information is leading to a tool to break the brick wall real or imaginary of my Sherrod family on this Family Historian’s journey.

Patsey/Patsy I’m determined to find out how you fit into the family.

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!

Celia Sherrod Carroll 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Week 4

A puzzle sorting Celia Sherrod/Brooks/Carroll-Cal

Celia is my 2^nd great grandmother, born in Alabama during October 1864.  According to family verbal history her parents are Silas and Lucy (Shackleford) Sherrod.  This researcher has found no records to verify them as her parents.  Questions occurred while researching Celia for her surname is all over the place in documents as listed below.

Sherrod

1870 US Census, Township 4, Range 8, Lawrence County, Alabama

 Household #296, Lewis Brooks was head of household with his wife Salina, age 30, female, mulatto, born in Alabama.  Living with them are Lydia 15, Danielle 11, Rebecca 6, Celia 4 (recorded as Delia) and Amanda 2 all born in Alabama.  No relationship is indicated.   Believe this is my second great grandmother, Celia.

Brooks

1880 US Census, Township 4, Range 8, Lawrence County, Alabama

In 1880, Celia is listed as Celia Brooks age 16, living with Salina Brooks, age 38 a widow head of household.  Also living in the house is Mandy Brooks 12, Henry Sherard 4 and Dee Suggs 20.  Salina is listed as a mulatto who is farming.  Silas spelled Cyrus in the 1880 census is living in Lawrence HH#19 is 50 years old farming and black smith having been born in AL and both parents born in Georgia, along with his wife Luisa, age 42 and son, Earens, 19.

Brooks

1882 Celia married Henry Carroll/Cal on March 13, according to family records.  The Lawrence County Records show this couples name as Henry Cole and Celia Brooks.  Since there are no other bride and groom with these first names in the Lawrence or Colbert County Records and we could not find anyone in the Lawrence or Colbert County Census by these names this is more than likely our Henry and Celia.  Land Henry own in Town Creek is on the borders of these two counties.

Carroll

1900 Celia and Henry Carroll are living in HH 218 Leighton Beat, Colbert County Alabama with their children.  Now we are getting somewhere for the Carroll and in some cases, Cal name are the surnames passed to the current generations.

Celia and Henry have ten children, nine sons and one daughter.  Celia’s blessings are having ten children and ten living along with a successful husband that own land.

Cal

1908 Celia and Henry’s son, Cyrus (record spelling) Silas Sherrod died on 13 November at age 21 and was single.  Alabama Death Record recorded his parent’s surname as CAL.

Corral

1910 Celia was preparing Christmas dinner and wasn’t feeing very well and like most housewives and mothers of the time kept going, so the family history goes.  On the day after Christmas she took to her bed and died.  Alabama Death Index 1881-1974 recorded her as Celia Corral, birth about 1868 with a death date of 26 December 1910.

Celia is buried in the Cal Family Cemetery in Colbert County, Alabama.  This is a cemetery started by her husband, Henry Carroll/Cal on his land that was set aside for the family.  www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alcolber/cem-aa-cal-1.htm‎

SUMMARY

The focus in this post is recorded surnames of Celia, my second great grandmother.  What a puzzle it has been sorting out and filtering out documented pieces of her life.  While this is a shorten version of the search, there is much more to the story that supports how I came to the conclusion that these records belong to Celia.  What is in a name and how to find family comes to mind as the love of a Family Historian moves forward. 

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.