Temp West and "Six Degrees of Separation", or "Small World, Isn't It?"

On 12 Aug 2014, I posted in Louisiana Genealogy Network's page on Facebook about my search for Temp West (1908-1988 LA), the paternal grandfather of my youngest half-sister.

(https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6005419622294275945#editor/target=post;postID=8624172164817637650;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname).

To recap, prior to that posting, he was only found in Morehouse Parish, LA, in both the 1910 and 1920 censuses, and in Chicot County, AR, for his 1928 marriage to Helena Britton. Neither the 1930 nor the 1940 censuses yielded any results for him, but he was found from 1939-1941 in the city directories for Shreveport, Caddo Parish, LA.

Fast forward to today, when I received a message on Ancestry.com, from rbridges1940, another researcher whose WEST family members in his tree have been the source of a few shaky leaf hints in my "Dawkins-West Family Tree" over the past several months. Today, however, he responded to my inquiry about a shaky leaf on the 1867 marriage record of my great-great-grandparents, Allen DAWKINS (abt 1847-? LA) and Amanda GREEN (abt 1849 AL-1918 LA) in my "Allen Dawkins, Elbert Perkins, Albert McDowell, James Nation" tree. He had saved the same marriage record to an Amanda Green in his tree.

He explained that his mother's maiden name was WEST, and he provided a lineage of names unfamiliar to me until I saw "...Jesse Mae Barnes, wife of Lawyer Dawkins, son of Hester Emmett Dawkins, son of Allen Dawkins." I was flabberghasted and replied to him that my mother always said that her favorite uncle was Uncle Lawyer! Of course, Hester Emmett Dawkins was my mother's paternal grandfather, my great-grandfather. This reminded me of that Internet game of "Six Degrees of Separation" from actor Kevin Bacon. If you keep on digging, asking, researching, you will find more relatives than you can shake a stick at. My exact relationship to rbridges1940 is not yet clear, but it should be after I add him and that lineage of unfamiliar names into my tree.

Initially, when I first saw Allen's and Amanda's marriage record in his tree, my heart leapt with joy because he had "Edward Allen Dawkins" as Amanda's husband, and that he had died in 1921. His first name was Edward? Wow. In my tree, Amanda is listed as a widow with several of her children (including my great-grandfather, Emmett, listed in error as a daughter) on the 1900 census for Police Jury Ward 6, Ouachita, LA:

I clicked on Edward's name in his tree and then the associated findagrave link. Well, it was burial information for Edward Aidan Dawkins, not Great-grandfather Allen Dawkins. Edward Aidan Dawkins was born about the same year, 1847, and he died in 1921, but he was the son of Duncan Douglas DeKalb Dawkins. They were members of the white DAWKINS family who had held my black DAWKINS ancestors in slavery in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, a few other states and in the Caribbean. The picture of Edward's headstone on his findagrave page included his wife Caroline's headstone.

So, Edward wasn't Allen, but -- had made another familial connection to the same person through two separate family branches. Through his mother's WEST line, rbridges1940 is more than likely a blood cousin to my WEST half-sister. As stated above, his relationship to my mother, a DAWKINS, is yet to be determined. One thing I can say about rbridges1940 and his son is that they both remind me of my late older brother. Hmmm...

A Bit Frustrated but Plugging Along

Frustration. That's what I'm feeling right now. Over the past couple of weeks I have drafted two more blog entries, but I cannot post them. At first, I had writer's block, then I couldn't decide on which ancestor from which ancestral line to pick from. Once I narrowed it down, though, I began my second blog entry. About mid-way (I guess), I suddenly stopped clacking on my keyboard as it hit me that there is something of a family dispute over how this particular ancestor died and the version of events in my blog entry might fan the flames, so to speak. Also, I realized it might upset certain family members, no matter which sequence of events I posted. So...it is in draft for now. Neither the gender nor the line this ancestor is from can be mentioned right now.

The third blog entry that is still in draft status is about Solomon Sawyer/s and his wife, Tabitha Evans, on my husband's side. Fortunately, there is no big secret to hide about them, just more very wanted information to uncover about them. Solomon was born about 1798 in Caswell County, North Carolina, and died November 9, 1880, in Shoals, Surry County, North Carolina. His wife, Tabitha, was born 1807-1814, in Chatham County, North Carolina, and died September 15, 1910, also in Shoals, Surry, NC. They both were reportedly mixed bloods of Cherokee, Black and white, AND free persons of color (FPOC's). The problem is that I haven't yet figured out how to upload any documents I have for them.

Still learning (sigh)...frustrated...but I wanted to at least explain why the delay in posting a new entry since my first one. Until then, happy "genie" hunting.

Georgia Walker-Adams

Bertha Mae (Dobbins) Walker abt 1892-1928 MS

Hello. This is both my first blog and my first blog post ever. So let's get to it.

I met my dad, Claude Walker (1924 AR-2000 IL) November 1991, when I was 39, and he passed away nine years later in March 2000. He was only four years old when his mother died in 1928, so he had little to share with me about her other than her maiden name, Bertha Mae Dobbins. It's been an uphill climb trying to research her and her people, but after 20 years the terrain has begun to level out...a bit.

She was born about 1892 in an unknown part of Mississippi. In October 1921, she married my paternal grandfather, George Walker (185? AR-1933 IL), in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. According to their marriage certificate, Grandma Bertha was 26 and Grandpa George was 50. In reality, he was closer to 60! Grandpa George's first wife, Sarah Adams, died prior to the 1910 census, and from that union nine children were born. All of dad's siblings were adults by the time he was born in 1924, and by the time I met him in 1991, they had all passed on. Since my dad was orphaned by age nine, he lived with various relatives until 1941, when he served for 18 months in the Civilian Conservation Corps before joining the US Navy in 1943.

You might say that I've "pieced together" a genealogy for Grandma Bertha. Her origins and genealogy have yet to be confirmed, but the purpose of this blog is enlist the aid of any and all who may find this information familiar.

The death certificate I believe to be for her indicates that she died 18 Aug 1928, from Pellegra (lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in diet) in the then Mississippi State Mental Hospital in Jackson, Hinds County, MS. It also indicates that she was buried "in the hospital cemetery" 19 Aug 1928. Her last place of residence per the certificate was Hushpuckena, Bolivar County, MS. An older female cousin in her 90's remembered she and her brother visiting Grandpa George and his new, young bride in the early 1920's. My dad wasn't yet born, neither did Grandma Bertha appear to be expecting. My cousin said there was a pot of black-eyed peas cooking over the hearth. Grandma Bertha alternately tended the peas, then perched herself back onto Grandpa George's lap. While she sat on his lap, Grandpa George would occasionally spit into the fire and my cousin and her brother worried that some of it would wind up in the peas. Regardless, they being obedient children, ate the peas when placed before them and said not a word about it (the spit). My cousin described Grandma Bertha as being brown-skinned, slender, and with regular features and short, nappy hair. Also, that the newly-wed couple appeared to be very content with each other. Somehow that's comforting for me to know.

Bertha is found living with her widowed grandmother, Lucretia "Crecia" (Sistrunk) Dobbins, in the 1920 census for Maschulaville, Noxubee, MS. On the 1910 census for Beat 1, Attala County, MS, she is listed as a teacher and once again living with her widowed grandmother. Lucretia's name is botched on the record as "Tee or Lee C Mc Donald". Lucretia's second husband was Hiram McDanniel/McDaniel; and the reason I believe this is the right record is because spelng duznt cownt in genealogy research. A widowed Grandpa George was enumerated with six of his children in Beat 3, Attala, MS. One of his daughters, Aunt Martha Jane, was listed as a teacher like Bertha. Perhaps they taught at the "colored" school together and that's how Bertha and George met(?). I could not find Grandpa George in 1920, but Aunt Martha Jane and her husband and children were found in Tyronza, Cross County, AR, with younger brothers Clarke and Prett in the household. Cross County is where Bertha and George were married in 1921.

Working backwards to 1900, the only girl child found that matched my Grandma Bertha was an 8 y/o Mary Dobbins in Beat 4, Noxubee, MS, listed as "niece" in the household of Adolphus Davis, his wife, Martha Jane "Mattie" Grimmett, and their twin baby daughters, Carrie and Clara. I'm sure she was there to help out with the kids. Her grandmother, Lucretia, was also living in Beat 4, Noxubee, MS, with her second husband, Hyram/Hiram. In 1880, Lucretia and her first husband, Alfred Dobbins, were enumerated in Beat 4, Noxubee, MS, with their two children, Warren and Emma. By 1900, Lucretia reported that she was the mother of two, but only one child was living. Since Emma was in the household with her in 1900, that meant that Warren died prior to 1900. That makes him most likely to have been the father of my Grandma Bertha. All of this fits well with me and my research, but definitely has to be confirmed...and I'm sure that one day it will be.

Soooo, who was Bertha's mother? Was her mother related to Adolphus Davis or to his wife? Was Warren Dobbins her father? Was the 8 y/o Mary Dobbins in 1900 really Bertha?

As I mentioned before, this is my first blog/blog post ever and I'm having a little trouble uploading records and pictures, so please bear with me. Until then, you're welcome to read and post comments and/or advice. Thank you.