Willie A Parrish

When Willie A. Parrish was born on December 13, 1889, in Tennessee, her father, William, was 37 and her mother, Jennie, was 40. She had two brothers (Benjamin Herbert and Daniel Wilkes) and three sisters (Amanda M, Mary Tom, and Nancy Ruth) with her being the youngest of the six.  Mary Tom was my grandmother on my father's side which makes Willie A my grand aunt.  Willie had a short life and is on only one document that I can find.

The folklore of why this family of Parrishs left Tennessee has to do with false accusations of adultery and secret assignations involving her parents.  The damages to their trust and emotions was done so Willie's parents packed up and headed to Texas.  I do not have any dates for this story but the Texas Parrishs never went back to visit the Tennessee family. With the destruction of the 1890 census by fire there is no way of telling where Willie's father and mother, William and Jennie, took everyone.  There is a 1891 land grant in Arkansas of a William Parrish in Benton, AR; but, is this the correct William?  With land grants there are no ages or birth years, and this William Parrish did not use a middle name or initial. In Texas, our William rents his land, which means this is the wrong William or something happened, again, that sent the family further west with the loss of property and means.

In 1900, Willie A. Parish was 10 years old and lived  with her father, mother, 2 brothers, and 3 sisters.  The family is in Texas in the census district for the combined towns of Brookston and Ambia in Lamar County which borders Oklahoma across the Red River.  This census was taken in June and shows that the family rents a farm being worked by her father and older brother, Herbert.  Willie, Daniel and Nancy attended 4 months of school that year while Amanda and Mary Tom only attended for 3 months.  Perhaps this is a clue as to the family's arrival in this county, specifically, if not in Texas, generally.  Her parents have been married only once, to each other, for 25 years.  Her mother has had 7 children but only the 6 are sill living.

Having just turned 15, she died as a teenager on January 18, 1905, in Paris, Texas, and was buried there in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.  The US Census had stopped the mortality schedules in 1890 and Texas had not required death certificates until 1906.  There is no record of any epidemics or attacks (Oklahoma was still Indian territory) at that time for Lamar County so there's no way of saying what contributed to her death.  If I had to hazard a guess, since it is in the winter time perhaps she caught an infection, which was common,such as bronchopheumonia, that she couldn't shake off.

She lived during some interesting times though - the Spanish-America War in 1898; President William McKinley was assassinated in New York on September 6, 1901; and the Wright Brothers had taken the first flight in North Carolina on September 17, 1903.  I hope word of the Wright brothers had reached her small farm in Texas; and, she had the chance to think about the amazement of airplanes and travel by air.

There's nothing more to say, but I wanted her story to be told.  Hopefully, I will find further records or stories in the future and can fill in her life.

Junius Walker Leatherwood

1882, 11 April        Born Junius Walker Leatherwood to William Marion Leatherwood (Rev) and Sarah Morrison in Danville, Tennessee.  Today there is no Danville but there is still a Danville Post Office and a Danville Wharf/Ferry on google maps.

 1890                        No Census Records

 1900, 2 June        Kaufman, Texas        enumerated as Walker; being 18; and  born in April 1882  in Tennessee.  He is listed with both parents, William M and Sarah M (both of Mississippi - Jan 1850 and May 1852 respectively) and his younger sister, Annie R who is 15 having been born in May 1885 in Tennessee.  Walker and Annie are listed as being At School with the ability to read, write and speak English.  His father's occupation is Preacher.  His parents have been married for 26 years by this time and his mother has given birth to 6 children but only 5 are still living.  The family is living in Forney, Kaufman County, TX but no street address is given.

 1910, 19 April        Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas        enumerated as Walker (27) and is now married to Erin (19); they have been married for 3 years with no children.  His occupation is listed as salesman in a department store and he went without work for 3 weeks in 1909. They are living in the home of his widowed mother, Sarah (who has shaved a few years off her age - 54 vs 58), at 721 Staples Street in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX.  His wife, Erin, and her parents, were born in Texas.  Also in the house is he younger sister, Annie and her family.  Annie is now 23 and married to W. T. Williams, also 23 (born in TX with parents born in  MS), and their young son Lowell (2, born in NM).  This is a sad period, his father had died 10 days before the census was taken which could explain why so many were in the house.  As a side note, their older sister, Minnie Lee (my great grandmother) is living in New Mexico in 1910 with her husband, Guinn Terrell Williams.  Guinn Terrell Williams is the brother of  W. T. Williams.  So our 2nd great Uncle, Walter T Williams, and our 2nd great Aunt, Annie R Leatherwood, are relatives by birth and by marriage.

1918                     Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       City Directory for Fort Worth records him living in rooms at 1417 E 20th and that his occupation is a Motorman

1918, 12 September       Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       Registration for World War I.  He has registered in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, TX.  He is described as as white, native born, tall, slender, brown hair and brown eyes.  His draft serial number is 474 and his order number A2835.  He gives his full name as Junius Walker Leatherwood; residing at 1410 E 19th Street, Fort Worth, TX; I cannot make out his occupation title but he works at the North Texas Tractor Company; and, from his listing in the city directory, previously, I would guess it is motorman.  Here's were it gets interesting as he lists his mother, Mrs Wm Leatherwood, as his nearest relative and at the same address.  Where is Erin?

1920, 17 January              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas        enumerated as Junius W Leatherwood, age 37, married, residing at 1401 E 19th Street (rental) and working as a motorman for the Street Railway.  His wife is listed as Lillian (27) and they have a 7 year old daughter (abt 1913, born in Texas) named Marie.  Could Lillian and Erin (from 1910 census) be the same?  The ages have a 2 year difference and, since the census was taken at different times of the year which might account for one year, it seems logical.  I cannot locate his mother on a 1920 census at this time but she dies in 1923 in Decatur, TX so she could be with or travelling to another family member's home.

1924                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as Walker, living in rooms at 916 S Henderson with his wife, Lillie, and, he is a driver.

1925                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 923 S Henderson (rental) wife his wife, Lillian, and, he is a salesman with Texas Ice and Refrigerator Co

1926                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 1125 S Henderson (rental) with his wife, Lillian, but there is no occupation listed.  His brother, Jesse Olin, and family have moved to Fort Worth and are living nearby.

1930, 7 April             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       enumerated as J.W., age 48, widowed and the brother of the HoH;  It shows that he was 24 at the age of his first marriage and he is currently a construction worker in the steel industry.  He is living with his brother and sister-in-law, Jesse Olin and Effie, and the family have a radio.  Also living with them is their widowed niece, Lucille (Williams) Andrews, and her 4 children.  J.W is listed as widowed but there is a Lillian Leatherwood, about the right age, with a daughter Marie in another district of Fort Worth on this census.  The Lillian Leatherwood I have did not pass away until 1960.  This could mean several things - that I have the wrong Lillian/Marie combination; or, JW and the family is trying to save face.  But I think I will go into those details when I write about her, at another time.

1936                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 318 Bryan Avenue; renting a room in his brother's house, Jesse Olin.  (his daughter, her husband and his wife are living at 3413 Townsend)

1937, 24 January             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas   His only child, Ruth Marie Westland, dies of broncho-pneumonia.

1940, 01 April              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       enumerated as Walker; age 58; widowed; His address is 312 Kentucky and this is the same address he lived at in 1935. He completed the 9th grade;  he pays $15 a month in room rental; and, it looks like he had no work or income in 1939.

1942, April              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       "Old Man" registration card; Junius Walker Leatherwood; lists Dansville, TN as his birthplace. Very shaky signature; Mailing Address: 312 Kentucky; Description: 6'3", 173 lbs, brown eyes; brown/gray hair; light complexion; no scars.  Lists 815 E Denney as his address but his mailing address is 312 Kentucky. Currently there is no Denny/Denney street in Fort Worth (2014).  He also lists a Mrs Arthur Brady (courthouse) as someone who will always know his address.

1954, 06 Mar             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas        He dies as a result of a homicide.  His death certificate shows that he has lived in Fort Worth for 45 years; the last address was 1004 E Belknap; he was a retired night watchman; he was born in Tennessee; his father is William Marion Leatherwood and his mother is Sarah Morrison; and the informant is Mary Louise Leatherwood (his niece the daughter of Jesse Olin and Effie Leatherwood).  Mary Louise records him as never being married and he was being listed as widowed since she was 7 or younger.  The medical information shows that he was killed by a gunshot wound in the mouth; it happened in the evening hours; and there is a check in the box showing that it happened while at work.  Even though retired perhaps he was working part-time.  A newspaper article from Abilene reports that the incidence occured outside a liquor store.  The body was removed to Itasca but I am unable to find a marker or grave listing for him.

On Ancestry, I share a DNA connection with 14 people that have a known relative named Leatherwood; but there are no connections between our trees- so far.

Ex-Watchman Shot

Junius Walker Leatherwood, 71,

retired Fort Worth night watch-

man, was killed by a single bullet

Saturday night in front of a down-

town Fort Worth liquor store.  Po-

lice Sunday arrested two brothers

who they said had fired a shot in-

to the floor of a café next door

and then felled Leatherwood with

one shot when he ran out of the

liquor store.

Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Texas) 

1954 March 8

Eli Wilkes Heath

Why have I chosen Eli for this blog?  And why for the first blog?

First, it is his name.  I like names with vowels and ones that seem to be biblical and Eli is just fantastic (my favorite name is Ishmael).  Another reason is the middle name Wilkes - in my school days, there was the usual family tree project.  I was told that in our ancestry was John Wilkes Booth and Robert E Lee.  Now, my maternal grandparents were southerners with deep roots but there isn't a Booth or Lee among them (so far); and, I never knew my paternal grandparents.  So, I guess, I'm just drawn to Wilkes because there is a sense of familiarity.

Second, there is little information about him; and, he is from a period in which we lose my father's family.    Eli is my grand uncle from that side of the family.  It was persistent work chasing down rabbit holes and then there he was, like magic.  Also, in that effort to get more information about him, I visited his grave site this past week.

Eli Wilkes Heath was born on 21 February 1879 in Tennessee.  Our first record of him is the 1880 census when he was 1 year old and he listed as Eli.  He is on line 5 of page 7 of enumeration district 32; and recorded with family 52.  Living with them is his Aunt Catherine Heath and her daughter, his cousin, Annie Heath.  There is also a hireling, Nancy Heath - I haven't found whether she was a family member or just coincidentally had the same surname.  It is on this census that we get the confirmation that he was born in Tennessee.  As a side note, family 56, on the same page, are the Parrishs (sound familiar?).

Another tidbit - the census location is The Heaths, Gibson County, Tennessee when you do a search, even though the pages are marked 1st Civil District, Gibson, Tennessee.  In the past years, the census was often taken at a central location like the Post Office and that may be the case here.  I haven't found the family's property of that time, but perhaps the land was situated at a crossroads for the district.

Because of a fire in Washington, there a few surviving pages of the 1890 Census and where he was recorded was not one of them. 

The next time we see Eli is in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas on the 1900 Census.  He is now listed as Eli W, 21 years old and single.  He is a boarder with the Bradley family; works as a farm laborer, and went without work for 4 months of the past year. It is on this census that we get the confirmation that he was born in February 1879  His younger brother, Norman Hudson (my grandfather), is in another household just above him; and his older brother, Richard, is on a previous page.  There is no record of his parents on the 1900 Census.

Then, the last place we see him is at the cemetery in Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas.  I don't know if he died in Ladonia or that is just his burial site. He died on 8 May 1902.  He would have been 23 years old.  There is no record of him ever marrying or having children.  He is resting in Ladonia Cemetery, Lot 138, Sect 2-A of the IOOF graveyard.

I decided to visit his grave to see if there were any further clues about his life. His marker is a carved tree stump on a short plinth of logs covered in flowering vines.  There is a crest at the top engraved with Woodmen of the World (there is more but I am too short and there is quite a bit of erosion).  The inscription is

Dalhart Camp No 1214

Eli W

Heath

Born

Feb. 21, 1879

Died

May 8, 1902

My Brother,

Thou art gone,

But not forgotten

A couple of things about his burial place and marker.  IOOF stands for Independent Order of Odd Fellows which is an organization founded on the principles of Friendship, Love and Truth; and, to give aid to needy families and neighbors.  There are quite a few cemeteries in Ladonia and Fannin County and Eli is buried in the one maintained by the OddFellows.  Woodmen of the World (WOW) was/is a fraternal benefit society which provides life insurance to its members. Many of those policies included a fixed grave marker. WOW is a lodge type fraternity and they can be broken into chapters or lodges. Dalhart Camp No 1214 could, and probably does, refer to his membership in WOW.

That fraternal society coupled with him being buried in the IOOF cemetery and a farm laborer, leads me to believe that Eli Wilkes Heath was a strong but gentle man.  The inscription added by his brother(s), and the fact that his grave is next to sister-in-law, tells me that he was much loved.

Family Stories

Well, it has been awhile since I used this account.  In fact the only reason I had the account was a challenge that the library I worked at issued.  The title of my blog was my hint of derision towards Admin (dunh dunh DUNH - that's evil music in the background).  I am long retired from there but now I have an actual use for this account so here goes.......

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

In January 2014, I issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The premise: write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor. In 52 weeks, you’ll have taken a closer look at 52 people in your family tree… and maybe learned a little bit more about them in the process. (Oh, yeah, and hopefully develop a regular writing habit in the process!)

How can you participate? Easy:

1. If I included you in the Week 1 recap, I have you in Feedly (my current favorite blog reader). If  I didn’t list you, leave your blog in the comments below.

2. Blog about a specific ancestor. If you want that post to be included in the weekly recap (published on Wednesdays), be sure to include “52 Ancestors” in the title, such as “52 Ancestors: #1 Adah Young Johnson.”

3. The weekly recap is published on Wednesday. If you want the post to be in that week’s recap, please publish before Tuesday at 8:00pm (Eastern). And by “publish before Tuesday at 8:00pm Eastern,” I mean “Please feel free to publish long before Tuesday night at 8:00. Try Tuesday at 8:00am…  or Monday… or the Friday before…” ;)

4. If you happen to be on Twitter or Google Plus, please use the #52ancestors hashtag.

5. Enjoy :)

From http://www.nostorytoosmall.com/

Thanks to my brother, Ted, for getting me started in genealogy.  I love puzzles and mysteries; and, now I have all the puzzles and mysteries I want!  Each week, hopefully, I will write about one of my ancestors or one of their family members.  It will probably be someone I have 'crush' on; or, someone whose story is so small that they get lost in the larger drama of life.  Mostly, for now, this blog will be for my family so that the current generations will have some insights into their history without all the charting and record keeping.

First ancestor will be Eli Wilkes Heath; and I will write about him by Monday.

If you subscribed from the old library days, feel free to stay around.