Working on Wednesday: James Harrod (About 1738 - About 1781) Early Settler in Tennessee

James Harrod* was born in the Colony of Virginia, possibly in Stafford County, around 1738 and married a young woman named Elizabeth "Betsey"** in neighboring Orange County in about 1759. By 1760 the couple had moved to North Carolina where their five known children were born, including their oldest son Barnabeth (or Barnett), one of my paternal fourth great grandfathers, in 1762.

[Carolina And Georgia. (to accompany) Atlas Minimus or a New Set of Pocket Maps of the Several Empires, Kingdoms and States of the Known World, with Historical Extracts relative to each. Drawn and Engraved by J. Gibson from the Best Authorities, Revis'd, Corrected and Improv'd by Eman: Bowen Geographer to His Majesty. 1758. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

It appears that James and his family traveled west in the early 1770s to settle on land first leased then purchased from the Cherokee Indians along the Watauga River in what is now Tennessee*** and in 1779 he joined a group of 250 (mostly men and boys****) led by James Robertson moving farther west to French Lick on the Cumberland River.

On May 1, 1780, the new settlers signed a document known as the Cumberland Compact which set up "a simple constitutional government." James Harrod's name is found on the 20th line of the first column of the second page.

[Source: CumberlandPioneers.com]

[Jas Harrod signature]

Their settlement, first called Bluff Station and later known as Fort Nashborough (now Nashville), covered about two acres enclosed by a stockade and protected the newcomers from attacks by the Cherokee who rightly viewed their arrival as threatening their traditional hunting grounds.

[Postcard showing first reconstruction (on a smaller scale) of the original fort funded by the Daughters of the American Revolution in the 1930s. Source: Boston Public Library-Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection]

I haven't been able to discover the date of James Hariod's death--but it's believed that he was killed by Indians during one of their attacks. By 1783 his widow Betsey had married Daniel Hogan, another signer of the Cumberland Compact.



*This is the spelling of his surname used in the Cumberland Compact; later variants include Herod and Herrod. My paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter Warren Williams Turnbull is his great great great granddaughter.
**Her maiden name is unknown.
***The original English coastal colonies in North America claimed all the lands to the west as far as the Mississippi River.
****Most of their families traveled 1,000 miles by river to join their menfolks, arriving four months later. Presumably Betsey and the children were among them.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

"Mapsatilla" Was Probably "Mapsey Lilla"

Mapsatilla?  I don't even know where to begin with that.  No one by that name (beside this Mapsatilla) comes up on a search on Google or Bing search engines.  Maybe it is Massatilla?  1850 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 143), dwelling 188, family 190, Mapsatilla Herrod; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 376.

My 3rd great grandmother Celestine Letiticia Herrod had a sister who was born about 1840 in (likely) Madison County, Mississippi, and her name has been very difficult to figure out.

M. L. Herrod married S. B. Barnes in Madison County, Mississippi.

She is found in the 1860 Census living with S. B. Barnes:

Mapsey L.  Those initials match the marriage index record.  1860 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 895, dwelling 797, family 795, Mapsey L. Barnes; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 586.

And in 1870 she was living with Silas B. Barnes and 5 year old Narcissa (Bonus: Mom has a DNA cousin match at Ancestry to a descendant of this Narcissa, which was a very cool discovery the past week!):

Clearly says Mapsy.  A nickname, or her actual name?  1870 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, Police District No. 4, p. 73, dwelling 572, family 572, Mapsy Barnes; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 739.

She likely died sometime about 1877.

I have cast about looking for the origin of Mapsatilla or anyone else on the planet whose name is Mapsatilla, with no success.  So concentrating on the Mapsey name, I did a search for it in the US Censuses 1850-1880, and in general in that era using Ancestry.  I made an interesting discovery.

According to various census records and family trees there was a Mapsy/Mapsey Lillia/Lilla (Wethersbee or Witherspoon) Cotten (born abt 1804 in probably Barnwell County, South Carolina), married to Haley Cotten, living in Franklin County, Mississippi in 1830 (when my "Mapsatilla's parents--Barney Herrod and Susan Wells-- were living there), and by 1850 this Mapsy Lilla was living in Leake County, Mississippi (neighboring county to Madison County, and where some of the the Herrod and Wells people ended up.

Is this a relative?  A family friend?  What kind of name is this?  I need more research, but I think this is possibly the same name of my aunt "Mapsatilla."

Mapsy Cotton in Leake County, Mississippi in 1850.  1850 U.S. census, Leake County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 5, p. 80, dwelling 528, family 587, Mapsy Cotton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 376.

Madison and Leake counties have been next to each other since their creation.
Image from the FamilySearch wiki on Mississippi.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: John Herrod (About 1805 - 1870), Herod & Birmingham's Stage Line

In 1860 my paternal fourth great uncle John Herrod* and his partner Norman Birmingham acquired the assets of D.W. Lamkin's Line and offered a daily connection between Yazoo City and the Mississippi Central station at Vaughan,**  a distance of about 24 miles.

[The Yazoo Democrat. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1858-18, April 28, 1860

Library of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn98021556/1860-04-28/ed-1/seq-3/]

[Detail from Colton's Mississippi. Published By Johnson & Browning, 172 William St. New York. 1860.

Entered 1855 by J.H. Colton & Co ... New York. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

After the Civil War started a year later, Herod & Birmingham transported men and supplies for the Confederate States as these invoices show.**

[Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, documenting the period 1861 - 1865;

the National Archive. Source: fold3]

The company was presumably still in business early in 1866, owning 4 carriages each valued at $125.****

[Description : District 2; Annual, Monthly and Special Lists; Dec 1865-Dec 1866. Ancestry.com. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. Original data: Records of the Internal Revenue Service. Record Group 58.

The National Archives at Washington, DC.]

But John Herrod had died in January of that year and on November 10, 1866, his son (also named John), acting as administrator of his father's estate, filed suit against Mr. Birmingham and the case was settled in January of 1871 but it's not clear to me what the outcome was.

[From Catherine-Seabolt's public tree Terrell2011 on Ancestry.com]

*He was born in about 1805 in Tennessee and was the son of my paternal fourth great grandparents Polly (Williams) and Barnabeth Herrod.
**This link has pictures of Vaughan, Mississippi, taken in 2012. You can find a history of Yazoo County here.
***Although the second invoice is for several thousand dollars, remember that the company would have been paid in Confederate dollars which in January, 1864, would probably have been worth about 10 cents each.
****A John Herrod is listed as the owner of a single carriage worth $100 but it seems likely that he's the son.

["CSA-T64-$500-1864" by National Museum of American History - Image by Godot13. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CSA-T64-$500-1864.jpg#/media/File:CSA-T64-$500-1864.jpg]

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Mrs Susan Herrod Dies

Susan's was second of three obituaries for local older women under the heading: "One By One the Roses Fall," The American Citizen (Canton, Mississippi), 29 Jul 1876, pg 3, col 3; digital image, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016739/1876-07-29/ed-1/seq-3/ : accessed 10 Oct 2015).

Finally, I found the death date for Susan (Grubb) Herrod, 26 July 1876!  I will have to evaluate this obituary to see what I can squeeze out of it.  I am bummed that no family information whatsoever is given, but hey, c'est la guerre.

Thanks to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Library of Congress's Chronicling America Newspaper Project, I have found that I can now view newspapers from Canton during much of her life.  Although the earlier papers concerned themselves with national and international news, sheriff sales, chancery court notices, and business ads, by Susan's death the papers held much more relevant day-to-day information about the community.




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Celestine Letitia Herrod (1836 - 1921)

When my paternal great great grandmother Celestine, also known as Celeta, married John Warren Avery in April of 1857, I don't know what hopes the young couple had for their future but their lives together would prove to be much harder than they could have imagined.

By 1860 Celestine* and John were part of the household of a wealthy farmer in Holmes County, Mississippi. There's no clue in the U.S. Census records what they were doing there and they aren't listed as owning any real or personal property.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

By the time their first child was born the American Civil War had begun and in 1862 John enlisted in Company D of the 35th Mississippi Infantry along with several of his cousins. During his service he was captured by Union forces twice and wounded at least once. There are no records that tell us where Celestine and her babies were during this time.

In the 1870 U.S. Census the Averys had moved to rural Winston County, Mississippi, and still apparently owned nothing.* The youngest child is a 9-month old boy "not named" who never appears in any other records we know of and undoubtedly died very young.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

My great grandmother Caroline Celestine Avery was eight at the time of the 1880 U.S. Census which finds the Averys in LaFayette County, Mississippi, where John's occupation is listed as farm laborer. Two little boys, Henry and Herbert, have also be added to the family.

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

During the 1890s several of the Avery children (including my great grandmother) found spouses and left home, and in 1899 Celestine is listed as the widow of John in the Meridian, Mississippi, city directory. Two of her children were living at the same address.

[Directory Title : Chittenden's Meridian City Directory 1899.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.]

Celestine was still living in Meridian in the 1900 U.S. Census as the head of an extended family that included her daughter Caroline (Carrie) and her husband Tracy D. Porter and their two sons, and her grandson Henry Houst, the orphan of her daughter Susan. Of her eight children, only two are still alive.

[Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.]

The 1910 U.S. Census records Celestine's residence as that of her son Henry and his family in Mississippi City.

[Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.]

We know that she was living in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1915 because there's a newspaper item that mentions her as 'the aged mother of Mrs. T. D. Porter" who has been visited by a niece.

In 1916 Celestine, who states she's living with her daughter, applied for a pension from the state of Mississippi as the widow of a Confederate soldier, something that was only granted to those in extreme need. Her answer to the final question is stark:

Q. Have you any relations or connections whose legal or moral duty it is to support you?
Answer. "No--children unable to support me."

She was granted her pension a month later. I haven't been able to discover what amount she received but  typically it would have been no more than $40 or $50 per year.

[Mississippi Office of the State Auditor Series 1201: Confederate Pension Applications, 1889-1932. http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/pensions/print/13961]

By 1920 the extended Porter family, including Celestine, had moved to Shreveport, Louisiana.

[Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).]

The final record we have is the Texas death certificate for Mrs Celestine Avery who died in Dallas on April 9, 1921.

[Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982. iArchives, Orem, Utah.]

 The informant for the information on the death certificate was her daughter (and my great grandmother) Carrie with whom she had lived for at least the final five years of her life. Yet Carrie appears to have known practically nothing about her mother's parents. I suspect that Celestine, like many people who have lived through bad times, chose not to talk about her experiences.

*Her name is written as Christiner here.
**As John is listed as a farmer in this census but not owning anything he must have been renting land.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Susan Grubb (After 1800 - After 1870)

According to her entry in the 1860 U.S. Census, Susan Herrod, nee Grubb, was born in Mississippi about 1805 because her age is given as 55. (However in the 1870 census she's listed as being 70 and 38 in the 1850 census so there's a choice available.)

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records]

If we have her parentage correct, her father was Benjamin Grubb* who moved west from Virginia in about 1790, settling first in Natchez and then moving on to Louisiana about seven years later where he remained for the rest of his life. As for her mother's name, there are at least two choices and a lot of uncertainty with either of them.

On September 8, 1822, my great great great grandfather Barnabas (or Barnett) Herrod married Susanna Grubb in Franklin County, Mississippi. The couple had at least seven children, of whom their daughter Celestine Letitia Herrod is my direct ancestor.

Although there are various court records of Barnabas owning land and acting as the administrator of several estates, there's no reason to believe that he was particularly successful. The 1850 U.S. Census shows this clearly as Barnabas is an innkeeper with real estate worth $160 and his wife Susan owns $4,000 worth of property herself.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

For a closer look at Susan's property, here's an 1849 Madison County tax list which shows that B. Herrod owes a total of $0.50 solely for his poll tax while his wife is taxed for a carriage, a clock and a slave under the age of 60 for a total of $1.25.

["Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-21381-45784-58?cc=1919687&wc=9B4Z-CXF:211900801,212009201 : accessed 16 December 2014), Madison > County tax rolls 1849, Box 3717 > image 18 of 39; Mississippi Department of Archvies and History, Jackson.]

A wife owning property separate from her husband is very unusual for this time, especially in a southern state like Mississippi. I wonder how that came about?

In the 1860 U.S. Census above, we can see that the widowed Susan Herrod and her youngest daughter Missouri are living in a hotel in Canton, Madison County, and there are no assets listed for her.

By 1870 she's still living in Canton but is living in the household of Joseph Davenport who was Missouri's husband. Susan is listed as having "no occupation" and no property.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d]

And that's the last record we've been able to find for my three-time great grandmother.

*There are some very interesting things to say about old Benjamin, who definitely deserves his own post and will get it someday.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

52 Ancestors in 54 Weeks: Week 5: Tracy Darrow Porter

*I had to change from "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" to "52 Ancestors in 54 Weeks" because I fell off the wagon.

Tracy Darrow Porter, my 2nd great grandfather, was born on August 30, 1863, in Oregon (either Portland or Albany). He was the first child of Orville Tracy Porter (1838-1916), a newspaperman and later U.S. Marshall, District of Alaska, and Matilda Biddle (1846-1927), daughter of businessman B.R. Biddle.

Tracy was to spend most of his working life as a printer. At least as early as 1880, when he was 17, he was living away from home in Junction, Oregon, and working as a compositor.

Tracy registered to vote in Sacramento, California, on 11 Sep 1886.  After this point his trail goes cold for a while.  Sometime between 1886 and 1895 Tracy apparently got work down in the South.  I do not know the circumstances and would like to figure out at some point what prompted him to go to Mississippi.  Whatever the cause, though, family information indicates Tracy married Caroline "Carrie" Celestine Avery, daughter of John Warren Avery and Celestine Herrod (daughter of Barnabas Herrod and Susan Grubb), about 1895 in Mississippi and the following year their first child was born in Lyons, Coahoma, Mississippi (basically in the Clarksdale, Mississippi area).  I haven't found records with that information, but I have found Tracy on an 1896 tax record in Lyons:

["Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951," index and images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-22155-20679-60?cc=1919687&wc=M6JS-YZ9:211897901,212018101 : accessed 22 Jul 2014), Coahoma, County tax rolls 1896-1898, Box 3915, image 134 of 548; citing Government Records, Jackson.]

Tracy's father-in-law John Warren Avery died about 1899, and by the 1900 Federal Census Tracy and his growing family had moved with his widowed mother-in-law, Celestine, to Meridian, Lauderdale, Mississippi.

[Year: 1900; Census Place: Meridian Ward 3, Lauderdale, Mississippi; Roll: 815; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 1240815]

He lived in Mississippi until at least April 1904.  His daughter Violet was born in Louisiana somewhere in April 1906.  Then by August 1907 he started showing up in the Biloxi/Gulfport newspapers.  According to the Daily Herald in Biloxi, Tracy (or T.D.) was part of a typographical union in August 1907, and later became president of the Typographical Union of America in Biloxi/Gulfport by 16 Oct 1909.  He was generally referred as T.D. Porter during the period he spent in Gulfport.

1910 Federal Census reveals Tracy with his family in Mississippi City (which is now part of the greater Gulfport area).  His brother-in-law, Henry Clifton Avery, a boilermaker, was also nearby.  Curiously, Tracy was listed as a house painter.

[Year: 1910; Census Place: Mississippi, Harrison, Mississippi; Roll: T624_741; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0036; FHL microfilm: 1374754]

It's never easy being a businessman.  Tracy declared bankruptcy by December 1912:

Bankruptcy Petition
A petition in bankruptcy was filed this morning in the United States district court by T. D. Porter, a printer of Gulfport, through his attorneys, Rushing & Guice.  His assets are scheduled at $200, exemption claimed, and his liabilities at $363.
Biloxi Local News Paragraphs of Interest
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 1912   Paper: Gulfport Daily Herald (Gulfport, MS)   Volume: IV   Issue: 53   Page: 8 (from GenealogyBank.com)

But by August 1914 he filed a charter for a printing company.
Tracy was found a few more times in the local newspapers, as a jury member, and as a member of the Home guard (in April 1917).

Sometime before the 1920 Federal Census Tracy, his family, and his mother-in-law Celestine had moved to Shreveport, Louisiana.  Perhaps they had lived there before, since daughter Violet had been born in Louisiana:

[Year: 1920; Census Place: Shreveport Precinct 13, Caddo, Louisiana; Roll: T625_608; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 70; Image: 1072]

Sometime during 1920 they all moved to Dallas, Texas, as they are first found in the Dallas city directory in 1920:

["Porter Tracy D printer Texas Trade Review r 1008 Marion" from Publication Title: City Directories for Dallas, Texas State: Texas City: Dallas Year: 1920 Publisher: John F Worley Directory Co Page Number: 1140]

Tracy and Carrie appeared together in the city directory in Dallas until 1925, when she was listed as "Mrs. Carrie Porter, canvasser," and Tracy was nowhere to be found.  I suspect they divorced (or at least separated) sometime between 1923-1925, I have to see if I can find such a record.

He showed up in the 1927 Gulfport, Mississippi, city director as the the foreman of the Gulfport Printing Company:

[TD Porter in Gulfport about 1927, from Gulfport, Mississippi, City Directory, 1927]

By 1930 he had moved to Cheneyville, Rapides, Louisiana:

[Tracy D Porter in Cheneyville, from Year: 1930; Census Place: Cheneyville, Rapides, Louisiana; Roll: 816; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0020; Image: 687.0; FHL microfilm: 2340551]

In 1940 he was living in Placerville, El Dorado, California, and stated that he had been in Fresno, California, in 1935 (I can't find him in the Fresno city directory in that time, however):

[Tracy D. Porter in Placerville, from Year: 1940; Census Place: Placerville, El Dorado, California; Roll: T627_199; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 9-13]

I found an unexpected record for Tracy and his daughters Annie Sue and Letta Estella.  According to the Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 1943, Tracy and Sue wrote the lyrics to a song called "Down South Pacific Way", some guy named Harry J. Edwards wrote the music, and Letta submitted the work:

Down South Pacific way; w Sue Porter & T. D. Porter, m Harry J. Edwards. © 1 . Sept. 20, 1943; E unp. 347484; Letta Estella Turnbull, Dallas 34457
　
http://books.google.com/books?id=AzZjAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Since Tracy's father Orville Porter had published his poems about Alaska in the work "Poems on "Alaska, the land of the midnight sun," I guess it shouldn't surprise me that Tracy had a literary bent.  I have not seen the actual work, but I am assuming it was written in support of the American military fighting in the Pacific theater during World War II.

By 1944 Tracy had apparently made a circle back to Sacramento, where he was listed in the voter's registration.  He was listed as a retired Democrat:

[Tracy D. Porter, retired, in Sacramento, California, 1944, from State of California, United States. Great Register of Voters. Sacramento, California: California State Library.]

I'm not sure what Tracy was doing in Sacramento.  He did not appear to have any family in the area.  When he died the following year on April 14, 1945, he was buried in the Sacramento County Cemetery (see the attached .PDF file at bottom)(also more here on the cemetery), which was for indigent burials.  It seems sad that he died alone and was buried in a pauper's grave by the coroner.  I'm guessing he was found dead.






© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Barnabas Herrod (1804-1855), Inkeeper

Another of my paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter Warren's great grandfathers was Barnabas Herrod who was born in 1804, possibly in Davidson County, Tennessee. By 1820 the 16-year old Barny was living with his parents and siblings in Mississippi and in 1822 he married Susanna/Susan Grubbs.

Their first child, Mary L Herrod was born in Natchez in 1825 and by 1840 he and his young family were living in Madison County, Mississippi.

Barny appears in court records as an administrator of his brother Thomas Herrod's estate and in various land transactions but by the time of the 1850 U.S. Census he had become an innkeeper.

[Source: Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

(Note that in the census record above, Barny owned $160 worth of real estate and his wife Susan's real estate was valued at $4,000!)

Barnabas died in Canton, Madison County, in 1855 of yellow fever.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.