Update on Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman

For background, please see my original post, Mystery Monday - Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman.

Since writing the original post on June 16, 2013 the following information has been discovered.

Fellow researcher, Rita Jones, discovered the 1860 census for Burrell Blackman and family.  

Census transcribers had listed Blackman as Blackmore.

As mentioned in my original post, the 1850 census listed a son named Jacob and I wondered at the time if the Jacob listed was actually Joseph.  I now believe the Jacob listed in the 1850 census was Joab.  This same Joab can be seen in the 1860 census above.

A cousin remembered family calling Joseph by the nickname Joab so this lined up with my thinking that I was on the correct path.

Several months ago the Ancestry website uploaded thousands of wills/probate records.  In these records I discovered tutorship documents for the minor daughters of Joseph and Virginia "Jennie" Smith Blackman.  These documents were filed in Catahoula Parish on September 4, 1882 by the father of Virginia "Jennie" Smith, James Luther "J. L." Smith.

Records showed the parents of minor children, Henrietta Blackman and Mollie Blackman as Joab Blackman and Jennie Smith.  These records also confirmed the deaths of Joab and Jennie as being prior to September 4, 1882.

Another portion of the records revealed the following:

"...a claim of said minors in Milam County, Texas of one hundred and fifty dollars, said claim inherited by the minors from their grandfather's succession Burrell Blackman dec'd is worth one hundred dollars."

From this newly discovered information I now know:

• Joseph's nickname was Joab
• Joseph's father was Burrell Blackman
• Joseph died before September 4, 1882

What I have not confirmed:

• Date and location of Joseph's death

• Location of Joseph's burial

• Name of Joseph's mother  

Was the Margaret listed in census records his mother or step-mother?  Other children in the household are believed to be Cottens who chose to go by their step-father's surname (Blackman) until later in their lives.

An 1834 General Land Office of Texas record for the Jurisdiction of Liberty shows Burrell Blackman as a native of Mississippi and "a man of family consisting of himself & his wife."

The Margaret listed in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records was born circa 1822.  If she is the wife mentioned in the above land record she would have been about 12 years old in 1834.   This leads me to believe that Burrell was married to someone else in 1834.  It is also then possible that a child was born to this marriage and that child could have possibly been Joseph "Joab".

Other Blackmans found in the same 1834 land records include Bennett Blackman and Joab John Blackman.  Blackman family researchers show Bennett Blackman and wife, Elizabeth Collins were the parents of the following six children:

Joab John Blackman (b. abt 1800)
Burrell Blackman (b. abt 1805 in Wayne Co. MS)
Josiah Blackman (b. abt 1811 in MS)
Mary Polly Blackman Stone (b. abt 1815 in MS)
Catherine Blackman Bouse (b. abt 1816 in MS)
Sarah "Sally" Blackman (b. abt 1817 in MS)

My Autosomal DNA results match with several people who descend from the Bennett Blackman line.  However, I also have matches with several people who descend from the Cotten line so I have questions as to the accuracy of my DNA match results on Ancestry's website.

I may never be able to confirm the date and location of Joseph's death, his burial location, or the identity of his mother.  What I have discovered since June of 2013 proves that persistence, the help of others, and good old fashioned luck really do pay off.

Mystery Monday - Benjamin Asberry Sumrall

I am trying to solve several mysteries about my maternal 3rd great grandfather, Benjamin Asberry "Berry" Sumrall.  I descend from his son, Daniel Sumrall, who married Mary Rebecca Pouncey.

Who were his parents?
What was his wife's maiden name?
When was the date of his death?
Where is he buried?

Benjamin Asberry "Berry" Sumrall was born circa 1806 in South Carolina. Berry migrated with his family from South Carolina to Mississippi.  He married Margaret (?) prior to 1829 and the birth of their first child, Henry, on March 15, 1829 in Perry County.  Census records as early as 1840 show Berry and family living in Marion county.

1841 Mississippi Census Record

1845 Mississippi Census Record

It is not until the 1850 U. S. Census that we learn Berry's date and location of birth. This information is also documented in the 1860 and 1870 census reports.

1850 U. S. Census Record

1860 U. S. Census Record

1870 U. S. Census Record

The following children were born to Berry and Margaret (?) Sumrall:

• Henry, 1829-1864 (m. Amanda Elizabeth Bennett, 1836-1904)
• Mary Elizabeth, 1830-1862? (m. James William Mixon, 1824-1896)
• Martha, 1833-1905 (m. Elias Allen, 1831-1883)
• Alvin, 1836-1864 (m. Elizabeth Caroline Perry, 1838-?)
• Margaret, 1838-?
• Minerva, 1841-aft 1910 (m. Cameron, died bef 1880)
• Daniel, 1845-1923 (m. Mary Rebecca Pouncey, 1852-1941)
• William, 1849-1902 (m. Ann ?, 1856-1903)

I have yet to find an 1880 census for Benjamin Asberry "Berry" Sumrall.  I did find his wife, Margaret (?) in the 1880 census.  She is listed as Single and living in the same household as her daughter, Minerva Sumrall Cameron and her children.  This seems to indicate that Berry Sumrall died prior to 1880.

1880 U. S. Census Record

James H. Hines, author of 'The Families Summerville, Somervail, Summerall, Summerell, Summerille, Summerlin, Sumlin, Sumrall, and Sumril', wrote about the early immigration of John Somervell (b. 1666) from Scotland to Isle of Wight, Virginia.  Thomas Sumrall, the great grandson of John Somervell, migrated from South Carolina to the Mississippi Territory prior to 1800.

Several family researchers believe that Isaac, son of Thomas and Ann Sumrall, is the father of Benjamin Asberrry "Berry" Sumrall.

Per Teryl Smith, who descends from Martha Sumrall, daughter of Berry and Margaret, Isaac is mentioned in the Marion County abstract of deeds page 168:

Thomas Sumrall gives to his son Isaac Sumrall's widow Mary Sumrall, five cows and their calves and the balance of the stock of cattle.  Wit. Henry Sumrall and Joseph Magnum.  Dated 12 July 1821.

Teryl Smith also supplied the following information on Berry's wife, Margaret:

"Regarding the Benjamin Sumrall and Margaret McRae marriage. I have a theory that the McRae surname is incorrect although I have not been able to concretely disprove or prove.

In papers that my Great Grandmother Lillie Serena Allen had she indicated

• Her Grandfather was Berry Sumrall
• Her Grandmother was Peggy Nicholson 
• She indicates Peggy was born in Scotland and came to Biloxi Mississippi at 11 or 12
• All the other information that Lillie had has checked out as true

I think a mistake was made and the Margaret McRae should have been shown married to a Thomas Sumrall. This McRae family has a future governor of Mississippi in it and having a governor in the family is something that would have been passed down if true."

Any help with answering these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Who were Berry's parents?
What was his wife's maiden name?
When was the date of his death?
Where is he buried?

Mystery Monday - Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman

**Please see my update on Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman**

Joseph A. Blackman was my great-great grandfather.  He married Virginia "Jennie" Smith on November 15, 1872 in the home of her parents, James Luther and Henrietta D. Smith of Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.

The marriage license below is the first known documentation I have found of Joseph.

The 1878 Voter Registration list for Catahoula Parish published on RootsWeb shows a Joseph A. Blackman born in Louisiana in 1851.  A trip to the Catahoula Parish Registrar of Voters office proved futile as the original records were destroyed in a fire back in the early 1900s.

Notes belonging to my father state that Joseph was also known as Frank and that he was originally from the LaSalle or Grant Parish area.  Also included in my father's notes was a reference to a Linnie Adair Carter being a first cousin of his grandmother, Mary Virginia Blackman, daughter of Joseph.

For this kinship to be possible, Linnie's mother and Joseph had to be siblings.  I began my search for Linnie Adair and discovered that her mother was Elizabeth Blackman, daughter of Burrel/Burrell Blackman.  One researcher suggested that this Elizabeth Blackman was actually the daughter of a Cotten but was raised by her stepfather, Burrel Blackman.

I was able to locate the 1850 census record for Burrel Blackman showing him married to a Margaret and having a daughter (or stepdaughter) named Betty (likely short for Elizabeth).  The family was living in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

If the 1878 Voter Registration roll was correct and Joseph was born in 1851, I would need to locate the 1860 census record for the family. 

Unfortunately, the only 1860 census record I have found to date for Burrel/Burrell Blackman does not list any other family members.  Burrell is living in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana in 1860.  Joseph would have been nine years old at the time.

The 1870 census record shows Burrel, Maragret, two of their children and a grandchild living in the same household in Ward 3 of Grant Parish, Louisiana.  By this time, Joseph would have been almost twenty years old and possibly living on his own prior to marrying Jennie in 1872.

I went back to the 1850 census and pondered on whether the Jacob listed could possibly be Joseph.  While the transcription clearly matches the image, could the census taker have simply written down the wrong name?  Searches for a Jacob Blackman returned no results, leaving me to assume one of two things.  Jacob died prior to 1860 or the Jacob listed was really Joseph.

Joseph's wife, Jennie, died several weeks after giving birth to their second daughter in 1876.  According to stories handed down through my family, Joseph is reported to have died two years later in 1878 in a sawmill accident in Rodney, Jefferson County, Mississippi.   No record of death has been found to date.

Other tidbits from family stories include the following:

• Joseph was related to the Blackman family from Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana of whom one was a judge and another operated a dry cleaning business
• Joseph was the son of Charles and grandson of Elisha Swift Blackman and Octavia Weakley

Both of these stories have been researched with no evidence of a connection to Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman.

As of now, the "brick wall" still stands.  I re-visit my research on him regularly in hopes of chipping away pieces of the wall.

If anyone researching the Blackman/Blackmon families of central Louisiana has any information on a Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman, please leave me a comment or contact me at Rootsfromthebayou@gmail.com. 

Mystery Monday - In Search of Information on Henrietta's Parents

My Mystery Monday post centers around locating the parents of one of my paternal 3-great grandmothers, Henrietta who married James Luther Smith.


Family notes and stories handed down state that Henrietta's full name was Henrietta Francoise D'Glando/DeGlando, born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 29, 1836.

Henrietta's Tombstone

Henrietta's tombstone confirms her date of birth. 

Henrietta's Mother:

• Given name was Cathrine/Catherine/Catharine
• Born December 15, 1802
• Believed to have arrived in New Orleans as a young girl from Wurttemberg, Germany with a couple by the name of Herzer
• Believed to have worked as a governess/tutor upon arriving in New Orleans
• Married 1) D'Glando/DeGlando, ca 1836; 2) Lytle, ca 1842; 3) B. Fuller/Fullar, aft 1842
• Children were Henrietta from marriage 1; James from marriage 2
• 1850 census shows a Catharine Fuller living with husband 3 and children, Henrietta and James in Carrollton, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
• 1860 census shows a C. Fuller living with her daughter, Henrietta and family in Black River, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
• Buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery next to her daughter, Henrietta.
• Date of death - December 2, 1878

1850 Census

1860 census

Cathrine's tombstone

Henrietta's Father:

• Surname was D'Glando/DeGlando
• Searches for D'Glando/DeGlando in New Orleans return no results  
• 1900 census shows the birthplace of Henrietta's father as Canada; mother's birthplace as Mississippi (?)
• Through searches of name variations, I discovered a Francois DeGlandon in New Orleans for the correct time frame.  However, upon contacting DeGlandon descendants, there is no evidence of a marriage to a Cathrine or of a daughter named Henrietta
• Searches of Canadian records lead directly back to Francois DeGlandon; with no results for D'Glando/DeGlando

1900 Census

Other Avenues Researched:

• Henrietta's birth certificate - no record found
• Henrietta's marriage to James Luther Smith in New Orleans - no record found
• Marriage records for Cathrine - no records found for three marriages
• Surname Herzer - Connected with descendant of a Herzer couple who arrived in New Orleans in 1830.  Obtained a copy of the ship manifest but no mention of a Cathrine.
• Surname Lytle - No given name found for spouse of Cathrine.  However, two of James Lytle's children were shown on the 1900 census living with James' half-sister, Henrietta and her family in Sicily Island, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. 
• Surname Fuller/Fullar - No given name found for spouse of Cathrine; only initial B. from 1850 census

I am open to any suggestions anyone might have that would assist me in discovering Cathrine's maiden name and the actual name of Henrietta's father.