Booker T. Lawson of Amite, Louisiana

Booker Timsey. Lawson
Courtesy of:  Mrs. Vernia Mcoy

Booker Timsey Lawson, was a member of Grant Chapel A.M.E. Church for m most of his life. During his life time of service, he served as a Steward and Trustee. He also served as president of the usher board. He was a member selected for the committee to build a Greater Grant Chapel Church. Mr. Lawson was a willing worker toward the financial efforts, reporting large amount of money. H was married to Mrs. Modena Lawson, and was the father of Bernard Lawson.  

He was born in 1899 to Esau and Malinda Tom Lawson. Booker died on December 25, 1976 and he is buried in Butler Cemetery.  His siblings were: Sallie Lawson Carter, Robert Lawson, Rosa Lawson, Willie Lawson, Eddie Lawson, Arthur Lawson, Bernard, Lawson, Mary Lawson, and Chauncey Lawson.

Mrs. Clara Hollins Watts of Amite, Louisiana

Mrs. Clara Hollins Watts

Mrs. Clara  Hollins Watts was born about 1893 and died in 1981 in Amite, Louisiana. She was is buried in Butler Cemetery in Amite, Louisiana. According to the 1900 United States Federal Census, she was living with her mother Viney Hollins. The census stated that her father was from Maryland. She was married to Ed Watts. 

On the 1910 United States Federal Census, Clara was a washerwoman and lived at home with her mother Viney. She was seventeen years of age. 

Mary Aaron of Amite, Louisiana

Mary Aaron

Mary Aaron was born around 1879 in Amite, Louisiana and died in 1962. She is buried in Butler Cemetery in Amite, Louisiana.  I used the U.S. Federal Census to learn more about Mary. In 1930 she was renting a house in Amite, Louisiana and had one son Emile, twenty-years old living in the house with her. Mary was married to Nelson Aaron in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Alma "Mandy" Richardson Gordon of Amite, Louisiana

Alma "Mandy" Richardson Gordon and son 
Adam Gordon

Alma was born in 1909 to the union of Thomas and Emma Vining Richardson in Montpelier, St. Helena Parish. Alma passed away in 1987 in Amite, Louisiana. She married her sweetheart Willie Kiddes Gordon, Sr., They has seven children to their union: Willie K. Gordon, Jr., Frank Gordon, Charles H. Gordon, Earl Gordon, Barbara Gordon, Adam Gordon, and Robert Gordon. 

Alma was one of four children born to Thomas and Emma: Josephine Richardson Harrell, Alexander Richardson, and Rosabell Richardson Moore. Her mother Emma was married twice. Her second husband was Jim Williams and they were the parents of four children: Dorothy Williams, Arthur Williams, Jimmy Williams and Ethel Williams Temple.

All of her nieces and nephews called her Aunt Mandy. She enjoyed baking coconut cakes and jelly cakes. My mother always bragged about how delicious her homemade cakes and pies were. One thing I notice as a child is her fancy hats and dresses. 

It appears that the family was attending someone funeral. She is wearing  black dress and her son has on a suit. During that time women wore black at funerals. I wish someone in the family could tell me about this occasion. The old cars caught my attention. 

I spent a lot of time interviewing her husband. Uncle Willie told me that he didn't want his wife to do domestic work for anyone. He forbidden her to do public work and wanted her to be a housewife. It was his responsibility to provide for his wife and family. Aunt Mandy was my maternal great aunt. 

Adam Gordon on the Farm in Amite, Louisiana

Adam Gordon

Adam Gordon was the son of Willie K. Gordon, Sr. and Alma "Mandy Richardson Gordon. Before joining the military during the Vietnam War, he worked on his parents' farm. He was planting and harvesting the crops. His job duties were to tend to the livestock. One day during one of our interviews, he told me that he didn't like working on the farm but didn't have a choice doing that time. 

His paternal grandmother Mandy Wheat Jones was a farmer and herbalist in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Adam wouldn't even consider farming as a career. As soon as a window presented itself to get away from the farm work, he wasn't going to miss the opportunity, and he did just that. Adam was a community activist and organizer. He protested to integrate business and seek employment for many African Americans in Tangipahoa Parish. He organized a protest in front of Red and White Supermarket to get the store to hire African American Cashiers. 

When he was employed at Norco Refinery in Norco, Louisiana as a supervisor, he hired a lot of people for Tangipahoa Parish. He owned his own job and put many people to work in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes.  Adam was married to Glynis Vernon Gordon and they had two sons and four grandchildren. 

Bernard Temple the First Child in Louisiana Takes the African Ancestry DNA Test

Bernard Temple 
Mailing his African Ancestry DNA Test 

Bernard was the first child to take the African Ancestry DNA to learn more about his paternal African Ancestry. It was an extraordinary occasion for him. We traveled to Virginia to have him take the test near the Atlantic Ocean. We stood on the beach looking out across the ocean, talking about the day we would travel to Africa.

That summer, we packed the car and drove to North Carolina to museums, antique shops, parks, and having fun as a family. My ex-husband and I shared the driving. While in Greensboro, North Carolina, we met with some Tuareg People Moussa Albaka introduced us to. Dennis and I were planning to travel to Niger, Africa, in a few months.  We wanted to make some connections with people in Niger before we made our trip.

During his forth grade year at Audubon Montessori school in New Orleans, his class was given an assignment to do a special project on his family origins and history. He was extremely excited because I had taken my maternal African Ancestry DNA and my test results revealed that our maternal ancestry could be traced to the Tuareg People of Niger, Africa. 

Moussa Albaka arranged to have a special outfit from Niger sent to New Orleans for Bernard to wear that day. He wore Tuareg handmade Tuareg jewelry made by the Moussa himself, the Tuareg Silversmith. Bernard also had to bring a dish from the native culture. We decided to bring goats cheese because the Tuareg people eat a lot of home made camel and goats cheese.

Audubon Montessori was a school of diversity and many of the students were from different ethnic groups and cultures in his class. That day the students took us around the world. We travel to India, Mexico, Italy,  Asia, Europe, and Africa. We were so proud of him for getting an "A" on his assignment. 

Amite No. 1 Church Of God In Christ

 

Annie Richardson Vining the Daughter of Thomas and Amanda Breland Richardson

Annie Richardson Vining
Photo Courtesy: Antoinette Harrell

Annie Richardson Vining was the daughter of Thomas Richardson and Amanda Breland Richardson. Annie was the oldest child of five children born to their union; Thomas, John, Golean, and Sophia. Annie was born in 1881 in St. Helena Parish, and she died on March 25, 1965.

Annie was married to Peter Ben Vining. They were the parents of; Carrie, Laura, John, Leon, and Luella Vining. Many years ago, I interviewed Cousin Louella in New Orleans, Louisiana, about her family tree. She told me that her mother Annie was accidentally shot his sister Annie and she died from what they called "lockjaw," which is basis tetanus infection.

Afterward, John moved to Philadelphia, and the family didn't travel down south. The accident was too much for him to handle. Cousin Louella lived with her grandparents Thomas and Amanda in St. Helena Parish. 

This is the branch Belinda Vining Trepagnier descend from. Annie's daughter Carrie married Melton Carter.  Her daughter Laura married George Rudison and her daughter Louella married George "Gainey" Franklin from St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. I enjoyed talking with Cousin Louella. She was a very sweet lady who found joy in crocheting. She was an amputee but didn't let that stop her from doing what she enjoyed. She as always surrounding by lots of family. Her daughter Betty Robins and her grandchildren took care of her until she passed away. She is buried in Rocky Hill Cemetery in Rocky Hill. Rocky Hill is located in St. Helena Parish. 

Thomas Willie Richardson: Son of Thomas and Emma Louise Gordon

Thomas Willie Richardson
and wife Mytle Johnson
Photo Courtesy: Karmaede1

My maternal great grandfather Thomas S. Richardson met and married my maternal great-grandmother Emma Vining Richardson. Prior to married Emma, he had a son with Emma Louise Gordon. I never heard the generation before me speak of Thomas Willie Richardson. He was born in 1900 in Amite or St. Helena  Parish. Thomas died in 1988 in Tuscarawas, Ohio at the age of eighty-eight. He was married to Myrtle Johnson and they had one son. 

His siblings were; Josephine Richardson Harrell, Rosabell Richardson Moore, Alexander Richardson, and Alma Richardson Gordon. 

I was happy to meet our cousin Karmede1 through Ancestry. She and her family lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Script from Lumber Mills Operating in the Louisiana Florida Parishes

Script from the Lumber Mills in the Louisiana Florida Parishes

Lumber town generally emerged in isolated locations far removed from the main routes of commerce. Taking advantage of the scarcity of local merchants, timber companies often paid their workers in company script, rather than in legal U.S. money, redeemable only at the company operated stores. Below are examples of script from lumber mills operating in the Louisiana Florida Parishes. 

The Bond That Keep Family Together

There isn't that many photographs of my maternal grandmother Josephine Richardson Harrell and her siblings. This photo was taken at her home in Amite, Louisiana. It appears that she, her sister Rosabell Richardson Moore, and her youngest daughter Delores was attending someone's funeral or a church service. They're all dressed in white that indicated it was first Sunday, when the women dress in white for communion service or like I said a funeral. 

Using Social Media to Identify Photographs

Photo Courtesy: Juanita Harrell Stewart Collection
Cheryl Lyn Clark, Carmen Clark, Vear Roscoe
Rudolph Clay, Roemary Dennis, Cassie Johnson, Delores Gaskins, 
Freddie Mae Jackson, Geraldine Manager

I'm working with my photo collection and organizing it for the repository at the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans. Several years ago, Juanita Harrell Stewart, my cousin 2x, removed lived with me in her elderly age for care. We moved all her photo albums and boxes into my home. Over the years, I went through every box and found a photograph of her family and her church family. She was a lifelong member of Petty AME  Zion Church in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

I post a picture of her collection on my personal Facebook page, hoping that someone could help identify the people in the photograph. To my surprise, two women said that they could identify everyone in the picture. I was so happy that this picture would not be labeled as unidentified people. Brenda Johnson and Juanita Cunningham, who were both members of the church, knew everyone. My cousin Juanita was a secretary at one time for the church. 

If you have a photograph and know who the people are in the picture. Take a chance and post it on your social media sites; you never know who can help you identify the people.

Tangipahoa Parish Proclaim October at Family History Month

Mason Foster, Former Mayor of Hammond, LA
Reginald Goldsby,  Former Mayor of Amite, LA
Antoinette Harrell, Local Historian and Genealogist

Dr. Antoinette Harrell, a local historian and genealogist asked Gordon Burgess, Tangipahoa Parish President to proclaim October as family history month. October nationally is recognized at family history month. It created a great opportunity to reflect on family history and discussions. Tangipahoa Parish genealogy library in Amite, Louisiana has a wealth of ancestry information that can help local people who are searching for their family history.

George Perkins
Tangipahoa African-American Heritage Museum & 
Black Veterans' Archives

 

Clifford Wheat of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

Clifford Wheat
Photo Courtesy: Joyce Lafonta

Clifford was born on October 16, 1904, in Amite, Louisiana. He was born to John and Delia Wheat. His sibling was: John, Jr, Conley, Percy, Enna, Hebert, and Emma Wheat. Clifford was a man of some means. Several years back, I met with Joyce Lafonta and cousin of Clifford Wheat. She inherited all of Clifford's papers and photographs when she purchased his home. 

When I was a small child growing up in Amite, Louisiana, we sometimes visited his home. The house and yard were so clean, and the house had such a homely feeling. He was a farmer who hired people to work on his farm. He was a barber too. 

Clifford was the grandson of Saul and Julia Lawson Wheat. The United States Federal Census didn't say when Saul was born, but it stated that Julia was born about 1834 in Louisiana. Julia died at the age of eighty-five on September 10, 1919. 

Joyce had quite a few exciting documents and records from Clifford's collection. The description told a lot about Clifford's life, accomplishments, and business dealing in Tangipahoa Parish. 

Eric Williams and Jeremy Collins

Photograph of African-American Students in the Fajoni Lanier

I would like to know what school this photograph was taken at. There is no little information and pictures on the African-American schools before integration. It had been very complicated and hard to find any historical information and photographs of the schools in the Louisiana Florida Parishes. If anyone can tell me about this school, please email me at; nurtuingourroots@gmail.com

Children Photographs in the Lanier Fajoni Collection

This folder was labeled as "children" I didn't find a lot of images in that files. I shared the ones I did find. If anyone know any of the people in these images. Please email me at; nurturingourroots@gmail.com

 

African American Images of Men in the Lanier Fajoni Photograph Collection

 If anyone recognize any of the men in these photographs. Please contact me by email at; nurturingourroots@gmail. com 

African-American Women Pictures in the Lanier Fajoni Collection

 

Unidentified African-American Photographs Lanier Fajoni Collection

Two decades ago, I met a woman by the name of Phylis in Amite, Louisiana. Phylis was teacher at that time. She also wrote a column for the local newspaper about local people. She contacted me about identified photographs of African American people who used Lanier Fajoni photographer services. Here are some of the photographs she shared with me. If anyone recognized any of the people, please email me at; nurturingourroots@gmail.com.