52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #26 – Moses Eddie Pate

This is a part of the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story to Small.

Picture of Moses Pate (left) and his brother-in-law Leslie Fuller; Date unknown

Moses Eddie Pate was my maternal Great Uncle. He was the youngest son of John and Sarah Pate. “Uncle Mose”, that’s the name his nieces and nephews affectionately called him, was born on July 21^st, 1895 in Greene County, North Carolina. He was a tall, robust man with a light carmel complexion and he had that “good hair.” With his good looks I’m positive the young Mose Pate broke a lot of hearts.  For example, my mom once told me that when she was a little girl a lady came to their home looking for “Mose Pate sister” and Grandma Classie told her “that’s me.” The lady ask where could she find him and Grandma said that she had better ask his wife. I don’t know what became of the lady but mom said that she was a beautiful lady from Wilmington, North Carolina. 

In 1917, Uncle Mose enlisted in the army.



1917 Registration Card for Moses Pate

 

Uncle Mose was married twice.  First to Carrie Barnes on September 28^th, 1924 in Wayne County, North Carolina.   They had 2 sons: Charles Ray (1924-1925)  and another son who died in infancy.  After being separate for so long, in 1969, Uncle Mose and Aunt Carrie divorce.  Uncle Mose did not have any surviving children with Aunt Carrie; however, he did have 4 children from two women whom he deeply cared about.  His four children included 3 daughters and one son, Lazarus Spencer (1938-2011).

Marriage Index for Moses and Carrie Barnes Pate



Death Certificate for Charles Pate

Although Aunt Carrie remarried and moved to another town, she remained very close to our family, especially my mom, her “god-daughter.”

On the 1940 Census, Uncle Mose was living next door to my grandparents, Leslie and Classie Pate Fuller in Fremont, North Carolina. In his house, was his brother, Roscoe McCall (Pate) and his sister Hannah Pate Battle and her family.  Aunt Hannah’s husband had just died and so her step-children and grandchildren were living with her. This is another example of how Uncle Mose remained closed to his family and acting as a surrogate male figure to his younger nieces and nephews, biological and adopted. 

1940 Census for Moses Pate

On August 24^th, 1942, 43 year old Mose enlisted in WWII. Why would he
re-enlist, I don't know because he was working at the Fremont Oil Mill.  Pehaps, Uncle Mose hadn’t seen enough war and killing nor did he want to stay in the South. He listed my grandmother, Classie Fuller, as the person who will always know his place of residence.

WWII Draft Registration Card for Moses Pate

 

Later on he met his second wife, Beatrice Jones (“Ms. Bea”). They did not have any children but he became a step-father to Ms. Bea’s children and grandchildren.  On May 18^th, 1973, Ms. Bea died. Uncle Mose never married again but he remained in Fremont, living near his family until his death on January 9^th, 1984. When he died, he left all his wordly belongings to my mother.  He is buried in August Chapel Cemetery in Dudley, North Carolina. 

I have nothing but fond memories of this man. I just wished that I had asked him about his parents, his sisters and brothers, especially his baby sister who he affectionately called “Sis Classie.” 

Thanks for reading.

Sources:

Registration State: North Carolina; Registration County: Wayne; Roll: 1766040. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Marriage Index, 1741-2004 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

Year: 1940; Census Place: Fremont, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: T627_2987; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 96-36. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

North Carolina World War II Draft Registration Cards; Record Group: RG 147, Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Box: 284. Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

 

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks: #7 Mary Vick

I love mysteries and by researching my family history, I have found lots of mysteries. One in particular is connected to my great-great grandmother Mary Vick. 

Mary was born around 1865 in Wayne County, North Carolina.  Her parents were Easter and Thomas (Tom) Vick and Mary had nine siblings: Sam, Cora, Emma, John T., Susan, Charlie, Willie, Fannie and Lela.

She never married but she had children; her only daughter, Hattie Vick Fuller (1880-1916) was raised by Mary’s mother, Easter.  Hattie’s father was Amos Newsome.  Mary’s  two sons were raised by their father’s family but we only know the name of one son, Richard Edmundson (1882-1926). The second son; I know nothing about. I don’t even know his name but I do know that family history says he met an ugly fate; he was lynched. Unfortunately, no one alive knows when or where he was murdered.

Just like her second son, Mary has been an enigma to me.  I say that because she left her 3 children when they were toddlers. To me, Mary was so different from most African American women of her time. Abandoning your child is not a trait that you hear about in our family, nor in women during that time period. 

Sadly there are no pictures of Mary and the only records I have related to her are two census.  On the 1870 census Mary was a toddler living with her parents, her brother Samuel and her sister Cora in Wayne County, North Carolina.[1]  
 

 1870 Census: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina

 

The next and last time we find Mary was on the 1880 census. She’s 15 years old and her family was still living in the Nahunta area of Wayne County, North Carolina.  Mary was the oldest daughter and the second oldest child.[2] 

 

 1880 Census Place: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina

 

After her children’s birth in the 1880s, Mary disappeared.  My question is what became of Mary and why did she leave her children? Did she marry and have more children or did she suffer a horrible fate like her son?

At a family reunion a cousin once said that during the reconstruction time  that flyers were posted proclaiming that the “West” was the place to be and the flyers read “The land of milk and honey where money indeed grow on trees.” I always wondered if my relatives who disappeared, like Mary were one of those folks who went in search of the land of milk and honey and money growing trees.

Until this mystery is solved, the search for Mary continues.

 

 

                              

 

 

---

[1] Year: 1870; Census Place: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1165; Page: 176A; Image: 355; Family History Library Film: 552664.

[2] Year: 1880; Census Place: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: 986; Family History Film: 1254986; Page: 658D; Enumeration District: 301; Image: 0902.

52 Ancestor 52 Weeks: #6 Mary Verneace Fuller Becton

Today marks my Mom’s 89^th birthday. My brothers and I are so bless to still have her with us. Although this birthday will be mark with sadness because my sister passed away this past August, I know Mom is happy to celebrate her birthday.

Mom was born and raised in Fremont, North Carolina to Lester and Classie Pate Fuller aka Dafull and Mafull.

Mom and Mafull

Mafull did not allow my Mom to have a lot of idle time, instead she made Mom read the bible or “her lesson” aka homework.  Mafull's persistence paid off because Mom was promoted twice: in her primer class (kindergarten) and in first grade.  Ironically, another teacher wanted to promote her a third time but Mafull said no.

Her 9^th grade graduating class had 22 students.

Her high school graduating class had 13 members. That's her in the second row, second from the right.

In 2002, the remaining classmates met at a birthday party for Mrs. Annie Frances Wilder Henderson. Seating from the left are Mrs. Annie and Mom. Standing is Mrs. Mary Jane Ray Jackson. 

The picture on the left is Mom (far right) with some classmates on the grounds of Winston Salem Teachers College, now know as, Winston-Salem State University. The picture on the right is Mom (second from the right) with her friends in Fremont.

After high school, Mom went to Winston Salem Teachers College (Winston Salem State University) where she stayed for 3 years.  Because her boyfriend returned from the “War,” she left school and they got married in South Carolina, that boyfriend was Sylvester Artis.

Although the marriage ended in divorce, Mom and Sylvester had 4 children:  LaVonchia, Mercedes Avatna, Dwight Sylvester and Michael Owen.

Mom (left  and lower right), Mom with LaVonchia, Mercedes and Dwight.

In 1964, Mom married her second husband, my father, Robert Lee Becton.
This was taken right after they got married in Rockville, Maryland.

Mom submitted her DNA to Ancestry.com and 23andme. Below are her results.

My mom’s 23andme ancestry results

 

Mom’s Ancestry.com results

23andme provided some unexpected results such as the countries of origin.  Besides Africa and Ireland, Mom shares DNA with people from Jamaica and Brazil.  During the 1700s, the Carolinas were importing slaves from the Caribbean and Africa.

23andme - Country's of Ancestry Results

Happy Birthday Mom!

In Search of John Pate

Welcome to my Inaugural Blog!

In Amy Johnson Crow’s recent blog, she challenged other researchers to write or blog about an ancestor each week for 52 weeks. The Challenge is  called 52 Ancestors. I’ll accept that challenge but it might turn out to be an ancestor per month or bi-weekly but I’ll do my best because I certainly have 52 ancestors who have a story tell.

 First up for me is John Pate, my great-grandfather.

My journey started with researching John Pate, my maternal great-grandfather. My mom’s first cousin, Clara Pate McClain, told her that John Pate was from India, not Africa. I told mom, “you guys are confused,” but the more they talked about John who died before either one was born, the more I became fascinated. So that’s how my quest began, at the foot of my elders trying to make sense out of the stories that have been passed down to me. You see my mom, Mary Verneace Fuller Artis Becton, raised me in the old fashion way, “children are seen and not heard and sometimes not seen.” So I listened while she and her family and friends talked about the old days.

According to the 1870 census, John Pate was born in 1843 in North Carolina. Hmmm, don’t sound like India too me. He was 27 years old living in the Nahunta section of Wayne County, North Carolina with his first wife Vinnie/Viny Pate who was 25 years old, their 5 year old son Daniel, 2 year old Rufus and their 8 month old baby named John.

 1870 Census Place: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1165; Page: 169B; Image: 342; Family History Library Film: 552664.

Ten years later, John and his family are living in the Bull Head section of Green County, North Carolina. John is listed as 40 years old not 37 and his occupation is a farmer.  Viney is 39 years old, Daniel is 15, Rufus is 13, John is 10, Robert is 5, Wyatt is 3, and Lou (probably Liza) is 8 months old.  There is another person listed with the family, Caldoia who is 8 years old but there is no description of her relationship with the family. I've never heard of Caldoia, perhaps she was a relative or neighbor's child who was visiting the family.

1880 Census Place: Bull Head, Greene, North Carolina; Roll: 965; Family History Film: 1254965; Pages: 2D; Enumeration District: 062; Image: 0258.

By 1895, Viney is deceased and on April 2, 1895 John Pate marries Sarah Burt (perhaps Best) in Wayne County, North Carolina.  On their marriage license, John is listed as a 51 year old colored man (not Indian) who was the son of Dave Smith and Hannah Best. His new wife, Sarah is listed as a 26 year old colored female whose father was named Mike Wood. Her mother’s name is not provided.

On the 1900 census, 54 year old John and 29 year old Sarah are living in the Nahunta section of Wayne County, NC. The children listed are 15 year old Smithy, 13 year old Hannah, 10 year old Oscar, 3 year old John (This John or Johnnie was cousin Clara’s father.) and 10 month old Moses. Everyone in the house is listed as being born in North Carolina, not India.  John and Sarah stated that they were married for 5 years and Sarah was the mother of 3 children with 2 living.  This is confusing because Sarah is the mother of the three youngest children. On this particular census everyone provides their birth month and year. John was born in 1846 and Sarah born in 1870. The son listed as Oscar on this census has always been called him Roscoe. The two older girls were Viney’s daughters. This is the last census that John and Sarah appear on because they are both dead by 1903 and 1909 respectively. John and Sarah had one more child who was born in 1901, Classie Virginia Pate; she was my grandmother.

1900 Census Place: Nahunta, Wayne, North Carolina; Roll: 1223; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0107; FHL microfilm: 1241223.

Unfortunately, North Carolina did not record birth and deaths until 1913 and therefore, vital information is lost. But I like this census for many reasons: first, it provides the birth years; second, it stated that John had a middle name that began with the letter “P”; next, the census tells you how many children a female has had and how many of those children are alive. You also find out how many times the adults have been married.

Besides family history, we don’t have much information on John P. Pate. He wasn’t a soldier, he didn’t own land and unfortunately, he lived in Greene County, NC whose courthouse burned down in the late 1800s; therefore, I could not find a cohabitation record for John and Vinnie.  Family history said that John’s family name was Bhess and that he came from a village in India. Well his mother’s name is listed on his marriage license to Sarah as “Hannah Best,” so that’s where the “Bhess” name came from.  Oral history also said that John was a house slave, perhaps he was but what we do know is that John’s sons by Viney: John (the first son named John), Robert and Wyatt left NC before 1901 and never returned. No one knows what became of them, although family history said that they moved out West and returned for their father’s funeral in 1903.

My quest is to find out John P. Pate’s ethnicity. Was he half Native American, full Native American or half white? I also want to know where did his folks come from. I know that John is buried in the Union Grove cemetery located in Eureka, North Carolina. I also want to know what became of his sons, John, Robert and Wyatt? Did they have children?

What’s my plan for this blog? To share stories that I find and ancestors that I meet. I also plan on using this blog as a sounding board for my research analysis.

Happy Hunting!

Sources:
"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWD4-QZ9 : accessed 21 Jan 2014), John Pate, North Carolina, United States; citing p. , family 210, NARA microfilm publication M593, FHL microfilm 000552664.

"United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MC6Y-TDR : accessed 21 Jan 2014), John Pate, Bull Head, Greene, North Carolina, United States; citing sheet 2D, family 0, NARA microfilm publication T9-0965

"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MSB1-9TF : accessed 21 Jan 2014), John Pate in household of John P Pate, Nahunta Township (part of) Eureka town, Wayne, North Carolina, United States; citing sheet , family 38, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1241223.