William Henry Roberts b: Jan 1870 d: ?

 In this blog I don't anticipate following a particular order when delving into the stories behind each of our ancestors. I would like to start with William H(enry?) Roberts, b: January 1870 and died somewhere between 1910-1920. I am starting with William because he has become an enigma to me. I have so many more detailed records on people that died long before he was born and yet, somehow, I have very little information on William.

Most of the information I have to rely on for William is through census data. However, I can tell you that he was the third child born to George David Roberts (1839-1927) and Susan Rivannah McElmurray (1838-1925) in Burke County near McBean/Green Cut area. When William was born, Georgia was still in reconstruction from the war and would not actually be readmitted to the Union until July 1870. As a result, it is reported that the “The 1870 census in the Southern States omits a great many persons.” Much of the economy of the late 1800’s in Georgia revolved around agriculture, specifically cotton and corn.

While there is no 1890’s Census Data on, in 1900, William was living in Richmond County (Augusta), GA. He was married to Mary A Green and had two sons at the time William David -7 and Robert Lee – 3. William worked at a Cotton Mill as a Cardroom Hand. Based on what I researched, a Cardroom Hand was someone who helped combine the wool and cotton together so that it could be woven into thread. This seems like a common job, just from looking at the number of the other people on the census who had this same job.

In 1910, I again have census data listing William living on Hicks Street in Augusta, GA down the road from his mother Susan. He and Mary had added two more sons to the group and they had also lost an infant child along the way. They had a house full of four boys William D – 17, Robert L – 12, James W – 7, and John J – 4. This time William was employed as a farmer raising corn & cotton while William D, his son, managed the home farm.



1910 Census, Roberts Family is second from top.



The next record I have for the family is the 1920 census, which shows that Mary is a widow raising two sons James W – 19, and John J – 16 and a daughter Carrie L -10. (You may notice that the math on the ages of the kids doesn’t add up with the 10 year census cycle, and that is pretty common in this era with the lack of proper documentation and education. Unfortunately, I cannot find a death certificate or obituary for William, and so I am afraid our story ends there.

Unfortunately there is even less information on Mary. I do not have a record for a Mary A. Green prior to 1900 and then all I have are the three census records. Something I did find interesting was that in the 1920 census after Mary had been widowed, she went back to using her maiden name, Green instead of Roberts. It just seemed odd. I tried to trace the other children but came up short. I did find record of the death of Mary A Roberts in Elbert, GA at age 88 on Oct 6, 1965. The age may not align exactly, but as we have seen, they sometimes don’t. I would say that without seeing a copy of the actual death certificate, I hesitate to say this is her. I am hoping that maybe some of you heard stories along the way from Mage about his daddy or from Grandaddy about his Grandmother or Grandfather (even though they would have never met).

Where it all started?

I originally got interested in searching our family’s genealogy when Preston, our second child was born in September of last year. My Grandparents, Cliff and Jeanette Burnett had written down thier story for the family and it made me really start to question...where and who did we come from? I have heard stories for years, but they were more myth than actual accounts of events. I was determined that my children would have an actual record of thier ancestry to pass down.  I have used ancestry.com and other internet tools to help me in this journey. While I can't answer all the questions, I have tried to be diligent in confirming my sources of information. I initially thought this would be something that I could do pretty quickly, but over the past few months I have realized how arduous of a journey this is and at times it begins to generate more questions than answers. There are spaces that I hope you, my family can help me fill, but even more than that, I hope you come away from this knowing more about the amazing people that came before us and in turn have a better appreciation for the blood that flows in your veins and the name we carry(ied).

While I could just post a diagram on a webpage with all of the trees, I wanted to actually tell the story of these people.  I want them to be more than a name on a piece of paper for you and me.  I decided to start with the Roberts side of the family since there was little information available to me about my last name.  After months of research, I can tell you that our ancestors were patriots, scoundrels, pioneers, fighters, inventors, slaveholders and have been woven into the fabric of this great country before it even was one.  Please enjoy...