2014 Spring Ancestor Challenge

When Luckie Daniels (Our Georgia Roots & Our Alabama Roots) and Felicia Mathis (Echoes of My Nola Past) invited me to join them on the new African American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research (AAGSAR) Group they were launching via Facebook, I had no idea that I would be joining, in my opinion, one of the BEST collaborative genealogy group for “serious” family historians and researchers in 2014. Luckie said it best when she wrote, “Slave Ancestry IS CHALLENGING WORK,” in one of her messages to the group. From that message comes one of the most exciting projects I have ever worked on with a group via the Internet . . . the  2014 Spring Ancestor Challenge – No Brick Walls Permitted!

I have accepted this challenge which officially begins Tuesday, October 1, 2013 and ends April 1, 2014. In essence, this is MY ANCESTOR WORK, but I’m not alone on this journey! I have met some awesome group members who have made the setup and preparation for this challenge so-so sweet (sending a special shout-out to the Texas Tribe . . . woo-hoo!). So I have a support system that is willing to lend a helping hand, consult with me when I need it, and support me when it looks like I don’t know what the heck I’m doing!

So without further adieu, here’s my 2014 Spring Ancestor Challenge  . . .

Masters & Slaves: The Texas Routts

The Challenge:

To determine the approximate date/location of my 3rd great-grandfather Osborn Routt’s birth in Virginia, as well as the approximate date/location of his death in Washington County, Texas.

Others:

Slave Owner(s):
William Robert Routt from Northumberland County, Virginia
Joseph William Routt from Huntsville, Madison, Alabama & Chappel Hill, Washington, Texas

Years:

1830-1910

Tribes:

Texas – Chappel Hill, Washington County
Alabama – Huntsville, Madison County
Virginia – Northumberland County

Summary:

It was the “5 Generations” photo I found above in an old family photo album featuring my 97-year-old 2nd great-grandmother, Lula (Routt) Green, that initially launched my research into my father’s side of my family tree. Based on a few names my dad could remember, I was able to glean from the 1870 & 1880 census records that Lula Routt, born 12 September 1867 in Chappel Hill, Washington County, Texas, was the daughter of Osborn and Sallie Routt. Lula was born just 2 short years after slavery ended in Texas. Prior to 1867, her parents were slaves on one of the major plantations in the Washington County, Texas area. To learn more about who the slaveholders were in that area, I wrote to Chappel Hill’s local Historical Society, who put me in contact with one of their respected historians, Nathaniel Winfield, in 1998. It is through email conversations with Mr. Winfield, that I discovered that Osborn & Sallie Routt were probably once slaves on his great-grandfather’s plantation – Mulberry Bower. According to Mr. Winfield, his great-grandfather (Joseph William Routt) came to Chappel Hill, Texas from Huntsville, Alabama in the mid 1840’s. Both the 1870 & 1880 census records report Osborn was born in Virginia about 1835. If Osborn was born in Virginia, how did he end up in Texas on the Mulberry Bower Plantation? Well according to a free Google e-book I was fortunate to download titled, A History of Texas and Texans, Volume 4 by Frank White Johnson, Joseph William Routt was the son of William Robert Routt, ” . . . a slaveholder and planter of Virginia . . . ” So in light of that family connection it is very possible that William Routt may have been the original owner of Osborn which resulted in him being passed down to the son as a part of the father’s estate.

Related Post – Treasure Chest Thursday: Mulberry Bower

References:

Google Book: A HISTORY OF TEXAS AND TEXANS by Frank White Johnson
Genealogy of the Joseph William Routt Family
Genealogy of the William Robert Routt Family

References Needed for Further Review and Analysis:

Probate Will of William Robert Routt
Probate Will of Joseph William Routt
Estate Inventories for William Routt & Joseph Routt
Insurance Policies for William Routt & Joseph Routt
Plantation Records for William Routt & Joseph Routt (if available)
Sharecropping Records for Osborn Routt
1850 & 1860 US Federal Census Slave Schedules for William Routt & Joseph Routt
Tax Records for William Routt, Joseph Routt, and Osborn Routt
U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880
U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885
U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918
Washington County, Texas Death Records
Local Histories & Pamphlets
Chancery Records Index
African-American Newspapers
Church & Baptism Records*

For Family, Friends, and Visitors:

What have I missed?
Are there any other references and resources I need to explore?
If yes, let me know in the comment section below!

*Special thanks to Shellye (My Genealogical Journey) for reminding me to include Church & Baptism Records to my list as well!

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Surname Saturday: Routt, 2nd Generation – The Children

The 2nd Generation of Routt ancestors in my Texas Family Tree are the children of Osborn and Sallie Routt:

Buchanon Routt, born 1860 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA; he died ????

Jefferson “Jeff”  Routt,   born 1863 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas USA; he died 27 April 1935, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas,  USA. He married Daisy Newsome, 27 January 1917, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas,  USA

Mary Francis Routt, born 1865 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA; she died ????

Lou “Lula” Routt, born 12 September 1867 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA; she died 14 March 1964, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA. She married James “Jim” Green, 27 September 1888, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA

Charlotte “Lottie” Routt, born 1872 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA. She married Washington “Wash” Nelson, Jr., 04 March 1893 in Brenham, Washington, Texas, USA

William “Willie” Routt, born 1874 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA; he died 21 November 1933 in Prairie View, Waller, Texas, USA. He married Rosa “Rosie” Baltimore, 15 September 1901, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA

John “Johnnie” Routt, born 1874 in Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA; he died 30 June 1931, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA. He married Isabelle Whitfield, 22 December 1897, Chappell Hill, Washington, Texas, USA

Buchanon and Mary Francis Routt, listed above, are my “brick wall” Routt ancestors for the moment. I have researched many of the online databases, family trees, and newspapers for them, but I haven’t had any luck finding them beyond the late 1870 and 1880 census. So my next step is to schedule a road trip in the coming months to Washington County to search the holdings where they lived. So stay tuned, there’s more to come!

In the meantime, if you have some of my 2nd Generation Routt ancestors in your family tree, let me hear from you because I’m — Claiming Kin!

—–

Source Citation

1. Year: 1870; Census Place: Precinct 2, Washington, Texas; Roll: M593_1608; Page: 14A; Image: 31; Family History Library Film: 553107.

2. Year: 1880; Census Place: , Washington, Texas; Roll: 1331; Family History Film: 1255331; Page: 74A; Enumeration District: 142; .

My Fearless Female Ancestor Who Made the News

In March 2010, Lisa Alzo, better known as, The Accidental Genealogist, launched a series of 31 blogging prompts for celebrating and honoring the “fearless females” in our family trees. This online viral event was so popular with bloggers last year that they wanted to know if Lisa planned to host this event again this year. So back by popular demand and to mark National Women’s History Month, Lisa launched her — Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month!

I stopped by Lisa’s blog this week to check out some of the prompts and to learn more about her family history, and this prompt caught my eye:

March 14 — Newsmakers? Did you have a female ancestor who made the news? Why? Was she famous or notorious? Did she appear in the social column?

My paternal great-grandmother, Birdie Elizabeth (Green) Aldridge who was born August 13, 1888 in Chappell Hill, Washington County, Texas, was a female ancestor in my family tree that made the news at age 83!

She was the talk of the town as her photo and comments about the upcoming election day in Parsons, Labette County, Kansas were captured in an article titled, “Tuesday Is Election Day,” found in Section 2 – Page 12 of their local newspaper on April 1, 1971. According to this article, Momma Birdie (the name we called her) had not missed an election since she moved to Kansas from Texas in 1912. The reason for that she says below is, “Voting is second only to worshiping God!”

Click to Read the Article!

Momma Birdie died six years after this interview was published on March 15, 1977. She was laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery in Parsons, Kansas on March 21, 1977. Be sure to click the article above to enlarge and read about my fearless female who made the news!