52 Ancestors 52 Weeks - Week 52

Rufus Marvin Brock

Rufus Marvin Brock was born on the 16th of December, 1909 in Collinsville, DeKalb County, Alabama, to Patrick Henry Brock and Adeline Jessie Morgan. He was the 2nd of 9 children.

I have not yet found the 1910 census for the family. Still have work to do one more contemporary families. This is never done!

In the 1920 census the family was in Van Buren Township, in DeKalb County, Alabama. Rufus is 10 years old and with his parents. His grandparents, Reece and Tilda Morgan live right next door. His father is farming.

On the 13th of November, 1929 he married Bizzie Lee Beard in Keener, Alabama. He and Bizzie would have 7 children, one dying in infancy. Two are still living.

In 1930, he is on the census with his father-in-law, Charles P. Beard. I addressed this census in the blog post Bizzie Lee Beard.

Also the 1940 was addressed in Bizzie Lee Beard. He is listed as a farmer, and he is 30, Bizzie is 30, as well. The children are: Rufus Lee, 9, Robert, 6, Marcell (Morris), 2.

He was in the Navy in WWII, and saw action. It is a very sad story and I believe it changed him. He never spoke of it, and I did not know anything about his service until finding the records and looking into the ship he was on. It is a long story and I will deal with it in a separate post.

He hated farming, I do know that. So, when a new factory started in the county, he got a job there. It was Arvins. Rufus and Bizzie moved from Collinsville, Alabama to Seymour, Indiana in 1950 when Arvins opened a plant there and needed experienced people to work there. He came first, on July 29, 1950, and Bizzie followed on September 10, 1950. This he would do until his retirement.

On November 18, 1984, Rufus died. He was at home at the time. His cause of death was Lung Cancer. He was 74 years old. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery in Seymour, Indiana.

Rufus Marvin Brock was my grandfather. I can't say I knew him well. He was a quiet man.

Sources:
1920 US Census, Van Buren TWP, DeKalb County, Alabama, (Van Buren TWP, DeKalb County, Alabama); , T625, NARA, Heritage Quest.
Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950: Marriage, (11 November 1929), 542; FamilySearch, Alabama. Ancestry.com.
1930 US Census, 1930 US Census, (Cox Precinct No.11, Etowah County, Alabama), Sheet No. 7 B + 8 A; Dwelling 118; Family 119; Line 5.  National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
1940 US Census, Elec. Reg.5, Van Buren, Dekalb County, Alabama, (, Van Buren, Dekalb County, Alabama), Sheet No. 8 B, Dwelling 153. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Death Certificate: Rufus M. Brock, death certificate No. 84-039995 (1984), Indiana State Department of Health, Vital Records, , Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana.

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52 Ancestors 52 Weeks - Week 51

James Jaynes

James Jaynes was called Jim by most people, Jimmy by his family. He was born on the 8th of August, 1901, in Jackson County, Indiana. (He was a Leo in every way!) His parents were William Obadier Jaynes and Lorraine Wilcutt. He was the second of 6 children.

He first shows up in the 1910 census with his family. He is 8 years old. They are living in Seymour, Jackson County, Indiana.

In 1920 he is still with his family in Seymour, Indiana. The census was taken on the 15th of January, which will become in the next entry why I mention that. He is 18 and all his family is there.

On the 9th of October, 1920, he married Della Mae Alexander in Brownstown, Jackson County, Indiana. He was 19 and she was 16 years old.

In 1921 their only son was born. Donald Eugene, Don, was born on September 17, 1921. In 1923, Clarice Louise was born. There is a funny story about this one. My grandmother loved the name Clarice. She knew of the name because my grandfather, Jim, had dated a girl with that name. This is the name she gave to their first daughter, and my grandfather had a fit. He would not call the child Clarice! He made sure it was not on the birth record. She was just Louise, but grandma persisted and that was her name, and that was always made clear by one faction in the Jaynes home! She was called Louise all her life. On March 21, 1926 Joyce Lorraine came along.

On the 1930 census, he is listed as Jimmie, age 28, his wife Della is 25. They are still listed as living in the city of Seymour. In the household are Donald, 8, Louise C., 6 and Joyce L., is 4.

Grandpa managed to work through the depression, but life was slim. By the next census the will have moved to "the Ridge", a rural little town at a place called Chestnut Ridge. There Grandma would be able to garden and he could hunt behind their house. He also moved his parents out there. Today the it is a place you just drive through, everything is gone. But at the time, it was a bustling little rural community with its own school. In 1935 this is where my mother was born.

Their last child, my mother, was born in 1935.

In 1938 the family was decimated by the death of Donald Eugene Jaynes. He died June 17, 1938. of leukemia. He was 17 years old. Just beginning his life. It was a devastating blow to them all.

In the 1940 census, they are still at "the Ridge" in Jackson County. His parents live right across the road. He is listed as James, and he is 38, Della is 35. In the house are only two children, Joyce, 14, and my mother at age 4. He was listed as working at the Canning Factory, which was in Ewing or Brownstown, I believe. At this time he had to walk to work, which was miles. My mother said he would walk the railroad, which cut straight through, making the walk lass than following the road.

By 1950 they had moved to "town", Seymour, and he started his own business. He took up plumbing, and I grew up hearing Grandma answer the phone saying, "Jaynes Plumbing". He was very successful and was actively working until the last 3 or 4 years of his life. He often took goods instead of money, remembering how hard it was in the depression.

He was a hard working, funny, kind man, and I miss him still. He loved to fish, but he was more funny than a serious fisherman. He loved to play Bingo. We had to do that at every family thing. Just for him. And there had to be prizes!

On October 21, 1989, James Jaynes died. He was 88 years old. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery, in Seymour, Indiana.

James Jaynes was my grandfather.

Sources:
Birth: James Jaynes, birth certificate (1901), Seymour Jackson County Department of Health, Jackson County, Indiana.
1910 U.S. Census, (Seymour, Jackson Township, Jackson County, Indiana); Page: 160, T624, 357, HeritageQuest.
1920 US Census; (Seymour, Jackson Township, Jackson County, Indiana); , T625, 439, HeritageQuest.
1930 US Census, Seymour, Jackson, Indiana, United States, (Seymour, Indiana); family:173 sheet:7A line:5, T626, 2340329, NARA. FamilySearch.
1940 US Census, 1940 US Census, (Chestnut Ridge, Washington TWP, Jackson County, Indiana), Sheet No. 9 B - Dwelling 162. NARA; Washington, DC 20408. 
Death Certificate: James Jaynes, death certificate no. 243 (1989), Jackson County Health Dept., Jackson County, Indiana.

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52 Ancestors 52 Weeks - Week 50

Roland Bearden

Roland was born in Alabama in 1820 to James Bearden and Mary Jones.

On May 27, 1841 he married Lucinda White in St. Clair County, Alabama. Together they raised 13 children: William M., Orvel J., Lucinda, Mary Jane, Matilda, James, Margaret, John, Frances, Nancy (my second great-grandmother), Josephine, Franklin and Fannie.

In the 1850 census taken in District 40, St. Clair County, Alabama, Roland is written as Rolan. He is 30, wife Lucinda is 25, and the children in the house at the time are: William, 7, Orvel, 5, Lucinda, 4, Mary J., 3, Matilda is one years old. Roland is a farmer.

In 1860 the census finds them still in St. Clair County. He is still farming and the real estate value of the place is 600. Rolin (Roland) is 40, Lucinda, 34. The children are: Orvill, 16, Lucinda, 14, Mary, 12, Martha, 11, James, 7, Margaret, 2, and John is 4 months old.

By 1870, the family  is in Etowah County, Alabama, in Township 12. Roland is still farming. He is 50, Lucinda is listed as 40. The children still at home are: Lucinda, 20, Mary, 19, James, 16, Margaret, 13, Mo C. (John C.), 10, Frances, 7, Nancy, 4, Josephine is one years old.

In the 1880 census the family is in DeKalb County, Alabama. Roland is still farming at 60, and Lucinda is 52 years old. In the household are: Lucinda, 30, Margaret, 21, John, 20, Frances, 18, Nancy, 16, Franklin, 7, Fannie is 6 years old.

I have not been able to find Roland's death date, so far. On Ancestry, someone has his death at 1900. I know sources are slim in many southern states. I have beat my head on that wall too many times. I have some work to do one this family.

Sources:
Compiled Marriages from Selected Counties, 1809-1920; Dodd, Jordan R., comp.. Early American Marriages: Alabama, 1800 to 1920. Ancestry.com.
1850 Census; District 40, St Clair, Alabama; Roll: M432_14; Page: 138A; Image: 539. Ancestry.com.
1860 Census; Township 12 Range 4 East, St Clair, Alabama; Roll: M653_23; Page: 128; Family History Library Film: 803023. Ancestry.com.
1870 Census; Township 12 Range 4, Etowah, Alabama; Roll: M593_16; Page: 249A; Family History Library Film: 545515. Ancestry.com.
1880 Census; DeKalb, Alabama; Roll: 12; Page: 650A; Enumeration District: 058. Ancestry.com.

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52 Ancestors 52 Weeks - Week 49

Bizzie Lee Beard

Bizzie Lee Beard was born on May 28, 1909, in Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama. She was the first and only daughter of Charles Pinkney Beard and Beatrice Brown. Beatrice died October 1, 1911 when Bizzie was only 2. Her father married again in 1914, giving 5 year old Bizzie a new step-mother and a step-brother and 3 step-sisters. She did tell me how she felt very close to her step-mother, I she also told me that she spent a few years with her grandmother, as well. I'm sure this helped to shape the woman she became.

She first appears in the 1910 census, in Etowah County, Alabama. She is with her parents, Pinkney C., 22, and Beatrice, 18. She is listed as Lee B., 9 months old. Her father is farming.

In 1930, still in Etowah County, Alabama, she is with her family, her father still farming. The household consists of Charley P., 25, Myrtle, 28, Busylee, 10, Louie L., 5, Franklyn P., 9 months, James Haney, 15, Beatrice Haney, 11, Georgia Haney, 9 and Zelma Haney is 8 years old. Here is the blended family, all still at home.

On November 13, 1929, in Keener, Etowah County, Alabama, she married Rufus Marvin Brock. I asked her once what her wedding was like. She laughed at that, and told me it was pouring rain and they had to take the wagon down to the store to find the preacher and was married on the back of a buckboard wagon in the pouring rain. I can't ever be sure this is true, but she wasn't the type to make it up. I believed her!

In the 1930 census she is shown in the house of her father, still in the same place, Etowah County, Alabama. The people in the household were: Chas. P, 43, Ada M., 41, Zelma Haney, 18, Louie, 15, Frank P., 11, John H., 8, Bertha M., 4, Leonard H., 3, Frances E., 1, Rufus Brock, 20, and Bessie L. Brock, 21. Quite a household! Both her father and her husband are listed as farmers. I know my grandfather, Rufus M., did not like farming, so he is not a happy camper.

In the 1940 census, she is with her husband in Van Buren Township, DeKalb County, Alabama. He is farming and they own the farm. Rufus was the one that gave the information to the census taker. Rufus is 30, Bizzie Lee is 30, Rufus Lee, my father, is 9, Robert, 6, Marcell (Morris), 2 years old.

Rufus and Bizzie moved from Collinsville, Alabama to Seymour, Indiana in 1950. He moved first on July 29, 1950, and Bizzie followed on September 10, 1950.  He was working at Arvin Industries and moved to Seymour to work in the new plant. She did not like winter.

Bizzie died on January 8, 1989, in Seymour, Indiana at the age of 79. She was buried beside her husband, in Riverview Cemetery, in Seymour.

Sources:
Birth Certificate Unnamed, birth certificate no. 304842 (1909), Attalla Department of Health, Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama, United States.
Amended January 3, 1972.
1910 US Census, 1910 US Census, (Cox, Etowah County, Alabama); Page: 12 Dwelling 37 Family 37, T624, no. 13, HeritageQuest.
1920 U.S. Census, 1920 U.S. Census, (Cox, Etowah County, Alabama); Page: 80 Dwelling 302 Family 305, T625, T625, NARA, Heritage Quest.
"Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950", database with images, FamilySearch, Rufus Brock and Bizzie Lee Beard, 1929.
1930 US Census, 1930 US Census, (Cox Precinct No.11, Etowah County, Alabama); Sheet No. 7 B + 8 A; Dwelling 118; Family 119; Line 5, Affiliate Film Number: 16; GS Film number: 2339751, Image Number: 00738, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
1940 US Census; Alabama. Dekalb County. Van Buren. Elec. Reg.5. 1940 US Census. NARA; Washington, DC 20408. 
Death certificate; Indiana, Marion, Indianapolis. Indiana State Department of Health, Vital Records; Bizzie Lee Brock, Seymour death certificate No 89-001198 (1989).

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