Amy Johnson Crow of No Story To Small has started a challenge of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
From her blog “The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.”
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| L. Cora Deese, R. Lucy Pearl (Deese) Purvis |
The focus of my blog today is my grand Aunt Cora Lee Deese. Cora and her sisters were very close so it’s hard to talk only about Aunt Cora because Lizzie and her other sisters were an integral part of her life.
Aunt Cora was born in rural North Carolina (Anson County) in August 1895. Her father, John Calvin Deese was a dirt farmer living near Morven, North Carolina. John Calvin had married Louvena Huneycutt on 9 April 1884. He and Louvena had four children, all girls, when Louvena died the day after the birth of their fourth child, who also died. This left John Calvin with three girls ages 4, 3 and 2. This was a major event in the life of a farmer who worked the fields from sunrise to sunset. I wrote about John Calvin family in a previous posting that can be found here. 1 2 3
John Calvin was forced to make arrangements for the children; thus forcing him to find a wife to care for these children. That young lady turned out to be Sarah Frances “Fannie” Gathings, born 6 October 1858, a daughter of William W. Gathings and Charlotte Jones. John Calvin and Sarah Frances were married 4 February 1892 in Anson County. By the time of Aunt Cora’s arrival in Aug 1895, this blended family consisted of three older half-sister (Lucy, Theresa and Etta) and her sister, Winnie Elizabeth “Aunt Lizzie” Deese, born 10 Sept 1893. 4
The 1900 Census shows the family with the exception of Aunt Etta, age 12; she has not been found in the 1900 Census. 5
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| 1910 Anson County |
The 1900 census shows that John Calvin and Fannie lived on a farm they owned and that the farm was mortgaged. In 1909, Fannie’s father W. SW. Gathings died leaving 49 1/2 acres to his two daughters; Sarah Frances wife of John Calvin and Clara wife of Zachariah Deese, John Calvin’s brother.
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| 1910 Anson County |
As stated in yesterdays posting, Aunt Cora never married and by 1930 we see that all the children, except for Cora, have departed the home.
Cora is still in the home most likely helping her Mother to care for her Father. John Calvin dies on 1 April 1930. Sarah Frances lived for another 20 years, passing away in March 1950. It’s most likely that it was at the passing of her Mother that Cora went to live with her sister Lizzie Streater. Cora and her mother, Sarah Frances “Fannie” have not been found in the 1940 Census; but, I’m still looking for them. 7 8 9
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| Photo courtesy of Google Images |
After our move to the Robert E. Little farm in 1950, we saw much more of Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Cora. The distance between our home and my aunts was about 1 mile. At this time in my life I was in my early teens and one thing that children did while visiting was to make themselves scarce. During visitation, the adults sat on the front porch or in the parlor discussing whatever “old folks” talked about during these time and the children made sure they were seen but not heard. One admonition that our Aunts always made to us children was to “don't go near the well.”
Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Cora house was typical of houses of that period. The house, was an unpainted wood frame home sitting among a bunch of pecan trees. John Grisham’s “A Painted House” is an excellent representation of this era in the South. The well, used to draw water for drinking, cooking and bathing, was behind the home just short distance. Surrounding the home on most sides were cotton fields; cotton and tobacco were major crops in Anson County back in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
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| Cotton Bale |
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| Cotton Field |
The photo above (top of page) of Aunt Cora and her sister, Grandma Pearly was taken in January 1960. Aunt Cora on the left was 65 and Grandma Pearly on the right was 75 years old. In May of 1960, I graduated from high school and later that year entered the Air Force. Visits with Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Cora became very infrequent from 1960 till their death; first, Aunt Cora in 1968, Grandma Pearly in 1970 and then Aunt Lizzie in June 1980. These were some very enjoyable times with my Aunts, during my teens years in the 1950’s. 10 11 12 13
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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 June 2011); Memorial page for Cora Deese; (18 August 1895–16 April 1968); Find a Grave memorial # 38280100, Citing Morven Cemetery; Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, United States.
2. State of North Carolina, marriage (9 April 1884), John Calvin Deese & Lavinia Honeycutt; https://www.ancestry.com, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.
3. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed June 2011); Memorial page for Louvena Huneycutt Deese; (10 November 1857–16 October 1889); Find a Grave memorial # 80710365, Citing Cedar Creek Meeting House Cemetery; Lilesville, Anson County, North Carolina, USA.
4. State of North Carolina, marriage (4 February 1892), John Calvin Deese & Frances Gathings; https://www.ancestry.com, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.
5. 1900 US Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #8, Page 152A; Line 26, Dwelling 52, Family 52, Household of Calvin DEES; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 12 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T623, Roll 1181.
6. 1910 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #0011, Page 165B; Line 89, Dwelling 208, Family 217, Household of John C. DEES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : Viewed 14 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T624, Roll 1096.
7. 1920 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #13, Page 194A; Line 26, Dwelling 148, Family 148, Household of John C. DEES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 14 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm Series: T625, Roll: 1283.
8. 1930 US Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 18, Page: 4B & 5A/25B & 26A; Line 100, Dwelling 82, Family 83, Household of Calvin J. DEESE; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 2 January 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T626, Roll 1672.
9. State of North Carolina, death (2 April 1930), Calvin Deere [Deese]; https://www.ancestry.com, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.
10. State of North Carolina, death no. 13852 (16 April 1968), Miss Cora Lee Deese; https://www.ancestry.com, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.
11. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Cora Deese (18 August 1895–16 April 1968), Memorial # 38280100.
12. Social Security Administration, Ancestry database, Ancestry, (http://www.ancestry.com : <viewed|accessed> 13 May 2011), Cora L. Deese, 246-01-xxxx, before 1951 derived from U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File,database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, 24 July 2011).
13. Miss Cora Lee Deese obituary, The Chesterfield Advertiser, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 18 April 1968,
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