A Place to Remember

After four years of being on a genealogy hiatus, I have committed to organize my genealogy records and write a story a month this year.  I am going to use the challenge #52ancestors to keep me on track.  Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for the format.  Wish me luck!

S.H. Kress & Company, Market Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Postcard found on Pinterest, unknown author  
If you know author email please.

Week 1 / "start"

I am starting my #52Ancestors #AncestorChallenge2018 with this photo.  This picture is sentimental.  It is the place of my humble beginning, where my father met my mother in 1959.  It sounds like a simple enough event for a couple, meeting at the five and dime store, but it was at the start of the Civil Rights Movement.  You see, my father is African-American and my mother is white.  She worked at S. H. Kress and Company at the “colored lunch counter” in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  This was a state where race mattered and inter-racial marriage was outlawed.  My father worked at a pawn shop across the street from the five and dime store where he frequented for lunch.  My mother was the only employee willing to work at the “colored lunch counter” so she waitressed six days a week making it convenient for my father to see her often.  One day my father very bravely asked my mother if he could see her after work, and she very bravely said, “Yes”.  I am sure it was quite challenging for them to figure out how they were going to make it happen since racial segregation was the law, but they managed somehow to work it out.  

In February 1960, my parents moved north because of the death threats on my father’s life.  Around the same time, the lunch counter sit-ins began in the south including in Chattanooga.  Countless young African-Americans very bravely sat at "white only" lunch counters to non-violently protest segregation.  The protests led to the desegregation of lunch counters across the nation.  A few years back, I searched for a picture of Kress in Chattanooga and found a copy of this old postcard.  I wanted to capture the memory.  The photo represents my narrative and the story of those very brave youth, including my parents, who put their life on the line for change.  This is the place where it all started and a place I will always remember.

Who is Barney Wheeler?

I’ve researched the Wheeler side of my family­ for the past ten years.  I began tracing their lineage systematically one generation at a time beginning with my father James Browder Starks, his mother Gladys Wheeler Starks, her father David Isaac Wheeler, and his father Barney Wheeler.  The trail of information that I uncovered was interesting and exciting, and led to a wonderful discovery of family history.  Although I know there is more to learn, I have paused for an instant to write their story and to gain momentum for the next leg of the journey.

Barney Wheeler is my paternal 2 x’s great-grandfather, and he is the oldest ancestor I have on the Wheeler branch of the family tree.  At times, Barney was difficult to locate in the records until I stumbled upon the name “Bonny” Wheeler.  I'm not sure if Bonny was his nickname or a spelling variation based on how the name was pronounced.  Either way, Bonny was used more often than not in the records.  Although I don’t know his parent’s names, I do know they were from Virginia.  Barney was born circa 1850 in Georgia when Millard Fillmore was President and Georgia was a slave state.  Approximately 90% of Blacks were enslaved in the United States just prior to the Civil War, and even more were enslaved in the southern states.  Since I haven't found a record that shows Barney was a free man of color, more than likely he was born a slave.

The search for Barney’s slave owner was also difficult, but it is critical in breaking through that 1860 brick wall that many African Americans face when researching their family history.  I made three assumptions in tackling the research.  First, when Barney’s family was freed they took on the surname of their slave owner.    Second, there is a slave listed on the schedules whose description matches Barney's.  Third, Barney was living near the slave owner after Emancipation.

Charles A. Wheeler was a slave owner in 1850 in Floyd County, Georgia.  He owned 11 slaves and had $10,000 in real estate.  By 1860, his assets had increased.  He owned 40 slaves , and moved to Chattooga County, Georgia.  His real estate increased to $18,000, and his personal estate increased to $39,425.  He was the only Wheeler in both counties who owned slaves, and he was one of the largest slave owners.  If my assumptions hold true, Charles Augusta Wheeler was Barney’s slave holder and he was the reason for our family surname Wheeler.  On, January 19, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union and everything changed for both the slave and slave owner.

1879 Map of Chattooga County, Georgia

Like my Wheeler ancestors, Chattooga County has its own history prior to the Civil War.  It is located in the northwest corner of Georgia on the Alabama border, and is 40 miles south of the Tennessee state line.  It was named after the Chattooga River, and the land was originally settled by the “Mound Builders” a culture of nomadic indigenous people from North America.  Later, the land was settled by the Creek Nation and then the Cherokee Nation.  The Cherokee lived near Broomtown in the Shinbone Valley until the Native Americans were removed from the land through the “Trail of Tears” in 1829.  The land was then divided and given to the Europeans through the Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832.  The Lottery transformed the land into a thriving agricultural community that brought new settlers to the area, and impelled the local Legislature to establish Chattooga County in 1838.  One year later, Summerville was incorporated the county seat, and by 1840 the population was 3,438.

After Georgia was readmitted to the Union in June 1868, Barney married Adelia “Delia” Merrill on Christmas Day that same year in Chattooga County, Georgia.  Barney was 18 and Delia was a sweet 16 years old bride.  They had only been freed five years earlier in 1863 as children, and they didn’t travel very far from their meager beginnings.  In 1870, they lived in District 968 near Broomtown with their two children Arthur and Catherine.  Barney earned wages as a farmer and Delia took care of the home.  They were both illiterate because Georgia’s slave codes of 1848 prohibited a slave from being taught how to read or write.

Barney and Adelia's marriage record 1868

There were other Wheeler families in the community. Next door to Barney lived Zack and Ann Wheeler, and their four children including a son named Barney who was 11 years old and Agustas (named similar to slave owner) 6 years old. Zack was born in Virginia and was 45 years old.  The probability of kinship between these neighbors is high.  During that period, family ties kept relatives living in close proximity to one another.  In 1880, the population in Chattooga had grown to 10,021. Barney and Delia were still living in District 968 but now in Alpine with their seven children and a cousin named Harry Mitchell.  This was my first siting of my great-grandfather David Isaac Wheeler who was one of the children living in the household.  He was 6 years old. Several houses away were two more Wheeler families.  One family was David and Jane Wheeler and their daughter Irene.  The other family was Irene Wheeler and her four sons.  These families could also be related to Barney.

By 1880, Barney worked as a sharecropper in an agricultural labor system set-up during Reconstruction.  Since Barney didn’t own land of his own, he worked the land owned by someone else, and at the end of the season he was paid a small “share” of the profit for the crop he labored.  Reconstruction also established the poll tax.  In 1871, Georgia was one of the first states to initiate a poll tax.  The tax had to be paid in order for the individual to cast their vote.  The poll tax under Jim Crow only disenfranchised Blacks because they could not afford to pay the tax, and as a result were not allowed to vote in the elections.  The Chattooga County Property Tax Digest shows that Barney paid each and every poll tax from 1871-1891.  I would like to believe that he was able to use his right to vote, but have not found proof that he voted.

1870 US population census

During Reconstruction the economy slowed in Chattooga.  The crops changed to meet demand, but eventually the cash crops dwindled causing many people to leave the south and travel north to a stronger economic industrial community.  In 1891, Barney moved to La Fayette, Georgia about 24 miles north of Alpine.  During this time frame, Barney and Delia were living separately.  Delia and the children resided in Summerville, and their son Bass was the head of household.  Barney moved further north to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1900.  He was a boarder at the home of Aaron Sylar and he worked as a farm laborer.  In a changing world he learned how to read and write and got a job with The Chattanooga Plow Company in 1901.  The Chattanooga Plow Company was established in 1878 and was once one of the largest factories in the city.  They hired many Black employees that had previously been sharecroppers.  By 1901, they had a substantial growth in sales and had expanded into the Asian markets.

Chattanooga Plow Company

The rest of the family followed Barney to Chattanooga in 1903, but he and Delia continued to live separately.  After 1903, the next record found for Barney was the 1910 census in Chattanooga.  He was living in the household of E.H. Byrd as a servant.  Barney and his wife Delia were still living separate. He was listed as widowed and she was listed as divorced on the 1910 census.  She lived at 908 Fort Street. By 1911, he had moved to 1203 Walker Avenue in the Centerville neighborhood of Chattanooga.  His son David my great-grandfather owned a home right next door at 1205 Walker.  Both my father and grandmother grew up in this home.  I remember it well.   It was the Wheeler homestead and the address later changed to 2105 Walker Street.

19 11 Chattanooga City Directory

In 1911, Barney was about 61 years old.  I continued to look for more records but did not find any.  I searched the city directories from 1912 through 1922 and did not find a listing for Barney “Bonny” Wheeler.  He was also not located on the 1920 census record. Delia was on the 1920 census listed as widowed.  According to state law, Tennessee began keeping death records in 1914 (some counties like Chattanooga began earlier in 1908).  The state of Georgia began keeping death records in 1919.  I searched for a death certificate, but did not find one in Tennessee or Georgia for Barney.   

Information contained in this story can be proven through a source citation.  Please feel free to contact the author if you have questions 0411tmstarks@gmail.com.

Creating Family History from Grandma Gladys' Oral Tradition ~

By:  Tina Marie

My favorite part of family history is discovering the story.  That unique blend of family legend combined with nostalgic photographs, historic information, and the sentimental value of a personal reflection are all quite appealing to my genealogist senses.  My paternal grandmother Gladys Wheeler Starks made sure that I knew the history of her parent’s lives.  She would say in her southern drawl, “My parents were David Isaac Wheeler and Faithie Lyons.  David was born in February 1874 in Chattooga County, Georgia, and Faithie was born in September 1884 in Tennessee.”  My grandmother’s persistence to pass down their story made me feel a special kinship to my great-grandparents, so when I began to study my family's history they were the first ancestors I researched.

My first task was to find a photograph of David and Faithie.  I felt their picture would inspire me to stay focused on their research.  I spoke to many relatives but no one in the family had seen a photo of David, and my father was the only one who had a photo of Faithie.  My dad’s photograph was stored in a burgundy album on the top shelf of his closet nicely placed between two plastic photo pages.  It took me two years to get him to show me the photo and another 22 years to convince him to give me the photo. Finally, on August 16, 2012, Faithie’s picture moved from the burgundy photo album in my dad’s closet into an antique silver frame that appropriately sits in the center of my American Craftsman credenza.

Faithie Lyons Wheeler, c. 1905

My grandmother didn't know the names of her grandparents, so it took some time to locate them.  I found them on the 1870 and 1880 census.  David’s parents were Barney "Bonny" Wheeler and Adelia "Delia" Merrill.  They married on December 25, 1868, in Chattooga County, Georgia.  Barney was born circa 1850 in Georgia, and his date and place of death is unknown.  Delia was born circa 1852 in Virginia, and she died January 2, 1922, in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee.  Faithie’s father was Polk Lyons and he was born circa 1860 in Tennessee, and his date and place of death is unknown.  Each of them and their ancestors had survived the brutal institution of slavery.

I was unable to locate Faithie’s mother, because my grandmother said, “I was told Faithie’s mother died when she was very young.”  I had hit a brick wall and without her name, her date of death, the 1890 lost census, and no existing statewide death registry until 1909, it could take some time to locate this mysterious great-great-granny.

Pedigree Chart for Gladys Wheeler

In 1870 four years before David was born, Chattanooga became the county seat for Hamilton County, Tennessee.  By 1877, the city leaders decided to build a permanent courthouse.   They purchased three properties on Walnut Hill and selected A.C. Bruce as the architect.  The courthouse was designed with limestone arches and columns, and had an ornate bell tower that was visible on all four sides.  When the bells rang they could be heard throughout the city.  In 1879, the building was completed for $65,000 just in time for the booming industrial town that Chattanooga was becoming. The courthouse became the central focus of my research, since it houses many of the sources needed to prove lineage.

Hamilton County Courthouse, c. 1890

When the census enumerators came around in 1900, David was residing with his mother and siblings in Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia.  He was 25 years old and he was farming with his brothers.  Faithie was living with her aunt at 15 Weaver Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  She was 15 years old and was employed as a domestic servant.

David first appeared in Chattanooga records in the 1903 City Directory.  The population was 56,000 people and 70% of them were white.  David lived at 814 William Street and worked as a laborer at Wheland Machine Works.  Wheland was a foundry company that was a newly established business in Chattanooga.  It was interesting to see that at a time when the world was shifting from an agricultural to an industrial economy, the historical context of those events were influencing my family’s decisions.  I am sure that the wages from David’s job as a laborer is probably what brought him from rural Summerville to the city of Chattanooga.

1903 Chattanooga City Directory advertisement

Between 1900 and 1903, David met and married Faithie.  My grandmother said they had a world-wind romance.  When I asked her what that meant, she gave a gentle laugh and said, “On December 13, 1903, they were married at the Hamilton County Courthouse.”  In celebration of their marriage, I can just imagine hearing the bells at the courthouse tower ringing throughout the city announcing the Wheeler's nuptials.  I obtained their marriage certificate in 2012 and noticed that the groom was listed as Dave Wheeler and the bride’s name was listed incorrectly as Facey Lines.  I looked up the original hand written document in the marriage registry book and it had the same incorrect information.  When I saw the error it made me think about my grandmother’s laugh.  I guess the world-wind romance that my grandmother referred to caused her name to get lost in translation.

Marriage Certificate, 1903

David and Faithie had their first child Lovie Wheeler in 1906.  According to the 1907 City Directory, they owned a home at 1205 Walker Avenue in the Centerville neighborhood.  My grandmother Gladys Wheeler was born in the home on May 20, 1908, and Daisy Wheeler the youngest daughter was born in 1910.  Both Lovie and my grandmother were born before 1909 when Tennessee law did not require a statewide registry of births, so they do not have a birth certificate.  However, a deed for the property does exist because David and Faithie returned to the Hamilton County Courthouse to register the deed for the property.  They must have returned prior to May 7, 1910, because on that date, the Hamilton County Courthouse was struck by lightning and a fire erupted.  The bell tower was destroyed and the building had to be demolished.  Fortunately for me, the records inside the building escaped the fire.  A new courthouse was designed by architect Reuben H. Hunt and it was built at the same location.  It cost $350,000 and the building was completed and dedicated in 1913.

Hamilton County Courthouse, 1913

According to the Chattanooga City Directory, David and Faithie were living at 2105 Walker Avenue in 1921.  The change in address from 1205 to 2105 was a little confusing.  I had always known my grandparents lived at 2105 Walker but never knew anything about 1205 Walker.  According to the staff at the Addressing Department at the Hamilton County Courthouse, there has never been a 1205 Walker Avenue.  The staff believes that the change in address in the city directory was caused by a typographical error.  The 1910 and 1920 census disputes this theory.  Both census have the house number listed as 1205.  In the 1930 census it has 2105.  On my research trip to Chattanooga in 2012, I went to see my great-grandparent’s old home and a church occupies a portion of the land today.  I looked for the address 1205 Walker Avenue, but it did not exist and Walker Avenue has become Walker Street.  My theory is the house numbers were reorganized around the year 1921.

My grandmother married my grandfather LaGrant Starks on June 23, 1930.  They lived in the home with my great-grandparents until they passed away.  My great-grandparents died eight months apart.  Faithie died on June 10, 1936, and David died on February 12, 1937. They are both buried in the Highland Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Chattanooga.  David does not have a grave marker, but he made sure that Faithie had one upon her death.  Her marker says, “Faithie wife of Dave Wheeler, Sept 13, 1884 - June 10, 1936”. 

Grave Marker for Faithie Lyons Wheeler

Like my grandmother my dad did not know his grandparents.  He was born almost two years after their death.  My grandmother Gladys Wheeler Starks died on September 22, 1988 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I feel fortunate that I got to know my grandmother and was able to experience her love of oral tradition.  In August 2012, after years of family research I returned for a visit to Chattanooga.   To help me bring this story to life, I traveled the streets my ancestors walked, visited the land they owned, sleuthed the documents they left, and touched the ground of their final resting place.  A story that once seemed abstract and distant now felt very personal.  All because of a grandmother’s persistence in telling the story and a granddaughter’s love for family history.

Information contained in this story can be proven through a source citation.  Please feel free to contact the author if you have questions 0411tmstarks@gmail.com.