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Last Names
Askew | Crutchfield | Dabney | Goode | Terrell | Tillman

Family Tree (in progress)

Image is from iStock by Getty Images

In Loving Memory of…

 

The loss of my father has been an absolutely devastating blow.  My hero is gone, and so is my motivation to continue this journey.

The child that still dwells within me wanted to believe that Dad would live forever.  Even though I saw him weak, bedridden, and helpless.  I still wanted to believe that by some miracle, Dad would get up out of that hospice bed and walk.  He wanted to do it, so badly.

Dad knew his life was coming to an end, and he took it like a champ.  He was sad, but he was brave.  He continued to worry more about others than himself, and always tried to do the right thing even when death was staring him in the face.

A Second Look: The Now Not-So-Mysterious Mary

Image is from emmausroadfc.org.

It took a while, but I was able to obtain a copy of Mary’s certificate of death from the Georgia Department of Public Health.  My grandfather, Lish Askew, is indeed documented as the spouse of Mary, who’s maiden name is likely Hayes, and he was also the informant for her death.  His signature is recorded on the document.

A Second Look: More about Lish and Mary

Through a combination of census records and city directories, I’ve pieced together a rather troubled relationship between my grandfather, Lish Askew, and his first wife, Mary.

Using information from the 1930 census, I estimated that Lish and Mary were married in about 1926.  Whether or not it was a legal marriage, I cannot say.  From past conversations with older family members, common law marriage in the Black community during the Jim Crow Era was not uncommon.  This meant the woman could use the man’s last name without having a legally binding document or ceremony.  If the relationship went sour, they could pack up and go their separate ways without the need for messy divorce proceedings.  Most of us back then didn’t have a whole lot of possessions to fight over in the first place.  It’s possible that this could have been the arrangement or understanding between the two of them.

What happened to Robert Lee Crutchfield?

This is a question that I have been asking for at least seven years now, and never received a straight answer.  Whenever I asked, the answer I’d always gotten was, “it was a very sad time,” but no one would ever go into further detail to share WHY it was a very sad time.  A few days ago, I found out why.

Detroit Free Press, 08 Mar 1974, p. 49

I had a feeling his death was tragic because living family members that remember these events ignore the opportunity to say more.  Everything about it felt so hush-hush.  Even down to his funeral program.  It’s two barely-there pages.  Just enough to say that he was born, had children, died and left a mother and siblings behind.  There was no grand life story written for Robert Lee Crutchfield, nor mention of where his remains are interred.  Were there shameful circumstances surrounding his death?

Project Roots: Tillman – 1920 U.S. Federal Census

1920 U.S. Federal Census – Georgia, Jones, Whites, District 0130
Sheet No. 3B – Enumerated on 6 February 1920
Farm

Tillman – 1920 U.S. Federal Census

My great-grandfather, Rev. Rufus J. Tillman, Sr, was recorded as 27 years of age of the 1920 census.  This is incorrect.  He was born on the 10th of January in 1897.  On the date of enumeration, he would have been 23 years of age.