Masina Elizabeth Lankford

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Masina Elizabeth Lankford, daughter of William Mell Lankford and Nancy Ella Young, was born in Oglethorpe County, Georgia on December 15, 1896 (see below regarding her birth). She was the fifth child of nine—Grover Bennett Lankford, Howard Young Lankford, Annie Lou Lankford, Robert “Chester” Lankford, Masina Elizabeth Lankford, Vesta Bell Lankford, Pauline Lankford, William Reese Lankford, and Otis Elmore Lankford. Masina is my 2nd cousin 3x removed. Our nearest common relatives are Charles L. Lankford and Miss Moore. Her paternal grandfather was Robert Chester Lankford, brother of my 3rd great-grandfather, James Meriweather Lankford.

As soon as I started working on this post, I noticed a problem. The census record, enumerated on June 21, 1900, recorded Masina’s birth as December 1889 which is different than the year 1896 that is engraved on her tombstone. 

So, I guess let’s see where this leads us. 

Ten-year-old Masina and her family lived in a farm rented in Fluker, Greene County, Georgia in 1900. She was enumerated as Masinah, and as mentioned above, her birth was recorded as December 1889. Her parents had been married for 17 years and her mother had given birth to eight children, seven of which were living. That accounts for the loss of Masina’s brother Grover, who died at nine months of age on July 12, 1885. The family buried Grover at Bairdstown Cemetery. Her father was a farmer and brother Howard a farm laborer. Masina and her sister Annie were both attending school. Masina’s maternal uncle, Jim Young, lived with the family and also worked as a farm laborer.

On April 20, 1910, Masina and her family lived on Bowhill Green Road in Bairdstown. Masina was enumerated as age 19 which if correct, would mean she was born about 1891. Still not the 1896 on her tombstone. Since the last census was taken, Masina’s mother had given birth to another sibling—a brother named Otis. Sadly, at age 12, Otis would die in an accidential shooting in Greene County, Georgia on December 29, 1914. Otis was buried in the family plot at Bairdstown Cemetery. Masina’s father worked as a farmer on a general farm. Her brother Chester worked as a laborer on a home farm. Everyone except William and Otis could read and write. Both William and Otis were attending school. A news article published in The Athens Daily Herald stated that Masina and her sister Vesta lived in Bairdstown in June 1917. A second article published in September 1917 stated they lived in Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. In both cases, they were visiting a friend named Miss Ida Power who lived in Winterville, Clarke County, Georgia.

On January 7, 1920, 28-year-old Masina lived with her parents on Lexington Road in Bairdstown. If her age was correct, that would make her birth year about 1892, having just had a birthday in December. Along with Masina, there were three adult siblings still living at home—Vesta, Pauline, and William. Her paternal uncle, Charles Lankford, lived in the home as well. Everyone in the home worked except for Masina and her mother. Her father was a farmer on a home farm, Vesta a common school teacher, Pauline a high school teacher, William a manager on a home farm, and uncle Charles painted houses. Masina’s brother Chester (enumerated as Robert C.) and his wife Mendie (Hayes) lived next door. In November 1926, Masina was involved in a two car accident that involved her sister Annie and her husband John Mayo, and three of their children—James, Billy, and Anne. They were all apparently sitting in the Mayo car in front of Masina’s house in the Athens area when another driver lost control of their car and struck the Mayo car. Masina’s sister Annie sustained severe injuries and was taken to Athens General Hospital. It was noted in the news article detailing the accident that Masina taught school in the neighborhood and was a boarder in the house she lived in at the time. A year later, Masina and her sister Vesta attended a weiner and marshmallow roast in the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Crawford in August 1927.

I’ve been unable to find Masina in the 1930 census records. She’s not in Crawford or Bairdstown, both in Oglethorpe County. I found Vesta teaching in Bibb County but Masina wasn’t with her. Masina’s mother Nancy died on December 9, 1933 in Oglethorpe County. The family buried Nancy at Bairdstown Cemetery. Masina’s brother Chester died of heart disease in St. Louis, Missouri on October 22, 1938. His body was brought home to Georgia and buried at Bairdstown Cemetery. Masina lived in Crawford, Oglethorpe County, Georgia at the time according to Chester’s obituary.

On April 5, 1940, Masina was a lodger in the home of Connie Hopkins, located in Bradberrys, Clarke County, Georgia. She’d been living in that home since at least 1935. Masina was teaching in the public school system with a yearly income of $630. Masina’s father died in Oglethorpe County on October 6, 1944. She and her brother-in-law John Mayo were named as administrators of the estate on December 4, with Masina being the principal. Masina was required to take an inventory of the estate by January 1, 1945.

By the time Masina’s sister Vesta died on Christmas Day 1963, Masina had moved back to Crawford. Vesta named Masina as the executrix in her will and left her entire estate to Masina. Vesta was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery. Masina was still living in Crawford when her sister Annie died on September 7, 1966. The family gathered at Masina’s Crawford home after Annie’s burial at Crawford City Cemetery. The family gathered again in 1967 when Masina’s brother Howard died on October 26. Howard was buried at West View Abbey in Atlanta. Masina’s sister Pauline died unexpectedly on May 25, 1969. Pauline was buried at Crawford City Cemetery on May 27. Masina apparently felt she needed to get her affairs in order and prepared her will on August 16 that same year.

Excerpt from Masina's will

Masina, the last of the four Lankford sisters, died in an Athens, Clarke County, Georgia hospital on June 11, 1972 following a six weeks illness. She was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery following a service held at Crawford Baptist Church. Masina lived in Oglethorpe County the majority of her life. She never married and was always called “Baby.” She graduated from the University of Georgia and was a school teacher for over 40 years, teaching in Clarke, Oglethorpe, and Rockdale counties in Georgia. Masina was 75 years old at the time of her death. 

Her Last Will and Testament was filed in Crawford, Georgia on July 7, 1972. She named her brother William as her executor and relieved him “from making any inventory or appraisement, from giving any bond, and from making any return to any court.” In addition to requesting that all her debts be paid and that she be buried in a Christian-like manner, she requested her “funeral arrangements be as nearly like that of my deceased sister, Vesta, as possible, and it is my desire that a monument similar to that over her grave be placed over my grave.” Some of her furniture apparently belonged to her sister Annie and her husband John Mayo. Masina directed that the furniture be given to their children as it was not part of her estate. The pieces included the following:

• All of the furniture in her front bedroom, with the exception of the mattress and springs
• Matching pieces of dining room furniture (table, buffet, china cabinet, all dishes in the china cabinet, and six chairs)
• Spool bed, dresser and bench, and chest of drawers, including the bed linen in the drawers, which was in the back bedroom
• Dining room furniture and dishes in the china cabinet

Masina had already given a living room desk to Anne (Annie’s daughter) and Charles Lambeth so she instructed William to have it delivered to the couple. All other furniture was left to her beneficiaries named below, with the hope that it could be agreeably divided between them. If they could not agree upon a division, then she authorized her executor to sell the same and divide the proceeds in the same manner as the residue of her estate.

Masina named the following beneficiaries:

• One share to her brother William, or his wife and children (share and share alike) should he predeceased her.
• One share to Anne Mayo Lambeth, William Mayo, and James Mayo (one-third share to be equally divided between them), the three children of her deceased sister, Annie.
• One share to Mendie Lankford, wife of her deceased brother, Chester. In the event Mendie predeceased Masina, then her share was to be equally divided between her six children—Robert C. Lankford, Mell Lankford, Norris Lankford, Otis Lankford, Nancy Lankford Rodden, and Vesta Lankford Murphy.

Masina left her brother William all of the bank certificates she owned at the time of her death. She directed that all the rest and residue of her estate be divided into three equal shares:

• One share to her brother William. Should he predecease her, then it would pass to his wife and children, share and share alike.
• One share to her sister Annie’s three children (named above) to be equally divided.
• One share to her sister-in-law Mendie Lankford. Should Mendie predecease Masina, then it would pass to her six children (named above).

Masina filed her will on August 16, 1969. One of the witnesses on her will was Connie Hopkins, her landlord in 1940.

Now back to her birthdate. The paper trail is all over the place, but which one do you believe? 

• Tombstone: December 15, 1896
• 1900 census: Dec 1889
• 1910 census: 1891
• 1920 census: 1892
• 1930 census: ??
• 1940 census: 1899
• Georgia Deaths, 1919-98 database: abt. 1897
• Social Security Death Index: December 15, 1896

If you have a record that proves the 1896 date, I’d love to hear from you.

References

• Estate Case File, Last Will and Testament of Vesta Bell Lankford, 1964, F. D. Maxey, Ordinary, Georgia, Oglethorpe County.
• Estate Case File, Masina Lankford, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742–1992.
• Grover B. Lankford tombstone, Bairdstown Cemetery, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.
• Last Rites Held Sun. for Howard Langford, Oglethorpe Echo, November 2, 1967.
• Lexington Personal and Social News, The Banner-Herald, Athens, Georgia, August 31, 1927.
• Masina E. Lankford, Georgia, U.S., Death Index, 1919–1998.
• Masina Lankford, Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742–1992.
• Masina Lankford, U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014.
• Miss Masina Lankford obituary, Athens Banner Herald, June 12, 1972.
• Miss Vesta Lankford obituary, Oglethorpe Echo, December 26, 1963.
• Mr. Chester Lankford obituary, Oglethorpe Echo, October 27, 1938.
• Mrs. Annie Lankford Mayo obituary, Athens Banner Herald, September 8, 1966.
• Personal visit to Bairdstown Cemetery.
• Seven Injured and Two Cars Wrecked in One Accident, Jackson Herald, Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia, November 18, 1926.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1910, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bradberrys, Clarke County, Georgia, 1940.
• U.S. Federal Census, Fluker, Greene County, Georgia, 1900.
• Winterville, The Athens Daily Herald, Athens, Georgia, June 15, 1917 and September 21, 1917.