52 Ancestors – Carroll Harvey Lankford Sr. (98-2016)

Carroll Harvey Lankford Sr., WWI

Carroll Harvey Lankford Sr., son of Alice Beman Lankford and a “to be determined” father, was born September 21, 1887 in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. He was given the name Carroll I assume to honor his great-grandmother, Caroline B. (Hobbs) Lankford.

Carroll was my paternal grandfather. He is also my brick wall. As noted above, we don’t really know who his father was and so far I have been unable to unravel this mystery. The family lore is that in early 1887, his mother was allegedly raped by Thomas P. Janes Jr., the son of Thomas P. Janes Sr., a local farmer and Georgia’s first Commissioner of Agriculture. Alice, who would have been about 15 years old at the time, became pregnant as a result of the alleged rape and gave birth to a son whom she gave her maiden name as his last name. Over the years, Daddy has told me many times that two school teachers in Woodville, Greene County, Georgia pulled him and his older sister aside and shared this story with them. The paper trail—census records, military records, social security records, and obituaries—just add to the mystery. I have yet to find a birth record for Carroll. The family Bible only lists his mother, Alice (Lankford) Callaway. But the fact that Carroll was given his mother’s maiden name tells me that something happened or else I would have grown up with a different surname.

I doubt Alice’s parents would have put her and their infant grandson out on the streets so I imagine Carroll spent his first years living in his grandparents’ home but I really have no way of knowing that. When Carroll was 10, his mother married Robert Dawson Callaway, son of Lemuel Lawrence Lunceford Callaway Jr. and Anna Josephine Mullins, in Greene County on October 27, 1897. It wasn’t long before Carroll had a stepbrother, Homer Crawford Callaway, who was born in Greene County on February 6, 1899.

Updated 5/8/26 to correct Lemuel's middle name.

On June 9, 1900, the census enumerator visited the Callaway household and only found Alice, Robert, and Homer living together in Woodville. The enumerator recorded Alice as having had one child, who was living in the home. So that means Alice did not tell the enumerator about her oldest son Carroll. But where was he? So far, I haven’t been able to find him in 1900 census records. He wasn’t living in Woodville with his grandparents James and Mary Ann (Wilson) Lankford. His great-grandmother Caroline (Hobbs) Lankford was living in Penfield but he’s wasn’t living with her either. In fact, I don’t find him living in Penfield at all—the place where he spent most of his life. Why would a 13 year old boy not be living with his mother?

On May 10, 1910, Carroll was back with his mother, stepfather Robert, and brother Homer on Greensboro Road in Woodville. The census enumerator recorded his name as “Carrel L. Callaway.” He was a farmer on a general farm and was able to read and write so he must have attended school. The census enumerator recorded his age as 19 which would have meant he was born about 1891, not 1887, if that were true. That birth year is seen on records throughout his life. Here the census enumerator recorded Alice as having had two children, both of which were living.

Carroll married Eva Askew on March 28, 1913 in Greene County, Georgia. The marriage was short lived though. When Carroll registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, he stated that he was single and had no dependents. He was 26 years old at the time, a national born citizen born in Greene County, Georgia who currently lived in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia. He was employed as a farmer for W. W. Boswell in the 146th District. Carroll noted that he was of medium build, had blue eyes, dark hair, and was not bald. His birthday was recorded as September 21, 1891 on his draft registration card. He stated that he had no one who was solely dependent on his support. Nothing else is known about Eva or their marriage. I do vaguely recall hearing that she was the sister of Kittie Lorene Askew who married Samuel A. Burnette, brother of Carroll’s second wife and my grandmother, Floria Mae Burnette. If that is correct, Eva’s parents would be Clarence W. Askew and Adaline “Annie” Ruth Mullins. Carroll was inducted into the U.S. Army in Greensboro on September 6, 1917 and sent to Camp Gordon in Chamblee, northeast of Atlanta, for training. He was a blacksmith at the time of enlistment. Army records stated that he had blue eyes, dark hair, a ruddy complexion, and was 5 feet 4 1/2 inches in height. Carroll was promoted to Sargent, Camp Utilities, Construction Division, Q.M.C. on December 18, 1918. On January 3, 1919, the Greensboro Herald Journal noted that “Mr. Carroll Lankford of Camp Wheeler, is at home for the holidays.” Carroll was honorably discharged on demobilization on April 10 or 11, 1919 (two records, two different dates) after never having to serve overseas. He was single at the time of his discharge. He was shown as having excellent character and was paid $81.13 plus a $60 bonus at the time of his discharge. His discharge papers stated that he was born in Greensboro, Georgia and was 27 years old.

World War I service card

Men ordered to report from Greene County

1913 marriage license for Carroll and Eva Askew

I believe I have spent more time looking for Carroll in census records than any other person in my family tree. Using the ancestry.com search engine, I have searched every variation of his name I could think of in the 1920 census records and came up with nothing. I finally spent two days looking page by page of every city and town in Greene and Oglethorpe counties. There was only one possibility that I could find—on January 13, 1920, the census enumerator recorded a 28 year old, single person named Calvin Lankford living in Penfield. I say “person” because the census enumerator marked an “F” under the sex column but I doubt this person was a female. He rented the home, lived alone, and was a blacksmith. It makes sense to me. Carroll spent most of his life in Penfield and both his mother and brother lived in Penfield in 1920. The age is off a little but that’s happened before with him. At age 28, this person would have been born about 1892. For now, I’ll assume that’s him and will continue to look for proof.

Carroll married Floria Mae Burnette, daughter of Thomas Terrell Burnette and Elizabeth Jones, on March 12, 1922 in Penfield. Together they had eight children—Carroll Harvey Lankford Jr., Floria Lucile Lankford, Samuel Terrell Lankford, Alice Lankford, Elizabeth Lankford, Grover Hampton Lankford, Clark Eugene Lankford, and Betty Ann Lankford.

1922 marriage license for Carroll and Floria Burnette

As the family grew during the 1920s and 1930s, they moved between Penfield in Greene County and Stephens and Maxeys in Oglethorpe County. I haven’t found them in 1930 census records yet which has been a disappointment because Daddy would be in the record. I tried searching page by page again but no luck this time. I do remember Daddy telling me that Carroll wouldn’t let Jack Delano, a photographer for the Farmers Home Administration, take their picture. Mr. Delano came to Greene County in the early 1940s to photograph farmers for the book Tenants of the Almighty by Arthur F. Raper. Carroll didn’t want them to be seen as a poor farmer family. Maybe it was the same when the census enumerator came around in 1930.

Bob and Alice (Lankford) Callaway (not included in the Raper book).
One of the photos taken by Jack Delano.

Carroll and his family lived in Maxeys in April 1935 but by April 11, 1940, had moved to Woodville where he was a farmer on his own farm. He had a fourth grade education and had worked 72 hours the week prior to this census being recorded. By the way, it took me four years to find them in the 1940 census record. The census enumerator recorded him as “Caral Lanford.” I searched several variations of the name Lankford but never thought to leave the “k” out, nor did I think to change the spelling of Carroll. I finally did a page by page search of the towns I knew they might have lived in and found them.

Grandpa and Grandma with their eight children—front: 
Carroll Harvey Jr. (AKA Sport), Grover, Clark, and Sam; back: Liz (twin),
Lucile, Grandma (Floria), Grandpa (Carroll Sr.), Alice (twin), and Betty (ca. September 1959)

Sam, Carroll’s second son, left home in 1944 and joined the U.S. Navy. He returned home in 1946 and stayed for a year before moving to Atlanta in 1947 where he lived with his aunt Julia Burnette Gregory, his mother’s sister. Julia’s husband was a plumber and taught Sam the profession. Sam eventually brought his brothers Grover and Clark to Atlanta and they too became plumbers. Of the boys in the family, this left only his oldest son, Carroll Jr., in Greene County with his parents. Sam owned the house that Carroll and Floria lived in. When he left for Atlanta, he put the house in his mother’s name because he didn’t want to pay the taxes on the house. Carroll sold pulpwood off the land and bought 20 additional acres, giving them a total of 25–30 acres. He purchased another piece of property from the government between Greensboro and Penfield but was unable to pay for the land and had to file bankruptcy on that piece of property. Daddy remembers that the property had a tree on it that they called the “half way tree.” There was also a well on the land. A stagecoach ran between Greensboro and Penfield and they stopped the stagecoach at the well to water the mules.

When Carroll applied for his social security number in 1947, he recorded his father as Jim Lankford and his mother as Mary Wilson. Jim and Mary Lankford were actually his mother’s parents. I have tracked James and Mary Lankford through all but the 1890 census (which was destroyed by fire) and have never found a son named Carroll H. Lankford listed with the family. He recorded his birth year as 1889 vs. 1887 on this record. Carroll lived in Penfield. His death certificate and tombstone have the birth year as 1887.

Carroll's social security number application

The Veterans Administration awarded Carroll a monthly pension of $60 for non-service-connected disability on October 26, 1949. The pension ran from July 7, 1949 to September 20, 1954 and was set to increase to $72 on September 21, 1954.

Carroll’s mother Alice died at Homer’s house in Union Point, Greene County, Georgia on December 5, 1951. She was buried at Penfield Cemetery in Penfield. The Herald Journal ran her obituary on December 14, 1951. Carroll was listed as her brother rather than her son:

MRS. R. D. CALLAWAY DIES AT UNION POINT—Mrs. Alice Lankford Callaway, 79 years of age, died Wednesday, December 5th at the home of her son, Mr. Homer Callaway in Union Point. Mrs. Callaway was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Lankford of Penfield. She was born August 11, 1872 in Penfield. Mrs. Callaway had been married for 54 years. She was a member of the Penfield Baptist Church. Survivors are her husband, Mr. Robert Dawson Callaway, of Union Point; son, Homer C. Callaway, of Union Point; two sisters, Mrs. Jack Callaway, of Greensboro; Mrs. W. A. McCollum, of Smyrna; four brothers, N. L. Lankford, of Union Point; V. T. Lankford, of Penfield; Oliver Lankford, of Atlanta; brother, Carroll Lankford, Penfield; six grandchildren, nine great grandchildren. The funeral services occurred on Thursday, Dec. 6th Rev. L. T. Newland and Rev. R. W. Greene officiating. Services at the Penfield Baptist Church. Interment in Penfield cemetery. The pallbearers were Messrs. T. R. Walker, T.F. Yearwood, D. L. Wolker, H. W. Lankford, H. V. Lankford, Julius Callaway. M. H. Callaway and Co. funeral directors, Union Point.

I wonder what went through Carroll’s mind when he read that. I also wonder who provided the information for the obituary. Did Carroll have any say in what was written?

Carroll’s stepfather Bob Callaway died in Union Point on March 1, 1955. He was buried beside Alice in Penfield Cemetery.

Floria and Carroll Lankford

In September 1969, his wife Floria was diagnosed with cancer. Carroll and Floria moved into a nursing home but they hated it so moved in with their daughter and son-in-law, Lucille and Ralph Epps. The cancer was bad and they needed money to pay medical expenses so Sam hired a local lawyer, Miles Walker Lewis, to change the property from his mother’s name to Ralph’s. As needed, Ralph sold the property in lots to pay Floria’s medical expenses. After everything was sold off and all bills were paid, there was $500 left. Floria succumbed to cancer in Greensboro on March 3, 1970. She was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. I remember the night she died. I must have heard the phone ring and went upstairs to see what was happening. I remember Daddy standing in the dining room with his hands covering his face, crying. This is the only time I have seen Daddy cry in my lifetime.

Carroll lost his will to live after Floria died. He was despondent at one point and told his son-in-law Ralph ... “I just want to be up on the hill with Mama.” Ralph said ... “well you have kids Pa” and Carroll told him ... “it just wasn’t the same.” Several days before Carroll died, he visited Floria’s grave at Bairdstown Cemetery. While standing there, he was overheard saying “I’ll be with you soon.” He died of a stroke at the age of 82 at Boswell Memorial Hospital in Greensboro on May 13, 1970 after a five day stay. The night he died, his son Sam remembers dreaming about his Pa. He told me he remembers his Pa telling him ... “don’t go that way ... that’s a one way street.” Sam was woken by the phone that night by his brother Clark calling to tell him their Pa was gone. Clark was with him when he died, as he was with his mother when she died. Carroll was buried beside his wife Floria at Bairdstown Cemetery the following day, May 14. The Athens Banner-Herald published his obituary that same day:

Carroll Lankford—Union Point—Funeral services for Mr. Carroll H. Lankford Sr., 82, of Penfield who died Wednesday, were to be held today at 3 p.m. at the Bairds Baptist Church in Union Point with the Rev. Robert C. Black officiating. Burial in the church cemetery. Survivors include four daughters, Mrs. Ralph Epps of Union Point, Mrs. J. L. Griffith of Washington, Mrs. Willard Epps of Kingston and Mrs. Kenneth Elrod of Greensboro; four sons, Carroll H. Lankford Jr. of Union Point, Samuel T. Lankford, Grover H. Lankford and Clark E. Lankford, all of Atlanta; one half-brother, Homer Callaway of Union Point; 26 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Mr. Lankford was a native of Greene County and was a retired farmer and blacksmith. He was a member of the Shiloh Baptist Church and the M. C. Overton Post of the American Legion in Greensboro and was a veteran of World War I. Callaway Funeral Home of Union Point is in charge of arrangements.

I note that the obituary lists his half-brother, Homer Callaway—the same person who was listed as Alice (Lankford) Callaway’s surviving son while Carroll was listed as her brother. Carroll’s death certificate listed his father as Joe Lankford and his mother as Alice (Lankford) Callaway. His oldest daughter Lucille was the informant. We don’t know who Joe Lankford was and I guess we’ll never know. The Social Security Death Index listed his birthdate as September 21, 1892. I thought it would be interesting to see how his birthdate and age bounced all over the place so put the table below together. You can see how confusing the paper trail is.

Record	Date of Record	Birthdate	Age
1910 census	May 10, 1910		19
WWI draft registration card	June 5, 1917	September 21, 1891	26
WWI service card	September 6, 1917		27
1920 census	January 13, 1920		28
1940 census	April 11, 1940		50
SSN application	April 9, 1947	September 21, 1889	57
Family bible		September 21, no year
Tombstone		1887
Death certificate	May 13, 1970	September 21, 1887	82
Obituary	May 14, 1970		82
Social Security Death Index		September 21, 1892

Over the years, Daddy has shared some of his memories of his Pa—my Grandpa: He had a blacksmith shop near Maxeys and Penfield Roads (at the northeast corner). There was a road that cut across in front of the school. The blacksmith shop was a brick building that used to be a cotton exchange. One day Grandpa was working on a buggy and cut his left hand little finger off at the knuckle, leaving only stub. Grandpa buried the finger in a fruit jar behind his house.

Lankford home place, Penfield, Georgia

Grandpa was a farmer—a sharecropper—and moved his family every two years working the land. They lived in old, deserted plantation houses owned by Ralph Brightwell who rented them out to sharecroppers for “half.” Mr. Brightwell kept the cotton, the sharecroppers kept the vegetables. Mr. Brightwell owned a store in Maxeys. Grandpa and his family lived beside the railroad tracks at one point. This track was the second railroad in Georgia. They moved towards Arnold’s Mill (maybe the deVant place). Near this house, Grandpa fell into a slab over a grave. After that he built a hog pen around the cemetery to keep the snakes down. They later moved back to the house by the railroad tracks—into the same house, and then later moved to Bairdstown. Grandpa worked all the time—he never stopped. If it rained, he’d work in the barn (while resting). He kept his children busy as well. I’ve heard they shelled a lot of corn. Daddy told me he was never allowed to play games like baseball because they always had to be working. Daddy also said Grandpa couldn’t hold onto money. If there was money in the house, he spent it.

Celebrating 72nd birthday. This is how I remember both of them.

My Grandpa has been gone a long time now. I was only 13 when he died so I have few memories of him. I do remember we had family reunions every September. They were at Grandpa’s house but eventually moved to my Aunt Lucille’s house. I’m sure there was lots of good food. I remember the old home place. It hadn’t been painted in years. When I asked Daddy why, he said Grandpa wouldn’t allow them to paint the house. The house didn’t have indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse in the field with the mules and a pump well in the backyard. I remember parts of the house caved in, Grandma cooking on a wooden stove, and it seems like the backyard was all dirt.

My cousin Kathy remembers that Grandpa always seemed to be happy ... he laughed a lot. She said when they sat down at the table to eat, he never sat down with them. He was busy filling their tea glasses ... sometimes laughing while he only gave them a drop in their glass. She doesn’t remember him ever having teeth. If he had dentures, he never wore them when she was around. My cousin Tim remembers one time, they got to Grandpa’s house before any of the other grandkids and he and Kathy were sitting on his lap. Grandpa told Tim and Kathy that he liked dogs and cats—he had a dog that had the measles, his cat had the mumps. One time, they were getting ready to leave and Tim told his mom he wanted to stop and get a milkshake. Grandpa told him he would make him one and then he proceeded to put milk in a jar and shake it up. Another time Tim wanted chocolate milk. Grandpa told him he would put milk in a glass of tea and it would taste just like chocolate milk. Tim’s only memory of the reunions is of the adults sitting on Aunt Lucille’s front porch.

Ralph Epps, Sam Lankford, Michael Lankford,
Clark Lankford, and Carroll Lankford Sr. This picture was
taken at Floria's funeral.

Carroll lived in Penfield most of his life. He was a husband, father, grandfather, farmer, blacksmith, member of Woodsmen of the World, and a veteran of World War I. He never thought he was as good as other people. He never got over being illegitimate.


**Thanks to Kathy and Tim for sharing some of their memories.

52 Ancestors - #4: Alice Beman Lankford

Alice Beman Lankford

Alice Beman Lankford, the daughter of James C. Lankford and Mary Ann Wilson, was born August 11, 1872 in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. She was the 2nd of 10 children—Homer J., Alice, Julia Lee, Jessica Corinne, James Vason, Mary Corrine, Nathan Lawrence, Vincent Thomas, Oliver Wilson, and Lillie Della. She is my great-grandmother.

In June 1880, seven year old Alice was living with her family in Falling Creek, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. They live next door to her grandparents, James M. and Caroline (Hobbs) Lankford.

In early 1887, Alice was allegedly raped by Thomas Janes Jr., the son of Thomas Janes Sr., Georgia’s first Commissioner of Agriculture. Alice became pregnant as a result of the alleged rape and gave birth to a son, Carroll Harvey, in Penfield on September 21, 1887. Alice would have been 15 years old at that time. Her grandson remembers two school teachers pulling him and his older sister aside to tell them this story—one I’ve heard many times over the years.

Carroll was given the Lankford surname. Years later in 1947 when submitting an “Application for Social Security Account Number,” Carroll listed his father as Jim (James C.) Lankford and his mother as Mary Wilson (Alice’s parents). I have tracked James and Mary Lankford through all but the 1890 census which was destroyed by fire in 1921 at the Commerce Department in Washington, DC, and have never found a son named Carroll H. Lankford listed with the family. Carroll also listed his birth year as 1889 vs. 1887 which is what is listed on both his death certificate and tombstone. Carroll’s death certificate listed his father as Joe Lankford and his mother as Alice Lankford Callaway. The informant was his oldest child. The family Bible only lists his mother, Alice Callaway. Carroll’s obituary lists a half-brother, Homer Callaway, as a survivor. With all of these discrepancies and the fact that he was given the Lankford surname, I feel something had to have happened but doubt we’ll ever be able to prove anything. I have yet to find a birth record for Carroll.

The Janes family has many connections to Penfield. One example is an Atlanta Constitution article dated May 12, 1883 via the Oglethorpe Echo which states “A few weeks ago while Mr. J. C. Lankford was plowing along down on Dr. Janes’s home place he plowed up the frame of some person who had been buried there in the past. It was lying due east and west and was in its natural form. The contents were gathered up and carried to Dr. Janes for examination and he pronounced it to be an Indian child between 8 and 12 years old.” This article confirms a connection to the Janes and Lankford families.

I’ve been told many times that Carroll never got over the fact that he was illegitimate. It’s sad that he had to live his entire life under these circumstances and that if this story is true, Alice had to live the lie most of her life as well.

Now back to Alice. On October 27, 1897 in Greene County, Alice married Robert Dawson Callaway, the son of Lemuel L. Lunceford Callaway Jr. and Anna Josephine Mullins. John S. Callaway performed the ceremony which was recorded by James H. McWhorter, Ordinary.

Updated 5/8/26 to correct Lemuel's middle name.

On June 9, 1900, Alice and Robert are living in Woodville, Greene County, Georgia. A son named Homer C. (Crawford), born February 1899, is living with them. The census record states that Alice has had one child and that one child is living.

In May 1910, Alice and Robert are still in Woodville. Both Homer (age 11) and Carroll (age 19) are living with them. Carroll is listed as Carrel L. Callaway. The record states that Alice has had two children, both of which are living.

By January 1920, Alice and Robert have moved to Penfield, living on Penfield Road. The census record shows that Alice is able to read and write. Her occupation is listed as laborer on a home farm. Both boys have left the home by this time with Homer and his wife Lou Emma (Armour) living next door.

On April 22, 1930, Alice and Robert are still in Penfield. Homer, Lou Emma, and their son Dawson are living with them.

Bob and Alice Callaway photo from the Library of Congress

Alice and Robert are still in Penfield in 1940. Homer and his family are living next door.

In 1941, photographer Jack Delano, working for the U.S. Farm Security Administration, took at least two photos* of Alice and Robert for the book Tenants of the Almighty by Arthur F. Raper. The book, published by The MacMillian Company in 1943, depicted the story of Greene County, Georgia and its agriculture. Alice and Robert didn’t make the book but both pictures are in the Library of Congress. The photo is captioned “Mr. and Mrs. Bob Callaway, couple receiving old age pension, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia.” Every time I look at this picture I wonder what my great-grandmother would have thought about this!

When Alice’s sister Jessie died in 1951, Alice was living in Union Point, Greene County, Georgia according to Jessie's obituary.

On December 5, 1951, Alice died at her son Homer’s home in Union Point. She was 79 years old. Alice was buried at Penfield Cemetery. According to Familypedia, “only a long-time resident of Penfield, Georgia, or a former long-time resident of Penfield, Georgia, or a long-time employee of Mercer University may be buried in the cemetery.” Alice’s funeral service took place on December 6 at Penfield Baptist Church where she had been a member. Rev. L. T. Newland and Rev. R. W. Greene officiated. The pallbearers were Messrs. T. R. Walker, T. F. Yearwood, D. L. Walker, H. W. Lankford, H. V. Lankford, and Julius Callaway. Union Point’s M. H. Callaway and Company Funeral Home handled the arrangements. Her son Carroll, of Penfield, was listed as a brother in her obituary. Other survivors were two sisters, Mrs. Jack Callaway, of Greensboro; Mrs. W. A. McCollum, of Smyrna; four brothers, N. L. Lankford, of Union Point; V. T. Lankford, of Penfield; Oliver Lankford, of Atlanta; 6 grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren.

Alice was a petite woman and never weighed 100 pounds in her life. Her grandson tells me that she was a beautiful woman when she was young. They called her Granny Callaway. I’ve been told she was as “mean as a snake” but have never heard any stories to back that up. Alice and Bob were married for 54 years.

Alice and the birth of Carroll is a major brick wall for me. If Henry Louis Gates Jr. were to ask me which ancestors I wanted him to research, they would be on the top of my list.

*Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, reproduction number LC-USF34-046541-D, Jack Delano, photographer.

52 Ancestors - no. 30: Lankford Family Reunions (week 14)

Floria Mae [Burnette] and Carroll Harvey Lankford

The theme for the 52 Ancestors challenge week 14 is Favorite Photo: Who is in a favorite photo of yours? Or tell the story of the photo itself—where was it taken, what was the event? Well the photo that came to mind for me was a photo of my paternal grandparents—Carroll Harvey and Floria Mae [Burnette] Lankford—on the occasion of his 72nd birthday. They both died in 1970 and this picture is exactly the way I remember them.

I don’t remember a lot about my childhood but I do remember attending many Lankford family reunions at their house. Grandpa and Grandma lived in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia and every September the whole family gathered there to celebrate his birthday—September 21. Grandpa and Grandma had eight children and they all had children of their own so needless to say it was a large crowd. I’m sure the reunions must have been filled with lots of good food, laughter, and fun, but the only thing I specifically remember is the time I got caught going to the bathroom on the side of the house. Ha!

Grandpa and Grandma with their eight children—front:  Carroll Harvey Jr. (AKA Sport), Grover, Clark, and Sam; back: Liz (twin), Lucile, Grandma (Floria), Grandpa (Carroll Sr.), Alice (twin), and Betty (ca. September 1959)

Grandpa and Grandma lived in the country and the house didn’t have indoor plumbing. Instead, they had a pump well in the backyard and an outhouse in the field with the mule. I hated going to that outhouse! On the particular occasion of my embarrassing moment, I decided when nature called that I wasn’t going to use the outhouse. Instead, I walked to the side of the house and squatted down close to the ground to take care of business. About that time, all of my cousins came running around the corner of the house playing a game of some sort. Oh it was so embarrassing! But I got over it.

On another occasion, I remember my uncles going up in the attic and then hearing lots of chatter and laughter coming from that direction. The next thing you know, they’re throwing the snake that was chasing them around the rafters out the window. My other memories are of the house itself. The house must have had electricity as I remember lights hanging from a cord in the center of each room. It hadn’t seen paint in years. Daddy told me that Grandpa wouldn’t let them paint it. There was a big wooden stove in the kitchen that I remember Grandma cooking at.

After Grandpa and Grandma died, the reunions were moved to my Aunt Lucile’s house in Bairdstown. This picture of the Lankford siblings was taken at one of the reunions held at her house.

Sport, Grover, Betty, Lucile, Sam, Liz, Clark, and Alice

And this is a third picture of the Lankford siblings taken about 2001.

Liz, Betty, Alice, Lucile, Sport, Clark, Grover, and Sam

My Grandma, Floria Mae Burnette

Grandma and one of her grandsons
standing in front of Penfield Baptist Church
in Penfield, Georgia

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.

Floria Mae Burnette, daughter of Thomas Terrell Burnette and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Jones, was born in Loganville, Walton County, Georgia on November 18, 1897. She was the 3rd of 13 children—Luther Terrell Burnette, Eva Drucilla Burnette, Floria Mae Burnette, Jesse Burnette, unknown twin Burnette, Willie Lloyd Burnette, Prince Albert Burnette, Claudia Burnette, Maudie Burnette, Henry T. Burnette, Eleanor (Elna) Estelle Burnette, Samuel A. Burnette, and Julia Virginia Burnette. She was my paternal grandmother whom we called Grandma.

On June 26, 1900, Floria and her family lived in the Vinegar Hill District of Walton County. Her parents had been married for six years; her father worked as a farmer. The census enumerator recorded her mother as having had five children, all of which were living, however, there were only four children listed in the census record—Luther, Eva (enumerated as Ever), Flora, and a son named Jesse (age 1, born January 1899 in Georgia). I’ve been told that Lizzie had two sets of twins—one set survived (Claudia and Maudie) and one set that died at the age of one. This census is the only record I’ve found that lists Jesse who I’m assuming to be one of the twins. But what about the fifth child (the other twin)? Where was it? If the family lore is true, Jesse would have died shortly after this census was taken.

1900 Census, Walton County, Georgia. The only record that lists a child named Jesse.

When Floria was 11 years old, she attended the Jones family reunion with her family in 1908. The group photo below was taken that day. At this time, I can identify 38 family members.

Jones family reunion, ca. 1908

The photographer also took individual family photos. Floria is the girl with the bun on the left behind her mother.

Thomas Terrell Burnette family, ca. 1908

On April 28, 1910, Floria and her family lived in Greshamville, Greene County, Georgia. Her father was enumerated as Tom and was still farming. Luther, Eva, and Floria were all farm laborers on a home farm; all three could read and write and were attending school. The enumerator recorded her mother as having had 10 children, 8 of which were living. This accounts for the death of the twins. Still at home were Luther, Eva (again enumerated as Ever), and Floria (enumerated as either Florence or Flor Mae, it’s hard to read) with five more children added to the family—Willie, Prince (enumerated as Price), twins Claudia and Maudie, and Henry.

1910 Soundex Cards

Floria was a teenager during the early to mid-1910s. On one of her birthdays, her mother gave her a carnival glass vase that was eventually given to my Daddy. I remember it always sat on an end table in our living room when I was growing up. Today, it sits on my bedside table.

Grandma's carnival glass vase

You can see the vase on the table in our 1960s living room

   

On February 13, 1920, the family lived in the Walkers District of Greene County. At age 22, Floria, enumerated as either Florrie or Flossie (again, hard to read), was still living at home, as was her 24-year-old sister Eva. Her father was farming on a general farm and Eva, Floria, Willie, Prince, Claudia, Maudie, and Henry were all laborers on a home farm. The house was full with Floria’s parents, 10 of the children, and Floria’s 78-year-old widowed paternal grandfather, Samuel Pride Burnette all living together. Three more children had joined the family since the last census was taken—Eleanor, Samuel (enumerated as Sammie), and Julia. Floria’s brother Luther and his wife Etta Belle lived next door.

1920 Soundex Cards

Floria and Carroll Harvey Lankford, son of Thomas P. Janes Jr. and Alice Beman Lankford, visited the courthouse in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia on February 23, 1922 where they obtained a marriage license from Judge F. B. Shipp at the Court of the Ordinary. They were married by Mr. Dreyer on March 12, 1922 in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. Floria was 26-years-old and Carroll 36-years-old. Judge Shipp incorrectly wrote Floria’s last name as “Barnett” when he issued the license. I’m assuming they took the license with them when they left the courthouse so the person who married them could complete and sign it after performing the marriage ceremony. That would mean Floria and Carroll should have seen the misspelling of her last name. I can’t help but wonder why she didn’t ask the judge to correct the spelling, but that’s something we’ll never know.

1922 marriage license for Carroll and Floria Burnette

Something else we’ll never know is whether the burden Carroll brought to the union had any effects on their marriage. I’ve already told my grandpa’s story, one of a child born out of wedlock and living with that shame during his lifetime. If you’re interested, you can read it here and if you care to read more, click here to learn about our DNA connection to the Janes line. Floria and Carroll would go on to have eight children together—Carroll (Sport) Harvey Lankford Jr., Floria Lucile Lankford, Samuel Terrell Lankford, twins Alice and Elizabeth Lankford, Grover William Lankford, Clark Eugene Lankford, and Betty Ann Lankford.

Grandpa and Grandma with their eight children—front:  Carroll Harvey Jr. (AKA Sport),
Grover, Clark, and Sam; back: Liz (twin), Lucile, Grandma (Floria),
Grandpa (Carroll Sr.), Alice (twin), and Betty (ca. September 1959)

Carroll worked as a sharecropper, farming cotton and vegetables. Being a sharecropper meant they moved every two years working the land. Until Floria and Carroll moved into a house Daddy bought in Penfield, they lived in old, deserted plantation houses owned by Ralph Brightwell. Mr. Brightwell rented the houses to Carroll for half—Mr. Brightwell got the cotton and Carroll kept the vegetables. As the family grew, and as mentioned previously, they moved a lot, living in Stephens in Oglethorpe County and Woodville, Union Point, and Penfield in Greene County. I can’t find the family in the 1930 census records, but know they were still in Penfield that year. They made another move to Oglethorpe County, living in Maxeys, then moved back to Penfield, and then back to Maxeys by 1935. They eventually settled down in Penfield in a home purchased by their son Sam. Carroll also worked as a blacksmith, although I don’t know when and for how long.

Lankford home in Penfield, Georgia

Floria’s father Thomas died of heart disease at the age of 71 on February 6, 1940 in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia. He was buried at Walker United Methodist Church Cemetery in Greensboro. On April 11, 1940, the census enumerator found the family living in Woodville. Floria was a housewife and Carroll was enumerated as Caral Lanford working as a farmer on his own farm. The highest grade Floria had completed was the 7th and Carroll the 4th. Their son Sam joined the Navy in 1944 and left home. He returned in 1946, staying for a year before moving to Atlanta in 1947 to live with Floria’s sister Julia. While living with Julia, Sam worked with her husband, Jerry Gregory who was a plumber. Jerry taught Sam the trade and it wasn’t long before Sam encouraged his brothers Grover and Clark to move to Atlanta as well. Before long, all three were plumbers and worked together for many years.

Sam in the white t-shirt, other men unknown. Standing in front of Gregory Plumbing.

Before leaving for Atlanta, Sam transferred the house title to his mother Floria. Carroll sold pulpwood off the land and then bought an additional 20 acres, giving them a total of 25–30 acres. Carroll also bought property between Greensboro and Penfield from the government but was unable to pay for the land and filed bankruptcy on that piece of property. Along with whatever income Floria and Carroll received from his farming and blacksmith work, he also received a monthly pension of $60 for his service during World War I, which was eventually increased to $72. Really not that much money coming in.

My Aunt Lucille and Grandma

In 1955, Floria’s brother Henry was killed in a hunting accident in Putnam County, Georgia on New Year’s Eve. Henry was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Eatonton after a service held at Oak Street Baptist Church. Floria’s mother Lizzie died at Minnie G. Boswell Hospital in Greensboro on December 2, 1956. At the time of her death, she suffered from multiple issues, including acute adrenal insufficiency following a fracture of her right shoulder, cardiovascular disease, senility, and chronic bronchitis. Lizzie was buried beside her husband at Walker United Methodist Church Cemetery in Greensboro the next day. Her sister Eleanor died in Fulton County, Georgia on April 25, 1963 and was buried at Salem Baptist Church Cemetery in McDonough, Henry County, Georgia.

My Grandma was diagnosed with cancer (of the stomach I believe) in September 1969. By the time it was discovered, the cancer was pretty advanced. She and Grandpa moved into a nursing home for a short time but they both hated it so moved in with their my Aunt Lucille. With no money to pay medical expenses, Sam (my Daddy) hired a local Greensboro lawyer named Miles Walker Lewis to transfer their Penfield property over to my uncle Ralph Epps (Aunt Lucille’s husband). Uncle Ralph sold the property off in pieces to pay the medical bills for both Grandma and Grandpa. After all was said and done, there was only $500 left. The cancer took its toll and my Grandma died on March 3, 1970 at Boswell Hospital in Greensboro at the age of 72. I still remember the night she died. I knew she wasn’t doing well. My bedroom was downstairs at the time and after hearing the telephone ring just after 10 p.m., I headed upstairs. When I got to the dining room, Daddy was standing there crying, with his hands covering his face. That was the only time I ever saw my Daddy cry. My Uncle Clark, who was at the hospital with Grandma, was the person who called Daddy after she was gone. Daddy once told me that he remembers dreaming about Grandma the night she died and was woken by the phone when Uncle Clark called. Her funeral was held the next day at Bairds Baptist Church in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia with Rev. Robert C. Black officiating. She was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery near the church. She was survived by sisters Eva, twins Maudie and Claudia, and Julia; and brothers Willie, Luther, Prince, and Sam.

I was only 13 when Grandma died so only have a few memories of her. I remember the yearly family reunions at their house in Penfield, always in September to coincide with Grandpa’s birthday. I remember that house looked like it always needed to be painted, as in it was raw wood. Daddy said Grandpa wouldn’t let them paint it. Parts of the house was caved in; I remember in particular portions of the back porch. You pulled into a dirt driveway; in fact, most of the yard was dirt. My sister Bonita remembers that Grandma swept the dirt yard, an old Southern custom to help ward off snakes and make a safe play area for children. Pictures show there was a wooden building, perhaps a barn, at the end of the driveway. There was an outhouse a short distance from the house, in the field with a mule. I was always afraid of using the outhouse because you had to walk past the mule to get to the outhouse. Water was drawn from a pump well in the backyard. There was a large round grinding stone, powered by pedaling, either on the back porch or in the yard, that was used to sharpen knives and tools. You entered the house by going up a few steps which led into the kitchen. I don’t remember but it was probably the dining room as well. There was a large wood stove in the kitchen that Grandma cooked on. Because they had no heat or water in the house, Grandma got up before daylight every morning to light the stove and heat up the house before she cooked breakfast. I remember her adding wood to the stove, making biscuits in a large wooden bowl (my sister Bonita has that bowl now), and then putting the pan of biscuits in oven of the wood stove. It still fascinates me that people cooked that way inside their house.

Carroll and Floria Lankford (ca. 1959)

Daddy remembers they shelled a lot of corn so that must have been one of Grandpa’s crops. I can picture Grandma, standing in front of her wood stove, stirring a pot of southern style creamed corn for dinner, something any good southern woman knows how to cook.

My cousin Tim told me his Mom (Alice) said the kids only got one pair of shoes once a year when they were growing up. Aunt Alice told my cousin Kathy that when she and her twin sister Liz started working at the mill, they had Grandma and Grandpa’s house wired for electricity. They also bought them a refrigerator, two bedroom suites, a couch, a rug or piece of carpet for the living room, and put some kind of shades on the windows.

I don’t remember it but my Aunt Betty told me that Grandpa and Grandma had a piano. Aunt Betty said Grandma played by ear and loved to play church songs.

My cousin Euleen remembers spending the night at their house, something I don’t think I ever did, and having to watch the Jackie Gleason Show on their television. I didn’t even know they had one! Euleen also said they always had tons of quilts on the bed when they slept there in the winter. It got cold in the house at night.

Floria on the right standing
beside her mother Lizzie
and granddaughters
Linda and Nancy

Money was probably an issue all of her married life. Grandpa worked all the time, as a farmer/sharecropper and blacksmith, but Daddy once told me Grandpa couldn’t hold onto money—if there was money in the house, he spent it. That had to be hard on Grandma. I cringe when I hear someone complaining about the (material) things they don’t have. My mind always goes to how my grandparents lived, how hard life must have been for them, and how much they didn’t have. We think we have it so bad sometimes but we don’t know what bad really is.

A quiet, kind, sweet, and gentle woman—these are the words used by myself, my siblings, and cousins to describe my Grandma. That is how I remember her.

References

• “Back When Mamaws Would Sweep Their Yards,” Appalachian Magazine, April 11, 2017; http://appalachianmagazine.com/2017/04/11/back-when-mamaws-would-sweep-their-yards/.
• Certificate of Death no. 30983 for Elizabeth Jones Burnette, Georgia Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, December 4, 1956.
• Certificate of Death no. 4275 for Thomas Terrel Burnette, Georgia Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, February 9, 1940.
• Floria Mae Burnette and Carroll Lankford, Marriage Certificate, State of Georgia, Greene County, recorded March 22, 1922.
• Mrs. Lankford Passes Away, obituary, newspaper unknown, March 1970.
• Obituary, Carroll H. Lankford Jr., McCommons Funeral Home, Greensboro, Georgia.
• Personal memories of Denise Murphy, Kathy Osborne, Tim Griffith, Alice Griffith, Betty Elrod, and Euleen Disharoon.
• U.S. Federal Census, Greshamville, Greene County, Georgia, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Vinegar Hill, Walton County, Georgia, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Walkers District, Greene County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Woodville, Greene County, Georgia, 1940.