One quick sidebar from the Campbell discovery.\u00a0 I was able to figure out who Kay’s father was<\/p>\n
For years I had no traction on the Johnson line because the surname was too common – even with the relatively rare first name of Oscar.\u00a0 My breakthrough came with the release of the World War I draft registration cards.\u00a0\u00a0 It was slow going because they were published state-by-state and so my Oscar didn’t show up for a while.\u00a0 Finally, his record became available.\u00a0\u00a0 Here’s my transcription:<\/p>\n
WWI Registration Card #1397
\nOscar Watson Johnson, age 29
\nresident – Redus (st.), Hattiesburg, Miss.
\nb. November 7, 1887, natural born, b. Bastrop, La,
\nCity Letter Carrier, US Post Office Dept, Hattiesburg
\nMother & Father dependent on for support
\nsingle, caucassian, no military service,
\nexempt from draft – Postal service
\nsigned – O. W. Johnson
\nTall, Stout, blue eyes, dark hair, not bald, no damage
\nsigned – M. Galbrath?, west side precinct, city, Ha Miss, 6\/5\/1917<\/p>\n
It was pretty clear to me that I had the right guy since he was in the Postal Service.\u00a0 It didn’t line with the WWI navy story but I didn’t consider that a deal breaker.<\/p>\n I wasn’t convinced that Robbye and Oscar had married but familysearch.org posted transcriptions for Alabama marriage records a few years back.\u00a0 I haven’t ordered the original, but here is the transcribed version:<\/p>\n familysearch.org To get back on the Campbell trail, we have to look at Robbye’s past.\u00a0 I was able to locate her using census records and her death certificate but the tidiest way to present her vital stats is through her Social Security application (SS-5), transcribed:<\/p>\n SS-5 Application for Social Security Account Number Greenblatt, Robbye (Strahan)<\/a><\/p>\n I’m not certain on Robbye’s birth city or county because Mississippi didn’t require birth records until 1912 and I’ve found nothing else to narrow it down.\u00a0 The 1900 census has the family living in Beat 2, Perry County, Mississippi.\u00a0 Her father, Walter Allen Strahan, was a farmer.\u00a0 One future project is to track down his land records from the 1890s to confirm they were living in Perry County at the time of Robbye’s birth.<\/p>\n Moving up to the next generation with Robbye’s father, Walter Strahan was a Mississippi native and apparently lived there his whole life, dying in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi.\u00a0 Here’s my transcription of his death certificate:<\/p>\n Death Certificate Mississippi, state file # 19082 Strahan, Walter Allen<\/a><\/p>\n Interesting to see that Walter was living on the same street in Hattiesburg that Oscar Johnson was living on in 1917!<\/p>\n Let’s go back through a few census records (obtained through ancestry.com):<\/p>\n 1900, Mississippi, Perry, Beat 2, June 4, SD 6, ED\u00a0 88, SH 3B, 40, 40 Here we can clearly see Walter and his daughter Robbi (Robbye) in the same record.\u00a0 The 1890 census is missing, so going back to 1880 we find Walter with his parents:<\/p>\n 1880, Mississippi, Covington, Holleday Creek, SD 2, ED 124, page 1A\/321, 2, 2 Then 1870:<\/p>\n 1870, Mississippi, Covington, Holliday Creek Beat, page 359\/10, image 10, June 29, 66, 74 I don’t have many primary records on this generation.\u00a0 One to-do item is to order the death certificates for Walter Strahan’s siblings to confirm their parents’ names and find any clues.\u00a0 So for now I’m relying on what others have reported.\u00a0 There was a self-published book written by John H. “Buster” Strahan entitled The Strahan Family History.\u00a0 Regrettably I don’t have a copy but apparently it includes this generation.<\/p>\n From Walter’s death certificate, the census records above and one from 1860, we can piece together than his full name was William Lawrence Strahan.\u00a0 His wife was Mary Ann Purvis\/Pervis.\u00a0\u00a0 From others’ work, I have that they married in 1852, further supporting that she was the mother of Walter born in 1869.<\/p>\n One other source I have is a copy of a letter written by a Strahan descendant discussing his ancestry.\u00a0 These were provided by my cousin Laurel Francis, who has been working with me on the Campbell and Purvis families.\u00a0\u00a0 The letter is between Leonard S. Strahan and Charles E. Strahan, Sr. in 1947. \u00a0 This letter demonstrates that Leonard’s paternal grandmother was “Mary Ann Pervis Strahan.”\u00a0 Page 1 of the letter is below:<\/p>\n![\"Johnson,](\"https:\/\/amaden.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Johnson-Oscar-Watson-300x142.jpg\")
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\nGroom’s Name: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0O. W. Johnson
\nGroom’s Birth Date: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01912 [sic]
\nGroom’s Age: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a04 [sic]
\nBride’s Name: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Robbie Strahan
\nBride’s Birth Date: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01896
\nBride’s Age: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a020
\nMarriage Date: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a014 Aug 1916
\nMarriage Place: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama
\nGroom’s Marital Status: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Unknown
\nIndexing Project (Batch) Number: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0M74689-2
\nSystem Origin: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Alabama-EASy
\nSource Film Number: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01064437
\nReference Number: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0p181<\/p>\n
\n262-30-1039
\nRobbye Greenblatt
\n11 N. K St., Pensacola, FL, Robbye Strahan
\nage 48, b. 1-26-96, Miss.
\nfather Walter Strahan, mother Ella McGrew
\nfemale, white, not applied before
\nunemployed
\nJuly 25, 1942, signed Robbye H. Greenblatt<\/p>\n
\nForrest, Hattiesburg, inside, Methodist hospital, Edwards Street, 6days in hospital, life long in community
\nres Mississippi, Forrest, Hattiesburg
\nWalter Allen Strahan, not veteran, no ss#, male, white, married
\nwife Ella McGrew, b. dec. 14, 1869, 73 yrs, 6 mo, 16 dys
\nb. Mississippi, trade – Carpenter,
\nfather William Strahan, b. don\u2019t know
\nmother Don\u2019t know, b. don\u2019t know
\ninformant sign – can\u2019t read it
\n105 Redus St., H-Burg, Miss.
\nburial, 7\/1\/43, New City, H-Burg, Miss.
\nH-Burg Und\u2019t Co., Hattisburg, Miss.
\nRegistrar7-10-43, Ezra McInnis,
\nMedical – d. June 30, 1943, 1 am
\nattended on 6\/30\/43,
\nCerebral Hemorrhage, 6 days
\nHypertension, Arterio-Sclerosis – several years
\nsigned S E Buter, Hattiesburg, Miss, 7-7-43<\/p>\n
\nWalter Strahan, head, w, m, Dec, 1869, 30, m, 7, Miss, Miss, Georgia, farmer, 0, yes, yes, yes, O, F, F, 38
\nElla, wife, w, f, Sept, 1871, 28, m, 7, 3, 3, Miss, Miss, Miss, yes, yes, yes,
\nWeb, son, w, m, June, 1894, 5, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes
\nRobbi, daug, w, f, Jan, 1896, 4, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes
\nEbb, son, w, m, Feb, 1898, s, s, Miss, Miss, Miss, no, no, yes<\/p>\n
\nW. L. Strahan, w, m, 50, m, sheriff, Miss, Ga., Ala
\nMary Ann, w, f, 48, wife, m, keeping house, Ala, Ga, Ga
\nHenretta, w, f, 16, daughter, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nWilliam, w, m, 14, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nWalter, w, m, 11, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nAlbert, w, m, 8, son, s, attended school within the year, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nVictor, w, m, 5, son, s, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nDora, w, f, 1, daughter, s, Miss, Miss, Ala
\nW C Bowick Jr., w, m, 26, s, laborer, typhoid fever, Miss, Miss, Miss
\nJ. W. Strahan, w, m, 21, s, at school, Miss, Miss, Ala<\/p>\n
\nW L Strahan, 40, m, w, farming, 200, 300, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write, male citizen>21 years old
\nMary Ann, 34, f, w, keeping house, Alabama, cannot read, cannot write
\nLija?, 16, f, w, attending school, Mississippi, attended school within the year, cannot read, cannot write
\nLawrence, 13, m, w, farm hand, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
\nJames, 11, m, w, farm hand, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
\nHenrietta, 6, f, w, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
\nWilliam, 4, m, w, Mississippi, cannot read, cannot write
\nWalter, 6\/12, m, w, Mississippi, Dec, cannot read, cannot write<\/p>\n![\"L](\"https:\/\/amaden.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/L-Strahan-Letter-218x300.jpg\")
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