Family History Writing Challenge 2013

It's time again for the Family History Writing Challenge.  I am pledging a minimum of 350 words per day.  I'll be continuing my story of Oliver Summerlin of Mt. Olive, NC.

G.E. Summerlin

3. George Edgar Summerlin, 9 Jul 1882 - 14 Mar 1966.
G.E. Summerlin, Sr. is my great-grandfather.
He was born to Oliver and Fannie Summerlin.  He was Oliver's eighth child, and Fannie's fourth.
-In the 1900 census, George is living with his family in Mount Olive.  He is 17, working as farm labor, and attended school for 10 months the previous year.  He married Emma Meredith Aaron, from Duplin County, on 22 Dec 1904.
-In 1910, G.E. and Emma were living on College Street, four doors from Ben and Katie, with their children Edgar (4) and Julia (almost 2).  He is a tinner (tinsmith/metalworker) in his own shop.
-1920 is very interesting.  G.E., Emma and their children are living in the same household with Emma's mother, Julia Aaron, her other children and sons-in-law.  The household spreads over 2 pages - NC, Wayne Co., Brogden Twp., ED 105, p.3B&4A.  The house is owned, without mortgage, presumably by Julia Aaron.



Living on James Street are:
Julia Aaron, head, F, 58, widowed
David J. Aaron, son, M, 32, single, working as telephone operator
George Marr, son-in-law, M, 46, married, b. in Delaware.  He is treasurer of the "Show".
Nellie Marr, daughter, F, 30, married.
Julia Marr, grand-daughter, F, 11
William Aaron, son, M, 28, single, no occupation listed.
Ashton Newby, son-in-law, M, 23, married, auto salesman
Pattie Newby, daughter, F, 26, married
George E. Summerlin, son-in-law, M, 37, auto salesman
Emma Summerlin, daughter, F, 34
George E. Summerlin, Jr, grandson, M, 13
Elizabeth Summerlin, granddaughter, F, 11
Pattie Summerlin, granddaughter, F, 8.

That is quite the household!

- continued -

Children of Oliver Summerlin and Fannie Albritton

Just a reminder:  These posts are first drafts.  I have not included citations, but if you need a citation, please let me know.  P.S. Revised 2/26/12.  I left Ben out.


Children of Oliver Summerlin and Fannie Albritton


1.  Anna "Annie" Summerlin, 18 Aug 1873 - 2 Aug 1955.  She married John B. Moore on April 30, 1898.  John belonged to a farming family in Turkey, Sampson County.  In the 1900 census, they are living with John's parents, Walter and Anna.  The elder Moores have been married 31 years and have eight of eight living children.  John is listed as a house carpenter.  Their first child, Bedford Forest is six months old.  Annie and John have been married two years.  In 1910, John and Annie have been married 12 years and have three children:  Bedford Forest, b. 1900; John P., b. 1905; and Ernest, b. 1907.  John is operating a sawmill, and the own the farm where they are living.  The next household is John's parents.  John's brother, Walter L. is also working in the sawmill.  In 1920, John is working their farm, which they own.  Forest is 20, but no occupation is listed, and he is not in school.  I don't know if they are on the same farm as before or have taken over John's parent's farm.  Their neighbors are Claud Moore, Walter Moore the younger and Frank Moore.  John died of heart disease when he was 55, on 9 Feb 1928.  In 1930, Annie is living with her three sons, Forest, J.C. and Ernest, all operating the farm.  Annie died 2 Aug 1955, when she was almost 82 years old.  The cause was listed as pneumonia brought on by "general disability".

2.  Matthew Oliver Summerlin, 16 Apr 1876 - 11 Jun 1934.  In 1900, Matthew is a 24-year-old young man, single, still living with his parents (the norm at the time), work in vehicle repairing with his father Oliver.  In 1910, he is newly married to Carrie Jane Sutton, 28.  They live in the household with his parents, Oliver and Fannie.  Carrie Jane dies in 1913, and by 1918, Matt has married Leslie "Lessie" Perry, 26.  When he fills out his WWI Draft Card in 1918, he lists Lessie Perry as his person to contact.  His profession is "implement and auto dealer" (Summerlin Brothers).  In 1920, they have one child, Frances P., born in late 1918.  Matt is working as a merchant in a garage.  By 1930, Matt is not working, probably due to his lung problems.  He dies in 1934.  His death certificate indicates that he has suffered from chronic bronchiolitis (bronchitis) and myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) since 1925.  He and Lessie had four children:Francis; Lessie, b.1921; Matthew O., Jr., b.1922; and Caroline, b.1925.

3. Benjamin Albritton Summerlin, 24 Apr 1878 - 11 Dec 1959.  In 1900, Ben is 22 and living with his parents.  He is "at school" on the census return, no job listed.  In 1910, Ben has been married to Katie Welle Kirby for two years.  They have a daughter, Lillian, almost 2, and a son William, almost 1. Ben is a rural carrier for the Post Office.   In 1920, they have three children - Lillian, 11;  Katie K., 7; and Benjamin Jr. 2.  I have not found out anything about William, yet.  Ben is now Postmaster of Mount Olive.  They live at 105 E. James, down the street from 206 E. James, where his younger brother G.E. is living.  In 1930, Lillian W., 21; Katie K., 18; and Ben, Jr. 12 are all still living at home and going to school.  Ben, 51, is now working in sales of auto supplies.

4.  George Edgar Summerlin, my great-grandfather.  I'll take him up in a later post.


5.  Thomas Bryan Summerlin, 1 Dec 1885 - 12 Feb 1936.  Tommie attended North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts - NC State in Raleigh - from 1907-1910.  His major was Textiles, he sang bass in the glee club.  He and Lula Williford were married in 1913.  In his 1918 draft registration, Thomas lists his occupation as Farm Implement [Sales Agent?]  In the 1920 census, there is no occupation listed, they are still living in Mount Olive, and Lula's sister Augusta is living with them.  She is a bookkeeper at the garage.  By 1930, Tommie and Lula had moved to a farm in Duplin Co.  They had two children:  Thomas Bryan Jr., b. 1915; and Oliver W., b. 1917.  Thomas committed suicide in 1936 at age 50.  Lula lived until she was 91, and died in Duplin General Hospital in 1974.  She had been living in Mount Olive during her widowhood.

Children of Oliver Summerlin

I'm having a hard time deciding what to write.  I have a lot of information, but not complete information about Oliver's children.  So for today, I'm going to summarize what I have on each child.


Children of Oliver and Elizabeth Britt
married 28 Jan 1853 in Duplin Co., NC

1.  Claudius "Claude" Summerlin, 6 Sep 1859 - 6 Aug 1927.  He was born in the Buck Swamp area of Wayne County, and died in Mount Olive, Wayne County, NC.  He took over the  blacksmith shop and buggy factory in about 1907 and it became Summerlin Brothers Buggy Factory.  At some point, Matthew O. Summerlin joined him.
    He married Flora Long about 1881.  I have discussed their lives in a previous post.  Their two living children were William Gains Summerlin, b. 1882 and Arthur King Summerlin, b. 1889.

2.  Mary Lavonia Summerlin, 6 Sep 1861 - 1 Sep 1938.  Married Edward M. Flowers in 1881.  They had ten children, six of whom were living in 1910. They moved to Wilmington between 1910 and 1920. In 1900, Edward was a horse trader; in 1910, a well driller; in 1920, in sales in Wilmington; and in 1930, again trading horses.  His son Albert lived with his grandparents, Oliver and Fannie Summerlin, in 1910.  In 1920, Albert was living in Wilmington with his parents, and was a bicycle salesman.  I have not yet researched their other children.

3.  Alice E. Summerlin, 7 Nov 1886 - 8 Jun 1837.  Although I can find no evidence of a marriage, Alice did have children.  In 1910, she was living in Mount Olive with her children Bessie (17), Fred T. (16) and Jessie E. (13).  She was working as a seamstress from her home in 1910, 1920, and 1930.  In the 1910 census, she declares she has had four children and four are living.  I have not yet looked for the one that is not living with her in 1910.  On his NC death certificate, Jim Walker of Duplin Co. is listed as Fred T. Summerlin's father.  However, I have not confirmed that Walker is the father of the other children or whether he and Alice were ever married.  I cannot locate census records from 1900, and there is a lack of information for 1890.  She listed herself as Alice Summerlin, single in the three censuses, 1910-1930.  It remains to be seen what the real story is.

4. Margaret Summerlin, b. in 1869.  She is a child of one in the 1870 census and fails to appear again.  Her mother, Elizabeth, also dies after 1870 and before 1872, when Oliver remarries.

Claudius and Flora Long Summerlin

Heard some talk about birth control in the news today.  Whatever you believe, here is a story about a couple in the 1880-1900 time frame that illustrates the need for birth control in certain situations.

Claudius Summerlin and Flora Long married about 1881.  Their first child was born 19 Aug 1882, named William Gaines.  He grew up to marry Maggie - they were living in Mount Olive on Center Street in 1930.  The next child was James.  He was born in May 1885 and died in Aug the same year.  The third child (that I know of) was Arthur K born Aug 1889 and lived until 1961.  The next child was Floyd.  He was born in June 1891 and lived until  August.  Next born was Claudius, who lived 15 months, from November 1892 until February 1893.  Claudia lived about 1 month, in Jan-Feb 1892.  Another little girl was born 30 May 1896.  She was Fannie Isabel and lived 3 months.  Then came Eugene, who lived almost exactly one month, May - Jun 1904.  Flora was 45 years old when Eugene was born.  The evidence for the dates of the above children is their headstones in Maplewood Cemetery.  They are scattered around the Summerlin plot, probably being fit in between some of the adults.


In the 1900 census, Flora stated that she was the mother of 10 children, with 2 living.  In 1910, she was the mother of 13, with 2 living.  Since my information only includes 8 children, another five were born who did not live.  Since Flora had had 10 children by 1900, she lost another four between her marriage and 1900.  She had had three more children by 1910, all three of whom must have died.


My assumption is that there was some genetic or congenital abnormality which kept these children from surviving.  Claude and Flora were lucky to have the two boys live to adulthood.

Claude Summerlin is my step-great-granduncle.  [He is the son of the first wife of my g-g-grandfather.]