Re: 1900 lookup please for Charleston Co.
-
In reply to:
1900 lookup please for Charleston Co.
L Watson 2/02/03
Dear L Watson -
I happen to live in Charleston, and I work across the street from the county courthouse.So, I thought I would see what I could find for you.I also swung by the library and checked out the old City Directories.Here is what I found which confirms some of what you have and muddies other parts.
First, Ernest Prince married Gertrude "Gussie" Gillins in Dec. 1913 like you thought.The marriage license says that they were married at Trinity AME Church.His residence was listed as Butler St. (keep that in mind for later purposes of this e-mail) and his age was 21 years old.He was born in Charleston, and was a black chauffeur.She was a 19 year old "brown" woman, born in Moncks Corner, South Carolina and living on Adison St. in Charleston at the time of her marriage.Whether the "brown" meant to refer to the color of her skin in comparison to other black residents or whether that meant mulatto or something, I have no idea.But, that's how it was recorded.The marriage license, however, listed their respective ages as 23 and 20.
Second, Jerry Prince, who was living at 67 Smith St., and who was 48 years old, married Amelia Smalls on August 26, 1891.He was born in Florence, SC and was listed as a laborer.She was 42 and was listed as living at 5 Stoll's Alley at the time.They were married in her home.
I did not see a marriage record for Arthur at all.
Now, as to the City Directories, you have to understand that they were notoriously inaccurate.Each directory started with a street by street listing of every house and listed the head of the household.Then, there was a separate individual listing which listed all the adults in the city, gave a spouse's name, listed the occupation, and also listed the street address.Surprisingly, the old directories listed white and black residents together.It was not until 1905 that the directories started listing blacks by themselves (a practice that continued up until the 1950s).To the extent that directories are often inaccurate (sometimes names are spelled phonetically, sometimes a wife's name will change completely in one year even though it is the same the year before and after, and sometimes people will only appear in either the street section or the individual section but not both, etc.), the directories were REALLY bad for blacks.Often, entire streets that were in the black neighborhoods would be left out.
Any way, Jerry (or Jeremiah as he was frequently listed) started appearing at least by 1882 when he was listed as a huckster living on Savage St.His address kept changing during subsequent years, but in 1892, he was listed as living at 5 Stoll's Alley.So, he must have married Amelia and moved into her home.
Arthur Prince does not appear until 1893 when he is listed without a wife and working as a phosphate laborer.
In 1895, Arthur was listed as living on Simons St.Jerry and Amelia were living at 73 Church St. where Jerry operated a fruit and vegetable store.(As an aside, let me say that your relatives had excellent taste in real estate.Today, 73 Church St. is easily a $1,000,000 pre-revolutionary home on a beautiful street and Stoll's Alley is a very quaint alley with a handful of beautiful old homes.At the turn of the century, the area was almost exclusively rental property for Charleston's black laboring class.In fact, if you ever see the opera Porgy & Bess - based on the novel by DuBose Heyward - you will recognize the backdrop as a series of vegetable and food stores at 89 Church St.The book Mamba's Daughters by DuBose Heyward is set in the same area and actually refers to the family's maid having lived on Stoll's Alley I recall.But I digress.)
In 1902, Arthur was listed as living on Romney St., but still with no wife mentioned.Meanwhile, Jerry (actually Jeremiah that year) still had his business at 73 Church St., but he was listed as actually living with Amelia at the rear of 9 Legare St.A reference to living at the rear of an address was invariably a reference to the servants' quarters which were often converted slave quarters or carriage houses.
Finally, in 1903, Arthur shows up with a wife, Maggie, listed.
In 1906, Jerry is still living at the rear 9 Legare St. (which was then and has always been a very exclusive street of very large homes occupied by the very wealthy planter class).His job, however, changed that year, and he was designated a "butler."For the next few years, there is no reference to either family anywhere.In fact, I never saw another reference to Jerry after that year.
In 1911, Arthur pops back up with Maggie, living at 618 1/2 Meeting St.ALSO living at that same address that year was ERNEST PRINCE, a laborer.By 1913, there was no reference to Ernest, but Arthur and Maggie were listed as having moved to 8 Butler St.You will recall from way up at the start of this e-mail, that that Ernest said he lived on Butler St. on his marriage records in 1913.Now, maybe that is a coincidence, but that's unlikely since Butler St. only had about 10 houses on it.Instead, it is pretty safe to assume that Ernest was still living with Arthur and Maggie in 1913 when he got married.
Now, here is where things are interesting.In 1914, Arthur and Maggie were still on Butler St.However, Ernest was listed as a chauffeur with Gussie living at the rear of 9 Legare St.!That is the only year they were listed there, but the odds that they would be living in the same quarters that had been occupied by Jerry Prince ten years earlier is really interesting.I cannot explain that.The next year, Arthur, Maggie, Ernest, and Gussie are all listed as living on Butler St.However, Arthur is listed at 13 Butler, while Ernest is at 3 Butler.That, I suspect, is one of those many typos that I mentioned.Either 3 should be 13 or the 13 should probably be 3.Maybe not.But probably.
That was the last year that I found any references to Arthur and Maggie.In 1916 and 1917, there were no references to any of them.Then, in 1918, Ernest shows up again, still listed as a chauffeur, but now living at 65 Bogard St.He was still there in 1919, and that's all I was able to check this evening.
So, what does all that rambling mean?I'll leave that to you.Was there some connection between Jerry and the other families based on that one odd coincidence of Jerry and Ernest both having lived at 9 Legare?Was Jerry actually still living there when Ernest was listed there even though Jerry was not listed for the preceding few years?It would not be unheard of for the directory to simply omit all the black servants living at some house.And was Jerry the father of Arthur?He was not married until 1891, but Arthur was born in about 1878 according to your census calculations.Other than that inconsistency, Jerry's age (born around 1853 based on his marriage record) is consistent with having fathered Arthur in about 1878.Maybe he had a first wife?
I'm not sure how to go back and search REALLY old marriage records, but maybe there is a way.I believe that Trinity AME Church still exists here in some form. Maybe it has records if Ernest was member?
I hope that some of this is at least helpful to you.
Kevin Eberle
More Replies:
-
Re: 1900 lookup please for Charleston Co.
L Watson 7/24/03