Cleveland Plain Dealer, 21 August 1934.
- Dr. James T. Suggs
migration to Ohio
The obituary of Arlando R. Dawson of Cleveland, Ohio.
The Charlotte News, 12 April 1980.
Arlando R. Dawson was another of the accomplished children of Alexander D. and Lucy Hill Dawson.
——
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: restaurant cook Alexander Dawson, 50; wife Lucy, 49; and children Sophie, 25, school teacher, Mattie, 23, stenographer, Virginia, 19, school teacher, Lucile, 17, Alexander, 15, Clarence, 13, Augusta, 11, and Arlander, 1.
In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Dawson Orlando (c) film opr h 505 E Vance
In 1918, Arlander Richard Dawson registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 26 August 1900; lived at 121 Pender Street, Wilson; worked as a waiter at Girard Hotel, 44th Street, New York City; and his nearest relative was A.D. Dawson, 121 Pender Street.
The Charlotte Observer, 3 May 1923.
In the 1929 Winston-Salem, N.C., city directory: Dawson Arlando R (c) tchr Columbian Hghts Sch bds 636 Bruce
Clementine Azalee Dawson, daughter of Arlando and Clementine Hill Dawson, was born 23 June 1929 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County.
In the 1930 census of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina: at 636 Bruce Street, lodgers William B. Stinson, 22; Arlando R. Dawson, 29; and George F. Newell, 24; all public school teachers.
Also, in the 1930 census of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina: school paper editor William Hill, 58; wife Alice, 50; daughter Clementine Dawson, 23, school teacher; granddaughter Clementine A. Dawson, 7 months; and mother Caroline Hill, 85, widow.
In the 1934 Winston-Salem, N.C., city directory: Dawson Arlando R (c) tchr Atkins High Sch h 1422 Hattie av
In the 1940 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: at 10121 South Boulevard, city school teacher Arlanda Dawson, 36; wife Clementine, 31; and daughter Azalea, 10.
In 1942, Arlando Roween Dawson registered for the World War II draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 26 August 1902 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 10121 S. Boulevard, Cleveland; worked for the Cleveland Board of Education; and his contact was Clementine H. Dawson.
Clementine Hill Dawson died 15 July 1943 in Cleveland.
Call and Post (Cleveland, Oh.), 31 July 1943.
Arlando Dawson remarried in 1948.
Call and Post (Cleveland, Oh.), 19 June 1948.
In 1953, he and his daughter were oddly featured in a Call and Post article, “Cleveland Father-Son Teams Are Doubly Proud”: “‘Through a daughter’s marriage, fathers inherit sons,’ believes Arlando Dawson of South Boulevard. Dawson is an English teacher at Kennard Junior High school and his daughter, Mrs. Azalea Dawson Wagner, is a teacher at R.B. Hayes Elementary school. He holds a B.A. from Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C., and the M.A. from Western Reserve. A graduate of West Virginia State College, Mrs. Wagner is working on her M.A. at Kent State University.”
Call and Post (Cleveland, Oh.), 20 June 1953.
Other suns: Ohio.
Though Cleveland (and nearby Youngstown) appear to be have been the largest draw, Black Wilsonians headed to Ohio during the Great Migration settled across the state.
- Freeman, Nestus L., Champaign County (later, Marysville), bef. 1873
- Rountree, Charles, and Alice Thorn Rountree, Xenia, 1880
- Rountree, Joseph, and Adeline Artis Rountree, Xenia, ca. 1889
- Freeman, Henry A., Cleveland, bef. 1899
- Williamson, Charles, and Clara Vick Williamson, Xenia, bef. 1900
- Freeman, Oliver L., and Emma Pender Freeman, Cleveland, 1900 (returned to Wilson)
- Barnes, Harvey G., Cleveland, betw. 1900 and 1910 (returned to Wilson, then to Washington, D.C)
- Suggs, James T., Cleveland, bef. 1907
- Blount, Willie, Xenia, bef. 1909
- Harris, Frank W., Youngstown, bef. 1910
- Freeman, Earnest A., Cleveland, bef. 1917
- Dasher, Carrie Pitts, Cleveland, bef. 1918 (prior, New York City)
- Harris, Oscar, Dublin, bef. 1918
- Thomas, Charles, Cleveland, bef. 1920
- Newsome, Oliver, Jr., Youngstown, betw. 1920 and 1930
- Hill, John, Youngstown, betw. 1920 and 1930
- Hagans, Charles W., Barberton, ca. 1921
- Arrington, Allison, Cleveland, bef. 1928
- Perrington, John W., Portsmouth, bef. 1930
- Ward, Charles, Portsmouth, bef. 1930
- Bynum, Julius, and Elizabeth Bynum and brother Hilliard Bynum, Cleveland, bef. 1930
- Atkins, Spencer, Youngstown, bef. 1930
- Howell, John, Youngstown, bef. 1930
- Hill, Jeffry, Youngstown, bef. 1930 (prior, in Homestead, Pa.)
- Sanders, James J., Youngstown, bef. 1930
- Farmer, Paul J., Marion, then Bexley, bef. 1930
- Barnes, James C., Cleveland, bef. 1930
- Hines, Melvin, Cleveland, bef. 1934
- Atkinson, Ivey T., Dayton, 1936
- Howard, William J., Cleveland, bef. 1940
- Smith, Grover, Portsmouth, bef. 1940
- Briggs, William J., Cleveland, bef. 1940
- Edwards, Philis, Cleveland, bef. 1940
- Powell, Edward K., Cleveland, bef. 1940
- Hill, Edward, Youngstown, bef. 1940
- Farmer, Charles C., Coshocton, bef. 1942
- Dawson, Arlander R., Cleveland, bef. 1942
- Whitney, Lawyer P., Columbus, bef. 1942
- Edwards, William H., Cleveland, bef. 1942
- Bryant, Curtis M., Youngstown, bef. 1942
- Moore, Webb C., Akron, bef. 1944
- Perry, Nelson, Jr., Bowling Green, bef. 1945
- Hayes, Marvin, Jr., Cleveland, bef. 1945
- Stewart, Hattie Sanders, Toledo, bef. 1949
- Artis, Sophia Dawson, Cleveland, bef. 1952
The Journal-Herald (Dayton, Ohio), 2 January 1956.
Other suns: the Williamsons of Wilson and Xenia, Ohio.
Shortly after their marriage, Charles and Clara Vick Williamson followed the footsteps of Charles Rountree‘s family to Xenia, Ohio.
——
In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: domestic servant Robert Vick, 19, and wife Spicy, 18; Anna Williamson, 25, washerwoman, children Jena, 10, Charles, 5, and Ann I.M., 2, and husband Jackson Williamson, 45, blacksmith.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Tarboro Street, Jack Williamson, 55, blacksmith; wife Ann, 30; and children Eugina, 20, cook, Charles 16, blacksmith shop worker, Tete, 14, and Lea, 4.
On 6 January 1887, Charles Williamson, 21, son of Jack and Ann Williamson, married Clara Vick, 18, daughter of Nelson and Viney Vick, in the Town of Wilson. Amanda Vick applied for the license, and A.M.E. Zion minister H.C. Phillips performed the ceremony in the presence of S.H. Vick, H.C. Rountree and Daniel Vick.
In the 1900 census of Xenia, Greene County: on 128 East Second Street, blacksmith Charles Williamson, 30; wife Clearo, 26; and children Mamie, 10, Charles A., 7, William H., 6, and John, 2. All the children were born in Ohio.
On 27 September 1904, Charles Williamson, 34, of Xenia, Ohio, blacksmith, born in North Carolina to Jack and Ann Williamson, married Lulu B. Anderson, 21, of Xenia, born in North Carolina to George Nelson Anderson and China Brown, in Xenia, Ohio.
In the 1910 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 228 Fair Street, ropewalk laborer Charles Williamson, 46, married twice; wife Lula, 29; and children barber Charles Jr., 18, ropewalk laborer William, 16, John, 12, Hugh, 3, and Marcus, 4. Charles and Lula were born in North Carolina; the children in Ohio.
Though described as a ropewalk laborer in the 1910 census, Charles Williamson Sr. apparently continued to do some blacksmithing work as a horseshoer in 1911.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 12 April 1911.
On 8 July 1912, Charles Arnold Williamson Jr., laborer, of Xenia, age 20 on 1 April 1912, born in Xenia to Charles Williamson and Clara Vick, married Marguerite Scott Howard, age 18 on 10 September 1911, born in Xenia to James A. Howard and Mary Lucy Scott, in Xenia.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 27 February 1913.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 20 June 1913. Was this Charles Williamson Sr.’s second wife Lula?
In 1917, Charles Williamson registered for the World War I draft in Xenia, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 1 April 1894 in Xenia; resided at 1118 East Main, Xenia; was a laborer at H.& A. Twine Company; was single and had a dependent child.
In the 1920 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 31 Orchard Street, Charles Williamson, 27, and wife Lena, 28.
In the 1920 census of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio: factory laborer Charles H. Jennings, 39, and wife Mamie, 26.
In the 1930 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 33 Orchard Street, owned and valued at $200, Charles Williamson, 36, mason tender in construction.
In the 1930 census of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio: at 3323 Erie, foundry moulder Charles H. Jennings, 49; wife Mamie E., 29, laundress; and boarder John Williamson, 33, restaurant manager.
In the 1930 census of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio: at 511 Wyandotte, Hugh Williamson, 29; wife Elsie, 27; and children Carmen, 4, Leona, 3, and May, 10 months.
In 1940, Marcus McCampbell Williamson registered for the World War II draft in Xenia County, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 1 January 1906 in Zenia, Ohio; lived at Rural Route #5, Xenia; and worked for himself. Contact was aunt Hattie Young, Route 5, Xenia, Ohio.
In 1942, Hugh Theodore Roosevelt Williamson registered for the World War II draft in Lucas County, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 14 November 1900 in Zenia, Ohio; lived at 3323 Erie Street, Toledo; and worked for Toledo Smoke Shop. Contact was sister Mamie Jennings, 2332 North Erie, Toledo, Ohio.
In 1942, Charles Williamson registered for the World War II draft in Greene County, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 1 April 1896 in Xenia, Ohio; lived at 51 Columbus Road, Xenia; and was unemployed. Contact was Mamie Jennings, 2332 North Erie, Toledo, Ohio.
Charles Williamson died 16 July 1971 in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 16 July 1971.
O.L. and Emma Freeman family portrait.
Bottom: Emma, “Little Emma” and Oliver Lovett Freeman. Top: Irma, Percy and Hazel Freeman.
——
Lovett Freeman, 24, of Wilson County, son of J.F. Freeman and Eliza Freeman, married Emma Pender, 23, daughter of Amos Pender, on 25 October 1899 in Amos Pender’s house in Wilson County. Missionary Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony.
In the 1900 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: blacksmith Oliver L. Freeman, 25; wife Emma C., 24, school teacher; sister Olive, 8; and roomer Henry Bruce, 20, barber. All the Freemans were born in North Carolina; Bruce, in Tennessee.
In the 1910 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County: blacksmith in buggy shop Oliver Freeman, 36; wife Emma, 34; and children Percy, 10, Hazel, 8, Irma, 6, and Emma, 3.
In the 1920 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County: blacksmith O.L. Freeman, 44; wife Emma, 43; and children Percy, 29 [sic], Hazel,18, Erma, 16, and Emma, 12.
In the 1930 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County: at 1113 West Thomas, Oliver L. Freeman, 55, blacksmith; wife Emma C., 53; and Emma Freeman, Percy Freeman and Harold L. Freeman.
In November 1938, Oliver Lovett Freeman applied for Social Security benefits. His application noted that he was born 12 November 1869 in Wilson, N.C., to Julious Freeman and Eliza Daniel.
In the 1940 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County: at 1113 West Thomas, Oliver Freeman, 64, blacksmith shoeing horses; wife Emma, 63; and daughter Emma, 31.
In 1942, Cornelius Pitt registered for the World War II draft in Nash County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 October 1921 in Rocky Mount; lived at 1110 West Thomas; his contact was Oliver Freeman, 1113 West Thomas; and he worked for Emerson Shops, A.C.L. [Railroad], Rocky Mount.
Oliver L. Freeman made out his will on 5 June 1954 in Nash County. Per its terms, daughter Irma F. Rudd was to receive the homeplace at 1113 West Thomas Street, Rocky Mount; daughter Hazel F. Whisonant, the tenant houses at 1123-1125 Gay Street, Rocky Mount; son Percy Freeman, the tenant house at 1119-1120 Gay Street; and daughter Emma Freeman, the tenant house at 1121-1122 Gay Street. His remaining property was to be divided among his children in equal shares.
Per Findagrave.com, Freeman died 26 June 1955 and is buried in Northeastern Cemetery, Rocky Mount.
Photo courtesy of Mary Freeman Ellis, The Way It Was.
Mrs. Lucas returns from Ohio.
New York Age, 18 December 1913.
Rose Farmer Harris Lucas visited her son Frank Harris in Youngstown, Ohio, late in 1913.
——
In the 1870 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Daniel Farmer, 37; wife Axele, 36; and children Rosa, 14, Cherry, 12, Hardy, 7, and Elbert, 3.
Burton Harriss married Rosa Farmer on 19 March 1874 in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Rosa Harris, 24, farm laborer, with children Frank M., 4, and John H., 1.
On 22 September 1891, Elbert Locus, 36, of Toisnot township, son of Richard and Elizabeth Locus, and Rosa Harris, 28, of Nash County, daughter of Daniel and Alice Farmer of Wilson County, obtained a marriage license in Wilson County.
In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Elbert Locus, 45; wife Rose, 42; and children Leaner and Lillie, 18, Bettie, 16, Gertie, 15, Jessie, 13, Flora, 7, Bertie, 4, and Floyd, 6 months.
In the 1910 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: on Nash Road, Elbert Locust, 50; wife Rose, 46; and daughter Berta, 14.
In the 1910 census of Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio: at 407 East Federal Street, North Carolina-born Frank W. Harris, 33, clothing store janitor, is listed as a roomer in the household of Thomas Zehennea, 43, a butcher and native of Turkey.
Frank Wellington Harris registered for the World War I draft in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1918. Per his registration card, he was born 23 May 1874; lived at 902 McHenry Street; worked as a laborer for Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and was married to Frances Harris.
In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Albert Lucius, 61 wife Rosey, 61; and Etta, 16, Emma, 13, Isaac, 12, Ruby, 10, Edward, 10, Martha, 11, and Marrel Lucius, 6.
In the 1920 census of Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio: Frank Harris, 40, born N.C., “confectory” store porter, and wife Frances, 39, born in Pennsylvania.
Elbert Lucas died 24 March 1924 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 65 years old; was born in Wilson County to Richard Lucas and Elizabeth Evans; was married to Rosa Harried; and worked as a tenant farmer for W.E. Barnes. Informant was Will Lucas, Elm City.
Frank Harris died 5 December 1928 in Youngstown, Ohio, at the age of 49. Per his death certificate, he lived at 333 East Rayen Avenue; was married to Frances Harris; was born in 1879 in Elm City, N.C., to Bert Harris and an unknown mother; and worked as a laborer. He was buried in Belmont Avenue cemetery.
Ohio Deaths 1908-1952, digitized at http://www.familysearch.org.
More news of the Rountrees.
The families of Joseph T. Rountree and Charles T. Rountree were regulars in the Xenia, Ohio, “colored society” news.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 19 June 1926.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 5 August 1918.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 2 September 1913.
Snaps, no. 54: Alice Thorn Rountree of Xenia, Ohio.
Alice Thorn Rountree (1862-1943).
——
In the 1870 census of Gardners township, WIlson County: Preston Thorn, 23; wife Julia, 22; children William, 3, James, 1, and Charity, 5 months; [sister?] Alice, 10; and farm laborer John Bullock, 18.
Charles T. Rountree, 25, married Alice Thorn, 19, on 26 May 1880 at C.T. Rountree’s in Wilson. Rev. F.K. Bird performed the ceremony in the presence of Squire Sharp, Alfred Boyett and Preston Thorn.
In the 1880 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: on Charles Street, Charles Roundtree, 24, hotel cook, and wife Alice, 19.
In the 1900 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 16 Columbus Street, Charles T. Roundtree, 44; wife Alice, 38; and children Mary H., 19, Alice R., 18, Charles T., 16, John W., 15, Maggie H., 13, Benjiman J., 11, James D., 10, David G., 8, Shadrack R., 7, and Edith O., 2.
A hair switch was essentially a clip-in hair extension. Xenia Daily Gazette, 26 August 1904.
Charles and Alice Rountree lost several children in the early years of the 1900s, including daughter Alice R. Rountree. Xenia Evening Gazette, 11 August 1906.
In the 1910 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 325 East Main Street, hardware store driver Charles T. Rountree Sr., 51; wife Alice, 47; and children Charles T., Jr., 26; Ada A., 23; Benjamin, 21; Quint S., 16; Helen L., 9, Paul D., 7, and Ward T., 4. All the children were born in Ohio.
In the 1920 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 14 North Columbus, Charles T. Rountree, 63, laborer; wife Alice, 56; and children Charles T., Jr., 35, department store decorator, William H., 33, David G., 27, Paul D., 16, Ward V., 14, and Helen K., 18.
The “centennial” was the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial International Exposition, a world’s fair. Xenia Evening Gazette, 16 September 1926.
In the 1930 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 14 North Columbus, widow Alice Rountree,
Fifty-two years after migrating to Ohio, Alice Thorn Rountree died in 1933. Xenia Evening Gazette, 21 November 1933.
Studio shots, no. 113: Charles Thomas Rountree Sr. of Xenia, Ohio.
Joseph T. Rountree apparently followed his kinsman (uncle?) Charles T. Rountree from Wilson to Xenia, Ohio.
——
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Rebecca Rountree, 50, and children and grandchildren Henry, 20, butcher, John, 23, barber, Dempsy, 26, farm laborer, Charles, 15, Benjamin, 24, butcher, Mary, 30, domestic servant, Joseph, 9, Willie, 8, Lucy, 20, domestic servant, Worden, 2, and Charles, 1.
Charles T. Rountree, 25, married Alice Thorn, 19, on 26 May 1880 at C.T. Rountree’s in Wilson. Rev. F.K. Bird performed the ceremony in the presence of Squire Sharp, Alfred Boyett and Preston Thorn.
In the 1880 Census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: on Charles Street, Charles Roundtree, 24, hotel cook, and wife Alice, 19.
In the 1900 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 16 Columbus Street, Charles T. Roundtree, 44; wife Alice, 38; and children Mary H., 19, Alice R., 18, Charles T., 16, John W., 15, Maggie H., 13, Benjiman J., 11, James D., 10, David G., 8, Shadrack R., 7, and Edith O., 2.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 2 November 1903.
Charles and Alice Rountree’s youngest daughter died of “congestion of the brain,” a catch-all term for what would now likely be a diagnosis of ischemic stroke. I haven’t identified the other child that died. Xenia Daily Gazette, 20 May 1907.
In the 1910 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 325 East Main Street, hardware store driver Charles T. Rountree Sr., 51; wife Alice, 47; and children Charles T., Jr., 26; Ada A., 23; Benjamin, 21; Quint S., 16; Helen L., 9, Paul D., 7, and Ward T., 4. All the children were born in Ohio.
Charles Rountree’s father was likely Jesse H. Artis. Xenia Daily Gazette, 17 January 1911.
Four years after Edith’s death, the Rountrees lost son Quinton, 18, to tuberculosis. Xenia Daily Gazette, 7 August 1911.
Rountree’s move to Racer & Glossinger was ill-timed. Per The Hub, a wagon, carriage and automobile manufacturers’ trade journal, the company filed for bankruptcy by November 1913. Xenia Daily Gazette, 19 June 1912.
In social news…. Xenia Daily Gazette, 22 November 1916.
Ada A. Rountree married William A. Joiner on 10 October 1917. Joiner was a graduate of Wilberforce and Howard University’s Law Department. He returned to Wilberforce in 1910 as Superintendent of the school’s new Normal and Industrial Department. In 1915, he published A Half-Century of Freedom of the Negro in Ohio, a socio-economic history of African-Americans in Ohio since the Civil War. Xenia Evening Gazette, 20 October 1917.
William A. Joiner (1869-??)
In the 1920 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 14 North Columbus, Charles T. Rountree, 63, laborer; wife Alice, 56; and children Charles T., Jr., 35, department store decorator, William H., 33, David G., 27, Paul D., 16, Ward V., 14, and Helen K., 18.
Ada Ann Rountree Joiner (1886-1972).
It appears that Charles Rountree’s son William sued his father and sister over a ten-acre plot in Xenia. A later article reported an amicable resolution. Xenia Evening Gazette, 6 August 1922.
William Rountree (1885-1934).
Xenia Evening Gazette, 1 December 1924.
Ward Vincent Rountree (1905-1981).
Charles T. Rountree died 16 June 1926 in Xenia, Ohio.
Charles Thomas Rountree Sr. (1856-1926).
Photos courtesy of Ancestry.com user ktreenga.
Snaps, no. 53: Joseph T. Rountree of Xenia, Ohio.
Joseph T. Rountree (1871-1932).
Joseph and Adeline Artis Rountree migrated to Xenia, Ohio, about 1889. They joined and were very active in Middle Run Baptist Church, and their lives were richly chronicled in regular columns of the Xenia Evening Gazette devoted to the city’s East End and “colored society.”
——
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Rebecca Rountree, 50, and children and grandchildren Henry, 20, butcher, John, 23, barber, Dempsy, 26, farm laborer, Charles, 15, Benjamin, 24, butcher, Mary, 30, domestic servant, Joseph, 9, Willie, 8, Lucy, 20, domestic servant, Worden, 2, and Charles, 1.
On 6 November 1879, Joseph Rountree, 21, married Adeline Artice, 19, in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: at 272 Northwest Street, Joseph Rountree, 23, laborer, and wife Adeline, 19, both born in North Carolina. [It appears that the Rountrees joined the Exoduster movement to Indiana, though they quickly returned to North Carolina. (To leave again for Ohio later.)]
Xenia Daily Gazette, 26 August 1897. Quinsy, now known as a peritonsillar abscess, is a rare and potentially serious complication of tonsillitis.
In the 1900 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 902 East Third Street, Joseph Rountree, 40, clerk; wife Addie, 38; and daughters Ardeaner L., 17, and Ezza M.A., 15, all born in North Carolina.
On 27 June 1901, Ardeaner Rountree, 19, of Xenia, born in Wilson, North Carolina, to Joseph Rountree and Addie Artist, married Fredrick Cosby, 19, of Xenia, laborer, son of William Cosby and Fannie Blass, in Xenia, Ohio.
On 9 December 1902, John G. Simpson, 22, laborer, of Xenia, born in Perry County, Ohio, to S.L. Simpson and Mildred Lett, married Ezzie M. Rountree, 18, of Xenia, born in North Carolina to Joseph T. Rountree and Addie Artis, in Xenia, Ohio.
Xenia Daily Gazette, 22 November 1906. Adeline Artis Rountree’s mother was Jane Bynum Artis. In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Ned Artis, 44; wife Jane, 42; and children Polian, 14, Mary J., 13, Dora, 12, Walter, 9, Joseph, 7, Corinna, 6, James, 4, and Charles, 6 months.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 26 February 1910. Founded in 1822 by a formerly enslaved man, Middle Run Baptist church is the oldest black Baptist church in Ohio and was an important stop on the Underground Railroad.
In the 1910 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 902 East Third Street, Joseph Roundtree, 50, odd jobs laborer; wife Addie, 48; and daughter Ezzie May, 24, who was listed as born in Ohio.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 2 September 1913.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 9 September 1913.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 9 December 1914. The Order of Calanthe (O.O.C.), established in 1883, is an auxiliary of the African-American Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Here. J.T. Rountree was elected Worthy Protector and his daughter Ardena Cosby “R. of D.”
Xenia Evening Gazette, 7 February 1916. The obituary of J.T. Rountree’s mother, Mary Bynum Rountree.
In 1918, Fred Cosby registered for the World War I draft in Xenia, Ohio, Per his registration card, he was born 1 January 1882; worked for Pennsylvania Rail Road; lived at 900 East Third, Xenia; and was married to Ardenia Coley.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 5 August 1918.
On 3 September 1918, Ezzie M. Rountree, 27, daughter of J.G Rountree and Addie Artis, married Chester Davis, son of Tom Davis and Jennie Oaks, in Franklin County, Ohio.
In the 1920 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 902 East Third Street, Joseph Rountree, 55, tobacco factory laborer, and wife Addie, 54. (Next door at 900: Fred Cosby, 34, railroad section hand, born in Ohio, and wife Ardena, 32, born in North Carolina.
In the 1922 Xenia, Ohio, City Directory: Rountree Jos T c[olored] (Addie) janitor Commercial & Savings Bank r 902 E 3rd
Xenia Evening Gazette, 19 June 1926.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 26 December 1928.
In the 1930 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 902 East Third Street, Joseph Rountree, 40, clerk; wife Addie, 38; and daughters Ardeaner L., 17, and Ezza M.A., 15, all born in North Carolina.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 18 January 1930.
Joseph T. Roundtree died 12 May 1932 in Xenia. Per the application for letters of administration of his estate, he was survived by wife Addie Roundtree (for nine days only — she died May 21) and daughters Ardeanner Roundtree Cosby, 900 East Third Street, Xenia, and Ezzie M. Davis, 749 Edwards Street, Columbus, Ohio. Ardeanner Cosby was appointed administratrice.
Xenia Evening Gazette, 13 May 1932. The photo of Rountree above was printed with his obituary.
Joseph T. Rountree’s death certificate identifies his parents as Henry Rountree and Mary Gill.
Addie Artis Rountree’s death certificate.