Baltimore Afro-American, 14 July 1928.

This is a confounding notice. A Pittsburgh man, W.P. Duke, placed it in a Baltimore newspaper to find Mrs. Ella (Ellen?) M. Pridgeon, who was formerly Hattie Barnes of Wilson and who once lived with her sister Mrs. F.O. Pridgeon of Cleveland.

Mrs. F.O. Pridgeon was Louise Johnson Pridgeon, wife of Frank O. Pridgeon, and the first African-American woman to practice law in Cleveland. She was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1891 to Joseph and Mary Ferguson Johnson, both born in Ohio, and I have seen no evidence that she had a sister named Hattie or Ella/Ellen.

The only Ella Pridgeon I have found is Sarah Ellen “Ella” Pridgeon, daughter of  (1867-1945), daughter of Baltimore jeweler Johnson Pridgeon and wife Rebecca, all of whom were white. Ella was a prominent teacher in Baltimore.

My research suggested that W.P. Duke was Willie or William P. Duke, a Southern-born shoeshiner and laborer, who migrated to Pittsburgh prior to 1920. He is listed as single in census records and city directories, but a “Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Duke” appear in Pittsburgh Courier’s society columns in 1925, 1932 (when the Pridgeons were guests), and 1933 (when they celebrated their 11th anniversary with a “sumptuous repast” for high-toned guests.) A 1926 Courier piece, however, refers to “W. Duke Pridgeon” of Pittsburgh receiving a visit from his brother Frank O. Pridgeon of Cleveland. Et voila!

William Duke Pridgeon died 28 May 1933 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 February 1887 in Wilson, North Carolina, to unknown parents; was married to Flora Duke Pridgeon; worked as a porter; lived at 5643 Harvard Street; and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

With this, things began to fall into place. Sort of.

William and Frank O. Pridgeon’s parents were William and Sylvia Harris Pridgen of Nash County, North Carolina. By 1898, Frank had moved to Wilson, where he married Addie (not Hattie) Barnes — whose parents I have not identified. The couple soon migrated to Baltimore, Maryland, and, within a few years, to Cleveland, Ohio. The couple had no children and divorced before 1912. Frank Pridgeon married three more times.

It appears, then, that W.P. Duke was trying to find his brother’s first wife, Addie Barnes Pridgeon. But why did he call her Ella Pridgeon? And describe her as the sister of Louise J. Pridgeon? And why did William Pridgen call himself W.P. Duke?

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In the 1880 census of Nashville township, Nash County, North Carolina: William Pridgen, 36; wife Sylvia, 34; children J.S., 9, M.A., 6, Frank O., 4, and Wm. C., 1; mother Celia Harris, 54, washerwoman; daughter Fannie, 20; and sister-in-law Mary, 12. [Next door: Matthew Harris, 24, and his wife Tempie, 16. Matthew Harris was Sylvia Harris Pridgeon’s brother; their parents were Solomon and Celia Harris.]

On 22 May 1898, F.O. Pridgen, 22, of Wilson, married Addie Barnes, 18, of Wilson, in the Town of Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister W.M. Strickland performed the ceremony in the presence of Richard Renfrow, Victory Renfrow, and Harriet Knight. [Richard Renfrow was a barber and may have taught Pridgeon his trade.]

In the 1900 census of Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland: boarders Addie, 19, Frank, 24, barber, and Annie Pridgen, 13, all born in N.C.

In the 1904 Cleveland, Ohio, city directory: Pridgeon Frank O barber r 1172 Payne av

On 15 August 1912, Frank A. Pridgeon, 30, born in North Carolina to Wm. Pridgeon and Sylvia Harris, barber, married Elizabeth B. Ramsey, 24, born in Nashville, Tennessee, to William Ramsey and Anna White, in Cleveland. Both reported having been divorced once.

On 9 March 1915, Frank O. Pridgeon, 39, son of William Pridgeon and Silvia Harris, born in Wilson, N.C., married Louise J. Ogilvie, 24, daughter of Joseph Johnson and Mary Ferguson, born in Gallipolis, Ohio, in Cleveland, Ohio. Both had been divorced in 1914.

In 1918, Frank Oliver Pridgeon registered for the World War I draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 5 September 1875; lived at 2378 East 85th; worked as a barber for George S. Meyer, Hollander Hotel; and his contact was Mrs. Louis[e] Pridgeon.

In the 1920 census of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: at 49 Crawford Street, Wm. P. Duke, 32, roomer, shoeshiner, born in North Carolina.

In the 1920 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: at 2378 East 85th, Frank Pirdgeon, 43, barber, and wife Louise, 28, social worker at police station.

In the 1929 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, city directory: Duke Wm P shoe shiner East End Shoe Hospital h 5813 Harvard

In the 1930 census of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: at 5813 Harvard Street, William P. Duke, 50, lodger, construction laborer, born in Virginia.

In the 1930 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: at 2319 East Eighty-fifth Street, owned and valued at $8000, Frank O. Pridgeon, 55, barber, born in N.C.; wife Louise, 39, attorney, born in Ohio; brother-in-law Hobert Johnson, 31, barber; sister-in-law Nannie H. Johnson, 27, enumerator; nephew Joseph, 3; brother-in-law James H. Johnson, 37, barber; and father-in-law Joseph Johnson, 71.

Louise Johnson Pridgeon died 18 July 1932.

Pittsburgh Courier, 22 October 1932.

On 18 December 1935, Frank O. Pridgeon, 45, born in Wilson, N.C. to William Pridgeon and Sylvia Harris, married Inez Branch, 30, born in Rome, Georgia, to Ernest Collins and Mary Jones, in Cleveland. Pridgeon reported that his first two marriages had ended in divorce (in 1913 and 1914) and his third in death.

In the 1940 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga township, Ohio: at 2521 East 83rd, barber Frank O. Pridgeon, 65; wife Inez, 36; and roomer Grant Russell, 55, auto mechanic.

Frank O. Pridgeon died 9 January 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio.