What Became Of The Tilleys?

I wondered if my 4th Gr- Grandfather ever received the money from the judgement he won against John M. B. Dent. I think he did!

The Tilley's mentioned in the court case were: 
Joseph &  Elizabeth Tilley

Their children:
Mariah Tilley
Edward Tilley (Ned)
Frank Tilley
Charlotte Tilley
I found the family in the 1870 Census:.

"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M463-G8Z : accessed 23 May 2013), Joseph Smith, .

Here, Joseph, Elizabeth and their daughter Charlotte are living next door to their son Frank and his wife Edith(Eda).  Joseph's real estate was valued at $500. He managed to own land just a few yrs after being destitute.  He either used that $150 judgement wisely or he worked very hard or both! Awesome to see them doing well.  His youngest daughter Charlotte also was in school, and while she couldn't yet write, she was reading!  

They initially were difficult to find because I was searching for Tilley's while they were going by the last name Smith. Why? I have no clue. Perhaps they received backlash for suing a white man immediately after slavery? Or maybe it was just an error? All just wild guesses, could really be anything. I do know that they go back to using Tilley by the 1876 Missouri Census. 

My 3rd Gr- Grandmother Mariah was on the very next census page go figure! 

She had already married My 3rd Gr-Grandpa William Jackson and started a family. 

This left me with one Tilley left to find in 1870 (or so I thought! But that's another blog!), my 3rd Gr. Grand Uncle Edward "Ned" Tilley.   I found him in Jefferson City, Missouri in the Penitentiary of all places. 

I immediately wondered what he did to get sent to prison. Until this, I haven't found much scandal in my family history. I must say it was kinda exciting!LOL! What I found out was kinda fascinating... 

                                            To Be Continued ........

Joseph Tilley Papers: Judgement Day

This is the 5th and final posts concerning the court case of Joseph Tilley vs. John Dent that I blogged about previously. Here are the links to the previous post: 

Part 1

Part 2 

Part 3 

Part 4 

Recap: In March of 1865 my 4th Gr-Grandfather Joseph Tilley, a former slave, sued a white man named John Dent just two months after slavery ended in Missouri.  He was too poor to pay for the fees to sue, so he petitioned the court to execute his claim as a poor person. John Dent responded to the suit by claiming that my grandfather, Joseph, actually owed him money for moving and boarding him and his wife & kids. The spring court session ended at the end of May.....

Later on that year when the court resumed, on December 5th a judgement was made. I had already made a pretty strong assumption that my 4th gr-grandfather would lose the case. Just didn't seem likely to me that a black man- suing a white man-in Missouri- 2 months after slavery ended would get a victory or justice...

8th day- Dec 5th

Joseph Tilley Plaintiff

    Against

John Dent Defendant

                                                                               Now at this day comes the plaintiff by atty(attorney) and it appearing to the court that the defendant has been duly served with process at least fifteen days before the first day of the present term of this court, and having failed to plead answer or ? to plaintiffs petition the same is taken as confessed, and this action being founded on an open account whereby the defendants indebtedness is ascertained on examinations of the same the court doth find that the said defendant is indebted to plaintiff in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, for his debt, it is therefore considered, adjudged and decreed by the court that the plaintiff have and recover of and from the defendant his said debt together with his costs laid out and expended in this behalf and that he have therefor execution.

I was wrong...He won!  Even though it was because John Dent didn't return to court for the second term, the fact that he won, was still a pleasant surprise. He didn't get the full $208.00 he sued for, but $150 in 1865 was probably a small fortune for a recently freed slave who in his petition stated that he was destitute.I am proud to come from such strong willed people. What became of Joseph & his family? Stay tuned.....

(Sidenote: I stated in an earlier blog I hadn't been able to find the family in 1870...Since then I have found them in the same place, but under the last name Smith. Why? I have no idea. My imagination wonders if he had to change his name because of backlash from this case(?), but that's just my imagination for now..lol..)

Joseph Tilley Papers Pt 4: The Accused Responds (& Confuses Me!)

This is Part four of the Greene County, Missouri Circuit Court Records concerning the case of Joseph Tilley vs. John Dent that I blogged about previously. The following are links to the previous post
 Part 1
 Part 2
 Part 3




John W. B. Dent's Response

6th Day May 22nd

Joseph Tilley  } In the Probate & Common Pleas Court
   against            Court of Greene Co., Mo
John  Dent         May Term, 1865

                                                      The Defendant comes and defends the wrong & injury, when & where to, and denies being indebted to to the Plaintiff in the manner and form as stated in his Petition and says that the said Plaintiff is justly indebted to the Defendant in the sum of one hundred and thirty two dollars as per account here with filed, wherefore he prays judgement.
                                                                                                              John M B Dent
John Dent Plaintiff in the above entitled cause makes his oath and says the matters and things as stated he believes to be true.                                                                           John M B Dent

So, John Dent claims he doesn't owe my 4th Great Grandfather, Joseph Tilley, but that Joseph actually owes him $132.00. The first thing I thought of are the stories I've read or seen in Post Slave era films where the sharecroppers get stiffed by the land owners after working hard from sunrise to sunset, only to be told they actually owe money for food, medicine, shoes, or the wife's bloomers. Then I realized that Joseph mentioned he was only recently freed and that I have no evidence to guess what type of relationship the two men had. Below is the account filed by John M B Dent to show why he thought Joseph actually owed him money:

John M B Dent's Account

1864 March
 

                       Joseph Tilley to John M.B. Dent

To hawling & moving Self &                  A Ch. ( I think this means A Charge of:)

Family & Personal Effects                       50.00

from Washington Co., Ark

                               (Months)  (Cost)

" Boarding Wife       8 mo     c 10$          80.00

   Per Month

 

" Boarding Child

   Charlotte              8 mo      c 10$           80.00

    Per Month

 

" Boarding Mariah 4 mo       c 10$           40.00

       "  boy  Frank   4 mo       c 10$           40.00

       "  boy  Ned      4 mo       c 10$           40.00

                                                              $330.00

   Clothing & Money for                           10.00

   your  family                                                     

                                                              $340.00

 

James Thompson aquit for Jno MB Dent makes oath and says that the above account is just and tru to the best of his knowledge and belief.      

                                                               J. Thompson

Sworn to and subscribed

May 13th 1865

John W. Lisenby  CLK

 

Wait... So this is where I scratched my head and decided something was fishy. This account is suppose to be from 1864, but submitted to the court on May 13, 1865. John Dent claims Joseph owes him $340.00. By May 22nd, his statement states that he is owed $132.00.  So either Joseph, while still a slave or immediately after being free,  somehow paid John about $208.00 between March 1864- May 1865, leaving a balance of $132.00, if John's account is true....

 

Remember from part 1, that Joseph is suing John Dent for $208.00.   Is Joseph suing for money he previously paid to John Dent? If so, where would he get that kind of money as a slave?  He states he is poor with a large family and recently freed in his claim against Dent.  Perhaps John forged this account and lied about being owed all together?

 

Another question mark this left me fumbling with was that John Dent remained in Washington. Co, Arkansas. He was apparently still there at the time of this case, and the subpoenas for the witnesses were all his neighbors who remained in Arkansas too. John Dent states in his account he moved Joseph and his family from Washington Co. Arkansas. To where? Why would he pay for Joseph to move his family to Springfield, Greene Co. Missouri a year before slavery was over or immediately after? Funny how one discovery leads to 100 more new questions...I may never know exactly what was going on between John & Joseph, but I'll be sure to keep looking....



Joseph Tilley Papers Pt 3 : Destitute & Resolute

This is Part Three of the Greene County, Missouri Circuit Court Records concerning the case of Joseph Tilley vs. John Dent that I blogged about here & here .

Plantiffs Motion to Prosecute Suit
May 25, 1865

Joseph Tilley     Plantiff

    against

John Dent          Defendant

                                              Joseph Tilley comes and moves the court for leave to person prosecute the above suit as a poor person without securing the payment of the costs of such suit, and he states that he has but recently become a free person , and has a large family to support and is unable to prosecute his suit and pay the costs thereof, that he believes he has a good and just cause of action against the defendant which will be lost if not permitted to prosecute the suit without securing the payment of the costs and that he is a stranger here and unable to obtain personal security for the payment of the costs.

                                                              his

                                                  Joseph X Tilley

                                                           mark

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 25th  May 1865

                                                  John W. Lisenby , Clerk

     So, Joseph Tilley, my 4th gr-grandfather, a recently freed slave not only filed a law suit against a white man in  Missouri in 1865, but he didn't let a little thing like being too poor to pay for it deter him in receiving what was owed to him. It's a remarkable feeling to know that I come from people like Joseph! 

Courage is defined as: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

      Joseph, who despite the odd's against him, despite the circumstances of his environment,  had the "Courage" to press ahead and go for what was owed to him and his family, my family.  

      I also learned from this part of the court files that he was recently freed and new to the area. I now know when about my Tilley family settled in Springfield, Greene Co., Missouri.  I haven't found them in the 1870 census as of yet, but I have them in  an 1876 Missouri Census, and in the 1880 US Census.  It does show that he became (or perhaps was already) a Gardner. It also list both he and his wife's (my 4th gr-grandmother) birthplaces as Maryland. So - from Maryland, to Arkansas, to Missouri is the route of Joseph and Elizabeth's migration as slaves/free people. I can only wonder and hope to one day discover just how many owners they may have had...  While it doesn't list whether or not he owns or rents, or his worth, it really doesn't matter. He may have been destitute, but he was most definitely resolute! 

More to come....:)

Joseph Tilley Papers Pt. 2: The Petition

They came! (About 3 weeks ago!)... Greene County, Missouri Circuit Court Records concerning the case of Joseph Tilley vs. John Dent that I blogged about here .

 

Joseph Tilley vs.John M. B. Dent
Greene Co., MO Circuit Court Record
Green County, Missouri Archives
Filed March 3, 1865

Date Filed: March 3, 1865 ( on reverse)

State of Missouri  { In Probate & Common

County of Green     Pleas Court, May Term 1865                                

Joseph Tilley,  Plaintiff

         Against

John Dent,   Defendant 

                        Plaintiff states that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of Two Hundred and Eight dollars for the services of plaintiffs children as follows

         To  Services and labor of Boy Frank

                for Eight Months @ 10$                            80.00

          "   Services and labor of Boy Ned for

               Eight Months @ 10$                                   80.00

          "   Services of Girl Mariah

               for 8 Months  @ 6.00                                  48.00

                                                                                $208.00

Plaintiff therefore asks judgement against the defendant for the sum of Two Hundred and Eight dollars.

                                                            Lindenbower

                                                            Attn. for Plff

Joseph Tilley Plff makes oath and says the above petition and the matters therein as stated he believes to be true

                                                                       his

                                                            Joseph X Tilley 

                                                                      mark

Mariah  mentioned above is my third gr-grandma Mariah Tilley born abt. 1847, died in 1930.  Although she was the oldest child, her work was worth less than that of her two younger brothers. Frank was born about 1849, and Ned was born in 1854.  So in 1865 they were about 18, 16, and 11 yrs of age. They also had another sister named Charlotte born about 1855 meaning she would have been about 10 years old. Why she was not working alongside her siblings is a mystery. I also wonder what Jospeh and his wife Elizabeth were doing while the kids were working.  

Initially when I read the petition, I thought this was a case of sharecropping gone wrong where the white land owner refused to pay for work done. But the dates made me go hmm...  a quick google search and according to wikipedia, 

" As one of the border states, Missouri was exempt from President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation decreeing the freedom of slaves in all territory then held by Confederate forces. Governor Thomas C. Fletcher ended slavery in Missouri on January 11, 1865, by executive proclamation."

This would means that Joseph Tilley sued John M. B. Dent only about two months after slavery ended. How or why then would he be suing for 8 months worth of work. All I could think of was that perhaps his owner allowed for him to hire out his children's labor for profit. When I first found out this case existed, the bulletin mentioned that John Dent may have owned Joseph at one point.

This posed two new questions:

  1.)  Was John M.B. Dent the former owner of Joseph and his family? 

  2.) Could Joseph be suing his former owner for labor performed during the last months of
        slavery?
  3.) Did Joseph just hire out his children to Dent with the permission of his slave owner?

So many questions.... to be continued...

                        

Joseph Tilley Papers Pt.1

In the bulletins entitled " Black Families of the Ozarks " compiled by Greene County Archives & Record Center,  Under the heading "Slave/Freedman Material in Greene County Circuit Court Documents", I found this tidbit about my 4th great grandfather Joseph Tilley :

Tilley, Joseph*[recently freed] 1865 S/F005
*Claiming damages from John B. Dent who may be from Washington Co., Arkansas. Dent may have been Joseph Tilley's owner at one time.
HIS CHILDREN
Frank 1865 S/F005
Ned 1865 S/F005
Mariah 1865 S/F005 ( <---My 3rd gr- Granny)                                                       Charlotte 1865 S/F005

I was ecstatic! To think that one of MY grandfathers had the "nerve" or "audacity" to sue a white man in 1865 in Missouri was astounding to me! I was proud and in awe of the courage it must have taken for him to decide to do so, in that place and time in history. Even though I had heard of  recently freed slaves that sued their former masters after the Civil War, to find one of  my own ancestors that had the (insert synonyms for courage, bravery, awesome sauce) to do so really touched me!

I found this years ago when I was relatively new to family history research, along with lots of other information on various family lines. I didn't know where to go to find out more, and eventually it just became a footnote in the "awesome facts about my ancestors list" scribbled in my notebook. I continued researching and learning and several years had passed.  I decided to go back to the beginning of my research and see what I'd missed ,or if I could use some of what I'd learned to further what I had already done. This time I realized I should find out who put the bulletin together (duh) and try to contact them. Again- I just wrote it in my notebook to save it for later...

Later came last night! Eight whole months after I had figured out who to contact.  For some reason I was drawn to this part of my tree and reminded that I had found who to contact. Last night I emailed the archives to find out how to obtain a copy of the records, as I cannot afford to travel from Los Angeles to Missouri. This morning I received an email response from a nice gentleman at the archives. He has copied what he could, as the papers were glued together at the top, and he is going to mail them to me.

Just that simple? Almost 8 yrs?!

I believe everything happens in it's own time... Now I will be watching for the mailman like a kid waiting on Santa!

Fannie & Savannah: Hiding or Lost

Fannie (1880 - 1971) & Savannah (1895-1982)
My Gr. Great & Great grandmothers

Fannie and Savannah are some of my greatest genealogical mysteries. Savannah was my maternal grandfathers mother, and Fannie was her mother. As I tried to gather the pieces to their puzzles to eventually be able to tell their stories, I found out it wasn't going to be easy. I have no clue who Savannah's biological father was, or where she (or Fannie) was born. As the story goes Savannah was either born in Louisiana or Arkansas. Fannie is thought to have been from Louisiana. Different documents say different things. I cannot find a trace of them before 1910. I wish I could find something earlier to get to the bottom of it all.

  This is the earliest document I have found:

1910 U.S. Census, Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri

Fannie(listed as Annie) was married to Ardis(listed as Ossie) Phillips for six years (second marriages for both), meaning they were married somewhere in about 1904. Ardis and his brother Elsie are listed as born in Louisiana. Ardis was a laborer/janitor and his brother Elsie worked in a saloon. Fannie was born in Arkansas, and Savannah's is listed as Savannah Rogers - born in Missouri.
I searched the 1900 census and found this:

1900 U.S. Census,  Shreveport, Caddo, Lousiana

Ardis Phillips was previously married to a woman named Bell. He was living in Shreveport, Louisiana along with his brother Elsie,who was listed as a boarder. Four years later he would be married to Fannie, living in a new state. What became of Bell is unknown, as I can find nothing of her. I searched nearby looking for a Fannie with a child 4-5 years old named anything close to Savannah in Shreveport and adjacent counties with no luck. I also tried Arkansas and Missouri and came back with nothing. WHERE WERE MY GRANDMAS???
Looking ahead to the 1920 Census:

1920 U.S. Census, Springfield, Greene, Missouri

This time Fannie is listed as being born in Arkansas. Savannah is listed as a McBride, widowed with a daughter named Core Lee McBride, and born in Arkansas. In 1910- she was born in Missouri, ten years later and she's born in Arkansas?  At first I thought maybe she or Fannie did not know where they were born. Then I decided to see what I could find out about Savannah's first husband. I only knew his name was McBride.

This is what I found:

GREENE COUNTY MISSOURI, CIRCUIT COURT
DIVORCES - MCBRIDE, Savannah / MCBRIDE, Charlie
80426. Div 2. Final Decree 16 Sep. 1921 Book 128 p 420. Default. Decree for Plaintiff. She is innocent and injured party. Plaintiff awarded care and custody of minor child, Cora Lee McBride.

So clearly Savannah was not a widow! She lied! Why would she lie about being divorced? I figured divorce wasn't accepted as widely is it is now, and I knew they were heavy into the church. That's when my mom told me Grandma Phillips ( what the family called Fannie) was married to a minister. I rechecked the census records and sure enough, by 1920, Ardis Phillips became a minister! Kinda funny to me considering his brother worked in a saloon- but I digress...  

I found this:

 History of Reedy Chapel A.M.E.
Weaver Street, Springfield MO
"In 1918 Rev. A. PHILLIP and wife came to take over. They met the one member they had and held meetings every night. Rev. Phillip was a God fearing man and his wife had a voice like an angel. He preached and she sang and Sister Clay prayed until the doors opened and people came in. He organized the Stewards board and the trustees board.
With two other men of the neighborhood, Brother Green FULBRIGHT and Brother Woody REED, Rev. Phillip started a building on this very spot. They had prayer meetings and services in Sister Clay’s home until the building was finished. Rev. and Mrs. Phillip’s daughter, Mrs. Savanah MCBRIDE came to help.
The Church was filled with the Holy Ghost. People began to join the church. A choir was organized and was one of the best. After organizing the church, Brothers Fulbright and Reed became trustees. These men had furnished the money to build this church. A rich white woman named DICKERSON paid the mortgage of $600. The church was named after Brother Woody Reed.
The church thrived under the pastorate of Rev. A. Phillip seven years and he was sent to Kansas City, Mo."

The good Reverends daughter couldn't come back to town divorced, right? What would the congregation say?

 I was pretty convinced Fannie and Savannah were the kind of people to sweep things under the rug. Changing birth states, lying about divorces. I knew that Savannah didn't raise her daughter Cora Lee. Family story is once she married my Great grandfather Daniel Yancy Jr. ( Just 2 months after her divorce!),  Cora Lee stayed with Grandma Phillips( Fannie) and her husband Ardis, and visited her father who had two more children.


 By 1930 both Savannah and Fannie were claiming birth in Arkansas.

1930 U.S. Census, Kansas city, Jackson, Missouri

(Why did Fannie put her parents birth place as United States this time? Did she not know them?Hmmm...)

1930 U.S. Census,  Springfield, Greene, Missouri

Same thing in 1940. (Notice Cora Lee living with grandparents)

1940 U.S. Census, Springfield, Greene, Missouri

1940 U.S. Census, Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri

From looking at this, one might conclude that Fannie and Savannah were probably born in Arkansas. My grandpa always thought his mom - Savannah, was from either Arkansas or Louisiana. Apparently when she died, he was shocked by the death certificate because it said one or the other and he had always been told it was the other.Which is which is the question. He wasn't surprised at being surprised apparently because Fannie and Savannah were secretive anyway. I have to wonder why Fannie and Savannah had no other family members around. did they not want to be found?
I need to order the death certificates. I have no clue where to order Fannie's. I thought she died out here in California, but she may have died in Kansas city? I wish a genealogy fairy would sprinkle some dust and magically make any earlier documents appear.

As I type this, Blogger is acting up! Can only wonder if it's them trying to prevent me from writing this!lol