1880 Census

According to courthouse records, Wesley (Sterling1 eldest son) and Anna Richardson were married, December 24, Christmas Eve 1885 (Book 10, page 94 of marriage records. Wesley was 21 and Anna was 17.  Anna's mother decendant from one  Five Civilized Tribes, Chickasaw.  

1890 Census

The 1890 census was begun on 1 June 1890. The enumeration was to be completed within thirty days, or two weeks for communities with populations of more than 10,000.  However, a basement fire in the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. destroyed most of the 1890 federal census; a valuable source of information was lost to researchers of America's past.

1900 Census

The 1900 Census records Marion Stone1 b.1867 (son of Sterling1) as living  in Okolona, with wife Pauline (Walker), three children, George2 b.1884 6yo, Joseph, b.1896, 4yo and Jannie2 b.1898, 2yo.   The family later moved to Coahoma County around Lula, MS where they farmed at the Mays Thompson Moorhead Plantation; raised seven children.  Marion1 also practiced his Blacksmith trade. 

Marion1 and his brother, George1 (m. Regina McIntosh) farmed together and bought 1200 acres from the Bobo Plantation. Sterling1 and Janie1 moved with them.    Around this time, Marion1 passes on his wish to locate his “older sister that returned to the Nation”.  He spoke of this wish often in his lifetime. We’re not certain if it was Mattie, Mary or Mollie, all three was an elder sister.

1910 Census

Wesley Stone, (eldest son of Sterling1) is listed as living in Coahoma, MS. Coahoma County E.D. 23, Sheet 13B, with wife Anna, “mulatto”.   This is an incorrect description of Anna.   Anna's father was a "Freemen" and mother was Choctaw.  Wesley is age 45 and Anna is 40.   Several of their children are listed, to include: Sterling4, aka Fleming or Flemma, b.18 Feb 1892, Lillie, mulatto, b.l896, Sam E b.1898, Frank aka Bennie or Bende b.1902,  Embee s/b Margie Beatrice b.1906, and BrakectN  s/b Bracknorth, b.1909.  (Brackenorth was named after an “overseer”.  He later changed his name to Tommie in the early 1950’s).

The census also records one of Wesley's younger brothers, John Henry Stone, as living next door to him.  In addition to working as a farmer, John Henry is caretaker for his mother "Janie" who according to the census is 73 years old.  Wesley father, Sterling b.1829 d. abt 1910.

It is certain that Wesley had other offspring; an older daughter Lee Anna b. 1886 and d. 1965.  Luke "Robert Stone" b. May 23, 1922 d. October 1976.  Family member Lester Hemingway reconnected to Luke's son Johnnie Stone.  However, Johnnie made his transition in 1999. Johnnie's family resides on Southside of Chicago.

Also in the 1910 census, Ohio "colored Sterling Stone3 is listed in the Cuyahoga, Ohio. His age is 37, b. 1874 TN (both parents place of birth is TN). Sterling3 of Ohio is living alone, head of household.   He is listed again in the 1920 census, married, with wife, Franky, age 34 b.1886, AL (parents place of birth is AL), daughter Mattie, age 18 b. 1902 in AL.

Marion1 and Pauline appears in the 1910 Census; seven children are George, Joseph, Jannie (Gooden) Ruthie (Severn), Idella (Topps), Callie (Allen) and Jim and Marion2.  . Marion2 may be an offspring of Wesley’s.  He is also listed in the census of 1910 as a member in Marion1’s household.

1920 Census

Wesley Stone is listed as a widower in the 1920 census, Coahoma County E.D. 26, Sheet 10A, only his two youngest children, Margie Beatrice (M.B.) and Bracknorth (later known as Tommie) are still at home. Wesley is working as a farmer on his own account at the Jake Thompson Plantation in Coahoma County.  Two of his sons – Sterling4 and Frank aka Bennie also farm on their own accounts on the Thompson Plantation.  (now known as the Thompson-Mays Plantation).

Sterling4 concluded his service in WWI (MS Department of Archives and History Register of Mississippi WWI veterans.  Census record Sterling4, wife, Rosetta (Blake) son, Sterling5 age 2 (b.1918).

Another son of Wesley’s, Frank aka Bennie is married at the time, to second wife Alberta, but has no children. (First wife was Georgia). Frank was also an ordained minister. Also farming on own account for Jake Thompson according to the 1920 census (Coahoma County E.D. 26, Sheet 10A) is a man named Willie Benison; he is married to Hattie (Reed). This is Hattie's second marriage; one of three children from her first marriage, Ella, was nine years old at the time. She would eventually marry Wesley Stone's youngest son Bracknorth aka Tommie.   By now, Brackenorth has changed his name to Tommie.  One of Tommie’s and Ella’s children will establish the “Hemingway” connection.

1929 Migration from MS to Earle, Arkansas, Crittenden County

According to William Stone, Sr., eldest son of Sterling4 and Rosetta stated the family moved to Earle, Arkansas. From Sterling's Army Pension, he purchased 800 acres in Earle, AR.  During this move, Sterling’s younger brother Brackennorth, traveled with him.   Brackenorth later changed his name to “Tommie”.

More…

Rosetta Blake Stone, the wife of Sterling4,  and my paternal grandmother, was a skillful seamstress. Sterling4 and Rosetta had 13 children, 12 boys and one girl. Rosetta Blake died in October 1, 1956. She was 54 years old. Rosetta is buried in a family plot, at Russell's Cemetery, Earle, AR, and Crittenden County. 

Rosetta's parents were Tom (Thomas) Blake b. Jan 15, 1893, Memphis, TN. and Harriet Bonner Blake. Tom married Harriet Bonner on 14 February, 1889, Lincoln, Tennessee, Batch M519464 WWI census records indicate that Tom Blake was included in the draft registration of 1917-1918, discharged in 1924.

Sterling4 married again sometime in 1959 or 60 to Anna. Anna was from Gary, IN.  Not very much family history is known about Anna. She had a sister known as Queenester. Anna later died in 1990's in Gary, IN.  Sterling4 died in December 1963, at the Hines Veteran's Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois, from congestive heart failure. He was 70 years old.   Sterling was buried in the family plot at Russell Cemetery, near his wife, Rosetta, son. Sterling3 Jr., son, Macarthur, sisters, Anna Lee and Margie Beatrice and where his brother Tommie followed him in death in 1989. (Earle, AR, Crittenden County)

THE FAMILY MARCHES ON

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