BOOTHE, LEWIS

According to his headstone, Lewis Boothe was born August 22, 1860.¹Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Lewis Boothe headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 17 Apr 2019. Used with permission. While no birth records exist, it is almost certain he was born in Chatham County NC, enslaved to a man named William Turner Boothe. William was the only slaveowner in Chatham County surnamed Booth in the 1860 slave census.²Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7668/images/ncm653_921-0226 : accessed 14 Sep 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls. Additionally, a property deed from January 9, 1862 shows William conveying 3 slaves to his son John A. Boothe—a woman named Lizy and two boys named Tom and Lewis—on a temporary basis until he returned from the Civil War.³Land records, 1771-1902; indexes, 1771-1959. (Book AM, pgs. 169-170.) Authors: Chatham County (North Carolina). Register of Deeds (Main Author) Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on Film Language: English Publication: Raleigh, North Carolina : North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1960-1978 Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Physical: on 105 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8987-QCYL?i=88&cat=403727 : accessed 14 Sep 2022. A few weeks later, on 28 January 1862, William enlisted in the 6th NC Infantry of the Confederacy, where he would eventually die of disease in May of 1863.⁴Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database. Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/814907:1555 : accessed 14 Sep 2022. Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA. John A. Boothe would also enlist in the war, was captured in 1863, and ultimately switched sides to fight for the Union and moved to Pennsylvania.⁵Enlistment: Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database. Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3489461:1555 : accessed 14 Sep 2022.

Pennsylvania: Year: 1870; Census Place: Monroe, Cumberland, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1332; Page: 176A. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/8047061:7163 : accessed 14 Sep 2022. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

What this wartime tumult in the lives of his enslavers meant for Lewis and his family is uncertain, but by the 1870 census he was listed not with any parents, but as a domestic laborer in the home of Abel and Tyrecy Holland, Abel a farmer in his 60s.⁶1870 census: Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/19900021:7163 : accessed 14 Sep 2022. Original data:1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

Tyrecy spelling: Data Source: County Court Records at Raleigh, NC and FHL # 0296867-0296870 and 0418152 item 2. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Index, 1741-2004 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2190511:8909 : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Data Source: County Court Records at Raleigh, NC and FHL # 0296867-0296870 and 0418152 item 2. Original data: Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. (P.O. Box 740, Orem, Utah 84059) from county marriage records on microfilm located at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, in published books cataloged by the Library of Congress, or county records in possession of the individual county clerks or courthouses. North Carolina State Archives. North Carolina County Marriage Indexes. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. North Carolina Marriage Index, 1962-2004. North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, Raleigh, North Carolina. Lewis appears to have spent his childhood in the Holland household, found there in the 1880 census as well, potentially being raised by the couple and learning to read and write.⁷Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12901619:6742 : accessed 15 Sep 2022. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Lewis eventually found his way northward to Durham NC, where he can first be found in the 1887 tax rolls for the County.⁸“Tax scroll, 1882-1902. Authors: Durham County (North Carolina). Register of Deeds (Main Author). Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on Film. Language: English. Publication: Raleigh, North Carolina : North Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, 1969. Physical: 8 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.” https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/140728 : accessed 15 Sep 2022.

For a few years at the turn of the twentieth century, two Lewis (or Louis) Booths lived and worked in Durham, but it is uncertain if they were related. Both appear in the 1897 City Directory as well as the 1900 US Census. One was a chair bottomer and mattress maker living at 312 Poplar Street; the other—the subject of this story—worked as a clerk and bartender, and lived at 312 Red Cross Street.⁹City Directory: Mangum’s Directory of Durham and Suburbs 1897 (Durham, N.C.: D. C. Mangum, 1897) p. 63, Boothe surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25139 : accessed 16 Sep 2022).

1900 US Census Durham 26: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 26; Enumeration District: 0026; FHL microfilm: 1241193. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68134675:7602 : 18 Sep 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

1900 US Census Durham 30 (Red Cross): Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 16; Enumeration District: 0030; FHL microfilm: 1241193Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68143735:7602 : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. The 1903 directory shows our Lewis as a porter for the A.J. Ellis and J.W. Hudgins saloon at 112 E Parrish, living at 314 Roney Street.¹⁰Durham, NC Directory 1903-1904 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1903-1904) p. 46 (Lewis), p. 93 (saloon); digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25135 : accessed 16 Sep 2022). Two years later, the same Lewis Booth was listed as a laborer.¹¹Durham, NC Directory 1905-1906 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1905-1906) p. 49, Booth surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25118 : accessed 16 Sep 2022).

In addition, Lewis played numerous important civic roles in Durham society, serving as an officer in both the Masonic and Elk organizations, as well as being a member in the Odd Fellows. He also served as part of the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, the African-American volunteer firefighting force in Durham formed in 1881, both fighting fire and serving as the company treasurer.¹²“Louis Booth Dead,” The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina),  27 Feb 1907: 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/786310627/ : accessed 1 Aug 2022.

Lewis died on 26 February 1907 after a two-week bout of pneumonia. The local newspaper detailed a ”packed to over-flowing” funeral at St. Joseph’s A.M.E. Church and burial in the “colored [meaning Geer] cemetery.”¹³“Large Funeral Party,” The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 1 Mar 1907: 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/786310641/ : accessed 26 Jul 2022. While Lewis appears to have never married or had children, his obituary includes information on his family. It details four children that were separated during the time of slavery, each taking a different surname when the master died—Lewis Booth, Bart Barbee, Luke Mason, and Caroline Wilson.¹⁴“Louis Booth Dead.” While it is hard to reconcile this story with the records found of the William T. Boothe family, the three siblings all did come from the same area of Chatham County as Lewis, and all eventually found their way to Durham.

Lewis appears to have been closest with his brother Bart Barbee, witnessing his second marriage in 1901 in Durham, living with him on Roney Street, and serving alongside him in the Excelsior Hook & Ladder Company, of which Bart was a founding member.¹⁵Witness: Series: Marriage Licenses – Colored (1809 – 1975). Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1792365:60548 : accessed 16 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

Note that Bart and Rachel Barbee had been living as husband and wife since 1890, according to the 1900 US Census Durham 0032: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1241193. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68147363:7602 : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

Roney Street: Durham, NC Directory 1905-1906 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1905-1906) p. 39, Barbee surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25118 : accessed 16 Sep 2022).

Founding member: https://www.facebook.com/DurhamFireDepartment/posts/the-excelsior-hook-and-ladder-company-was-an-all-black-manned-fire-company-that-/10158472601136339/ : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Bart also served as the administrator of Lewis’s estate.¹⁶“Administrator’s Notice,” The Durham Recorder (Durham, North Carolina), 8 Mar 1907: 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/600529840/?terms=Bart%20Barbee&match=1 : accessed 16 Sep 2022. Bart was born in 1856, married in 1880 in Chatham County, married a second time in Durham, and died in 1940, buried in Durham’s Beechwood Cemetery.¹⁷Birth, death, and Beechwood: Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/125053650:60525 : accessed 16 Sep 2022.Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

First marriage: Series: Marriage Register (1851 – 1977). Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1134364:60548 : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

Brother Luke Mason was born around 1855, married in Chatham County in 1878, having at least one child (Earnest), but found widowed and living alone in Durham in the 1900 census.¹⁸Birth, child: Year: 1880; Census Place: Williams, Chatham, North Carolina; Roll: 957; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 022. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/14344748:6742 : accessed 16 Sep 2022. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Date of first marriage: Series: Marriage Licenses (1809 – 1962). Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5471076:60548 : accessed 16 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. He remarried in 1910, the certificate for which lists his father as “Turner Boothe”, potentially referring to his former enslaver.¹⁹Luke Mason marriage license: Series: Marriage Licenses – Colored (1809 – 1975). Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60548/images/42091_331660-01588 : accessed 16 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Luke died in 1923, buried west of Durham in Mount Sinai Cemetery.²⁰North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2274389:1121 : accessed 18 Sep 2022. Sister Caroline Wilson was born around 1863, can be found in Chatham County in 1880, Durham in 1900, and at the time of Lewis’s death in 1907 was living in New York.²¹Birth, Chatham Co.: Year: 1880; Census Place: Williams, Chatham, North Carolina; Roll: 957; Page: 42B; Enumeration District: 023. Enumeration District: 023; Description: West Williams Township. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12902796:6742 : accessed 17 Sep 2022. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1900: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1241193. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68147114:7602 : accessed 17 Sep 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

NY: “Louis Booth Dead.” Nothing could be learned about her from 1907 onward.

BORN: 22 August 1860.²³Lewis Boothe headstone.

DIED: 26 February 1907.²⁴Lewis Boothe headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: Chatham County NC.²⁵1860 US Census Slave Schedules.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²⁶“Louis Booth Dead.”

SPOUSE: N/A

PARENTS: Unknown.

CHILDREN: N/A

OTHER FAMILY: Brother Bart Barbee, Brother Luke Mason, Sister Caroline Wilson.²⁷“Louis Booth Dead.”

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Sister-in-law Rachel Barbee (Bart’s wife).

OCCUPATION: Firefighter.²⁸“Louis Booth Dead.”

CHURCH: Saint Joseph’s A.M.E.²⁹“Louis Booth Dead.”

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 314 Roney.³⁰1903 Durham City Directory.

MILITARY SERVICE: N?A