BEVERLY, LIZZIE HOOKER

Lizzie was the youngest of the six children of Haywood and Amanda Beverly.¹“United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-68F6-LP?cc=1325221&wc=9BWW-4WG%3A1030551601%2C1032311101%2C1032325101 : 5 August 2014), North Carolina > Durham > ED 26 Durham Township (excl. Durham city) > image 24 of 70; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Her last name is blotted and indecipherable, indexed as “Be*ly” Her promising life was cut short by illness at age 21.²Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Lizzie Beverly headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 22 Dec 2020. Though her obituary claims she was “highly respected,” the little history we have of her was nearly lost due to careless reporting and faulty indexing of her records.³Lizzie Beverly obituary: “Young Educated Colored Woman Died at Her Home in Hayti,” The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), 7 Apr 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95304909/obituary-for-uule-h-deane/: accessed 18 Feb 2022. Here her name is completely garbled in the index as “Uule H Deane” and misspelled in the story as “Lizzie H. Beanerly.” Her age is misstated as 20; she was 21. Lizzie’s sister Julia was married to Alexander “Alec” Moore, not to Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore (see Amanda Beverly’s life story).

She was an honor roll student at the Whitted High School in 1900, where her classmates included William Strudwick, Matthew Christmas, Maggie Poole (Fezza Poole’s older sister), and Martha Merrick.⁴“Colored School Honor Roll,” The Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina) 19 Feb 1900: 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/73352728: accessed 27 Jan 2021. She also won a prize for her efficiency as a seamstress, a skill she learned from her mother.

She was working as a seamstress and living with her mother in 1902, the last record we have of her during her lifetime.⁵Last known residence, Fayetteville Street (no number): Directory of Greater Durham, North Carolina 1902 (Durham, N.C.: Samuel M. Adams, 1902) Colored Directory p. 246, Beverly surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25145 : accessed 20 Feb 2022.

BORN: 5 February 1882.⁷Geer Cemetery, Lizzie Beverly headstone.

DIED: 6 April 1903.⁸Geer Cemetery, Lizzie Beverly headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: Hillsborough, Orange County, NC.⁹Beverly family assumed to still be in Hillsboro, as in 1880 U.S. Census: “United States Census, 1880,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBG-52P?cc=1417683&wc=XWL3-PTL%3A1589411027%2C1589395954%2C1589396994%2C1589394814 : 24 December 2015), North Carolina > Orange > Hillsboro > ED 190 > image 8 of 56; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.).

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC.¹⁰Durham City Directory 1902.

SPOUSE: None.

PARENTS: Amanda and Haywood Beverly.¹¹1900 Federal Census.

CHILDREN: None.

OTHER FAMILY: Sisters: Mary (b. 1862)
Julia (b. 1867)`¹²1870 Federal Census.
Augusta “Gussie” G. (1879)¹³1910 Federal Census.
Brothers: Walker (b. 1869)¹⁴1870 Federal Census.
Wm M. (b. 1873)¹⁵1880 Federal Census.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Mother Amanda Beverly, sister Gussie Shearin, brother-in-law Wm Henry Shearin.

OCCUPATION: Seamstress.¹⁶1900 Federal Census.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: Fayetteville St,¹⁷Durham City Directory 1902.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A