WILLIAMSON, HANNAH

The first official record we can find for Hannah Williamson is the 1870 Federal Census for Kittrell, Vance County, NC. She is shown as 52 years old and living next door to her daughter Amy Overby and Amy’s husband Exum Overby.¹1870 US Census Kittrell Township: 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/34364118:7163: accessed24 Jul 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. Ten years later, however, still in Kittrell and living with her grandsons John and William, Hannah’s age is given as 80.²1880 US Census Kittrell 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/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4243276-00672?pId=14522169: accessed 26 Jul 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. If we accept the earlier date, we see a woman who was born at the very start of the nineteenth century, who spent the majority of her life in slavery, but lived to see her descendants owning land and sending their children to school and holding good jobs.

Amy’s death certificate lists “Elijah William” as her father.³Amy Overby death certificate: 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/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_1086-0063?pId=1853646: accessed 21 Jul 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. However, no marriage record or cohabitation record could be found for Elijah and Hannah, nor could any census record be found for either of them before 1870. This negative evidence indicates they were likely enslaved. There was a slaveholder named A.N. Williamson in Granville County, NC, living in proximity to a number of slaveholders named Overby; thus it is likely that Elijah and Hannah were enslaved within this area.⁴“1860 U.S. Federal Census—Slave Schedules.” Search for “Overby” in Granville County NC: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668/?name=_Overby&count=50&residence=_granville-north+carolina-usa_1195: accessed 25 Jul 2022.

Search for “Williamson” in Granville County NC: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668/?name=_Overby&count=50&residence=_granville-north+carolina-usa_1195: accessed 25 Jul 2022. Elijah was probably dead by 1870 when Hannah was living with Amy. The last mention we can find of Hannah is in the 1892 Durham City Directory, where she was living with Amy and several of Amy’s children on Pine Street.⁵Ramsey’s Durham Directory 1892 (Durham, N.C: N. A. Ramsey, 1892) p. 216, Willaimson surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25120 : accessed 3 Aug 2022).

Hannah was likely to have known all ten of Amy’s children.⁶John, Annie, Nancy, Wm Jr from 1870 US Census Kittrell Township.

Albert, Ansel, Sallie, Robertt, Jacob from 1880 US Census Durham 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/13428901:6742: accessed 25 Jul 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.

Mary from Mary Armstead death certificate: 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/444246:1121: accessed 25 Jul 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. She also probably knew a number of her great-grandchildren. Her descendants are still living today in Durham and beyond.⁷See Amy Overby life story. One of those descendants is the source of our information that she was buried in Geer Cemetery.⁸Personal communication between Friends of Geer Cemetery and descendant, 14 Feb 2021.

BORN: 1818?¹⁰1870 US Census Kittrell Township.

DIED: 1892?¹¹Ramsey’s Durham Directory 1892.

BIRTH PLACE: Unknown.

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC?¹²Ramsey’s Durham Directory 1892.

SPOUSE: Elijah Williamson.¹³Amy Overby death certificate.

PARENTS: Unknown.

CHILDREN: Amy Overby.¹⁴1870 US Census Kittrell Township.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Daughter Amy Overby, grandson Anderson Overby, granddaughter Sally Yancey, great-granddaughter Friendrica Yancey, grandson-in-law James Armstead.

OCCUPATION: At home.¹⁵1870 US Census Kittrell Township; 1880 US Census Kittrell Township.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: N/A

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A