THORPE, CAGER

Of the roughly 2,000 souls buried in Geer Cemetery, only about 10 percent have headstones. Others we know only through the death certificates that begin to tell their stories; one of those is Cager Thorpe, who passed away at the young age of 35 on May 25, 1926.¹Cager Thorpe death certificate: North 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/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_188-2324?pId=2238822 : accessed 24 Aug 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.

Cager was born on 10 October 1890 in the Oak Hill area of Granville County (northwest of Oxford) to Lewis Thorpe and Agnes (Aggie) Daniel Thorpe.²Birthdate: Cager Thorpe draft card: Registration State: Virginia; Registration County: Dinwiddie County. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005153683_03987?pId=22421917 : accessed 24 Aug 2022. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

Birth location and parents: 1900 US Census Oak Hill: Year: 1900; Census Place: Oak Hill, Granville, North Carolina; Roll: 1197; Page: 24; Enumeration District: 0057; FHL microfilm: 1241197. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117825_00493?pId=68178518 : accessed 24 Aug 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. His parents were both children of freed slaves from the Oak Hill area, and Cager was apparently named for his paternal grandfather Micajah (though he nearly always used the shortened version).³Paternal grandparents freed: Series: Marriage Bonds (1763 – 1869). 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/5745273:60548 : accessed 25 Aug 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

Maternal grandparents freed: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99VS-ZN6B?cc=1726957&wc=QD8P-6Q1%3A1588772822%2C1588773236 : 19 July 2016), Granville > Marriage records, 1851-1868 > image 537 of 544; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. His maternal grandparents had been enslaved on the Tranquility Plantation owned by the Nathaniel and Ann Daniel family.⁴“Tranquility Plantation,” RootsWeb. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~afamerpl/plantations_usa/NC/tranquility.html. He was one of seven children: three boys and four girls.⁵1900 US Census Oak Hill: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117825_00493 : 28 Aug 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.

1920 US Census Durham 0055: Enumeration District: 0055; Description: Durham City, Ward 3 (part) including Lincoln Hospital, all between McManus and Fayetteville, south of the Southern Railway to the City limits. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4442122_00576 : accessed 30 Aug 2022. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

The few pieces we know of Cager’s story include elements common to many of those buried in Geer Cemetery without a headstone. By the age of only 10, Cager was working as a farm laborer nine months of the year alongside his father, while doing some schooling for the remaining three months.⁶1900 US Census Oak Hill. In the early 1900’s, the family likely started looking at Durham for its better economic opportunities compared with rural tenant farming in Granville County. Cager appears to have been the first to arrive, working as a porter in the 1907 Durham City Directory and living on the north end of the vibrant historic Hayti neighborhood.⁷Durham, NC Directory 1907-1908 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1907-1908) p. 271, Thorpe surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25126 : accessed 31 Aug 2022). The tobacco industry provided the most common and steady labor opportunities for those coming from rural areas, and both Cager and his father eventually found work there.⁸1910 US Census Oak Hill: Year: 1910; Census Place: Durham Ward 3, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1108; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 137512. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20479850:7884 : accessed 28 Aug 2022. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Two of his sisters also found jobs as a cook and a nurse in private homes, while the youngest siblings were able to attend school.⁹Various years of the Durham city directory from 1907–1926.

In 1911, Cager married Kate Cohen, daughter of Henry and Mary Cohen.¹⁰Cager Thorpe 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_331607-01111 : accessed 24 Aug 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Kate was from Greensboro, NC where her father Henry worked as a cook for a private family.¹¹Year: 1920; Census Place: Greensboro Ward 3, Guilford, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1302; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 139. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/46530587:6061 : Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City). The next few years saw Cager move house repeatedly as he worked for various tobacco companies. He and Kate appear in the Winston-Salem City Directory for 1916, then his draft card and a City Directory show him in Petersburg VA in 1917.¹²Cager Thorpe draft card: Registration State: Virginia; Registration County: Dinwiddie County. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005153683_03987?pId=22421917: accessed 24 Aug 2022. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

City Directory: Title: Petersburg, Virginia, City Directory, 1917. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/689784236:2469 : Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information. The draft card shows him with a dependent wife and an unnamed 10-year-old sister, which would have to be Armelia. By 1920 the couple was back in Winston-Salem, NC, where Kate died from complications while pregnant with what likely would have been their first child.¹³Kate Thorpe death certificate: North 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/1329596:1121 : accessed 24 Aug 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 was buried in Greensboro, likely in Maplewood Cemetery alongside her mother.¹⁴Mary Cohen death certificate: North 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/2126678:1121 : accessed 2 Sep 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. Note Mary’s name misspelled as “Marey Cones.” Cager stayed in Winston-Salem working until at least 1923.¹⁵Winston-Salem, N.C. City Directory [1923] (Winston-Salem NC; Piedmont Directory Co. 1923) p. 710, Thorpe surname, digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25179 : accessed 31 Aug 2022). He eventually found his way back to Durham, where he died of tuberculosis in 1926.¹⁶Cager Thorpe death certificate. Interestingly, while his death certificate lists him still employed by R.J. Reynolds, it also indicates he had contracted his fatal disease a few weeks earlier in Detroit, Michigan. It is possible he had found some work in the distant city, one of many African-Americans who made up the Great Migration to look for work and better opportunities than were available to them in the South.

Cager died in the home he rented with his sister Helen and brother-in-law Emmett Barden at 1110 Pine Street (today South Roxboro Road).¹⁷Cager Thorpe death certificate. He was buried in Geer Cemetery alongside his parents who had preceded him in death—Aggie in 1913 from pellagra and Lewis in 1920 from paralysis and a cerebral hemorrhage.¹⁸Aggie Thorpe death certificate: North 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/267452:1121 : 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.

Lewis Thorpe death certificate: North 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/528244:1121 : accessed 30 Aug 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. Also buried in Geer is Cager’s sister Armelia who died in 1922 at the age of only 16, also from tuberculosis.¹⁹Armelia Thorpe death certificate: North 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/143282:1121 : accessed 30 Aug 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. While it does not appear that Cager had any children to carry his legacy and no headstone remains for him, his story and the labors he and his family invested in Durham and beyond are not forgotten.

BORN: 10 Oct 1890.²¹Cager Thorpe draft card.

DIED: 25 May 1926.²²Cager Thorpe death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Granville County NC.²³Cager Thorpe death certificate.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²⁴Cager Thorpe death certificate.

SPOUSE: Kate Cohen.²⁵Cager Thorpe marriage license.

PARENTS: Lewis Thorpe and Agnes Daniel.²⁶Cager Thorpe death certificate.

CHILDREN: None known.

OTHER FAMILY: Sister Armelia.²⁷Armelia Thorpe death certificate.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Parents Lewis and Agnes Thorpe, sister Amelia Thorpe.

OCCUPATION: Tobacco worker.²⁸Cager Thorpe death certificate.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 1110 Pine Street.²⁹Cager Thorpe death certificate.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A