LYONS, ELIJAH

Elijah Lyons was born on 2 April 1865, somewhere in North Carolina, to unknown parents.¹Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Elijah Lyons headstone, photographer unknown, shared by Nicholas Levy, 15 Sep 2020. His first mention in the historical record is for his 1 May 1884 marriage to Caroline Geer in Durham NC.²Elijah Lyons marriage register: Series: Marriage Register (1882 – 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/1276420:60548 : accessed 11 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

Caroline’s early history is somewhat better known. She was born in 1866 to Solomon and Bettie Geer, freed people of color, who had been cohabitating since 1852.³Caroline birthdate: 1880 US Census Durham: Year: 1880; Census Place: Durham, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 975; Page: 131C; Enumeration District: 195. 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/43188075:6742 : accessed 11 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.

Freedman’s records: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91D-39Q1-3?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. They lived in the township of Durham (incorporated in April 1869), then still a part of Orange County.⁴“Welcome to The City of Durham,” City of Durham, https://www.durhamnc.gov/1457/Welcome-to-The-City-of-Durham : accessed 11 Sep 2022. While it’s likely that Elijah Lyons lived nearby, we lack the evidence to prove it.

Elijah and Caroline had three children that we know of: Robert (b. June 1884), William (b. September 1886), and a third child who died before the 1900 Federal Census.⁵1900 US Census Durham: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 0031; 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/68146400:7602 : accessed 11 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 family settled onto Pine Street on the outskirts of the largely African American Hayti neighborhood. From 1887 through 1904 Elijah worked in a tobacco factory.⁶Various issues of the Durham City Directory. The only factory specified is in 1892: Ream’s Tobacco Factory at 200 West Main Street.⁷Ramsey’s Durham Directory, for the Year 1892 (Durham, NC; Ramsey, N. A., 1892) p.194 (Elijah) and 233 (Reams); digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25120 : accessed 12 Sep 2022). Later, his two sons joined him in the tobacco business. Caroline worked as a washer and ironer.⁸Various issues of the Durham City Directory.

Robert and William, who would have been in their mid-twenties by 1910, are not listed with their parents in that year’s census. Most likely they moved away to start their own families, but their names are so common that we have so far been unable to trace them. Elijah and Caroline were living at 502 Mobile Avenue at the time of Elijah’s death in 1916.⁹Address: Durham, NC Directory 1915-1916 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1915-1916) p. 269, Lyons surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25122 : accessed 12 Sep 2022).

Death date: Elijah Lyons headstone. The last record we can find of Caroline shows her as a tobacco worker living at 515 Mobile in 1933.¹⁰Hill’s Durham (North Carolina) City Directory 1933 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1933) p. 281, Lyons surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25150 : accessed 12 Sep 2022).

In 1911, Elijah was initiated into the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free Accepted Masons Of North Carolina, Doric Lodge, No. 28, in Durham NC.¹¹C.S. Brown, Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons (Greensboro, NC; December 12–14, 1911) p. 135. PDF in collection of Friends of Geer Cemetery. In 1912 he rose to become Chaplain for the Doric Lodge, leading the biweekly prayers and other holy business in the chapter.¹²Elijah as Chaplain: C.S. Brown, Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons (Asheville, NC; December 10–12, 1912), no page number shown. PDF in collection of Friends of Geer Cemetery.

Duties of Chaplain: “Lodge Officer Duties and Responsibilities,” Masonic Lodge of Education. https://www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com/lodge-officer-duties.html : accessed 12 Sep 2022.

The Freemason Proceedings of 1916 are the last record we have of Elijah. The Doric Lodge noted him among those who died in 1916, and he also was marked in the financial records for not turning in his $300 dues, presumably because he died.¹³C.S. Brown, Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons (Washington, NC; December 12, 1916) p. 153 (death) p. 59 (financials). PDF in collection of Friends of Geer Cemetery. His gravestone in Geer Cemetery is inscribed with the Masonic square and compasses and says he died on 14 October 1916. He was 51.¹⁴Elijah Lyons headstone.

BORN: 2 Apr 1865. ¹⁶Elijah Lyons headstone.

DIED: 14 October 1916.¹⁷Elijah Lyons headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: North Carolina.¹⁸1900 US Census Durham.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.¹⁹Assumed from death date on headstone.

SPOUSE: Caroline Geer.²⁰Elijah Lyons marriage register.

PARENTS: Unknown.

CHILDREN: Robert (b. 1884) and William (b. 1886).²¹1900 US Census Durham.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: N/A

OCCUPATION: Tobacco worker.²²1900 US Census Durham

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free Accepted Masons Of North Carolina, Doric Lodge, No. 28.²³Masonic Proceedings 1911.

ADDRESS: 502 Mobile Avenue.²⁴Durham NC Directory 1915-1916.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A