YARBORO, MARY ELLEN

Mary Ellen Yarboro was born on 15 December 1849 somewhere in North Carolina.¹Date: Mary Ellen Yarboro headstone: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Nicholas Levy, 31 Oct 2020. Used by permission.

Birthplace: 1880 US Census Durham: Year: 1880; Census Place: Durham, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 976; Page: 173A; Enumeration District: 196. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/14833637:6742 : accessed 17 Nov 2022. 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. Her mother was Caroline Barnes/Barnett, and Mary Ellen had three siblings.²1880 US Census Durham. Her mother appears in records with the surname Barnes up until 1880, and with the surname Barnett starting in 1887.³Directory of the Business and Citizens of Durham City for 1887 (Durham, NC: Levi Branson, 1887) p. 27, Barnett surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25123 : accessed 17 Nov 2022). We know nothing of either Mary Ellen or her mother prior to 1875, when Caroline purchased a quarter acre of land in Durham.⁴Orange County Deeds, Book 44, Page 282. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9DH-V33G?i=426&cat=302251. Caroline lived on this property, which would eventually have the address 716 E. Pettigrew Street, from 1875 until 1909 when it is presumed she passed away.⁵Durham, NC Directory 1909-1910 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1909-1910) p. 51, Barnett surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25158 : accessed 17 Nov 2022). It appears Mary Ellen lived with her this entire time as well. Nothing remains today of the house nor the Hayti community it was part of due to the construction of the Durham Freeway in the late 1960s, but their house would have sat roughly under the present-day play-structure adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club of Durham on E. Pettigrew Street.

From records it appears Mary Ellen also used the surname Barnes/Barnett, with the first time we see her associated with the surname Yarboro being in the 1889 City Directory.⁶Turner & Co.’s Durham Directory for the Years 1889 and 1890 (Durham, NC: E.F. Turner & Co., 1889) p. 129, Yarborough surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25129 : accessed 23 Nov 2022). Presumably she married a man surnamed Yarboro at some point, although it is uncertain who he was or where they were married. She is listed as married in the 1880 census but widowed in the 1900 census.⁷1880 US Census Durham.

1900 US Census Durham: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 18; 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/68133892:7602 : accessed 17 Nov 2022.

Mary Ellen had two children, including daughter Ida born in 1872; however, neither appears to have survived to adulthood.⁸1880 US Census Durham. Ida died in 1882 at the age of only 10. Her original headstone has not survived, but a footstone with the inscription “I.Y.” likely marking her burial in Geer Cemetery still exists today alongside the headstone for her mother, indicating she was one of the earliest burials after the cemetery opened in 1877.⁹Pre-1914 cemetery inscription card index, Statement of Responsibility: prepared by the Historical Records Survey Service Division, Work Projects Administration. Authors: Historical Records Survey (North Carolina) (Added Author). Format: Manuscript/Manuscript on Film. Language: English. Publication: Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, 1972. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CST7-SQ5W-S : accessed 2 Feb 2021. Ida’s death date, and the initial “Y” on her footstone, suggest that the family was using the surname Yarboro at least as early as 1882. Mary Ellen worked as a laundress/washer during her time in Durham.¹⁰Various years of the Durham City Directory. It is possible the family was part of the church community that would eventually become White Rock Baptist Church, living only two houses east of the original church building at the corner of Pettigrew Street and Coleman Alley.

Mary Ellen passed away on November 13, 1900 and is buried in Geer Cemetery.¹¹Mary Ellen Yarboro headstone. Her headstone includes the inscription “All is dark within our dwelling/Lonely our hearts today/For the one we loved so dearly/Has forever passed away.” Her mother, Caroline, appears to have passed away in either 1909 or 1910, as she appears in the 1909 City Directory and is absent in the 1910 Federal Census.¹²1900 US Census Durham. Although there are no records to confirm it (due to lack of death certificates before 1913), it is possible that her mother is also buried alongside Mary Ellen in Geer cemetery.

BORN: 15 December 1849.¹⁴Mary Ellen Yarboro headstone.

DIED: 13 November 1900.¹⁵Mary Ellen Yarboro headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: North Carolina.¹⁶1880 US Census Durham.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.¹⁷Mangum’s Directory of Durham and Suburbs 1897 (Durham, N.C.: D. C. Mangum, 1897) p. 218, Yarboro surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25139 : accessed 25 Nov 2022).

SPOUSE: [unknown first name] Yarboro.¹⁸Durham Directory for 1889 and 1890.

PARENTS: Mother Caroline Barnes/Barnett.¹⁹1880 US Census Durham.

CHILDREN: Ida and unknown sibling.²⁰1900 US Census Durham.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Daughter Ida.

OCCUPATION: Laundress.²¹Various years of the Durham City Directory.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 716 E. Pettigrew Street.²²City Directory for 1889 and 1890.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A