ROUNDREE, KATIE

Katie Roundtree was born on 10 March 1865 to Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree in Hillsborough, North Carolina.¹Birthdate: Katie Roundtree headstone: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Wayne Lee, 7 Mar 2020. Used by permission.

Parents: Katie Roundtree death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6M8S-W9Y?cc=1609799&wc=MJ49-6TL%3A1042610701 : 3 May 2019), 004216674 > image 787 of 3228; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh. According to the 1900 Census, Katie was a widow with four children.²1910 U. S. census, Durham County, North Carolina, population schedule, Durham District 0034, p x, dwelling x, family, Katie Roundtree; “United States Census, 1910, “online database with images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 February 2021); citing Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1108; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0034; FHL microfilm: 1375121, Roll: T624_1108.  As it turned out, the youngest child listed in the census was her granddaughter.³ “Mrs. Janie Falls”, article, Carolina Times (Durham, North Carolina), 9 February 1963, p 6, col 2. https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83045120/1963-02-09/ed-1/seq-6/ : accessed 27 Jan 2023) She was blessed with not losing a child before adulthood; all three of her children lived long lives. She had one son, Frederick Douglas, and two daughters: Janie M. and Martha Maude.⁴1910 US Census.

Katie and her mother can be found living in the same household throughout much of their lives.⁶Various years of the Durham city directories. She too was a widow.⁷Ramsey’s Durham Directory 1892 (Durham, N.C: N. A. Ramsey, 1892) p. 169, Allen surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25120 : accessed 6 Jan 2022). Both women worked as cooks. Katie was a cook for the Clarion Hotel and based on oral family history for James B. Duke, Katie and her mother supported each other until her mother’s death.⁸Ramsey’s Durham Directory 1892 (Durham, N.C: N. A. Ramsey, 1892) p. 169, Allen surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25120 : accessed 6 Jan 2022). Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. p.241. This provides an indication that the family bond and support between mother and daughter was strong. They both had a level of strength to raise their children as single parents during a time frame when women and women’s work was menial and not valued. Being African American added another layer that limited their economic power. This same type of family support continued with Katie’s children as they continued to live with her until they married. 

Interestingly both Katie’s father and husband had the same surname. Possibly a result of enslavement and post emancipation when the newly freed people were deciding their own names. Having been considered property and given a name only for identification, they were free to call themselves what they chose. Many different scenarios developed of people selecting a name. It is also one of the difficulties in researching African Americans during this time. It is unknown if and how her father and husband were connected. Based on various records, several names have been listed as her husband’s given name, including Jerry and Henry.⁹Jerry: Jerry Roundtree death certificate: North Carolina State Board of Health, death certificate, state certificate no. 4494 (1963), Janie Falls; U.S., Deaths, 1906-1976”, online database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/22418:1121 : accessed 22 Febuary 2021).

Henry1: Katie Roundtree death certificate.

Henry2: Maude Roundtree marriage license: 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/9779717:60548 : accessed 29 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

Katie’s three children prospered beyond what Katie and her mother were to accomplish in their lifetimes. She became a grandmother of at least fourteen.

•  Douglas (12 Dec 1892–28 Mar 1963), widowed twice, buried an unnamed stillborn daughter in 1912 and another daughter, Ruth, who lived less than 2 hours in 1927.¹⁰Fred dates: Fred Roundtree 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/143762:1121 : accessed 29 Jan 2023. 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.
  
  Infant: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D5YS-C36?cc=1609799&wc=MJWR-7M9%3A1042615801 : 3 May 2019), 004217917 > image 1265 of 2688; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.
  
  Ruth: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Deaths, 1906-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/908458:60090 : accessed 28 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. Both are buried in Geer Cemetery.  At his death in 1963, he was survived by three children: Katie Mae Roundtree, Margaret Roundtree, and John Wesley Roundtree. Funeral services were held at First Calvary Baptist Church.¹¹Fred Roundtree, Carolina Times (Durham, North Carolina), 6 April 1963. page 4 column 3, Newspaper obit . He is buried in Beechwood Cemetery.¹²Fred Roundtree death certificate.
• Janie (1887–1963) married Terrence F. Falls in 1913.¹³Ancestry.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/9779725:60548 : accessed 29 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Janie died in 1963. She had one daughter, Gladys Parker, who survived her. Services were at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church and she is buried in Beechwood Cemetery.¹⁴Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 22 January 2023), memorial page for Janie Falls (1887-1963), Find A Grave Memorial no. 47446689, citing Beechwood Cemetery, Durham, North Carolina. 
• Maude, the youngest, married Robert Albright, a successful owner of a meat market.¹⁵Maude Roundtree marriage license. He understood that to be prosperous he needed all of Durham’s community to be customers. His business partner was a white man, making it easier to draw in the white customers.¹⁶Interview with descendants conducted by Debra Taylor Gonzalez-Garcia from Friends of Geer Cemetery. Many African Americans survived and thrived not only by working quietly as invisible laborers and by their knowledge and skills, but also by finding ways to encompass the larger community. Maude and Robert’s seven children were all college graduates, several having careers at universities.¹⁷Descendant interview.

Katie spent her final years with Robert and Maude just as her mother had spent hers with Katie, continuing the bond between mother and daughter, family caring for family.¹⁸1920 US Census Durham Ward 1: Year: 1920; Census Place: Durham Ward 1, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1292; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 47. 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/27172907:6061 : accessed 29 Jan 2023. 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). Katie died in 1927 at the age of 57 years. This was the year that Beechwood Cemetery opened in Durham, North Carolina.¹⁹Katie Roundtree death certificate. Why the family chose to bury Katie in Geer Cemetery might be the fact that the African American community was still holding out hope that instead of Beechwood Cemetery, Geer Cemetery  would be expanded, ensuring that the tradition that began in 1877 would continue. Or, the decision was based on Katie’s wishes to remain near her mother who is also buried in Geer Cemetery. Regardless, Katie is eternally a part of the Greer Cemetery legacy.

BORN: 10 March 1865.²¹Katie Roundtree headstone.

DIED: 6 January 1927.²²Katie Roundtree headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: Orange County, NC.²³Katie Roundtree death certificate

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²⁴Katie Roundtree death certificate

SPOUSE: Jerry or Henry Roundtree.²⁵Jerry Roundtree death certificate; Katie Roundtree death certificate.

PARENTS: Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree.²⁶Katie Roundtree death certificate

CHILDREN: Frederick Douglas Roundtree, Janie M. Roundtree Falls, and Martha Maude Roundtree Albright.²⁷1910 US Census.

OTHER FAMILY:

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Minerva Dortch Roundtree, unnamed infant Roundtree, Ruth Roundtree.

OCCUPATION: Cook.²⁸Durham City DIrectory 1892

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: M/A

ADDRESS: 1407 Greenwood Avenue, Durham.²⁹Katie Roundtree death certificate

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A