BENNETT, CLARENCE

Clarence Bennett was born in either 1890 or 1891, likely in Vance County NC.¹Clarence Bennett death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/222940:1121 : accessed 14 Apr 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. His parents, Edward Bennett and Ella Parham, were married on 11 October 1886 in Dabney, Vance County.²Edward Bennett marriage record: 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/3856734:60548 : accessed 14 Apr 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. They had already had a daughter Addie (a.k.a. Hattie) in 1887 before Clarence was born.³1900 US Census Vance: Year: 1900; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: 1193; Page: 26; Enumeration District: 0031. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68146838:7602 : accessed 14 Apr 2023. 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 couple and their two children moved to Durham around 1897, when Edward and Ella can first be found in the City Directory.⁴Mangum’s Directory of Durham and Suburbs 1897 (Durham, N.C.: D. C. Mangum, 1897) p. 58, Bennett surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25139 : accessed 14 Apr 2023). The 1900 Census shows Edward as a laborer for the railroad, while the two children were attending school.

Not long after, Ella appears to have passed away, with Edward (listed as widowed) then marrying Nancy Jordan in 1902 in Charlotte County, Virginia.⁵Edward Bennett second marriage certificate: “Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRS9-H8M : 29 January 2020), Edw’d. Bennett, 1902. It might be that Ella is buried in Geer Cemetery, although there were no death certificates at the time that could confirm this possibility. City Directories show that Edward and Nancy lived in Durham after their marriage, and by 1910 they had three children of their own (Viola, James, and Jessee).⁶1910 US Census Durham: Year: 1910; Census Place: Durham Ward 3, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1108; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1375121. 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/152561953:7884 : accessed 14 Apr 2023. 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. Edward continued to work for the railroad as a fireman, a job that entailed keeping the locomotive engines fed and running. By 1910 Clarence had taken up work as a laborer in a tobacco factory. Edward and Nannie would have three more children—a stillborn daughter in 1911, a son Charles in 1914, and another son, Venis, in 1916.⁷Stillborn infant: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/388421:1121 : 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.

Charles: 1920 US Census Allegheny PA: Year: 1920; Census Place: Braddock, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1509; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 40. 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/99403551:6061 : accessed 14 Apr 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: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

Venis death certificate: 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/218274:60090 : Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. Venis died at only four months old from malnutrition. Both Venis and the stillborn daughter are buried in Geer Cemetery.

On 3 October 1914, Clarence married Ava (a.k.a. Abbie) Colley, the daughter of William and Flora Colley, in Durham. They were married by Rev. J.Q. Johnson from the AME Zion Church at Rev. Johnson’s house on Pickett Street.⁸Clarence Bennett 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/3856734:60548 : accessed 14 Apr 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Unfortunately, only a year later, Clarence would leave Ava a widow, dying after a two-week sickness from tuberculosis. He was buried in Geer Cemetery.⁹Clarence Bennett death certificate. Only a few weeks after his death, Ava gave birth to a daughter, Effie, who would never get to meet her father. Three short years later, Effie would lose her mother as well, as Ava passed away in July of 1918 from tuberculosis and pellagra. Ava was also buried in Geer Cemetery.¹⁰Abia [sic] Colley death certificate: 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/1593498:60090 : accessed 17 Apr 2023. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. Effie would grow up in Durham, raised by her grandmother Flora and other Colley relatives.¹¹1930 US Census Durham: Year: 1930; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Page: 25A; Enumeration District: 0012; FHL microfilm: 2341421. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/77183383:6224 : accessed 17 Apr 2023. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

After Clarence’s death, his sister Hattie married a man named Charlie Williamson in Durham in 1917.¹²Ancestry.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/9795145:60548 : accessed 18 Apr 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. The 1920 Federal Census shows the couple living in Elizabeth City on the Virginia coast. They were living with five children ranging is age from 5 to 15, making it likely that they were Charlie’s children from a previous marriage. Charlie was employed as a carpenter.¹³Year: 1920; Census Place: Chesapeake, Elizabeth City, Virginia; Roll: T625_1887; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 28. 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/63264691:6061 : accessed 18 Apr 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: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City). Hattie died a widow in Hampton VA in 1965 and was buried in Smith Cemetery there. She was survived by at least one daughter of her own, Mrs. Eva Burton.¹⁴Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1826053:9278 : accessed 18 Apr 2023. Original data: Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia.

Not long after Clarence’s death and Hattie’s marriage, Edward and Nannie moved their family to Braddock, Allegheny County, PA where Edward was employed by the steel works.¹⁵1920 US Census Braddock: Year: 1920; Census Place: Braddock, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1509; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 40. 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/99403551:6061 : accessed 14 Apr 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: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City). He died in Pennsylvania in 1945, and was buried in Braddock Cemetery.¹⁶Edward Bennett death certificate: Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pa; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1968; Certificate Number Range: 100051-102900. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7439681:5164 : accessed 19 Apr 2023. Original data: Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1969. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Effie appears to have remained in Durham at least through 1935, based on City Directories, but moved to Washington DC sometime before 1951, possibly marrying a man surnamed Easley. She died in 1987, but it is unknown if she had any children who would continue Clarence’s line.¹⁷Move to DC: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4184712:3693 : accessed 19 Apr 2023. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

Easley marriage: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/19398558:60901 : accessed 17 Apr 2023. Original data: Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.

In addition to his wife Ava and two half-siblings, Clarence is joined in Geer Cemetery by his grandfather Issum Bennett (see his life story).

BORN: 1890 or 1891.¹⁹Clarence Bennett death certificate.

DIED: 5 Oct 1915.²⁰Clarence Bennett death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Vance County NC.²¹Edward Bennett marriage record.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²²Clarence Bennett death certificate.

SPOUSE: Ava Colley.²³Clarence Bennett marriage certificate.

PARENTS: Edward Bennett and Ella Parham.²⁴Edward Bennett marriage record.

CHILDREN: Effie Bennet Easley.²⁵Effie Bennett Social Security Applications and Claims.

OTHER FAMILY: Sister Hattie Bennett Williamson; siblings Hattie (1890), Viola (1904), James (1908), and Jessee (1910); adopted sister Bertha (1901).²⁶1910 US Census Durham.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Grandfather Issum Bennett, wife Ava, half-brother Venis, and a stillborn half-sister.

OCCUPATION: Tobacco worker.²⁷Clarence Bennett death certificate.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 1504 Umstead Street, Durham NC.²⁸Clarence Bennett death certificate.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A