\n\n\n\n
From his headstone we learn that Asbury Shaw was born July 19, 1888.1<\/a><\/sup>Asbury Shaw headstone: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Tim Foley, Jun 21, 2022. Used by permission.<\/span> He was the son of Romulus Shaw and Agnes Smith Shaw, the middle of three children.2<\/a><\/sup>Shaw-Smith 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\/1277364:60548<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Agnes was also born around the time of emancipation in Caswell County to James and Ann Smith.6<\/a><\/sup>1870 US Census Melton Township. Year: 1870; Census Place: Milton, Caswell, North Carolina; Roll: M593_1128; Page: 426A. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/discoveryui-content\/view\/22809610:7163<\/a> : accessed 5 Nov 2022. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.<\/span> She came to Durham in the 1870\u2019s, likely after her father died, where she lived in Hayti with her older sister Sarah and Sarah\u2019s husband George Gattis.7<\/a><\/sup>1880 US Census Durham Township: Year: 1880; Census Place: Durham, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 976; Page: 172D; Enumeration District: 196. 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 \u00a9 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\/43189280:6742<\/a> : accessed 5 Nov 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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Romulus and Agnes were wed in 1886 in Durham.8<\/a><\/sup>Shaw-Smith marriage license.<\/span> City Directories show Romulus found work first at a tobacco factory and then as a porter and janitor at the First National Bank, owned by Julian Carr, while Agnes worked as a washwoman.9<\/a><\/sup>Durham city directories.<\/span> The couple had three children between 1887 and 1891; Mabel in 1887, Asbury in 1888 and Pensey in 1891.10<\/a><\/sup>Mabel and Asbury: 1900 US Census Durham. In 1896 Romulus bought property at the north end of Hayti (Fayetteville and Pettigrew Streets), in a neighborhood known as Sugar Hill.12<\/a><\/sup>Register of Deeds, Durham County, NC, Book 16, p. 417. https:\/\/rodweb.dconc.gov\/web\/document\/DOCCOPR-101522932-0<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022.<\/span> The family\u2019s neighbors included such Durham luminaries as John Merrick and Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore. This is where Asbury lived until his death at the age of only 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All we know about his death is that he passed away at home at 11:30 on the morning of 30 September 1907. His funeral took place at St. Joseph\u2019s AME. church only a few blocks to the south of his home, and his burial was in Geer Cemetery.13<\/a><\/sup>\u201cWorthy Colored Man Dead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Asbury\u2019s grandmother Winnie Rebecca Shaw would follow him in death and interment in Geer cemetery in 1914 (at the amazing age of 96), as would step-mother Mary in 1917, sister Pensie Shaw Mills in 1922 and Aunt Sarah Gattis in 1923.14<\/a><\/sup>Winnie Shaw 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\/362297:60090<\/a> : accessed 4 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. BORN<\/strong>: 19 July 1888.17<\/a><\/sup>Asbury Shaw headstone.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n 19 July 1888\u201330 September 1907 Last updated: 11 Nov 2022 From his headstone we learn that Asbury Shaw was born July 19, 1888. He was the son of Romulus Shaw and Agnes Smith Shaw, the middle of three children. Romulus was born in Chapel Hill around the time of emancipation, a half-brother to John O\u2019Daniel,… Read More »SHAW, ASBURY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"full-width","neve_meta_container":"contained","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"on","neve_meta_content_width":90,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"[\"title\",\"content\",\"comments\"]","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,21],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-stories","tag-asbury-shaw","tag-life-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg","rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-1024x1024.jpg",1024,1024,true],"thumblist":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"thumbrelated":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",500,500,false],"meccarouselthumb":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-474x324.jpg",474,324,true],"gridsquare":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-391x260.jpg",391,260,true],"tileview":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"neve-blog":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-930x620.jpg",930,620,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Lew Shiner","author_link":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/author\/lshiner\/"},"rttpg_comment":2,"rttpg_category":"Life Stories<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"19 July 1888\u201330 September 1907 Last updated: 11 Nov 2022 From his headstone we learn that Asbury Shaw was born July 19, 1888. He was the son of Romulus Shaw and Agnes Smith Shaw, the middle of three children. Romulus was born in Chapel Hill around the time of emancipation, a half-brother to John O\u2019Daniel,… Read…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2322"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2366,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions\/2366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nOlder sister Mabel: 1900 US Census Durham: 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\/68146818:7602<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nYounger sister Pensey: Pensey Mills 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\/1806075:1121<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 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.<\/span> Romulus was born in Chapel Hill around the time of emancipation, a half-brother to John O\u2019Daniel, who would become one of the earliest landowners and prominent citizens in Durham\u2019s Hayti District.3<\/a><\/sup>Romulus\u2019s mother: Romulus Shaw 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\/68146818:7602<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nJohn O\u2019Daniel\u2019s mother: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/3:1:3Q9M-CSC1-QJVL?cc=1726957<\/a> : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.
\n\n\n\nProminence: \u201cCarr Family Pay Honor to a Servant,\u201d Durham Morning Herald (Durham NC), 1 May 1917 p. 6. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/787319960\/?terms=Carr&match=1<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 2022.<\/span> The two shared the same mother (Winnie Rebecca Shaw), but it is uncertain who either of their fathers were. On various records, Romulus\u2019 father is listed as Fred Story, Lewis Shaw, and Lawrence Shaw.4<\/a><\/sup>Fred Story: Romulus Shaw 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\/1275335:1121<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nLewis Shaw: Shaw-Crittendon 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\/2531390:60548<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
\n\n\n\nLawrence Shaw: Shaw-Holdman 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\/1796999:60548<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.<\/span> Romulus, Winnie, John, and some of Romulus\u2019s other siblings all appear to have come from Chapel Hill to Durham around 1880.5<\/a><\/sup>Various years of Durham City Directories. https:\/\/lib.digitalnc.org\/search?p=location:[Durham+%28N.C.%29]%20AND%20collectioninformation:[North%20Carolina%20City%20Directories]&sf=year&so=a<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPensey: Pensey Mills death certificate.<\/span> Unfortunately Agnes died at some point in the early 1890\u2019s when Asbury was a young boy, his father marrying Mary Crittenden in 1894.11<\/a><\/sup>Shaw-Crittendon marriage license.<\/span> Mary was from Savannah, GA, but it is not known how she came to be in North Carolina. Asbury\u2019s tombstone inscription lists him as the son of Romulus and Mary, suggesting the important role his step-mother might have played in his upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMary Shaw 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\/468167:60090<\/a> : accessed 4 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
\n\n\n\nPensey Mills 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\/1806075:1121<\/a> : accessed 4 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nSarah Gattis 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\/541774:60090<\/a> : accessed 6 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.<\/span> Father Romulus passed away in 1942, interred not in Geer but in Violet Park Cemetery.15<\/a><\/sup>Romulus Shaw death certificate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Asbury](\"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/asbury_shaw_headstone-1024x1024.jpg\")
DIED<\/strong>: 30 September 1907.18<\/a><\/sup>\u201cWorthy Colored Man Dead.\u201d<\/span>
BIRTH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham NC.19<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census Durham.<\/span>
DEATH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham NC.20<\/a><\/sup>\u201cWorthy Colored Man Dead.\u201d<\/span>
SPOUSE<\/strong>: N\/A
PARENTS<\/strong>: Romulus Shaw and Agnes Smith Shaw.21<\/a><\/sup>Shaw-Smith marriage license.<\/span>
CHILDREN<\/strong>: None.
OTHER FAMILY<\/strong>: Sister Mabel (b. 1887), sister Pensey (b. 1891), aunt Sarah Smith Gaddis, grandmother Winnie Rebecca Shaw, step-mother Mary Shaw.22<\/a><\/sup>Mabel: 1900 US Census Durham; Pensey Mills death certificate; Sarah: 1870 US Census Melton Township; Winnie Shaw death certificate; Shaw-Crittendon marriage license.<\/span>
FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY<\/strong>: Grandmother Winnie Rebecca Shaw, step-mother Mary Shaw, aunt Sarah Gattis, sister Pensie Shaw.\u00a0 Possibly mother Agnes Shaw.\u00a0 Uncle John O’Daniel was buried in Geer but may have been removed to Beechwood.
OCCUPATION<\/strong>: Unknown.
CHURCH<\/strong>: St. Joseph\u2019s AME Church.23<\/a><\/sup>\u201cWorthy Colored Man Dead.\u201d<\/span>
AFFILIATIONS<\/strong>: N\/A
ADDRESS<\/strong>: 107 Fayetteville Street.24<\/a><\/sup>1900 US Census Durham.<\/span>
MILITARY SERVICE<\/strong>: N\/A<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNotes<\/h3>
\n\n\n\nOlder sister Mabel: 1900 US Census Durham: 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\/68146818:7602<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nYounger sister Pensey: Pensey Mills 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\/1806075:1121<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 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.<\/div><\/li>
\n\n\n\nJohn O\u2019Daniel\u2019s mother: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/3:1:3Q9M-CSC1-QJVL?cc=1726957<\/a> : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.
\n\n\n\nProminence: \u201cCarr Family Pay Honor to a Servant,\u201d Durham Morning Herald (Durham NC), 1 May 1917 p. 6. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/787319960\/?terms=Carr&match=1<\/a> : accessed 2 Nov 2022.<\/div><\/li>
\n\n\n\nLewis Shaw: Shaw-Crittendon 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\/2531390:60548<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
\n\n\n\nLawrence Shaw: Shaw-Holdman 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\/1796999:60548<\/a> : accessed 3 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.<\/div><\/li>
\n\n\n\nPensey: Pensey Mills death certificate.<\/div><\/li>
\n\n\n\nMary Shaw 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\/468167:60090<\/a> : accessed 4 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
\n\n\n\nPensey Mills 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\/1806075:1121<\/a> : accessed 4 Nov 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.
\n\n\n\nSarah Gattis 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\/541774:60090<\/a> : accessed 6 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.<\/div><\/li>