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Katie Roundtree was born on 10 March 1865 to Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree in Hillsborough, North Carolina.1<\/a><\/sup>Birthdate: Katie Roundtree headstone: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Wayne Lee, 7 Mar 2020. Used by permission. Katie and her mother can be found living in the same household throughout much of their lives.6<\/a><\/sup>Various years of the Durham city directories.<\/span> She too was a widow.7<\/a><\/sup>Ramsey’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).<\/span> 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\u2019s death.8<\/a><\/sup>Ramsey’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<\/em> [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. p.241.<\/span> 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\u2019s children as they continued to live with her until they married.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s given name, including Jerry and Henry.9<\/a><\/sup>Jerry: Jerry Roundtree death certificate: North Carolina State Board of Health, death certificate, state certificate no. 4494 (1963), Janie Falls; U.S., Deaths, 1906-1976\u201d, online database with images, Ancestry (https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/discoveryui-content\/view\/22418:1121 : accessed 22 Febuary 2021). 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BORN<\/strong>: 10 March 1865.21<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree headstone.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n 10 March 1865\u20136 January 1927 Last updated: 26 Jan 2023 Katie Roundtree was born on 10 March 1865 to Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree in Hillsborough, North Carolina. According to the 1900 Census, Katie was a widow with four children.\u00a0 As it turned out, the youngest child listed in the census was her granddaughter. She… Read More »ROUNDREE, KATIE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2524,"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":[75,21,74],"class_list":["post-2520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-stories","tag-albright","tag-life-stories","tag-roundtree"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg","rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-1024x1024.jpg",1024,1024,true],"thumblist":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"thumbrelated":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",500,500,false],"meccarouselthumb":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-474x324.jpg",474,324,true],"gridsquare":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-391x260.jpg",391,260,true],"tileview":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone.jpg",1080,1080,false],"neve-blog":["https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-930x620.jpg",930,620,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Lew Shiner","author_link":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/author\/lshiner\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Life Stories<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"10 March 1865\u20136 January 1927 Last updated: 26 Jan 2023 Katie Roundtree was born on 10 March 1865 to Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree in Hillsborough, North Carolina. According to the 1900 Census, Katie was a widow with four children.\u00a0 As it turned out, the youngest child listed in the census was her granddaughter. She… Read…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520"}],"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=2520"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2562,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520\/revisions\/2562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nParents: 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.<\/span> According to the 1900 Census, Katie was a widow with four children.2<\/a><\/sup>1910 U. S. census, Durham County, North Carolina, population schedule, Durham District 0034, p x, dwelling x, family, Katie Roundtree; \u201cUnited States Census, 1910, \u201conline database with images, Ancestry<\/em> (www.ancestry.com<\/a> : 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.<\/span>\u00a0 As it turned out, the youngest child listed in the census was her granddaughter.3<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0\u201cMrs. Janie Falls\u201d, 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)<\/span> 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.4<\/a><\/sup>1910 US Census.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Katie](\"http:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Photo_KattieRoundtree_cropped.jpg\")
\n\n\n\nHenry1: Katie Roundtree death certificate.
\n\n\n\nHenry2: 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<\/a> : accessed 29 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/span> Both are buried in Geer Cemetery.\u00a0 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.11<\/a><\/sup>Fred Roundtree, Carolina Times<\/em> (Durham, North Carolina), 6 April 1963. page 4 column 3, Newspaper obit\u00a0.<\/span> He is buried in Beechwood Cemetery.12<\/a><\/sup>Fred Roundtree death certificate.<\/span><\/li>
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.18<\/a><\/sup>1920 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<\/a> : 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).<\/span> Katie died in 1927 at the age of 57 years. This was the year that Beechwood Cemetery opened in Durham, North Carolina.19<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree death certificate.<\/span> 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\u2019s wishes to remain near her mother who is also buried in Geer Cemetery. Regardless, Katie is eternally a part of the Greer Cemetery legacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/katie_roundtree_headstone-1024x1024.jpg\")
DIED<\/strong>: 6 January 1927.22<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree headstone.<\/span>
BIRTH PLACE<\/strong>: Orange County, NC.23<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree death certificate<\/span>
DEATH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham NC.24<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree death certificate<\/span>
SPOUSE<\/strong>: Jerry or Henry Roundtree.25<\/a><\/sup>Jerry Roundtree death certificate; Katie Roundtree death certificate.<\/span>
PARENTS<\/strong>: Minerva Dortch and Douglas Roundtree.26<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree death certificate<\/span>
CHILDREN<\/strong>: Frederick Douglas Roundtree, Janie M. Roundtree Falls, and Martha Maude Roundtree Albright.27<\/a><\/sup>1910 US Census.<\/span>
OTHER FAMILY<\/strong>:
FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY<\/strong>: Minerva Dortch Roundtree, unnamed infant Roundtree, Ruth Roundtree.
OCCUPATION<\/strong>: Cook.28<\/a><\/sup>Durham City DIrectory 1892<\/span>
CHURCH<\/strong>: N\/A
AFFILIATIONS<\/strong>: M\/A
ADDRESS<\/strong>: 1407 Greenwood Avenue, Durham.29<\/a><\/sup>Katie Roundtree death certificate<\/span>
MILITARY SERVICE<\/strong>: N\/A<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNotes<\/h3>
\n\n\n\nParents: 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.<\/div><\/li>
\n\n\n\nHenry1: Katie Roundtree death certificate.
\n\n\n\nHenry2: 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<\/a> : accessed 29 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.<\/div><\/li>
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.<\/div><\/li>