You assume the families of your siblings will stay connected for at least a few generations, but genealogy research prooves that is usually not the case. Thanks to social networks like Facebook and genealogy sites like Ancestry.com, at least we can now reconnect with distant cousins who drifted away long ago.
In this photo, the couple on the left are my great-grandparents, Robert Edward “Bob” Castellaw (1868-1954) and Zula Zera Watridge Castellaw (1875-1940), the parents of my grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams.
My cousin Sandra Presley Smith connected me with another cousin, Martha Mann, who helped identify the others in the photo. The two people on the right are Bob’s sister and brother, Nora Castellaw Hilburn (1878-1941) and Zach Fletcher Castellaw (1876-1951). The man in the middle is Nora’s husband, John T. Hilburn (1869-1939). Bob, Nora and Zach were siblings.
Nora was the youngest surviving child of Thomas Jefferson Castellaw (1841-1879) and Nancy Mariana Johnson Castellaw (1844-1921). She had a twin sister, Dora Castellaw (1878-1878), who died either at birth or as an infant.
Their father, Thomas Jefferson Castellaw, died just a few months later on March 5, 1879, leaving Nancy with several young children.
Nancy was left to raise Mary Jennie Castellaw Jacocks (1866-1946), Bob, John Frank Castellaw (1872-1941), Zach and infant Nora. She later married her late husband’s half brother, John Edward Castellaw (1833-1896). John Edward was no stranger to grief. His first wife, Margaret A. Wood Johnson Castellaw (1836-1870), and three of their four children died within weeks of each other in 1870. He later married Mattie A. E. Coleman Castellaw (1851-1886) before marrying Nancy.
The photo was likely taken in the mid- to late 1930s because John T. Hilburn, who stands in the middle, died Sept. 23, 1939. His death certificate shows he lived at 1089 Vollintine Avenue in Memphis, only a few minutes from the house I live in now. He died at home at 3 a.m. after suffering a stroke.
The Commercial Appeal, November 30, 1941, 34.
Nora died just two years after her husband, on Nov. 29, 1941, at age 63, after a tragic accident at her home in Memphis. According to family information posted online by Ped Anderson, Nora, known as “Mama” to both her children and grandchildren, went outside on a late November day to burn garbage. Her long skirt caught fire. Her daughter Edith and granddaughter Nora Joy returned from Christmas shopping in time to see her walk to the ambulance because she would not allow anyone to carry her. She later died from her burns.
Zach Fletcher Castellaw, the sibling on the far right, was born in Haywood County in 1876 and died there Aug. 22, 1951. At age 19, he married Ida Bell Simpson Castellaw (1879-1919). Ida’s mother was Mary Ann Bell Watridge (1862-1913), a daughter of Daniel Washington Watridge (1835-1880) and Mourning Adeline Cobb Watridge (1838-1876), and a sister of Zula. In other words, Zach married the niece of his brother’s wife.
In 1903, Zach and Ida founded Castellaw Corner Farm, about five miles north of Brownsville. The 1,000-acre farm produced corn and cotton and supported cattle. Their son, Zach Thomas Castellaw, later owned the farm with his wife, Frances Bryant Castellaw, and the farm remained in the family. The Century Farms account notes that a cotton gin and commissary once operated there and that before electricity came to the area, the house used carbide lighting.
Ida died Jan. 21, 1919, at age 39, of influenza and smallpox following childbirth. It appears the baby died as well. Zach and Ida had six children.
Everyone in the photo is buried in the Holly Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County.
Photo credit: Jean Mann
James Alonzo Jacocks, Mary Jennie Castellaw Jacocks and grandson, James Alonzo Jacocks III, around 1930.
The oldest sister of Bob, Nora and Zach was Mary Jennie Castellaw Jacocks (1866-1946). The way she is posed, the background and her age suggest that her photo may have been taken the same day as the group photo above.
Jennie was born Aug. 19, 1866, in Haywood County. When her mother donated land and helped establish the first schoolhouse in the Holly Grove area, Jennie became the school’s first teacher.
Jennie married James Alonzo Jacocks Jr. (about 1865-1941) in Haywood County. James was the son of John Hill Jacocks (dates unknown), one of the early settlers of Haywood County. By 1920, Jennie and James were living in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana where they raised their eight children. James died Aug. 11, 1941, and Jennie died Jan. 23, 1946. Both are buried in Redwood Cemetery in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, behind Redwood Baptist Church.
The photo of Castallaw siblings began as a simple image of five relatives standing together, but it opens a door into a much larger story of brothers and sister, spouses, farms, schools, tragedy, migration and family lines that kept crossing in and out of each other’s lives. Bob, Nora, Zach and Jennie were children of the same family, but their descendants spread into different households, counties and states. Thanks to cousins, old photographs and a few surviving records, their branches can still be pulled back together.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
Update: Curious about the little boy? I was. It turns out he lived an enviable life of service.
| James A. Jacocks III, 87, of Zachary and the Plains community, died July 8, 2015, at his home. A lifelong resident, Navy veteran of World War II, builder and draftsman, he was a faithful member of Plains Presbyterian Church and was known for his service to the Boy Scouts, the Gideons and the Baton Rouge Foodbank. Family and friends remembered him for his kindness, generosity, optimism, gardening, baking and devotion to helping others. He was preceded in death by his parents, two wives, several family members and siblings, and was survived by five daughters, stepchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and two brothers. Services were held July 11, 2015, at Plains Presbyterian Church, with burial in Plains Cemetery. Source |
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