- They were married January 1, 1899.
- She was 18 years and 2 months old.
- He was 21 years and 3 months.
- Their first baby was born 8 months and 24 days after they married.
- Their last and 14th child was born 24 years and 11 months after they were married; she was 43 years old and he was 46.
- When he died he was 60 years and almost 8 months old. She had turned 79 2 months before she died.
- They were married 39 years and 4 months.
- Since 1959 they have lain side by side for 52 years in Mechanicsville Cemetery in PA since she died in 1959.
- Albert listed himself as 1/32 Cherokee.
- Lucinda listed herself as 1/8 Cherokee.
Showing posts with label Albert B. James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albert B. James. Show all posts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Lucinda and Albert James - Their Life Together
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Albert Blunt James 1877 - 1938 My Maternal Grandfather
Albert James with his Mom Tennessee, Dad Solon, and bothers and sisters.
My grandfather "Bert" died in 1938, 6 years before I was born. I never heard anyone talk about him. It was wonderful when my cousin Norman sent me this picture. He became a real person.
I have gleaned every bit of information I can about him, but it is still limited. What I have discovered:
He was born Sept 21, 1877 In the Delaware District,Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. His mother was Tennessee Almira Lane James, a Cherokee Indian, and his father David Solon James was White. He was one of 11 children, 3 of them dying when young. Of the children who lived to grow up, he had 3 sisters and 4 brothers.
In the Dawes Application which was made in July of 1900, he states he is 22 years old, is living in a house in Miami, OK.where he moved in 1899, a year ago when he got married. Before that he lived his entire life in the house with his parents in Miami. He says he is 1/32 Cherokee and his wife is Cherokee by blood. They had a baby daughter.He was the father of 14 children, 7 girls and 7 boys. Interestingly, of their first 7 children, 5 of them were girls. It did eventaully even out.
He was a jack of many trades:
Over the years Alfred "Bert" James had more than 1 occupation. After graduating from Cherokee Male Seminary on June 29, 1898 at 20 years old , he taught at Mitchell Springs School near Maysville, OK, the following year.
The 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census all show his occupation as a farmer on a general farm.
The obituary of his wife Lucinda says she was the wife of a general contractor in one newspaper and in another newspaper obit says they owned real estate in Miami, OK, including the James and Arkansas buildings.
The obituary continues to say they left the Miami area during WWI to operate a poultry farm near Philadelphia.
They did live in East Berlin, Maryland before moving to Doyleston (near Philadelphia) Pennsylvania. He died in PA in 1938 where he is buried.
According to the census they always owned their home, even their first one, all mortgage free except for the house in Maryland.
He was born Sept 21, 1877 In the Delaware District,Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. His mother was Tennessee Almira Lane James, a Cherokee Indian, and his father David Solon James was White. He was one of 11 children, 3 of them dying when young. Of the children who lived to grow up, he had 3 sisters and 4 brothers.
In the Dawes Application which was made in July of 1900, he states he is 22 years old, is living in a house in Miami, OK.where he moved in 1899, a year ago when he got married. Before that he lived his entire life in the house with his parents in Miami. He says he is 1/32 Cherokee and his wife is Cherokee by blood. They had a baby daughter.He was the father of 14 children, 7 girls and 7 boys. Interestingly, of their first 7 children, 5 of them were girls. It did eventaully even out.
He was a jack of many trades:
Over the years Alfred "Bert" James had more than 1 occupation. After graduating from Cherokee Male Seminary on June 29, 1898 at 20 years old , he taught at Mitchell Springs School near Maysville, OK, the following year.
The 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census all show his occupation as a farmer on a general farm.
The obituary of his wife Lucinda says she was the wife of a general contractor in one newspaper and in another newspaper obit says they owned real estate in Miami, OK, including the James and Arkansas buildings.
The obituary continues to say they left the Miami area during WWI to operate a poultry farm near Philadelphia.
They did live in East Berlin, Maryland before moving to Doyleston (near Philadelphia) Pennsylvania. He died in PA in 1938 where he is buried.
According to the census they always owned their home, even their first one, all mortgage free except for the house in Maryland.
 |
| Index and Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedman of the Cherokee Albert James and Family are on the top right. Albert shows his "Blood" as 1/32. His older brother on the list above him Lorenzo James shows his blood at 1/16. They just did not know. The Cherokees paid little attention to the percentage of Cherokee they were. |
 |
| Dawes Roll Index to the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (Dawes) 1889-1914 Application of Albert Blunt James |
 |
| Cherokee Eastern Roll or Guion Miller Index 1906 Albert and Family are on the left hand side of the page about 1/4 of the way down the page. It shows Albert as 28 in 1906 with a wife Lucinda and 5 children ages 7, 6, 4, 3, and 3 months |
Cherokee Eastern Roll Application showing 5 children and his father David Solon James at White.
Eastern Cherokee Application Page 2 showing his Grandfather as White and that he didn't remember his first name (Garrett). It also shows they were born in Georgia..It lists brothers and sisters.
Last Page of the Application Showing his Great Grandfather as David M. Harlan 1804-1868.
Albert "Bert" James Graduated from the Cherokee Male Seminary June 29, 1898
Since The Seminary was 78 miles from his home, I can only assume he boarded there.
CHEROKEE MALE AND FEMALE SEMINARIES
The Cherokee Male and Female Seminaries were boarding schools opened by the tribal government in 1851. The male school stood southwest of Tahlequah, and its female counterpart north of Park Hill. In identical, three-story, brick structures, the Cherokee Nation offered students a high school education. The preparatory curriculum of the Male Seminary included Greek, Latin, German, and French; chemistry, botany, geology, astronomy, and zoology; geography, U.S. and English history, political economy, and philosophy. While not as rigorous, the Female Seminary's curriculum was academically challenging. Ironically, neither seminary offered instruction in Cherokee language, history, and culture. The year before the schools opened, Cherokee representatives visited New England, seeking teachers. The men and women they employed from Yale, Mount Holyoke, and Newton Theological Seminary became the first of many Eastern-educated teachers who traveled to Indian Territory to teach in the two schools.
Prospective students first must pass a two-day examination, and the successful were educated at tribal expense. Although most students came from affluent, mixed-blood homes, the attrition rate was high in the early years. Twenty-six women and thirteen men were graduated from the seminaries by 1856. By that year the Cherokees had encountered economic problems. Neither seminary accepted students for the 1856 fall semester. The Civil War dashed the tribe's plans to reopen the seminaries. Used as warehouses, hospitals, and even stables, the buildings were in shambles when the war ended. A destitute Cherokee Nation could not reopen its schools until the 1870s. By mid-decade improving financial conditions enabled the Cherokees to renovate both facilities and hire additional teachers.
Because of limited tribal resources, students paid for room and board when the seminaries reopened. Children of tribe members unable to pay could enroll in an indigent department. To attract more students, the seminaries admitted children from other tribes; admission requirements were reduced, and the national council created a primary department composed of grades one through five and a preparatory department encompassing grades six through eight. Oklahoma historian Grant Foreman claimed that "the Cherokee Nation had a better common school system than either Arkansas or Missouri." Both institutions attracted dedicated teachers, but Miss A. Florence Wilson, hired as principal teacher in 1875, made a lasting impression in her quarter-century of service. Administering daily doses of sulphur and molasses and presiding over rigorous walks, she enforced discipline with an iron hand.
The educational routine at the Female Seminary was shattered on Easter Sunday in 1887, when fire demolished the building, but Miss Wilson got all the girls out. Two years later the school reopened just north of Tahlequah. Although both schools offered education rarely equaled in the surrounding states, in the years before Oklahoma 1907 statehood federal officials began systematically reducing the authority of tribal government, including its administration of education. Two years after statehood Oklahoma bought the Female Seminary for forty thousand dollars to house a state teacher-training school. The next year the Male Seminary, which was being operated by the tribe as a coeducational facility, burned. Commencement exercises held at Northeastern Normal School in the spring of 1910 honored the last students to earn degrees at the Cherokee National Seminaries.
 |
| Cherokee Male Seminary, Tahlequah, Oklahoma 1909 |
CHEROKEE MALE AND FEMALE SEMINARIES
The Cherokee Male and Female Seminaries were boarding schools opened by the tribal government in 1851. The male school stood southwest of Tahlequah, and its female counterpart north of Park Hill. In identical, three-story, brick structures, the Cherokee Nation offered students a high school education. The preparatory curriculum of the Male Seminary included Greek, Latin, German, and French; chemistry, botany, geology, astronomy, and zoology; geography, U.S. and English history, political economy, and philosophy. While not as rigorous, the Female Seminary's curriculum was academically challenging. Ironically, neither seminary offered instruction in Cherokee language, history, and culture. The year before the schools opened, Cherokee representatives visited New England, seeking teachers. The men and women they employed from Yale, Mount Holyoke, and Newton Theological Seminary became the first of many Eastern-educated teachers who traveled to Indian Territory to teach in the two schools.
Prospective students first must pass a two-day examination, and the successful were educated at tribal expense. Although most students came from affluent, mixed-blood homes, the attrition rate was high in the early years. Twenty-six women and thirteen men were graduated from the seminaries by 1856. By that year the Cherokees had encountered economic problems. Neither seminary accepted students for the 1856 fall semester. The Civil War dashed the tribe's plans to reopen the seminaries. Used as warehouses, hospitals, and even stables, the buildings were in shambles when the war ended. A destitute Cherokee Nation could not reopen its schools until the 1870s. By mid-decade improving financial conditions enabled the Cherokees to renovate both facilities and hire additional teachers.
Because of limited tribal resources, students paid for room and board when the seminaries reopened. Children of tribe members unable to pay could enroll in an indigent department. To attract more students, the seminaries admitted children from other tribes; admission requirements were reduced, and the national council created a primary department composed of grades one through five and a preparatory department encompassing grades six through eight. Oklahoma historian Grant Foreman claimed that "the Cherokee Nation had a better common school system than either Arkansas or Missouri." Both institutions attracted dedicated teachers, but Miss A. Florence Wilson, hired as principal teacher in 1875, made a lasting impression in her quarter-century of service. Administering daily doses of sulphur and molasses and presiding over rigorous walks, she enforced discipline with an iron hand.
The educational routine at the Female Seminary was shattered on Easter Sunday in 1887, when fire demolished the building, but Miss Wilson got all the girls out. Two years later the school reopened just north of Tahlequah. Although both schools offered education rarely equaled in the surrounding states, in the years before Oklahoma 1907 statehood federal officials began systematically reducing the authority of tribal government, including its administration of education. Two years after statehood Oklahoma bought the Female Seminary for forty thousand dollars to house a state teacher-training school. The next year the Male Seminary, which was being operated by the tribe as a coeducational facility, burned. Commencement exercises held at Northeastern Normal School in the spring of 1910 honored the last students to earn degrees at the Cherokee National Seminaries.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)