Ella Mae Simmons Anderson Mitchell

Black female, born 28 March 1912 in Madison, Florida. Ella Mae first appeared in my research as Ella Mae Anderson, the mother of an infant girl buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery. The infant was stillborn on 6 February 1934 at 808 W. Jackson St. in Pensacola. The father was not listed. The informant on the death certificate was Isabella Donaldson.

Ella Mae used the last name Anderson, it seems, for only a short time. If she was legally married to a man of the name Anderson, that record has not been found. She appears in the 1934 Pensacola City directory under Anderson, working as a maid, her residence 808 W. Jackson St., Pensacola. Also at that address were Nobie and Isabella Donaldson. Isabella was Ella Mae’s aunt, apparently the twin sister of her mother, Idella Simmons.

Ella Mae Simmons was the daughter of Eli and Idella Simmons. Idella’s father was Grubb Solomon, but Idella is found in the 1900 and 1910 census as Idella Johnson – her mother was Florida Johnson.

Ella Mae had a daughter, Madie Phillips Leverette, in 1929 with George Phillips, though it is unclear whether they were ever legally married or not. In 1937 Ella Mae married Leroy Mitchell (under the name Ella Mae Anderson). Ella Mae had three known children with Leroy: Howard, Leroy Jr. and Irma.

Ella Mae Mitchell died on 14 November 1977. She was buried in Zion Cemetery.

FAMILY:

Father: Eli Simmons

Mother: Idella (Solomon) Johnson

Children: Madie Phillips Leverette; Unnamed infant daughter; Leroy Mitchell, Jr.; Howard Mitchell; Irma Mitchell

Grandparents: Grubb Solomon, Florida Johnson

Great-Grandparents: Anthony Johnson, Mary Johnson

SOURCES:

Florida Certificate of Death, Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City. (Certificates for Infant of Ella Mae Anderson; Idella Simmons)

Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Obituary of Ella Mae Mitchell: The Pensacola Journal, 20 November 1977, p. 39.

Obituary of Madie Phillips Leverette: The Pensacola News Journal, 4 November 1992, p. 14.

Obituary of Rev. Eli Simmons, The Pensacola Journal, 2 March 1971, p. 6.