Mary Catherine Irvins Avery

Female, referred to as both Black and Mulatto in records. Born 9 January 1877 in Georgia.

Mary first appears in my research as the mother of an infant boy stillborn on 19 July 1915 and buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery. She was married to James (“Jim”) Avery, who was born in Alabama. This is the first record of her presence in Pensacola, FL.

In the 1913 Pensacola City Directory, her husband, James, is the primary listing. He was listed as Mulatto and worked as a porter. They lived at 105 W. Main (the same address given in the 1915 death certificate of the infant). After that, Mary appears in the directories alone. James’ fate is unknown at this time, though Mary is identified as the widow of James in 1927 and 1934.

In 1916, Mary was a laundress living at 105 W. Main. In 1919, she was listed at 102 W. Main.

She was enumerated in the 1920 Federal Census for Pensacola at 102 W. Main St. She was identifed as Mulatto, 43 years old – and it appears to say she was married. She was born in Georgia, as were both parents. She was the proprietress of a rooming house. Also in her household was a daughter, Vivian, a Mulatto female 7 years old. Vivian was born in Florida, but her father’s birthplace was “Unknown.” As James Avery’s birthplace was given in the 1915 death certificate as Alabama, this is confusing. It means that either the informant to the census taker did not know James’ birthplace, or James Avery was not Vivian’s father. In either case, Vivian continued to use the name “Avery” throughout her life.

In 1921, Mary was listed in the Pensacola City Directory as “furnishing rooms,” or running a boarding house, at 117 W. Zarragossa St. She paid $5 for a license in October 1922 to run a boarding house for 10-15 persons. In 1924, she was living at 117 S. Baylen with no profession listed. In 1927, Mary was living at 411 S. Barcelona St.

The 1930 Federal Census of Pensacola found Mary living at 126 Government St. She was identified as Negro, 50 years old, and single. Her profession was housemaid, rooming house. Vivian was also identified as Negro, 17 years old. In this census, her father’s birthplace was given as Spain, which is surprising.

In 1931, Mary was listed in the Pensacola City Directory as Mary C. Avery living at 307 Barcelona St. She is identified as the widow of Thomas (“wid. Thos.”) which I suspect is a typo and not a new window into Mary’s past. Vivian Avery is listed for the first time, at the same address, as a student. In the 1934 Directory, Mary is again identified as Mary C., widow of James; she and Vivian were still living at 307 S. Barcelona St.

In the 1935 Florida State Census, Mary and Vivan was enumerated at 307 S. Barcelona St. Mary was 52, Negro, widowed, with a 2nd grade education. Her profession was listed as “wash and iron.” Vivian was 22 and single. He had a high school education; her occupation was housekeeper.

In the 1936 Pensacola City Directory, Mary was listed at 307 S. Barcelona St., but Vivian is not. In 1938 and 1940, Mary and Vivian are both at 314 S. Reus St.; Mary was working as a laundress.

In the 1940 Federal Census, Mary was 58 years old. The “B” for Black was crossed out and what looks like a “2” or cursive “Q” was written in – possibly “quadroon”? This was done for Vivian’s race as well. Mary was widowed and declares a 5th grade education. Vivian was 27 and was educated through the 2nd year of high school. She had no occupation listed.

In the available Pensacola City Directories from 1942 through 1960, Mary was listed at 314 S. Reus St. alone; Vivian was not listed. (Vivian would be found in the 1945 Florida State Census at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Gadsden County, Florida. As Vivian remained apparently unemployed in all the records in which she appeared, she may have suffered from mental illness or a developmental disability that eventually required the care of the state hospital. Vivian more or less disappeared from public records at this point, until her death in 2006.) The 1945 State Census of Florida listed Mary as 66 years old; her occupation was “disabled.”

Mary died on 22 April 1970 “after a short illness”. Her obituary said that she was a native of Georgia but resided in Pensacola most of her life. She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and was buried there. Survivors were Vivian and two nephews: Roy and Authur Stevens. The two boys were sons of Annie L. Smith Stephens; whether she was Mary’s sister or sister-in-law has not yet been established.

FAMILY:

Husband: James Avery

Children: Vivian Avery, unnamed stillborn son

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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.

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

Year: 1920; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Roll: T625_219; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 31. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. (Mary Avery)

The Pensacola Journal, 23 October 1922, p. 7.