Infant Son of Leola Basell

Black male, stillborn on 8 September 1936 in Pensacola, FL. Mother was identified as Leola Basell, born in Chumuckla, FL. The death certificate indicates the father was unknown, though there may be more reason than just ignorance for not identifying him. The death certificate also has the slight discrepancy that the birth date was 7 September while the date of death was 8 September. If the child drew a breath, it would not have been listed as “stillborn,” so perhaps one of the dates is a mistake. The place of death was 1207 N. Hayne St., Pensacola. Leola herself was the informant. The child was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

The 1936 Pensacola City Directory indicates that 1207 N. Hayne St. was occupied by Julia M. Jones, of whom I can find no further information.

The 1930 U.S. Census enumerated a Leola Bosell living in a rented home Wallace, Santa Rosa County, FL. She was a Black female, born 1910 in Florida of two parents born in South Carolina. She was married to Lannie Bosell, 5 years her senior, born in Georgia of two parents born in Georgia. He worked as a laborer at a turpentine farm. They married when she was 18 and he 23. They had no children in the home at the time.

A marriage record from Santa Rosa County, Florida shows Lonnie Bosell married Leola German on 16 September 1928. I cannot find any records of anyone in Santa Rosa County at the time with this last name, so I suspect it is a clerical error. The marriage was performed in the courthouse and witnessed by J.W. Jernigan and R.W. Sanders.

A marriage record for Lonnie Bosell appears in Andalusia, Covington County, AL on 5 August 1939, to Minnie Lee Stallworth.

The 1940 U.S. Census for Pensacola enumerated Leola Bosell, a Black female, 30 years old, born in Florida. She rented a home on North Guillemard St. No occupation was listed. She was identified as married, though no husband was enumerated in the household. Leola had two children, Elbert, a son, 2 years old; and Evelyn, a daughter, also 2 years old. The children had the surname Jones.

By 1950, Leola Bosell had remarried, to Lorenzo Pompey. Leola was 40, Lorenzo 56. They lived on North Tarragona Street, with three children and a lodger. The three children – Barbara J., 13; Evelyn and Elbert, both 12 – are listed as children of the head of the family, but they have been given the last name of the lodger, Lela Manning.

An obituary for Leola Pompey, who died 4 June 1979, appeared in the Pensacola News-Journal, confirming her birthplace as Chumuckla, Florida. Her age was given as 69. Her survivors included a daughter, Barbara Jean Stinson; a daughter, Evelyn Stroud; a son, Elbert Manning; a sister, Augustine Collins; and a brother, James Hopkins. She was buried in Rest Haven Gardens cemetery.

So far, I have found no further information on the family.

FAMILY:

Mother: Leola Bosell (Manning) Pompey

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.

Santa Rosa County Certificate of Marriage No. 11970. FamilySearch.org: Florida marriages : COLLECTION RECORD, 1830-1993. Accessed 7 SEP 2023.

Ancestry.com. Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

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