Black male, stillborn on 31 December 1913 in Pensacola, Florida. His mother was Theresa Caldwell, his father E. Caldwell, born in Alabama. There was no other information given on the mother. The place of death was 311 E. Jackson St. in Pensacola. The informant on the death certificate was C. Largue, who also signed as the physician. The infant was buried on 3 January 1914 by F.R. Pou in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.
Clement Largue was an assistant undertaker with F.R. Pou, not a physician.
The 1913 Pensacola City Directory shows two men living at 311 E. Jackson Street in Pensacola: Erso Caldwell, a driver; and George Powell, a carpenter. These two names led to the marriage record of Erso Caldwell and Theresa Powell in Greenville, Butler County, Alabama. They married in 1909; there is no more specific date given. Theresa was 16 years old when she married, and the record identifies her father, George Powell.
Erso McCray Caldwell appeared in the 1900 federal Census for Greenville, Alabama, in the household of his father, Paris Caldwell. According to the census, Paris was born in January 1840, making him 60 years old at the time. He had been married for 36 years to his wife, Frances. Paris was born in Alabama, but his parents were born in South Carolina. He worked as a farm laborer and he owned his home free and clear. Frances was born in March 1852 in Alabama to two parents born in Georgia. He was 48 at the time of the census. She had given birth to eight children, five of whom were living. The census did not list an occupation for her. Also in the household were daughter Sarah, 33 years old (born November 1866), single and working as a cook; son McCrae [Erso], 14 years old (born January 1886), and working as a cattle driver; daughter Teresa J., 10 years old (born September 1889); and daughter Essa Lee, 9 years old (born March 1891). Everyone in the family was identified as Black, and none of them were able to read or write.
After their marriage, Erso and Theresa appeared next in the 1910 census for Noma, Holmes County, Florida. Erso was shown as being 22 years old, born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama, and working as a laborer at a lumber mill. They rented their home. Theresa was 17, born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama. She had no occupation listed. Both of them were identified as being literate in this census. Also in the household was Eddie L., one month old, born in Florida. Erso was identified as Black, Theresa and Eddie as Mulatto.
Erso next appears in November 1913 in a Pensacola newspaper article reporting news from the Molino Advertiser: “Erso Caldwell, a negro, claiming to be from Pensacola, while trespassing on the freight train from Pensacola to Flomaton, was shot in the right shoulder” by a brakeman. This was about midnight at Delores; he was not found until the next morning when a railroad foreman took him to Dr. Watson, who treated his wounds. “He was taken and cared from by his colored friends.” The following day, the Montgomery Advertiser reported he was at a hospital in Molino recovering from a gunshot wound. The theory is that he was trying to hop the train to get a ride and the brakeman fired the gun trying to frighten him off, but the bullet actually hit Caldwell. I have not found any follow up on that particular story.
Erso’s World War I Draft Registration card showed an address in Birmingham, Alabama. He listed his occupation as a baker for B. Randman. His father, Paris, with a Greenville, Alabama address, was listed as his nearest relative. He signed the card “Erso McCray Caldwell.” Erso also appears in the 1918 Birmingham City Directory, employed as a baker and living at 715 Washington Ave.
At some point while in Birmingham, Erso appears to have had a relationship with a woman by the name of Annie Christian. The 1946 marriage record of Clarence Shepherd Caldwell and Mattie Murry Melton (Jefferson County, Alabama) listed the groom’s parents as Annie Christian and Erso Caldwell. Clarence was born on 25 May 1923 in Birmingham, Alabama. He lived in Homewood at the time of his marriage.
Erso appeared in the 1920 federal census for Ward 9, Detroit, Michigan. He was living with his brother-in-law, Edward Brown, and his sister Theresa Caldwell Brown. He was 33 years old and single; born in Alabama; and he worked as a labrer in an auto factory. Edward was 32 and worked as a chauffeur for a private family; Theresa was 31 and worked at a hotel as a chambermaid.
A marriage record in Lucas County, Ohio for 5 August 1920 showed Ersa McCray Cadlwell marrying Ida May Young. Ersa was 34 years old on 19 January 1920 and resided in Detroit, Michigan. He was born in Alabama, he was working as a baker, and his parents were Paris and Frances McCray Caldwell. This record claims he was not previously married. For her part, Ida May was 31 on 20 May 1920, resided in Detroit and worked as a dressmaker. Her occupation was dressmaker and her parents were Isaac and Ellen McCarson Wilson. She was a widow, her late husband being James Young. The word “Colored” is scrawled across the top of the entry.
In the 1930 federal census ofr Detroit, Erso was again living with his sister and brother-in-law, the Browns. Edward B. Brown owned his house at 1920 McDougall Avenue and was working as a janitor at a cold storage plant. Theresa worked ast a maid in an apartment home. Erso, 44 years old and ennumerated as single, worked as a laborer at a body plant. There were two other boarders in the house but there is no familial relationship specified for them.
The 1940 census found Erso single once more, boarding in a house on Jay Street. If he was related to the head of household, one John Early, that relationship is not indicated. He was 54 years old and worked as a laborer in a WPA program (there is more written there, but it is illegible). That census indicated that Erso had a 5th grade education.
His 1942 World War II Draft Registration card gives his address as his brother-in-law’s house and his sister, Theresa Brown, as his nearest relative. He gave his birthdate as 19 January 1886, in Greenville, Alabama. His employer was Charles Pollard, his place of employment WPA, 900 Harper, Detroit. He was 5’9″ tall, of dark brown complexion. His hair was described as both “black” and “bald.”
On 18 January 1947, again in Lucas County, Ohio, he married Leola Hinson. Erso was 60 years old on 19 January 1947. He resided in Detroit, and worked as a baker. He was born in Alabama and his parents were Paris and Frances McCrary Caldwell. He claimed to have been married once previously but was now divorced. Leola turnd 56 on 26 February 1946. She resided in Greenville, Alabama, and had no occupation. She was born in Alabama, and her entry lists only her father, Dennis Brison. She was married previously but was a widow, her late husband being George Hinson.
Erso M. and Leola Caldwell appeared in the 1950 federal census for Detroit, living at 1534 Chestnut Street. He was 64 years old and worked as a caretaker at the Urban League. He estimated that he worked 60 hours a week. Leola was a homemaker.
Theresa Caldwell has not been as easy to find. She appeared in the 1916 Pensacola City Directory, identified as a widow and working as a domestic. She lived at 919 Davis St. George Powell, a carpenter, lived at the same address. After that, I am unable to identify either of them in the records. There is a woman in Pensacola who appears in the records as Theresa Powell, whose maiden name was Beach and who was from Alabama; however, further research on this family – at the moment – points to her being a different woman.
FAMILY:
Mother: Theresa Powell Caldwell
Father: Erso McCray Caldwell
Sibling: Eddie L. Caldwell, Clarence Shepherd Caldwell
Grandparents: George Powell, Paris Caldwell, Frances McCray Caldwell
SOURCES:
Florida Certificate of Death for Infant of Threasa [sic] Caldwell (No. 899), 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.
1900 United States Federal Census (household of Paris Caldwell). Year: 1900; Census Place: Greenville, Butler, Alabama; Roll: 5; Page: 27; Enumeration District: 0020
Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967
Alabama, U.S., Select Marriage Indexes, 1816-1942
1910 United States Federal Census (household of Ersa Colwell). Year: 1910; Census Place: Noma, Holmes, Florida; Roll: T624_162; Page: 8a; Enumeration District: 0040; FHL microfilm: 1374175
“Says Brakeman Shot Him While Stealing Ride,” The Pensacola Journal, 10 NOV 1913, p. 2
“Record Fish Catch With Hook and Line,” The Montgomery Advertiser, 11 NOV 1913, p. 7.
Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
1920 United States Federal Census (household of Edward Brown). Year: 1920; Census Place: Detroit Ward 9, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: T625_807; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 274
Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
1930 United States Federal Census (household of Edward B. Brown). Year: 1930; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0375; FHL microfilm: 2340781
1940 United States Federal Census (household of John Early). Year: 1940; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01861; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 84-678
The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of Michigan; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
1950 United State Federal Census (household of Ersa M. Caldwell). National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: 19; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 85-530