Black female, born about 1875 in Florida. She was married to Henry Charleston at the time of her death. She was estimated to be about 60 years old when she died at the Escambia County Poor Farm in Goulding (now part of Pensacola), Florida on 24 August 1935. The informant on the death certificate, J.W. Kelly, the Superintendent of the Poor Farm, gave no information on her parents. She died of cerebral hemorrhage that apparently first occurred in December of 1934. Dr. W. R. Anderson signed the death certificate, and she was buried at the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery by Morris Funeral Home on August 26.
Henry Charleston appeared in the 1931 City Directory for Pensacola, living at 2217 N. Tarragona Street. His wife was named as Emily.
Emma Charleston appeared in the 1930 federal census for Escambia County (City of Pensacola), Florida, living at 2217 Tarragona St. She was in the household of Henry Charleston, a Black male aged 53. She was 50 years old at the time. Both were enumerated as married, with his age at his first marriage being 39 and hers 35. (There is no indication that first marriage was to each other; however, these ages have their first marriage at the same time, about 1915.) Henry was born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama. He was employed as a wood cutter at a wood yard, and rented his home. Emma was born in Florida of a father born in Florida and a mother born in Virginia. She took in washing and ironing. Also in the household was a lodger named John Andrews, a 56-year-old man of color from Alabama, who worked as a carpenter in construction. All the members of the household were literate.
A Henry and Emma Charleston appeared in the 1920 federal census for the City of Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan. This is a long way from Alabama and Florida which would normally make me skeptical of having the right people; however, the information provided on them makes it quite possible that they are the same Henry and Emma Charleston as in the 1930 census: They were roomers in the household of William and Leticia A. McThay, a Black couple from Alabama. The McThays rented their home and William worked as a laborer in a factory. Henry was a Black male age 49, born in Alabama of two parents born in South Carolina. He worked in a foundry. Emma was 47, born in Florida of a father born in Virginia and a mother born in Florida. What took them to Michigan from the Deep South – then back again before 1930 – is as yet a mystery.
Henry was born around May 1873 in Alabama. I find a Henry Charleston in the federal census for 1880 for Greenwood, Bullock County, Alabama. He was the son of William and Caroline Charleston, a Black couple 30 and 28 years old, respectively. William was born in Georgia of two parents born in Georgia; Caroline was born in Alabama, but the blanks for her parents’ birthplaces have only a line in them. This may indicate her parents’ birthplaces were unknown. They both worked as laborers and were both illiterate. Henry was 8 years old; his sister, Lucy, was 6. Both were born in Alabama.
[William Charleston married Caroline Taylor on 12 July 1879 in Bullock County, Alabama.]
Henry Charleston married Laura Jane Howard in Autauga County, Alabama on 5 January 1893. He and Laura appeared in the 1900 federal census of Autaugaville, Autauga County, Alabama. He was enumerated as a Black male, 27 years old, born in Alabama of a Father born in South Carolina and a mother born in Alabama. He worked as a laborer and rented his home. Laura was a Black female, 26 years old, born in July 1873 in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama. She did not work outside the home. The census indicates they had been married for 8 years and that Laura had one living child, though this child was not enumerated in their household.
By November of 1909, Laura had filed for divorce in Autauga County. In the legal ad in The Prattville Progress, she indicated that Henry was living in Pensacola. The divorce was final on 11 February 1910.
I have not found Henry in the 1910 federal census; however, he appeared in the 1910 Pensacola City directory working as a laborer at Escambia Land & Manufacturing Co. He also appeared in the 1913 City Directory living at 301 E. Hernandez and working as a laborer.
Escambia County records show a Henry Charleston was married to Louisa Daniels on 10 November 1906 by an Escambia County Judge. I have not determined
FAMILY:
Spouse: Henry Charleston
SOURCES
Death Certificate of Emma Charleston (No. 13153). 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.
Pensacola City Directory. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Marriage Record of William Charleston and Caroline Taylor. Ancestry.com. Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Marriage Records. Alabama Marriages. County courthouses, Alabama.
Household of William Charleston. Year: 1880; Census Place: Greenwood, Bullock, Alabama; Roll: 3; Page: 139b; Enumeration District: 029, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Marriage Record of Henry Charleston and Laura Jane Howard. Ancestry.com. Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Marriage Records. Alabama Marriages. County courthouses, Alabama.
Household of Henry Charleston. Year: 1900; Census Place: Autaugaville, Autauga, Alabama; Roll: 1; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0004. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
“Notice.” The Prattville Progress, 2 DEC 1909, p. 4.
Minutes of Chancery Court, Autauga Co., AL; Book 3, p488. Film #008686160. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-N3ZL-VJ4Y?cat=559710&i=601&lang=en Accessed 24 FEB 2025
Household of William McThay. Year: 1920; Census Place: Albion Ward 1, Calhoun, Michigan; Roll: T625_759; Page: 20B; Enumeration District: 28. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Household of Henry Charleston. Year: 1930; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0024; FHL microfilm: 2340050. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
Marriage record of Henry Charleston and Louisa Daniels. Marriage Records of Escambia County, Florida, 1821-1900. Transcribed and published under the aegis of the West Florida Genealogical Society, Pensacola, 2009.