Fredie Boykin

Black male, born about 1913 in Florida. He died at the age of 5 on 25 January 1919 at 1111 N. 6th Ave., Pensacola, Florida. The immediate cause of death was capillary bronchitis; however, the physician noted that being poorly nourished was a contributory cause. The informant was F.R. Pou, who buried the child in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

The child’s parents were Tom Boykin [also seen as “Boykins” in various records], born in South Carolina; and Dora Andrews, born in Florida. These two have proven enigmatic, as they appear to have spent most of their adults lives in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. Tom and Dora Boykin appeared as spouses in the St. Petersburg City Directory  in 1916; however, Tom was listed without Dora beginning in 1924 and Dora had her own entry in 1928. According to the directories, Dora worked as a domestic or laundress; Tom was a laborer who was later employed by the City Water Works.

A Pinellas County, Florida marriage record from 20 April 1913 shows Tom Baykin marrying Dora Johnson. While the last name does not match the information on the death certificate, it is not out of the question that Dora was married before Tom Boykin. Another child born in 1912, Elizabeth (who later married Lonnie Banks), was shown as the child of Tom Boykin and Dora Andrews in the Social Security Applications and Claims index. She was identified as Tom’s stepdaughter in his obituary; however, she appeared in the 1930 census in the household of Andrew and Harriet (Bradley) Wiedman as their adopted daughter. Interestingly, an A.W. Wideman stood as witness to the Baykin-Johnson marriage (along with George Benbow, who married an Arie Boykins I have not yet tied to Tom, either). While I have not established the relationship of Mr. Wideman to the Boykins, this link leads me to believe this is indeed the marriage record of Fredie’s parents.

Both Tom and Dora perfected the art of dodging census takers, it seems. Piecing their lives together – even establishing a birthplace with any certainty, has proven dicey. While Fredie’s death certificate lists Tom’s birthplace as South Carolina, several records show his birthplace as Florida. His obituary said only that he lived in “Archie,” Florida – a place I am assuming is Archer, Florida in Alachua County – before moving to St. Petersburg 42 years before his death in 1954 (so, about 1904). Census records show plenty of Boykins in Archer, but I have not yet established a link to them. Tom remarried in 1936 to Eunice H. Caldwell, though there was no issue. I have attempted to trace his family using the nieces and nephews listed in his obituary, without success.

Dora’s obituary said that she was born in Sanderson, Florida – in Baker County, which is some distance from the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. Her daughter, Elizabeth, was married in 1937, but at some point Lonnie left the picture. Dora and Elizabeth appeared in an article in The St. Petersburg Times in 1955 that identified them as “both of 1752 14th Ave., South,” and “former residents of 1067 3rd Ave., South.” Despite this, Elizabeth appeared in the 1950 census alone in the household at 1067 3rd Ave. which was, incidentally, an apartment building. (The article describes an open house the mother and daughter held to show off their new house: 4-room and bath residence that cost $4,500.)

Here are the few relationships I have established: Dora’s obituary identified two nieces: Foneta [sic] Brooks of Tampa and Myrtis Fussell of Jacksonville. This was Floranita and Myrtice Andrews, daughters of Dora’s brother, William. Elizabeth’s obituary identifies Michelle B. Patty of Brandon and Jacqueline Jones as cousins: These were Floranita Brooks’ daughters. (Floranita later married Horace James Goins.) Dora’s obituary also listed a sister, Mrs. Susie McNeal. If she is the same person as Susan McNeal in the Social Security Index, the parents of Dora, Susie, and William Andrews were William Andrews and Seana Coleman. This remains to be confirmed.

Elizabeth’s obituary states she was born in Atlanta and moved to Tampa the year before her death from St. Petersburg. That Dora may have been in Georgia at the time of Elizabeth’s birth is surprising and worth further exploration. Dora’s obituary says that she had lived in St. Petersburg for 58 years at her death in 1970, which places her there by 1912, the same year of Elizabeth’s birth.

While Tom and Dora were absent from the St. Petersburg City Directory in 1919, they did not appear in the Pensacola Directory that year. I have been unable to establish why they were in Pensacola at the time of Fredie’s death, or how long they spent there. Tom appears again in St. Petersburg in 1920, and his retirement announcement in 1951 says he had worked for the Water Works since 1912 – one assumes without a break in employment.

FAMILY:

Mother: Dora Andrews Johnson? Boykins

Father: Tom Boykins

Aunt: Susie Andrews McNeal

Uncle: William Andrews

Maternal Grandparents (possible): William Andrews and Seana Coleman

Cousins: Floranita Andrews Brooks, Myrtice Andrews Fussell, Michelle Brooks Patty, Jacqueline Brooks Jones, Maudeania Floranita Brooks-Moore.

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SOURCES:

Florida Certificate of Death for Fredie Boykin, 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.

Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998.

U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provot, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. (Susan McNeal, Elizabeth Banks)