Marie Georgia Ann Shaw

Shaw Sisters

Some time ago, I joined a RootsWeb mailing list for West Carroll Parish. I found information about some Shaw sisters that was included in a post from several years previous. One of them was Margaret Shaw, who was my GGgrandmother. Pam Howard, the author of the post, emailed me and provided information that I didn't have. I was very excited because I knew very little about the family. Pam and I are still in contact, and I'm hoping to receive more information in the future. As I began researching the family, I found a death certificate for the youngest sister, Marie Georgia Ann Shaw. I shared it with Pam, who was enthusiastic about my find. I am posting it on this blog in hopes of finding others who might have information about the family.

The cemetery where the Cawthon families are buried is next to this church in Midway, Richland Parish, Louisiana. I am wondering if they still hold Sunday services there, and if they might have any records. When I was there, the doors were locked, but it was in the middle of the week. If anyone out there knows anything about this church, I'd appreciate the info.

Williamson Farm

This post is in response to a question about the Leo Williamson family. The Williamson farm was located near what is now Highway 577 and the Plum Grove Road. The area was called the Unity community. The Williamsons were from Copiah County, Mississippi, which is adjacent to Simpson County. There were at least two Williamson families that left South Carolina prior to 1820, moved to Louisiana, then to Mississippi, then to West Carroll Parish. Amos Williamson and his family left Mississippi in the mid-1830s. Leo Williamson went to Pioneer High School in West Carroll Parish.

Millikin Street

This is me standing next to the sign for Millikin St. I was pretty excited to find it. This picture was taken in Lake Providence, Louisiana in East Carroll Parish in August 2008.

As with the last post, Chris Hansen sent me a tidbit of information about life back when, that relates to the Millikin and Cawthon families.

The following family lore was in a letter from a Griffin descendant of Baton Rouge, LA dated 3 Aug 1998:

Rachel Osbon married Mack Cleary when she was 15 years old. The marriage lasted approximately one year. She married William "Bill Griffin II in 1908 and they had 10 children. Rachel was Jeanette Griffin Hansen's grandmother.

She lived with the following families in the period between her two marriages: She first lived with her brother Clay Osbon for one year; then second, with the Chambliss family of Oak Grove for about one year; then third, in about 1906, with the Milliken family of Darnell for about one year, there were six boys and one girl in this family; and fourth with the Cawthon family on Unity Road for about two years. Her job was to take care of Mrs. Cawthon, who had suffered from serious memory loss. Mr. Cawthon was a farmer with no children.

Her responsibilities with each of the families was to keep house (cook, clean, wash, etc.). Her compensation or terms of the agreement with each family per year: two work dresses and two Sunday dresses, two pair of work shoes and one pair of Sunday shoes, plus room and board. No monetary compensation, although each family would on occasion give her small amounts of money, especially when they would occasionally taker her to town. The most generous were the Cawthons. There were no given names for the Milliken or Cawthon families stated in the letter.