Susie (Hall) Morgan (abt. 1869 - 1935)

Born about 1869 in Louisiana, United States

Wife of Henry Morgan — married about 1907 (to before 1931) in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana, United States

Descendants

Died 1935 at about age 66 in Louisiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Clinton Slayton [send private message]

Biography

Susie (Hall) Morgan is a part of US Black heritage.

Susie was born in Louisiana from about 1869 to 1871. She is consistently coded for "race" as "B" for black.

A death record indicates that she is a daughter of Henry Hall and widow of Jake Howard, but her claimed age is discrepant with other records. ^[1]

She married Jake Howard in about 1888, according to a census report.

Children surmised from census do not align with the number of children reported as being born to her (seven with one death among them by 1910), when there are five children alive in 1900 and three children reported as born post-1900 in 1910.

Susie married Henry Morgan in 1907, announced in the Shreveport Journal of 11 February, 1907. ^[2]

No children are suspected from this marriage. Henry apparently died before 1930, although this is not proved.

Shee passed away in 1935 and is buried as Susie Howard in Star Cemetery in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana ^[3] as are her suspected parents. Her birth year (1871) on the stone reflects a consistent drift towards being "younger" than her reported birth year (~1869) with her parents. (The parents usually report more correctly than their grown children.)

Research Notes

1880 census - sheet 351D, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana - Susan Hall, aged 11, with her parents Henry and Susan Hall, both parents reported born Virginia ^[4] compared to Susan Morgan in 1910, ^[5] which reports her aged 39, near enough to the progression of an 11-year-old from 1880. But that is discrepant with the Susan Howard, aged 24, found with a Jake Howard in 1880, ^[4] which predates the reported years of marriage in 1900 census cited below. This does not appear to be the same Susan and might not be the same Jake Howard.

Marriages and Issue -
9th & 11th June 1900 census, Caddo Parish, Louisiana ^[6] shows: Jake Howard, age Un, and wife Sue Howard, age Un, married 12 years, Sue is reported as bearing 6 children born, 5 living, his and her parents born Louisiana, all children born Louisiana

1) Jake aged 12 b June 1888

2) Otta (daughter), aged 9 (month and year unknown)

3) Lewis (no age data)

4) Moses aged 3 (month and year unknown)

5) Ruth 4 months, born 1900

22 April 1910 census, Caddo Parish, Louisiana ^[5] shows: Henry Morgan, age 44 and wife Susie Morgan, age 39, each married twice, this marriage for 3 years, reports 7 born, 6 living, her parents born Georgia, all children born Louisiana.

1) Jake Howard, aged 21 stepson

2) Moses Howard, aged 10 stepson

3) Ferman Howard, aged 5 or 6 (indeterminate and out of order) stepson

4) Ruth Howard, aged 8 stepdaughter

5) Selonia or Selania or Saloma Howard step-daughter, aged 7

The order of this census could suggest that Ruth and Saloma were not daughters of either Henry or Susie, as three males are listed before them, but two of the males are clearly sons of Jake and Susie Howard, and Ruth Howard would appear to be an age-discrepant continuation from 1900.

Conflict - The above 1910 list assumes that Sue and Susie are the same mother of these children. The discrepancies of Susie's parents' reported birth states have led some to suspect that both Henry and Susie Morgan are step-parents, neither of them the parents of these children. The addition of Ferman and Selonia to the five mentioned in 1900 suggests that the single child who died before 1900, mooted by some as Esther, leaves Jake, Otto (dau), Moses, Lewis, Ferman, Ruth and Salomia as seven survivors by 1910 instead of six. This has led to the supposition that Lewis and Ferman is one male later seen as Thurmond, but censuses for Thurmond Howard, while giving conflicting information, strongly support that he was born after 1900, leaving Lewis Howard (bef.1900-) as an implied seventh survivor and an unresolved issue.

1920 census - sheet 9A, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana - Susie Morgan, aged 44 (~1876), is with husband Henry Morgan, aged 52, and her daughter Salomie? Howard, 17, and son Thurman Howard, 14. ^[7] They are "marked" as sons and daughters of the head of the household while showing a Howard surname, which conflicts with the 1910 census showing a "step" relationship to Henry Morgan.

1930 census - sheet 21A, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana, - Widow Susie reverts to Howard surname and is residing with married son Thurmond Howard, aged 36, but this age for him is clearly wrong, see his profile. She is reported as aged 53 (~1877) and parents born Virginia. ^[8] Also in the household is Will Jackson, aged 26, as an adopted brother to Thurmond, indicating that the Morgans might have taken another male into their household..

Death - A purported Louisiana death record shows Susie Howard "colored", wife of Jake Howard and daughter of Henry Hall, dying 18 April 1935 in Caddo Parish, but is not yet available online. ^[1] The transcribed death record gives her age as 49 (born ~1886) at death in 1935, ^[1] when the progression from 1880 Susan Hall would age her at about 66 years. This is clearly a mistake, as this suggests that she could not be the mother of the children found in the 1900 or 1910 censuses cited here. Death cert informants are not reliable, so this is not a "red flag" for doubting her as the wife of the Jake at this profile.

A memorial stone for Susie Howard, not a primary source, is found at Star Cemetery in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana showing Susie Howard born 2 Mar 1871 and died 18 April 1935 ^[3] a yard noted for being the only burial ground devoted solely to the black community until the late 1920s. The death record matches the gravestone for date of death ^[1] but wildly wrong for her birthyear. Although Susie married a Henry Morgan as seen below, it is not unusual for gravestones to reflect the surname of the father of a mother's children instead of a stepfather.

Reseearch Needs

possible 1870 census
Marriage records

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} "Louisiana Deaths, 1850-1875, 1894-1960", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSBR-C79 : Fri Mar 08 04:23:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Susie Howard and Henry Hall, 18 Apr 1935.
2. ↑ "Marriages (Colored) Henry Morgan to Susie Howard", The Shreveport Journal, Shreveport, Louisiana, Monday, February 11, 1907 online at https://www.newspapers.com/image/599990637/
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80382651/susan-howard: accessed April 28, 2024), memorial page for Susan “Susie” Howard (2 Mar 1871–18 Apr 1935), Find a Grave Memorial ID 80382651, citing Star Cemetery, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by A Footstep In Time (contributor 47345816).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "United States Census, 1880", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD6J-T8L : Sat Mar 09 00:22:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Hall and Susan Hall, sheet 351D, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPTK-6KN : Sat Mar 09 20:48:33 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Morgan and Susie Morgan, sheet 16B, Shreveport Ward 8, Caddo, Louisiana
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSPT-7DZ : Thu Apr 11 19:17:46 UTC 2024), Entry for Jake Howard and Sue Howard, page 15A, Shreveport city Ward 8, Caddo, Louisiana
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVQX-LCQ : Fri Mar 08 18:34:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Morgan and Susie Morgan, sheet 9A, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMTT-T4K : Sun Mar 10 07:55:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Thurmond Howard and Susle Howard, sheet 21A, Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana