Lola Estella (Casteel) Williams (abt. 1878 - 1962)

Born about 24 Jun 1878 in Athens, Limestone, Alabama, USA

Ancestors

Wife of James Washington Williams — married 1896 in Florence, Lauderdale, Alabama, USA

Died 27 Apr 1962 at about age 83 in St. Joseph County, Indiana, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Becky Teninty [send private message] and Greg Casteel [send private message]

Biography

Lola Estella "Ollie" (Casteel) Williams (1878-1962)

[Note that, according to census records, her year of birth was about 1878, but her gravestone gives her year of birth as 1875. Given the fact that all of her census records agree that she was born c.1878, this seems to be the more plausible date.]

Lola was the daughter of Elvira Casteel (later Looney). She was apparently born out of wedlock (or at least no marriage record has yet been found for her parents, and she and her mother are listed in the 1880 census under the name Casteel). According to family sources, her father's name was Jack Grissom (most likely a misspelling of Grisham, since there were many Grishams living in western Limestone County around the time that Lola was born). I have not yet been able to identify which specific Jack Grissom (or Grisham) this might be.

Lola was born in Limestone County, Alabama. Her mother married Abner Looney in 1884 and the family moved to Iron City, Lawrence County, Tennessee, a few years later.

Lola appears to have been an only child, but since virtually all of the 1890 census records were destroyed in a fire before they could be preserved on microfilm, we may never know for certain if Elvira had any other children. Lola is the only child of Elvira's we can identify through census records. (Note that in the 1880 census, her name is given as Ollie Casteel. This was apparently her nickname.)

No marriage record has yet been found for Lola, but we know that she married James Washington Williams sometime before 1901, and probably before 1893 (though there is some uncertainty about this).

In the 1900 census, Lola Williams is listed as widowed and is living with her son William H. Williams in the home of her mother and stepfather, the Looneys. But in the 1910 census, Lola is living with her husband James Washington Williams and their children — except for William, who is still living with Elvira and Abner Looney and is now listed as William H. Looney. While it's certainly possible that the census taker made a mistake with William's last name, the obituary of his younger sister, Mary Naomi "Neg" (Williams) Roberson, also gives his name as William Looney. And even if we ignore the puzzle concerning William's last name, we still have no explanation for why Lola is listed as widowed and is living with her mother and stepfather rather than her husband in the 1900 census. This is a mystery that we won't be able to solve without additional information.

In any event, Lola had several children:

• William Henry Looney (né Williams) (b. c.1893)
  
• Carrie Lee "Carolee" Williams (b. c.1901) — her married name was Brown
  
• James Rufus Williams (b. c.1907)
  
• Floyd A. Williams (b. c.1910) who died in childhood
  
• Mary Naomi "Neg" Williams (b. 1912) — her married names were Danley, Gray, and Roberson
  
• Ruby Mae Williams (b. c.1917) — her married name was Cotton
  
• Robert Erwin Williams (b. unknown) who died in infancy
  
• Ettie Elise "Ease" Williams (b. c.1921)
  

(Plus two daughters who died at birth. The dates of their birth/death are unknown.)

Lola died in 1962 and is buried in the Florence Cemetery in Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, along with her husband James who died in 1949.

Contributor's note: Contrary to what it says in the obituary of Lola's daughter, Mary Naomi "Neg" (Williams) Roberson (which may be read on her Find-a-Grave page), Lola was not a "full-blooded Native American." Although we know very little about her father, her mother's side of the family has no American Indian blood in it whatsoever as far as we have been able to determine. (In fact, I am a descendant of Elvira's parents, Henry and Betty Casteel, and according to my DNA test results, I have 0% Native American ancestry.) So, even if Lola's father happened to be a full-blooded American Indian — and we have no evidence that he was — that would make Lola only a half-blooded Native American.

Sources

-1880 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4JT-DKF

-1900 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSZV-NXR

-1910 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGFY-NB5

-1920 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN55-3X2

-1930 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:3LDD-V2M

-1940 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1G1-YSR

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Her Find-a-Grave entry: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52918302

Her husband's Find-a-Grave entry: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52901082

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Records concerning her children:

William

His 1940 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGFY-L7L

Carrie

Her marriage record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VN8F-8DY

Her 1940 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4ZM-Q5B

Rufus

His 1930 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SP4Y-83M

His 1940 census record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4ZM-Q5M

Naomi "Neg"

Her birth record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6LY-PFQ

Her Find-a-Grave entry (with obituary): http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59701749

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Special thanks to Lola R. Young Teninty (Lola Williams's granddaughter) for identifying the name of her father as Jack Grissom. According to her, this was the name listed on Lola Williams's death certificate. (Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate a copy of this death certificate online, so I cannot provide a link to it.)