Tom Yates (abt. 1872 - aft. 1938)

Born about 1872 in Moon Lake, Coahoma, Mississippi, United States [uncertain]

Died after 1938 after about age 66 in Arkansas, United States

Biography

Tom Yates is a part of US Black heritage.

Tom Yates was interviewed in Marianna, Arkansas in about 1937 about his life and his time as an enslaved person. The typescript is stamp date Oct 18, 1938. Tom was born after freedom.

"I was born in 1872 in Mississippi, on Moon Lake. Mama said she was orphan. She was sold when she was a young woman. She said she come from Richmond, Virginia to Charleston, South Carolina. Then she was brought to Mississippi and married before freedom. She had two husbands. Her owners were Master Atwood and Master Curtis Burk. I don't know how it come about nor which one bought her. She had four children and I'm the youngest. My sister lives in Memphis. My father was sold in Raleigh, North Carolina. His master was Tom Yeates. I'm named for some of them. Papa's name was William Yeates."

"He was a soldier. He run away and went in the War. He was a private and mustered out at DeValls Bluff, Arkansas. That is how come my mother to come here. He died in 1912 at Wilson, Arkansas. He got a federal pension, thirty-six dollars, every three months."

Interview: Tom Yates was interviewed in Marianna, Arkansas by Miss Irene Robertson as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are made available by the Library of Congress. ^[1]

Research Notes

Although Tom indicates in his interview that he was born in 1872, on his WWI Draft it is cited as 1875

Who is Alice Anderson, born about 1860 in either Mississippi or Tennessee? She is enumerated in 1880 and in 1930 in the same household as Tom Yates, and called Aunt.

Additional daughter, Lottie Yates born about 1924, enumerated in the 1930 census, is too young to have a profile created at this time.

Sources

1. ↑ [1] Library of Congress - WPA - Slave Narrative - Tom Yates - Vol. 2, Arkansas, part 7; pages 252-252 images 257-257 of 262.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNWD-W37 : 13 January 2022), Thos. Yates in household of William Yates, St. Francis Township, Lee, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm .

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K359-QP3 : 25 December 2021), Tom Yates, 1917-1918.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMLF-2HX : accessed 30 June 2022), Tom Yates, Council, Lee, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 3, sheet 9A, line 24, family 8, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 81; FHL microfilm 2,339,816.

See also:

• Birth of son Tom Yates: "Arkansas, Birth Certificates, 1914-1917"
  Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Birth Certificates; Year: Abt 1875
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry ca Record 61774 #150853567 (accessed 11 December 2022)
  Tom Yates born to Tom Yates Sr and Mary French on 9 Jul 1908 in Deckerville, Poinsett, Arkansas, USA.

For further research, name & location work: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGV1-RFGJ : 1 August 2020), Tom Yates, ; Burial, , Lee, Arkansas, United States of America, Pilgrim Cemetery; citing record ID 183826307, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.