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Support Our Research - Join The AFO! East Coast Allred Family Association Family Histories
and Stories |
Susan Caroline Allred By Debra Montei Dowling With facts
from Iona Keuneke and Ardith Reichley From the time I can first remember my mother talked about going to visit her Grandmother Lassiter down in Indiana. Grandma Lassiter was her mother's mother. There where other relatives they visited too but Grandma Lassiter seemed to stand out in her memory. My mother's parents had moved to the Akron, Michigan area
from Indiana in 1907. Her dad
suffered from asthma. His doctor
felt the Michigan climate would be better for him. He was able to make a success
of his farm here, but the ties to family in Indiana were very strong.
I don't know how often they went back in the early years.
Mom, who was born in 1913, remembers a yearly trip in the summer over
dirt roads in an open car. Grandma Lassiter was born Susan or Susannah Caroline Allred
on Aug 17, 1842. She was the ninth
and last child of William Allred and Rachel Coltrain Allred.
She was born at Millboro, Randolph Co. North Carolina as where all the
other children. I know nothing of
her childhood. Her dad, William is
briefly mentioned in William & Patience's Allred's letter to their son,
Elijah, in Texas, written, July 14, 1843 and published in The Courier, Sept 6,
1936. William states that, "My
son William is living on the same place he did when you went away and has a
large family and is doing well. He
has built a frame to the side and end of his house and finished then off very
well and made them very comfortable".
From this I assume that Susan had a comfortable life.
It was common family knowledge that she had a pretty good education for a
woman of her time. I don't know
where she acquired her education, but I suspect the Female Academy in Ashboro
but I am unable to substantiate it. On March 12, 1862 she married Henry Harrison Lassiter.
On July 17, 1863 their first child was born William McCoy Lassiter.
He became known as "Coy".
In the mean time the Civil War had started.
Randolph Co. was pro-Union, mostly anti-slavery and against session and
war.* Conscription was announced April 16, 1862.*
Henry did not agree with the war and wanted no part in the fighting.
He chose to go to the salt works. They
were at Wilmington.~ He did not like that either.
He could not read and write, therefore any letters back and forth between
him and Susan had to be read to him and written for him.
Susan was determined that she would teach him when they were together
again. Susan's brother, Abner Allred and her sister, Patia Ann
Hammond and their families were living in Indiana by this time.
Susan and Henry managed somehow to make plans to join her family in
Indiana. Henry escaped from the
salt works April 11, 1864, spent 5 days at sea in a small boat.
He finally landed at Baltimore Md. and was arrested and held for not
taking the oath of allegiance.~ From
there he worked his way to Huntington Co. IN. to Patia & Nathan Hammond's.
He got word back to Susan that he had made it safely and that she should
come. It was 1865 and little Coy
was 2 years old. Few stories were
passed down from that journey. Only
that she came by horseback, wagons or any way she could. At the Mason-Dixon Line
she had to swear, with her right hand held up, that she would treat the Negro as
equal, otherwise she could not pass. Their next child was born Dec. 31, 1866.
That was James. Henry and
Susan settled south of Andrews IN on a farm that they had to clear off so they
could farm. They had the rest of
their family in Huntington Co. IN. There
were 8 in all. After James were
Delphina, Nathan, Alvira, Wiley, Patia and Henry. Henry, Susan's husband, died of cancer on Sept 8, 1913 at age 73. Susan would live to be 93 years old. She died Dec. 4, 1935. She never weighted more than 107 pounds. She called it dog weight. We know she chewed tobacco and my grandmother, Alvira, thought she occasionally smoked a pipe. She was a staunch Republican and interested in politics.
She made a red, white and blue suit for her son Jim to wear to the
Republican Rallies. This suit is
preserved today as a quilt made by her daughter-in- law Phoebe Lassiter and is
still in the family She was strong willed and high tempered.
She let everyone know what she thought.
My mother remembers they always stopped at a schoolhouse just before they
got to Grandma's house to wash up at the pump after that long ride from
Michigan. Alvira knew her mother
would have something to say if they did not arrive clean.
The story is told that on more than one occasion Henry brought the buggy
around front with the intent of taking the family somewhere.
They would all get in. Susan
would say, "I'm not going". They
would all get out and Henry would put the buggy and horses away.
When her birthday came around everyone was supposed to be there.
It was a big day for her. She always set a beautiful table.
My mother remembers a set of brown willow wear dishes.
The children had to eat in the kitchen and were expected to be quiet.
If they laughed Susan told them to shut up.
My grandfather said his father-in-law, Henry deserved a pension for
living with her. My mother said
they always enjoyed going there, however their grandmother was not one to give
them hugs and kisses or make a big fuss over them.
They were expected to behave properly while they were there. In 1891 Henry & Susan took the train back to North
Carolina to visit. It had been 27
years since they had seen their family and friends there.
Susan made a gold velvet dress for the trip.
It took 25 hours to get to North Carolina.
In the letters they wrote back to Indiana, they said the crops of
peanuts, persimmons, acorns and corn were good for North Carolina.
One of the meals they had while there was opossum and was very good.
They brought home a peck of peanuts and some figs.
They left Indiana on Oct. 1 and arrived back in Indiana on Oct. 29.
The train trip took 25 hours each way. They moved to a farm south east of Zanesville IN on March
20, 1901. They spent the rest of their lives there.
In 1912 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and Susan wore
her gold velvet dress for this occasion also. Neither Henry nor Patia (Ina) were ever married and lived
at home with their parents. Patia
died before her mother. They are
all buried in the Union Town Cemetery located 1/2 mile south and across the road
from their last residence. The descendants of Henry & Susan have been getting
together every year since 1963 for a reunion.
In1980 Iona and Hubert Keuneke compiled a Lassiter family history with
all the dates for the descendents of Henry & Susan Lassiter and gave every
member a copy. It is a great treasure for all of us. *From the book: Randolph County 1779-1979, page 80, Randolph County Genealogical Library (Ashboro, NC) ~ From the book: History of Huntington County Indiana: from the earliest times to the present, page 624, article on H.H. Lassiter, Wabash Carnegie Public Library (Wabash, IN) |
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