CLEARMAN Family Tree: Emma (Giles) Clearman

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Project ID#: 68

Birth Information

Emma was the daughter of Stephen W. Giles and Mary Josephine (Thames) Giles. She was born October 9, 1877, apparently in Mississippi; her family moved between MS and TX, so it is difficult to know for sure which state was her place of birth. Her parentage is established through census records and obituary records, but her specific date of birth comes solely from her tombstone. Family history gives her middle name as Camilla.

Residence

Emma appears with her family in the 1880 federal census of Van Zandt County, TX. However, she appears (listed as "Emmer") with her brother, Robert D., and her sister, Lela ("Leler"), in a list of educable children for Beat 3 in Lauderdale County, MS, under the guardianship of S.W. Giles in 1885, so clearly the family had returned to MS by 1885. Of course, there are no federal census records for 1890, but the birthplaces of Emma's sister Susan, born ~1887, and her brother James, born between 1881 andd 1883, were given as MS in the 1900 census, so it appears that the family stayed in MS. Emma's parents appear in Perry County, MS, for the 1900 census, and since Emma was married in 1899 in Perry County, it is probably safe to assume that the entire family (or at least those still living at home) moved to that area with them. Emma stayed in the general area until her death, appearing in census records in Perry, Forrest, and Lamar Counties, which border each other.

Spouse/Children

Miss Emma Giles married James Clearman on March 9, 1899. The record appears on pg. 219 of the Perry County Colored Marriage Book covering the dates of August 17, 1897 through January 4, 1900, which is currently housed in the Forrest County courthouse system. The marriage books for the region were divided into either white, colored, or mixed races. By all accounts, both from census records and from people who knew them, James and Emma were, in fact, white, so the book marked "colored" is likely a "mixed" book since no "white" book covering the same dates could be found.

The federal census records for 1900-1930 show the following children for James and Emma: Mae, Floyd, Walter, Ethlyn, Robert, and William. James and Emma also raised most of the children of the daughter, Mae, after her death in December 1926. Frances, Doris, Emmagene, and Frank Thames, Jr. lived with the Clearman family and appear with James and Emma in the 1930 census. Another grandchild, Billy Floyd, was raised by his paternal grandparents.

Census Records

TX 1880

ED 123, p. 5, line 33 (family 10), Van Zandt County
head of household: S.W. Giles

MS 1900

v. ED 88, sh 11, line 15 (family 182), Perry County
head of household: James Clearman

MS 1910

, Forrest County
head of household: Jamie I. Clearman

MS 1920

Enumeration District 101, Sheet 4 B (444), Line 85, Lamar County
head of household: James I. Clearman

MS 1930

Enumeration District 37-6, Sheet 5A (215), Line 5, Lamar County, Richburg Road
head of household: Jean I. Clearman

Death/Burial

Emma died on October 30, 1958 in Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, MS, in Forrest County. She is buried between her husband her mother in Glendale Cemetery, also in Forrest County. Her obituary is transcribed on the CLEARMAN Page.

References

A * indicates a book is part of my private collection.

Forrest County, Mississippi Tombstone Inscriptions (Western Part of Old Perry County, Mississippi), ed. South Mississippi Genealogy Society. 1986, Carrollton: Pioneer Publishing.
This book is available from Pioneer Publishing Co. P.O. Box 408 Carrollton, MS 38917. phone: (662)237-6010
It is part of the collections of McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, IN, and Clayton Genealogy Library in Houston, TX *


Enumeration of Educable Children, Lauderdale County, MS 1885, compiled under the direction of James T. Dawson. 1987, Meridian: Lauderdale County Dept. of Archives and History.
It is part of the collection of McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.


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