Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Tombstone Tuesday: Leah Pickering Barton Spikes, 1835-1903

photo courtesy of Bob Taylor via FindAGrave.com
This is the grave of one of my maternal third great-grandmothers, Leah Pickering (or Pickens) Barton Spikes (1835-1903).  She's one of my brick walls, as I have no idea who her parents were; only that she was born May 27, 1835, in Georgia.

Somewhere in the early 1850s, she married George Washington "G. W." Barton (1826-1864), a native of Alabama.  They moved to Winn Parish, Louisiana, and had three sons:  Benjamin Franklin Barton (1854-1934),  Thomas Jefferson Barton (1856-1930), and William Jasper Barton (1861-1946).

G.W. fought for the Confederates and died during the Civil War.  He fought in the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, on April 8, and was wounded there. According to his great-great-grandson Tom Barton, G. W. "survived that.  His unit moved on to fight in the Battle of Yellow Bayou (near Simmesport), where he died of pneumonia. My father was able to find out that virtually all of the dead were buried in a mass grave, so there is no marker."

Leah married my third great-grandfather, Levi Lewis Spikes (1805-1881), who was 30 years her senior, in 1865, when she was 30 and he was 60 (he was married at least once before).  They had four children:  Levi Spikes (1868-1933), James W. Spikes (1869-1910),  Sara(h) Ann [Sarianne?] Spikes (1871–1935), my great-great-grandmother, and  Erastus Spikes (1874-1947).

Levi Sr. and Leah were living in Grant Parish, Lousiana, for the 1880 US Census, and that is where Levi died in 1881.   By the 1900 Census, Leah is back in Winn Parish (as are her children), where she died on June 8, 1903.  She is buried in Brown Cemetery in Sardis, Winn Parish, as are many of her descendants and kin.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

8 comments:

  1. Such and interesting post and an interesting life Leah must have lead. Thank you.

    Beneath Thy Feet

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  2. Thank you, Nicola, for commenting!

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  3. Such a interesting concept you have here. Enjoying it. About Unk. I once saw people at a post speaking about Unk. I guess it was some kind of joke. Being new to the post, and slightly not up to par, I asked who in the world would have such a strange name? . lol snickers going on. and then I learn the joke of it all.

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  4. I dont know if you're still on this blog but my name is Patrick Horn. William Jasper Barton was my GGG Grandfather.

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    1. Hi Patrick! Yes, I'm still here - going to a Shelton family reunion in Louisiana and hoping to learn more about our elusive ancestor Leah! If you have any other information about her you would be willing to share, I would love to hear it! Thank you for commenting on my blog!

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    2. Hi, If you ares till on here, did you ever find out anything on Leah? She has been a dead end for me for years! please email me at macollins1@aol.comThanks, Patti

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    3. Hi Patti - with DNA testing, I may have a possible lead on Leah - in that I found someone my mom matches who has a Pickren in her tree. If I am able to figure out the connection, I will certainly be writing a blog post about it!

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