More Groundbreaking News

The St. Tammany Parish School Board has given me permission to publish items from its website about the groundbreaking for the Joseph B. Lancaster Elementary School.
Here are images of the design, including a 3-D rendering of the plan:



The groundbreaking:



The article from the school board website describing the groundbreaking:

Groundbreaking Ceremonies Held For Lancaster Elementary
(10-16-2009)
School System officials and members of the Joseph B. Lancaster family took part in ceremonies to break ground for the new Lancaster Elementary west of Madisonville Friday morning, October 16. The new school, located between Pine Creek Drive and Perrilloux Road off Hwy. 22, will bring 47 additional classrooms to the fast growing southwest St. Tammany area.

Lancaster was the first officially-recorded superintendent of the St. Tammany Parish Public School System and was known for his vision of an educational system designed to meet the needs of a growing area. A number of Lancaster ancestors, some from out-of-state, attended the groundbreaking.

Gasaway-Gasaway-Bankston of Hammond is serving as architect for the project, with Donahue-Favret Contractors building the $18.3 million facility. The total square footage of the two-story building will be 104,814. The new school’s grade configuration will be grades two through five.

The event took place two weeks after the groundbreaking ceremonies for a new elementary school in the Slidell area, the Henry Mayfield Elementary off U.S. 190 near Tammany Trace.

The School Board agreed last year to name the new Madisonville area elementary school in honor of Lancaster after Superintendent Gayle Sloan recommended him for the honor. She recounted his many contributions to the community as lawyer, district attorney, judge, and state representative. “He was a very high-achieving individual,” she said. He was named Superintendent by the first School Board in September of 1900, after it became an organized set of schools with parishwide administrative supervision and community governance.

Five descendants of Lancaster attended last year’s School Board meeting to name the school after their ancestor, including Lancaster's grandson, Judge Peter Garcia of the 22nd Judicial District. “Lancaster was a grandson of General David Bannister Morgan, who fought in the war of 1812 with Andrew Jackson and who is buried in Madisonville. So it is appropriate to name a Madisonville area school after him, since he has very strong connections to the Madisonville community,” Judge Garcia said.

Lancaster served as Superintendent of Schools until September, 1904, and died in 1916 in Franklinton.

Groundbreaking of Joseph B. Lancaster Elementary School, Madisonville, La.

In recognition of Joseph B. Lancaster's contributions to public education in St. Tammany Parish, the School Board voted to name the newest school in the parish for our ancestor.

The groundbreaking was held Friday, October 16, 2009.

See the article from the Times-Picayune describing the event and the photos taken there.

The following descendants of Joseph B. Lancaster attended the event (in parentheses is the familial connection to Joseph B. Lancaster):

Joseph B. Lancaster, who many of us know as Bradford Junior (grandson, as son of Joseph B. Lancaster, Jr. -- Uncle Bradford)
Willie Mae Lancaster (granddaughter-in-law, wife of Bradford Junior)
Marcy Lancaster Simoneaux (granddaughter, as daughter of Joseph B. Lancaster, Jr. -- Uncle Bradford)
Frank Simoneaux (grandson-in-law, husband of Marcy)
Charles D. Lancaster Jr. (grandson, as son of Charles D. Lancaster -- Uncle Charlie)
Dee Dee Lancaster (great granddaughter, daughter of Charles D. Lancaster Jr.)
Charles D. Lancaster III (great grandson, son of Charles D. Lancaster Jr.)
William B. Lancaster (grandson, as son of Charles D. Lancaster -- Uncle Charlie)
Edith Garcia Eason (granddaughter, as daughter of Edith Lancaster Garcia -- Aunt Edie)
Melie Garcia Freret (granddaughter, as daughter of Edith Lancaster Garcia -- Aunt Edie)
Michelle Prather Freret (great granddaughter, daughter of Melie Garcia Freret)
Suzanne Freret (great granddaughter, daughter of Melie Garcia Freret)
Yvonne Garcia Crawford (granddaughter, as daughter of Edith Lancaster Garcia -- Aunt Edie)
John Crawford (grandson-in-law, husband of Yvonne)
Peter J. Garcia (grandson, as son of Edith Lancaster Garcia -- Aunt Edie)
Linda P. Garcia (granddaughter-in-law, wife of Peter)
Meghan Garcia (greatgranddaughter, daughter of Peter and Linda Garcia)
Elizabeth Garcia Smith (granddaughter, as daughter of Edith Lancaster Garcia -- Aunt Edie)
Dale Smith (grandson-in-law, husband of Elizabeth)

Here is a picture taken after the groundbreaking at the School Board facilities, where the family was invited for lunch.



[Photo courtesy of Margaret Sharp, St. Tammany Parish Schools]

Two Items of Interest

First Item of Interest

In searching for the Morgan connection to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, I discovered a Lancaster connection. We have a common ancestor, Robert Brooke. (I imagine if you go back far enough, you can find that with just about anyone.) Taney was the son of Michael V. Taney V and Monica Brooke. Monica Brooke's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all named Roger Brooke. Roger Brooke the great-grandfather (1637-1700) married Dorothy Neale (1646-1680). The Neale name arises in our ancestry, too, but that isn't the immediate connection. Roger Brooke's parents were Robert Brooke (1602-1655), a colonial governor of the Maryland colony, and Mary Mainwaring (1610-1663). They married on May 11, 1635, one year after the death of Robert Brooke's first wife, Mary Baker (1607-1634). Robert Brooke and Mary Baker are our ancestors. Their son, Baker Brooke (1628-1679) married Anne Calvert (yes, a descendant of the founder of Maryland; 1644-1714). Their daughter, Mary Brooke (1680-1763), married Raphael Neale (1683-1743). Their daughter, Elizabeth Neale (1704-1762) married Captain John Lancaster (1673-1760). Their son, Raphael Lancaster (1732-1802), married Ellinor (Eleanor ?) Bradford (1735-1802). Their son, John Lancaster (1766-1838), married Catherine Miles (1772-1847). They had twelve kids. Their eldest, Joseph B. Lancaster (1790-1856), was our grandfather's grandfather.

It is worth noting that the Taney-Brooke family stayed in Maryland through all of the births and deaths listed above. (That is, after Robert Brooke moved to Maryland at the behest of Lord Baltimore to command a new county, Charles County. Robert Brooke's first wife -- our ancestor -- had died in England. His second wife and all of his children and servants -- 40 in all -- sailed to Maryland in 1650 [source: Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Governors, Volume 1, copyright 1916, accessed through Google Books.com.])

In the same span of time, our branch of the family closely parallels the history of our country after Independence. Raphael Lancaster moved with his family to Bardstown, Kentucky, as part of the massive migration of white settlers to what was then called the West -- the trans-Appalachian region settled after the Revolutionary War. His son John was captured by Indians. Read the account in the old family history that Bradford Lancaster and Edith Lancaster Garcia prepared for the 1976 reunion in Covington. That capture, too, is reflective of our nation's history as Indians in the Ohio Valley opposed white settlement and fought it until the Indians were driven out by war, disease, and forced migration.

John's son, Joseph B. Lancaster, led a company of Kentucky calvary intent on fighting the British in the War of 1812 in the Great Lakes theater. By the time the company arrived in Detroit, the war had ended. As noted in the recent blog entry, Joseph and his family moved to Florida from Kentucky, perhaps at the urging of a friend from Bardstown, William Pope Duval. A more encompassing reason may have been why many Kentuckians and Tennesseans moved to Florida -- General Andrew Jackson became military governor there after Florida became part of the U.S. Later, Joseph B. Lancaster fought against the Seminole Indians. He was wounded in the neck and retired to the less dangerous combat of politics.

William B. Lancaster, Joseph's son, is responsible for the Louisiana origins of the Lancasters. He had moved with his family to Florida from Kentucky, attended school at St. Joseph's in Bardstown then the University of Paris where he was converted to Catholicism by Frederick Ozanam. As many of our family know, William brought the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to Louisiana, where he organized a branch in New Orleans. His reasons for coming to Louisiana may be related to his work for the Society. Please see the plaque to Ozanam posted here that is in the church adjacent to the University of Paris, St. Etienne du Mont. The plaque is on a wall perpendicular to a side altar dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul. The photo was taken by a French woman as a favor to my sister, Edith Garcia Eason. Were it not for Ozanam, might we have all grown up in Florida?

Second Item of Interest

While looking up some of the above information, I found that the wife of Joseph B. Lancaster (our great-great-grandfather, not our grandfather), Ann Blair Lancaster, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. She was living in Washington, D.C., at the time of her death in 1890. Burial there was due to her husband's service in two wars. Also buried in Arlington is William B. Lancaster's sister, Laura Louise Lancaster Vincent. As the 1976 history records, she was also converted to Catholicism and studied at the University of Paris. She married U.S. Army Lieutenant Thomas M. Vincent, who served as assistant adjutant general during the Civil War on the Union side. The fact that his brother-in-law, William B. Lancaster, was a member of the medical corps of the trans-Mississippi department of the Confederate Army is another specific example from our family of a larger historical trend, this one of how families were split by the Civil War. Vincent had become a brigadier general before his death in 1909. He is also buried in Arlington. He and his wife are in section Z -- she in 175LH, he in 175RH. I intend to contact Arlington National Cemetery's Freedom of Information officer to find out where Ann Blair Lancaster is buried.

As promised, here is a speculative musing by Peter Garcia on the relationship of Andrew Jackson to the Lancaster family:

When Judge Sonia Sotomayor was appointed by President Obama, there was an article in The New Yorker about the evolution of choices of Supreme Court justices. At one time, the President made appointments that had a geographical basis. The appointments to the Supreme Court later evolved to have ideological foundations and, lately, gender and ethnic considerations.

The author wrote that in 1836 Andrew Jackson appointed Roger Taney to the Supreme Court, making Taney the first Roman Catholic justice. I had remembered that our family is related to Taney, through General David B. Morgan, our grandfather's grandfather (David B. Morgan's daughter was Joseph B. Lancaster's mother). I wondered about the relationship between Jackson and Taney: Were they connected through Morgan? Jackson and Morgan were fellow defenders of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Who introduced Jackson to Taney? Did Taney come to have a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States because he was related to our great-great grandfather?

Peter refers to the June 8, 2009 article by Jeffrey Toobin entitled, "Diverse Opinions." If anyone finds more information about this topic, please submit it! Meanwhile, I will research the issue, too.

JOSEPH B. LANCASTER, "The comfort and pride of his family"
Joseph B. Lancaster (father of William B. Lancaster and grandfather of Joseph B. Lancaster of Covington, Louisiana) was a member of the Supreme Court of Florida. His career is described in The Supreme Court of Florida and its Predecessors Courts, 1821-1917, published by University Press of Florida in 1998.

Born in Kentucky around 1790, Joseph B. Lancaster was the son of John and Catherine Miles Lancaster. He read law and won admission to the Kentucky bar. He practiced from offices in Bardstown and Lebanon. In 1815, he married Annie Blair, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. They moved from their hometown of Bardstown to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1822. The book speculates that Joseph's connections to a Bardstown friend, William Pope DuVal, brought him to Florida. DuVal became territorial governor of Florida that year. He appointed Joseph to become assistant secretary of East Florida's board of land commissioners. In 1825, Joseph was admitted to the bar of the the territorial court of appeals and appointed to the legislative council.

Joseph had other connections in Florida that smoothed his way in territorial politics. As time passed, his appointments and elections brought him greater responsibility through much of eastern and central Florida:

1826 -- appointed justice of the peace of St. Johns County (St. Augustine)

1827 -- appointed judge of Aluchua County (Gainesville)

1831 -- President Jackson appointed him the first collector of the Port of St. Johns in Jacksonsville

1833 -- elected chief clerk of the territorial council, the governing body of Florida

1839 -- elected by Duval County (Jacksonville) to the territorial house; served in 1840, 1842, 1843, and 1844. During the last two years, he presided over the house

1846 -- elected mayor of Jacksonville

1847 -- elected to the territorial house of representatives; the Whig majority elected him speaker of the house; his son, William B. Lancaster, was chosen as chief clerk. A resolution directed lawmakers to wear red roses on their left shoulders and christened the house chamber as the "House of Lancaster."

December 1847 -- elected judge of Florida's southern circuit; by right of law he sat on the Florida supreme court until 1850. Joseph continued to serve as circuit judge until 1852. His political enemies feared he would be a "political judge," but one opponent described him "as unswerving, impartial, prompt, discriminating and sagacious a Judge as he was conceded to have been as Speaker."

1853 -- lost reelection in Florida's first popular judicial election (previous elections were held in the house)

As a member of the Whig Party, Joseph lost power as the Whig Party drew its last breath in the state elections of 1852. He joined the American or Know Nothing Party although he rejected two well-known tenets of the party -- anti-Catholicism and anti-immigration. In February 1856, he ran and won the first election for mayor of Tampa. Joseph died November 25, 1856.

Ossian Bingley Hart, a future justice and governor of Florida, was Joseph's protege. After Joseph's death, Hart summarized his mentor's career in the Tampa Florida Peninsular: "Blest with a high order of intellects, with a heart full of kindly feelings, he was the comfort and pride of his family, the ornament of every social circle in which he mingled, and was eminently useful to the people of our State. As a lawyer few were his equals in point of talent, and in fidelity to those whose interests were in his hands; and, as a Judge, none more anxious that justice should be done. To say that he had none of the frailties of human nature, would be to call him perfect, which no man is, but I think I can truthfully say that he had less of those frailties than most men."
Next post: Andrew Jackson and the Lancasters

Using the research process that I described at the reunion--finding the existence of documents through ancestry.com--then obtaining those documents, I have new information about Charlie Doerr, our grandmother Amanda Doerr Lancaster's brother.

I found that his obituary was published by the Birmingham News on March 3, 1937. The obituary for his wife, Lucie Ellermann Doerr, was published in the same paper on April 7, 1943. I got copies of the obituary from the Birmingham Public Library's Government Documents Department. Here are some of the facts that those documents contain:

Charlie Doerr was not Charles J. Doerr, Jr. He was Charles Thomas Doerr. After moving to Birmingham, he worked as the purchasing agent for the Birmingham Electric Company. Then, during World War I, he served the U.S. at the government nitrate plate at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After the war, he returned to Birmingham and became purchasing agent for the Alabama Power Company. By the time of his death on March 3, 1937, he and Lucie had only two surviving children -- Hazel and Lucille. Their other daughter, Lucie, had died before the 1910 Census. Their son, Charles, apparently died at some point between 1910 and 1937. Lucille, in 1937, was married to Joe Duncan and had five children, according to the obituary.

Lucie Ellermann Doerr's obituary reveals that she was the daughter of Henry Ellermann, "a prominent Louisiana contractor who built the Mississippi River levees at New Orleans." I would need to do research to confirm that description of her father. Her obituary also names her grandchildren, the children of Lucille Doerr Duncan: Marie Duncan, Doris Duncan, Joann Duncan, Joe Duncan, Jr., and Mrs. Paul Reuter. I have begun searching for them and their descendants. They may enjoy having a copy of a picture of their grandmother Lucille Doerr Duncan, the little girl sitting in the chair in the picture on this page.

One final note of interest from Charles T. Doerr's obituary. The newspaper account says that he was a resident of Birmingham for 33 years upon his death in 1937. That would mean he moved in 1904. Perhaps the photo is a record of a visit of Charlie and his family to Covington from Birmingham.

The William Lancaster House on Lakeshore Drive in Mandeville is part of the Historic Homes tour to be held Saturday, May 16, as part of Mandeville's 175th anniversary celebration. Historian Sally Reeves conducted a survey of Mandeville homes and rated each house's historic importance. I talked briefly to Gloria Coker, the home's owner, who was busy getting her house and yard ready for the tour. She said she keeps a book of information begun by the previous owner of the house, Mrs. Colvin and adds to it as she finds out more about the house and its owners. The William Lancaster that owned the home was William B. Lancaster, the half-brother of Joseph B. Lancaster. 

We agreed to exchange information next week after the anniversary. Look here soon for a description of our conversation.

In this, the first entry to the Lancaster Family blog, I want to thank all those who made the journey to Covington for the April 25, 2009, family reunion. Special props to Martha Sharman and Jimmy Garcia for traveling so far. As described below, this blog is intended to be a place to exchange information. It will be open to the general public to read, but only "members" of this blog can comment. That way, we can use this site as sort of a town common -- a place to meet and exchange information about our ancestry. Here, too, is a copy (without images) of the genealogy document handed out at the reunion. 

The Families of Joseph Bradford Lancaster and Amanda Amelie Doerr Lancaster:

Genealogy in Chronology:

by

Christian P. Garcia

Amanda Doerr Lancaster’s Family 

Charles J. A. Doerr, Amanda Doerr Lancaster’s father

Charles was born in May 1844 as Carl Johann Augustus Dörr.[1]

Charles came from Landau, a town in the Black Forest region of Germany.[2]

Charles emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1859.[3]

Family lore has Charles Doerr leaving Germany to avoid conscription in the German army, but the more mundane reason may have been financial stress. The 1850s were a period of industrial capitalism in Germany. New investment banks provided venture capital to railroads and factories. The bubble burst in 1857 in a financial crash. Many investors were forced into bankruptcy. Yet wealth continued to be shifted from farming to manufacturing and from the country to the city. By 1859, there was a new struggle in Germany – between forces pushing for a redistribution of political power to match the new economic reality and forces wanting to maintain aristocratic rule. When Austria lost a war against France in 1859, popular unrest increased. Prince William of Prussia had begun some reform with parliamentary elections. Those reforms would end when Prince – now King – William made Otto von Bismarck prime minister. King William and Bismarck consolidated power among Germanic states in the German Reich. King William became Kaiser Wilhelm upon becoming emperor in 1871.[4]

Charles may have arrived in New Orleans from Baden (home port) aboard the Pequot from Le Havre, France, on December 3, 1859. There was a 16-year-old passenger listed as Carl Dörr on the manifest, but the Census of 1900 shows that, with a birth in May 1844, Charles would have been 15, not 16, in 1859. However, the ship may have required him to be 16 to sail without his parents.[5]

The man who accompanied him to New Orleans from Germany taught him the jewelry business.[6]

Charles married Amanda Hoffmann in 1868.[7]

Charles and Amanda had a son, Charles Doerr, Jr., on February 15, 1869. Curiously, his mother’s name was listed as “Emma” in the New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index. [8]

In 1870, Charles worked as a clerk in a grocery store while living in the 10^th Ward in New Orleans. Living in his household are his wife, Amanda, “keeping house”; Kate Rooney, 26, a servant; Charles Doerr, age 1; Bertha Hoffman, Amanda’s sister, age 12, who was “attending school.”[9]

Charles and Amanda had a daughter, Amanda Amelie Doerr, born April 9, 1877.[10]

Charles and Amanda had a daughter, Bertha Doerr, born December 9, 1878.[11]

Charles and Amanda had three other children that did not survive. I vaguely remember that they died of yellow fever.[12]

By 1890, Charles and Amanda lived at 354 Constance St. He was a jeweler.[13]

Charles worked for M. Scooler as a jeweler.[14]

Charles became the manager and chief designer of M. Scooler Jewelry.[15]

Charles and Amanda move to Covington after June 1900, but before December 1901. According to Nan – Bertha Doerr Aubert – the move was made because Charles was threatened with tuberculosis.[16]

Charles and Amanda bought property and built a large, two-story house on what was then called Monroe Street in Covington. The idea was to operate a boarding house, a common enterprise in Covington at the time. The boarding house was not a great success, but they continued to take in boarders.[17]

Charles returned to work at Scooler, commuting to New Orleans on Sunday evening and returning to Covington on Saturday.[18]

Charles retired for good, perhaps in 1904 or 1906, and set up a small shop in his house to do contract work for several jewelers.[19]

In 1910, Charles and Amanda Doerr lived at 1415 Monroe Street in Covington. Living with them was Bertha Hoffmann, 50.[20]

Charles J. A. Doerr died in Birmingham, Alabama, while visiting his son on December 29, 1911.[21]

Amanda H. Doerr, Amanda Doerr Lancaster’s mother

Amanda Hoffmann was born March 12, 1848, the daughter of Julius Lorenz Hoffmann and Fredericka Lange Hoffmann. Julius Hoffmann was born in Germany; Fredericka Lange was born in Louisiana. Yet Nan reported that her mother was born six weeks after her parents arrived in New Orleans from Germany. Chances are good that the census taker got the information wrong or that Amanda misreported it to him and that Fredericka was indeed born in Germany.[22]

Amanda had three sisters: Emily Hoffmann Lilienthal, who moved to Houston; Bertha “Birsh” Hoffmann, who lived with Amanda, at least since age 12, possibly earlier; “Sweety” Hoffmann, who moved to St. Louis. Her full name and marriage status is unknown.[23]

Julius Lorenz Hoffmann (born December 25, 1819; died June 30, 1867) and Fredericka Lange Hoffman are buried in the Covington cemetery.

After Charles Doerr died in 1911, Amanda stayed in the house on Monroe Street with her single sister, Bertha Hoffmann. In 1916, after Joseph B. Lancaster died, Amanda Doerr Lancaster moved in with her five children.

In 1920, Amanda Doerr was the head of household at 1415 Monroe Street that included her daughter, listed as Mrs. J.B. Lancaster, 42, and her five children: Bradford J. (sic) Lancaster, 16, Amanda M. Lancaster, 14, Charles D. Lancaster, 11, Mary C. Lancaster, 8, and Edith C. Lancaster, 4. Bertha Hoffmann, 55, was also in the household.[24]

In 1930, Amanda was the head of household at 1415 Monroe Street that included her daughter, Amanda Doerr Lancaster, 53, and her three daughters, Amanda, Catherine, and Edith. Amanda M. Lancaster was 24, single, and a stenographer in a law firm. Catherine was 17, single, and a stenographer in a law firm. Edith was 15. Bertha Hoffmann, 65, was also part of her household.[25]

Amanda Hoffmann Doerr died in Covington in 1934.[26]

Charles J. Doerr, Jr., Amanda Doerr Lancaster’s brother

Charles J. Doerr, Jr. was born February 15, 1869.[27]

Charlie married Lucie Ellermann on May 28, 1892. He was 26; she was 23.[28]

Charlie and Lucie had a daughter, Lucie Doretta Doerr, born February 5, 1893.[29]

Charlie and Lucie had a daughter, Hazel Amelia Doerr, born September 21, 1894.[30]

By 1910, Charles J. Doerr, Jr. had moved to Birmingham, Alabama. He and his family lived at 3411 Highland Drive. He was an agent for Birmingham Rail. He and Lucie had three children, Hazel, 15, Charles, 13, and Lucille, 7. Also living in the household was Frank Ellermann, Lucie’s brother, age 36.[31]

Charles J. Doerr, Jr. died March 1937 in Jefferson County (Birmingham), Alabama.[32]

Bertha Doerr Aubert, Amanda Doerr Lancaster’s sister

Bertha “Nan” Doerr was born December 9, 1878.

Bertha dated Julian Smith for more than a year at the same time that her sister Amanda began dating Joseph B. Lancaster.

Bertha married Robert L. Aubert, born June 24, 1884.[33] He was a cousin of Dr. Henry Gautreaux, the physician who delivered Edith Lancaster.

In 1910, Bertha and Robert lived at 1490 America Street in Covington. Robert, 26, was a bank cashier. They had two children, Marie, age 2, and Robert, Jr., age 1.[34]

In 1920, Bertha and Robert lived at 1214 Arabella Street in New Orleans. Robert, 35, was an automobile salesman. Bertha and Robert had five children: Mary A., age 11 (Marie in the 1910 Census), Robert L., 10, Marie L. (Louise), 9, Charles K., 7, and Richard J., 5.[35]

Robert L. Aubert died in March of 1973 in Gulfport, Mississippi.[36]

Bertha “Nan” Doerr Aubert died in December of 1978 in Gulfport, Mississippi.[37]

Joseph Bradford Lancaster’s Family

William Blair Lancaster, Joseph Bradford Lancaster’s father

William Blair Lancaster was born in 1826 in St. Augustine, Florida, the son of Joseph B. Lancaster and Ann Blair Lancaster.[38]

William graduated from St. Joseph College in Bardstown, Kentucky, the home of his father.[39]

William studied in Europe and mastered Spanish, French, Latin, and Greek. He studied art and music at the University of Paris. His favorite instrument was the flute.[40]

In Paris, William met Frederic Ozanam who converted him to Catholicism and introduced him to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. When he came to New Orleans, William founded the New Orleans chapter of the society with Father Delacroix.[41]

William served in the Mexican War (1846-1848).[42]

In 1858, William married Josephine Morgan (born 1830), the daughter of General William B. Morgan and Marie Constance Baham Morgan of Madisonville, Louisiana.[43]

Around the time of his marriage, William studied law and began to practice it.[44]

In 1859, William and Josephine had a daughter, Mary Catherine.[45]

In 1861, William and Josephine had a daughter, Ann Blair.[46]

In July 1862, William and Josephine had a daughter, Mary Edith.[47]

During the Civil War, William served as the captain of Company C in the 4^th Regiment, 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Division of the Louisiana Militia.[48]

On April 10, 1865, William and Josephine had a son, Joseph.[49]

Between 1865 and 1870, Josephine died.

Also during that period, William taught at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.[50]

In 1868, William became editor of the Morning Star publication in New Orleans.[51]

Between 1865 and 1870, William married Ellen Wells (born August 11, 1848).[52]

In April 1870, William and Ellen had a daughter, Laura.[53]

In 1870, William and Ellen had five children in their home: Mary Catherine, born 1859; Anna, born 1861; Mary Edith (born 1862), Joseph, born 1865, and Laura, born April 1870. Also part of the household were two servants, Catherine Devine, 50, and Mary Johnson, 23.[54]

In 1872, William and Ellen had a daughter, Maria (Maisey).[55]

On June 14, 1873, William and Ellen had a son, William Blair, Jr.[56]

In 1876, William and Ellen had a daughter, Mary Ellen (Nellie).[57]

In February 1879, William and Ellen had a son, John (John Robert).[58]

Ellen Wells Lancaster died July 15, 1879.[59]

In 1879, William was elected to the Louisiana Legislature from the 10^th Ward. He served four years.[60]

In 1880, William and his family lived at 507 N. St. Charles Street in New Orleans.[61]

In 1880, William’s household included Mary Catherine, age 20; Ann Blair, 19; Mary Edith, 17; Joseph Bradford, 15; Maria, 8; William B. Jr., 7, Mary (Mary Ellen – Nellie), 4; John (John Robert), 2. In the ten years between the two censuses, William and Ellen’s daughter Laura died.[62]

Between 1880 and 1887, when their first child is born, William married Marie Delery. Considering her age (she was born in 1864), their marriage was probably after 1882.[63]

In December 1887, William and Marie had a daughter, Elizabeth.[64]

On February 22, 1890, William and Marie had a daughter, Cecilia.[65] 

On June 10, 1892, William and Marie had a daughter, Armantine.[66] 

In November 1894, William and Marie had a son, Armand Delery.[67]

In 1895, William and Marie had a son, John, who died at birth.[68]

On March 15, 1895, Marie Delery Lancaster died.[69]

In 1896 or 1897, William and his family lived at 1724 Baronne Street in New Orleans.[70]

William Blair Lancaster died December 27, 1897. He was interred in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, number two.[71]

Josephine Morgan Lancaster, Joseph Bradford Lancaster’s mother

Other than the facts given above, very little is known about Josephine Morgan. Here is a Morgan/Baham family tree prepared by Mary Catherine (Aunt Kate) Lancaster for her niece, Amanda Lancaster (date unknown).

 

Jean Baptiste Baham (born early 1700s) of France married Francesca Guillory.

           

Their son, René Baham (born 1766) married Isabella Millore in 1796.

 

Their daughter, Constance Baham, married David Bannister Morgan in 1819.

 

Their daughter, Josephine Morgan (born 1830), married William Blair Lancaster.

 

Their son was Joseph B. Lancaster.

 

Miles Morgan of Wales married Prudence Gilbert in 1636. They had nine children.

 

One son, David Morgan (born 1646), married Margaret Clark in 1672. They had six children.

 

One son, David Morgan (born 1679), married Debora Colton in 1703. They had eight children.

 

One son, Joseph Morgan (born 1705), married Margaret Cooley in 1729. They had seven children.

 

One daughter, Margaret Morgan (born 1730), married John Mighall in 1749.

 

Their daughter, Margaret Mighall (born 1750), married a cousin, John Morgan.

 

Their son, David B. Morgan, was born in 1773 in West Springfield, Massachusetts. David married Elizabeth Middleton, around 1810. They had one son, Charles Hatto Morgan (c. 1811-1880). Elizabeth Middleton Morgan died January 22, 1816. David B. Morgan married Constance Baham in 1819.

           

Their daughter, Josephine Morgan (born 1830), married William B. Lancaster.

           

Their son was Joseph B. Lancaster.

 

 

Sisters and Brothers of Joseph Bradford Lancaster 

Children of William Blair Lancaster and Josephine Morgan Lancaster

Mary Catherine Lancaster (born in 1859), known as Kate, taught school, traveled widely, and was interested in family history. She died December 6, 1928. She is buried in St. Patrick Cemetery No. 3 in New Orleans.[72]

Ann Blair Lancaster (born in 1861) became Sr. Saint Pierre, OC. She died April 27, 1915. She is buried in the Carmelite tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 in New Orleans.

Mary Edith Lancaster (born in 1862) married September 1, 1885, to Thomas Wharton Collens (born 1846 or 1847), descendant of the founder of Covington, John Wharton Collins. They had four children, two girls and two boys. Both girls, Marie Edith (born in 1888) and Marie Orphea (Fay, born in 1889), became Daughters of Charity. The sons were Thomas Wharton Collens Jr. (July 26, 1886-1947) and William Lancaster Wharton Collens (Lancaster, born June 12, 1891). Thomas Wharton Collens died February 7, 1892. Mary Edith (elder) may be the woman dressed in black in the family picture of circa 1909. She died in December 1938.

Joseph B. Lancaster (1865-1916) married Amanda Amelie Doerr on October 29, 1902. They had five children: Joseph Bradford Lancaster (1904-1989), Amanda Marie Lancaster (1905-1976), Charles Doerr Lancaster (1908-1974), Mary Catherine Lancaster Sharman (1912-1974), and Edith Constance Lancaster Garcia (1915-1981).

 

Children of William Blair Lancaster and Ellen Wells Lancaster

Laura Lancaster (born in 1870) died in childhood.

Maria (Maisey) Lancaster (born in 1872) died in childhood.

William B. Lancaster, Jr. (born in 1873), known as Willie, married Lillie Knight of Philadelphia on December 26, 1894[73]. They had three children, William B. Lancaster III, Earl Lancaster, and Ralph Lancaster. Willie Lancaster died in Mandeville, Louisiana, August 3, 1925.[74]

Mary Ellen Lancaster (born in 1876), Nellie, became a Daughter of Charity, Sister Appoline. She died March 17, 1954. She is buried in Marillac Provincial House Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

John Robert Lancaster (born in 1879) served as best man at the wedding of Joseph B. Lancaster and Amanda Amelie Doerr in 1902. He was married briefly. He became an attorney and lived in Covington. He died March 27, 1945.

Children of William Blair Lancaster and Marie Delery Lancaster

Elizabeth Lancaster (born in 1887) never married and helped raise her brother Armand’s children (see below). She was secretary to the judge of the Federal District Court. She died in 1980.

Cecilia Lancaster (born in 1890), known as Celie, also entered the religious life as a Daughter of Charity, Sister Mary Austin. She died May 17, 1977. She is buried in the Daughters of Charity Cemetery at the Marillac Provincial House in St. Louis, Missouri.[75]

Armantine Lancaster (born in 1892), known as Tena, followed her sisters into the Daughters of Charity as Sister Vincentine. She died July 16, 1986. She is also buried in the Daughters of Charity Cemetery at the Marillac Provincial House in St. Louis, Missouri.[76]

Armand Delery Lancaster (born in 1894) was married in 1917 to Catherine Denechaud, with whom he had five children, Armand, Kathleen, Marie, Henry, and Elizabeth. Katherine was later a captain in the Army and died in 1964 and is buried in Port Hudson National Cemetery. Armand later married Florence Nuss. They had one daughter, Carolyn. Armand died April 11, 1968.

John Lancaster (born in 1895) died at birth.

---

[1] 1900 Census, taken in Ward 13, 2^nd Precinct of New Orleans, June 1900; his name is as told by Edith Lancaster Garcia

[2] Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977; the Black Forest borders France, Switzerland, and the Neckar River in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

[3] 1900 Census

[4] Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, Germany: History, the era of unification

[5] National Archives Series Number M259_48

[6] Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977

[7] 1900 Census (lists the number of years of their marriage as 32)

[8] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 49, page 627

[9] 1870 Census, taken in 2^nd Ward, City of New Orleans, June 13, 1870

[10] 1900 Census

[11] 1900 Census; Social Security Death Index

[12] 1900 Census lists under the column “Mother of how many children,” the number six next to Amanda’s name. “Number of these children living” is reported as three.

[13] New Orleans, Louisiana, Directories, 1890

[14] New Orleans, Louisiana, Directories, 1891

[15] Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977

[16] 1900 Census; letters of Amanda Doerr Lancaster and Joseph B. Lancaster, which began in December 1901 from Covington

[17] Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977

[18] ibid.

[19] ibid.

[20] 1910 Census, taken in Third Ward of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

[21] Alabama Deaths, 1908-59, Vol. 11, Certificate 499, Roll 1

[22] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 9, Page 1132; the 1900 Census has her birth date as January 1850, the 1920 Census has her birth year as 1847; the most reliable source of her birth date is the Birth Records Index – that information is recorded at the time of the event; Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977

[23] Interview of Bertha Doerr Aubert by Joseph Bradford Lancaster, March 13, 1977

[24] Census of 1920, taken in St. Tammany, Precinct 1, Covington, Louisiana, January 23, 1920; full names of children: Joseph Bradford Lancaster, Amanda Marie Lancaster, Charles Doerr Lancaster, Mary Catherine Lancaster, Edith Constance Lancaster

[25] Census of 1930, Covington Town, Ward Three, St. Tammany, enumerated April 15, 1930

[26] Condolence letter from Aunt “Sweety” to Amanda M. Lancaster, August 26, 1934

[27] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 49, Page 627

[28] New Orleans, Louisiana, Marriage Records Index, 1831-1925, Vol. 15, Page 979

[29] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 96, Page 1050

[30] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 102, Page 1088

[31] 1910 Census

[32] Alabama Deaths, 1908-59, Vol. 13, Certificate 6140, Roll 3

[33] Social Security Death Index

[34] 1910 Census, taken in Third Ward of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, April 18, 1910; Bertha gave her age, or it was taken down, as 30. She was 32.

[35] 1920 Census

[36] Social Security Death Index

[37] ibid.

[38] 1870 Census, taken in 2^nd Ward, City of New Orleans, June 13, 1870; Obituary of William B. Lancaster, December 28, 1897, The New Orleans Picayune

[39] Obituary of William B. Lancaster, December 28, 1897, The New Orleans Picayune

[40] ibid.

[41] ibid.

[42] ibid.

[43] A History of the Lancaster Family of Covington, Louisiana, prepared for the April 17, 1976 reunion, by Edith Lancaster Garcia and Joseph Bradford Lancaster; date of marriage is from note written by Catherine Lancaster (Aunt Kate) to Amanda Lancaster

[44] Obituary of William B. Lancaster, December 28, 1897, The New Orleans Picayune

[45] 1870 Census, listed as Catherine; 1880 Census, listed as Mary C.

[46] 1870 Census, listed as Anne; 1880 Census, listed as Anne B.

[47] 1870 Census; the month of her birth is given in the 1900 Census, taken in the Fifth Precinct, 10^th Ward of New Orleans on June 12, 1900

[48] United States National Archives, Civil War Compiled Military Service Records [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-.

[49] 1870 Census

[50] Obituary of William B. Lancaster, December 28, 1897, The New Orleans Picayune

[51] ibid.

[52] Family history records Ellen Wells as having English ancestry. But, the Census of 1900, under “Place of birth of mother of this person,” it is given as Missouri.

[53] 1870 Census

[54] ibid.

[55] 1880 Census

[56] New Orleans, Louisiana, Birth Records Index, 1790-1899, Vol. 67, Page 48

[57] ibid.

[58] 1880 Census; the month of his birth is given in the 1900 Census

[59] A History of the Lancaster Family of Covington, Louisiana, 1976; New Orleans, Louisiana, Death Records Index, 1804-1949, Vol. 75, Page 177

[60] Obituary of William B. Lancaster, December 28, 1897, The New Orleans Picayune

[61] 1880 Census

[62] ibid.

[63] 1900 Census, taken in the Fifth Precinct, 10^th Ward of New Orleans on June 12, 1900, gives the date of their first child’s birth.

[64] 1900 Census, taken in the Fifth Precinct, 10^th Ward of New Orleans on June 12, 1900

[65] 1900 Census; exact date given by Carole Prietto, Provincial Archivist, Daughters of Charity, West Central Province, St. Louis, Missouri, in an email to Christian Garcia, April 21, 2009.

[66] ibid. Note: 1900 Census lists Armantine as William Blair Lancaster, Jr.’s daughter. This must be a mistake as William Blair Lancaster, Jr. had three sons and the dates don’t match.

[67] 1900 Census. Note: Census lists Armand Delery as William Blair Lancaster, Jr.’s son.

[68] A History of the Lancaster Family of Covington, Louisiana, 1976

[69] New Orleans, Louisiana, Death Records Index, Vol. 108, Page 269

[70] Obituary of William B. Lancaster from The New Orleans Picayune dated by hand as December 28, 1897 in A History of the Lancaster Family of Covington, Louisiana, 1976; note, however, that the New Orleans, Louisiana, Death Records Index, Vol. 112, Page 811, gives his date of death as December 28, 1896.

[71] ibid.

[72] Most information from this section, unless otherwise noted, comes from A History of the Lancaster Family of Covington, Louisiana, prepared for the April 17, 1976 Lancaster family reunion by Edith Lancaster Garcia and Joseph Bradford Lancaster; dates sometimes differ from that publication because of information found in United States Census and other documents.

[73] New Orleans, Louisiana, Marriage Records Index, 1831-1925, Vol. 18, Page 87

[74] New Orleans, Louisiana, Death Records Index, 1804-1949, Vol. 190, Page 1343

[75] Carole Prietto, Provincial Archivist, Daughters of Charity, West Central Province, St. Louis, Missouri, in an email to Christian Garcia, April 21, 2009. She noted, “Marillac Provincial House has been sold and is now part of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but the Sisters still own and maintain the cemetery plot. It is open to the public.”

[76] ibid.