By Staff
The story of Susannah Jackson Taylor Alford Williams continues this week.
One of Susannah's daughters, by her first marriage to Simon Alford, was Elsie Alford. She married Bufus Hill and they had a daughter, Dorothy B. Hill, who was born March 17, 1926, in Brewton. About two years later, Elsie left Brewton and went to Seattle, Washington, to find better employment. She worked for a family with the name DeBeers as a live-in housekeeper and nanny. Apparently Dorothy was left in Brewton, either with her father or in the care of her grandmother.
Elsie Alford Hill did not visit much in Alabama. She did return in 1959 when her mother, Susannah, died. Blakely Barton related that he was just over a year old at the time. By this time Elsie had married again to a Patterson and had another daughter, Rebecca, who lives in Seattle.
The second visit of Elsie to Alabama was at the death of Dorothy's oldest daughter, Martha Anne Barton, in 1946. At the time Dorothy's husband, Edd Laffon Barton, was in Germany but he came home. Dorothy was in bed with a three-day-old infant at the time. That baby was Phillip Conway Barton. The other children of Edd Laffon Barton and Dorothy are Edd Laffon Barton II, Phillip Conway Barton, Fred Patterson Barton, Tony Barton, Jack Weatherspoon Barton, Everett Strandell Barton, Cary Barton-twin, Gary Barton-twin, M. Alexander Barton, Blakely Conn Barton and Susan Barton.
Blakely Barton said that he understands his great-grandmother, Susannah, was a very hard worker and took care of her mother, Elsie Jackson Taylor, until her death in 1935. His older brother, Eddie, said she was a wonderful person to the children as they were growing up. She taught them the importance of working hard and being honest. She also taught them the value of a relationship with God.
This material was furnished by Blakely Barton.
If you have some information about your family that you would like for me to use, send it to me at P.O. Box 887 or email me at lydia.grimes@brewtonstandard.com
Now, another thought. I was looking in an old Brewton Standard volume from 1980 and ran across an interesting article. The June 5, 1990, edition featured a story about a young man by the name of Greg Mantel who had just graduated from W.S. Neal High School. He had gotten interested in genealogy and was doing research on his family. This is very unusual in that genealogy is most often done by those who are older.
The story was told of how John Mantel and his wife, Sophia Bower, came to Escambia County from Bavaria many years ago. They traveled by night through the Black Forest and boarded a ship bound for America. The ship landed at Mobile and Pensacola and the Mantels soon found themselves in Escambia County living among other German born immigrants. They settled in the area that became known as Little Germany with the Schads, Bowers, Harolds and Zepernicks. They were farmers, woodworkers and blacksmiths. They prospered and one story is told of how Mr. Mantel brought an old bucket into Robbins and McGowins one day and asked to speak to Mr. Robbins. Mr. Robbins was not there so the bucket was left. It was only much later in the day when the bucket was checked and imagine the surprise of the clerk to find the amount of $300 in the bottom of the bucket. It was quite an amount in that day and it was to pay a debt owed to store.
Greg Mantel is the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Mantel. George was the son of John Mantel and Jessie Cook. John was the son of William Mantel and Mary Schad, and William was the son of the original immigrant, John Mantel.