Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Malinda Hoosier

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Descendants of Malinda Hoosier

Generation No. 1

1. MALINDA² HOOSIER (GEORGE¹) was born June 25, 1829 in NC Surry Co, and died May 14, 1936 in Jackson, MI. She met (1) DR. JOSEPH M. HOLLINGSWORTH, son of JAMES HOLLINGSWORTH and ELIZABETH GOLDING. He was born February 27, 1820 in Mt. Airy, NC, and died 1887 in Mt. Airy, NC. She married (2) RUBEN DAVIS. He was born 1825, and died Abt. 1912 in NC Surry Co. She married (3) LEE BANNER. He was born 1824 in North Carolina. She married (4) WILL HATCHETT.

Notes for MALINDA HOOSIER:
Malinda was born a slave on June 25, 1829 to George Hoosier and an unknown African woman in Mt. Airy, NC. During her lifetime, Malinda Davis was a slave on a North Carolina plantation where her mother was a bondwoman before her; the wife of a slave; the mother of eight children; then a free woman. She lived the first 80 years of her life in North Carolina, living with her daught Minerva, until her death in 1912. Malinda then moved to Pocohantas, VA to live with her son Alfred. She moved to Jackson, MI in 1917. The secret of Malinda's longevity was her quiet, unruffled spirit which was accepted with cheerfulness, whatever good or ill that life thrust upon her. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

It cannot be proven that Malinda was married to Joseph M. Hollingsworth. In fact, we are unsure if he fathered any of her children. We do know that Malinda's other two mates during her 100+ years were Lee Banner and Reuben Davis. She had no children by Lee Banner. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

The family indicates that 'Granny' had eight children. [However, we believe that she had a total of 13 children as stated by Malinda, and as established through census records.] We have a picture of two of them (Alfred & Minerva). Henry & Joseph are twins. The Hollingsworth family had a number of twins according to NC historian (Ruth Minix). We think most of Granny's children died young. Poor medical care. Census records notes that the last name of the children was Hollingsworth, not only establishing them as slaves/servants, but related by blood to the Hollingsworth family. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

Malinda's earliest recollection was the "falling of the stars" in 1833 known as the Meteor Shower of 1833. She told family and friends of her marriages to Lee Banner by jumping over a broomstick, and to Rueben Davis, a part Indian. [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper, July 7, 1929 article]

Several of Malinda's children remained in Mt. Airy and others moved to Virginia. In January 1893, Joseph M. Hollingsworth deeded property to Miverva Leak and her heirs on Rockford Street in Mt. Airy, NC. William Leake lived in this home during his life. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

Her slavemaster was James Hollingsworth. Her mistress was Elizabeth Hollingsworth (who she called 'Betsey'). Malinda gives a graphic account of her "massa" (James Hollingsworth). He was described as being easy-going and high-living slaveholder, while his wife was a shrew and a thorn in the side alike to her husband and her servants. [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper, July 7, 1929 article]

"It was a usual thing," Mrs. Davis relates, "for me to be called from my cabin at all hours of the night to go to the spring water, and to tote hams and meats from the smokehouse and jugs of liquor from the stillhouse. The Hollingsworths were always having company and there was gambling and dancing and drinking nearly every night. Mrs. Hollingsworth was always finding fault, not only with the slaves, but with her husband. 'Massa' Hollingsworth would take this constant complaining more in good nature, but at times he would get awfully mad and ill-tempered. One day he didn't seem to be feeling well and the 'Missus' started scolding at him. 'Massa' lost his temper, got red in the face, and threw himself on a bed and just choked to death. They say 'Massa's' had a stroke, but I reckon the 'Missus' was the death of him." [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper, July 7, 1929 article]

Malinda Davis spent all of her early life on a North Carolina plantation as a slave until Gen. Grant, in person, appeared at the plantation with some men and informed her that she was free. She remembered the day when Gen. Grant rode up to her cabin where she was talking to "the children". "Would you like to be free?", Mrs. Davis said he called to her. "Yes sir, I would," the former slave said she answered him. "Well, you have no more mistress nor no more master," he told her, "You are just as free as they are." [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper, July 7, 1929 article]

Another story was told about Malinda and the radio. Evidently Granny was unable to grasp the idea of radio. She would admonish her granddaughter, "Anna, feed those folks" . Granny left pieces of bread, apples, biscuits, and a glass of water behind the radio for the people inside. At other times, she would feed her hungry great-grandchildren pieces of bread and biscuit from her tobacco tin. Of course, everything in it had tobacco stains on it and tasted of tobacco. Granny had a corn cob pipe she enjoyed smoking. She would blow smoke into the ears of her great-grandchildren whenever they had an earache. [SOURCE: Margueritte Jackson, Juanita Allen]

Aunt Margarette tells me that the Malinda smoked "Union Leader" tobacco in her pipe. Uncle Rev. James Jones also told me that as a young man, Granny would always tell him, "don't be want you isn't, just be what you is, 'cause if you is what you isn't, you isn't what you is." Uncle Jim told this to me when I was 10-12 years old and, for some reason, I've always remembered it. [SOURCE: Charles Hicks]

"Until two years ago when she feel and dislocated her hip, she was able to walk without assistance almost anywhere she desired to go. Later, she had another tumble and the hip joint apparently slipped back into place, for afterward she was able to stand, but not to walk without assistance. Her sight today [at age 106] is keen...and her hearing is little impaired. However, her working days are over and her chief enjoyment is to sit by her window and smoke the pipe that has been her solace since childhood days." [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper, January 8, 1936 article. Picture goes along with this article showing Malinda Davis accepting a $15 'old age pension check' from local and state officials in Michigan.]

Malinda slept on a feather tick mattress and her "grands" loved sleeping with her under the many quilts on her bed. On May 30, 1930, she received her first Social Security check for $15 and got her picture in the newspaper. She also received a new mattress from Jury Rowe Furniture Company, on her 100th birthday, after winning the oldest citizen in Jackson County award [Source: Jackson Citizen Patroit, Ma, 1936]

She was thankful for the new mattress, but she placed it under her feather tick mattess [Source: Juanita
Allen]

The Hollingsworth family made Malinda's burial dress for her. She wore it occasionally and usually to church, at the Second Baptist Church in Jackson. The dress was more than 50 years old and in mint condition at the time of her death. [SOURCE: Margueritte Jackson]

She died in bed, at her grandaughter Anna's home, just one and a half months before her 107th birthday, on May 14,. 1936. [SOURCE: Jackson Citizen Patroit, May 14, 1936]

I am a researcher of the Davis and Fulton families of Stokes and Surry County and came across your website while searching for information on the Hollingsworth family that married into my family. I have quite a bit of material on these families and was looking for other Hollingworth descendants that might be able to share letters, photographs, and family stories. I have seen the story of Malinda Hoosier in at least one published work and was very glad to see your excellent site on this family. I have been eager to extend my research of my own slave owning families into the families of the people they enslaved and certainly into those people who were blood relatives of the family too. It is still a sensitive subject in our history, but I think and important fact that binds us together. I must say that I am glad to see that your family has made the effort to preserve the story of Malinda, since these histories are so rare and hard to find, yet tell us so much about life in the South. I am writing mainly, because I was curious to hear your story on tracing your family. I have been helping friends with enslaved ancestors and descendants of enslaved people over the past two years and have learned so much. I would be very interested to find out if any of Malinda's story was told by White Hollingsworth people and if so by who. I am really interested in any success stories, since this type of research is really difficult. Oral family history has been proven time and again to be very reliable and helpful, so I am assuming that your family has some very strong oral history passed down on Malinda and her people. I would be interested in knowing what oral history was passed down the Hollingsworth family, the character and the sense of the people. Dr. William R. Hollingsworth; Nannie Hollingworth; and Mary Hollingsworth all intermarried with my family and were well remembered people. I would also be interested in finding out if there is a group of Stokes/Surry researchers that are working on enslaved ancestry that might be a resource for me as I continue to collect information on people enslaved by my family. I am at a disadvantage, since many of the family stories concerning slaves tend to be "romantic" and it is hard to get a picture of how these people lived together and what it was like to live in the household. Clearly some of these enslaved people were greatly loved and this attention reflected in family letters may indicate kinship to these particular people. I hope that might work can also help others, but as is the normal mode of operation in genealogy - everything is a race for time. People are dying and taking their stories and family history with them and I do want to feel that I have made the effort to do the work now. Sorry for "talking" your ear off, but I was very excited to find another reference to Malinda and see that people are preserving history. I noted your comment on her odd last name of "Hoosier" and thought I would pass on a reference book that was recently shared with me. HErbert G. Gutman wrote a book called "The Black Family in Salvery and Freedom". It is a scholarly text by a social historian, but has two very interesting chapters on the topic of naming. The one that might help you is Chapt. 6 "Somebody Knew My Name", which addresses the use of surnames among enslaved people. It was interesting to find that most enslaved people had a surname which though not often revealed was a link to their heritage and past. It turns out that it was not the normal case that slaves "took" their former owner's name after emancipation, but that the surname often hearkens back to their earliest ancestor's owner or perhaps the name of a White ancestor. Anyway, it may be worth reading if you are trying to sort out this issue. Hoosier is an unusual name and one that is quite rare, so I would suspect that it holds a clue that might be able to trace Malinda's ancestors. [SOURCE: Daniel Mahar * mahard@jps.net]

NOTE: a 3-page summary of Malinda's life was prepared many years ago by Aunt Liz and Aunt Marguerite. I can send a copy of it to anyone. Just call or e-mail me with your request. -=[Wayne]=-

Notes for DR. JOSEPH M. HOLLINGSWORTH:
Many of the children of Malinda Hoosier Banner Davis were fathered by a Hollingsworth. Joseph M. Hollingsworth deeded a house on Main Street in Mt. Airy, NC to Minerva Jane Hollingsworth on January 9, 1893. [NOTE: A copy of this deed is in Wayne's files. It was given to him by Joanie Jackson & her mother, Margueritte Jackson]. It is believed that Joseph was Minerva's father. [SOURCE: Margueritte Jackson]

He was the oldest son of James Hollingsworth. Joseph started his medical practice in 1845. Joseph Hollingsworth was a white man. Recently contact was made with a 109-year old descendent of the Hollingsworth family. She heard that a member of our family (Aunt Liz) was doing this research. This 109-year old woman denied the whole thing. This is a sensitive issue for many. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

More About DR. JOSEPH M. HOLLINGSWORTH:
Occupation: Doctor

Notes for RUBEN DAVIS:
According to stories told by Malinda, he was a part Indian. Ruben Davis died in North Carolina several years before Malinda Davis moved to Jackson, MI in 1917. [SOURCE: Liz Jones]

Notes for LEE BANNER:
There was a white man named Henry BANNER who came from NC Surry Co. I wonder if he had something to do with our Lee Banner?? 1870 NC Surry Co Census [p.338] shows Lee Banner, Age 45, mulatto. I need to get ahold of this information. National Archives Series #M593, Microfilm #1161. There are a number of other Banners in NC Surry Co. They might be brothers, sisters, cousins. This is an area for future research.

More About LEE BANNER:
Occupation: Doctor

Children of MALINDA HOOSIER and JOSEPH HOLLINGSWORTH are:

	i.		LUM³ HOLLINGSWORTH, b. Surry County, NC.
	ii.		ROBERT HOLLINGSWORTH, b. Surry County, NC.
	iii.		SAMUEL HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1847, NC Surry Co; d. 1850, NC Surry Co.

Notes for SAMUEL HOLLINGSWORTH:
Liz Jones (family genealogist) found his death record. He died at age of three. Later, Anna named her son Samuel Silvanus.....we figure that his first name was in honor of this child.

iv.

ALFRED HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1848, NC Surry Co.

Notes for ALFRED HOLLINGSWORTH:
Alfred is listed as a 21 year old Blackman in the 1870 NC Surry County census.

More About ALFRED HOLLINGSWORTH:
Occupation: Laborer

HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1851, NC Surry Co.

Notes for HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH:
Henry is listed as a 19-year old Blackman in the 1870 NC Surry County census.

More About HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH:
Occupation: Laborer

vi.

JOSEPH HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1851, Surry County, NC.

Notes for JOSEPH HOLLINGSWORTH:
Joseph is listed as a 19-year old Blackman in the 1870 NC Surry County census.

More About JOSEPH HOLLINGSWORTH:
Occupation: Laborer

vii.

PHILLIS BANNER, b. 1861, Mt. Airy, NC.

Notes for PHILLIS BANNER:
Phillis Banner is showed as a 9 year-old mulatto daugther of Malinda Banner in the 1870 Census from NC Surry County.

viii.

FRANCIS HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1863, Surry County, NC.

Notes for FRANCIS HOLLINGSWORTH:
Francis is listed as a 7-year old Black female in the 1870 NC Surry County census.

ix.

JULY BANNER, b. 1865, Mt. Airy, NC.

Notes for JULY BANNER:
July is shown as a 5-year old mulatto son of Malinda Banner in the 1870 NC Surry County census.

MINERVA JANE HOLLINGSWORTH, b. February 1867, Mt. Airy, NC; d. January 26, 1912, Mt. Airy, NC.

Children of MALINDA HOOSIER and LEE BANNER are:

xi.

WILLIAM³, b. June 12, 1870, Mt. Airy, NC.

Notes for WILLIAM:
1870 NC Census shows William Hollingsworth is six months old. In another source document he is listed as being born in 1872. He is listed in the census as 'M' for Mulatto, however, in this census his last name is shown as being Banner.

xii.

MARIA HOLLINGSWORTH, b. 1865.

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