What Was Great-Aunt Lula’s Real Name?

Great-aunt Lula was the oldest of Joseph Smith Lanier and Nancy Jane Bennett’s ten children who lived to adulthood.¹1870 U.S. census, Chambers Co., AL, population schedule, Beat 1, p. 28, dwelling 186, family 186, J. S. Lanier; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163 : accessed 28 Sep 2008); from NARA microfilm M593, roll 6; Lula and her parents. Lillie Louise Collier Ward, granddaughter of her sister Sarah Belle, remembered Aunt Lula and said they called her Lula or Lou.²Lillie Louise Collier Ward, granddaughter of Sarah Belle Lanier, (Louisana), phone interview by Pam Tomes Rumer, Mar 2009; notes privately held by Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY, 2009. Records support that she usually went by Lula, but records also indicate that could have been a nickname.

The 1870 U.S. census lists Joseph and Nancy’s infant daughter as Lulie.³1870 U.S. census, Chambers Co., AL, pop. sch., Beat 1, p. 28, dwell. 186, fam. 186, J. S. Lanier. In the 1880 U.S. census, her name is Louisana.⁴1880 U.S. census, Randolph Co., AL, population schedule, Rock Mills, enumeration district (ED) 114, p. 11, dwelling 72, family 82, Joseph Lanier; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 21 Nov 2009); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 30. She is listed twice in the 1900 U.S. census, once with her parents (where she didn’t actually live) and once with her husband and children (where she lived). Her name is Lula and Lula A. in those records.⁵1900 U.S. census, Monroe Co., MS, population schedule, Muldon, enumeration district (ED) 75, sheet 7A, dwelling 134, family 136, Joseph Lanier; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 2 Feb 2009); from NARA microfilm T623, roll 821; Lula. 1900 U.S. census, Chambers Co., AL, population schedule, Lanette, enumeration district (ED) 9, sheet 1B, dwelling 10, family 13, James W. Marion; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 16 Aug 2019); from NARA microfilm T623; Lula A. Her name is Lula in the 1910 U.S. census, the record for her second marriage in 1911, the 1935 Florida state census, and Atlanta City Directories for 1886, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913.⁶1910 U.S. census, Fulton Co., GA, population schedule, Atlanta Ward #5, enumeration district (ED) 87, sheet 18A, dwelling 315, family 331, Lula Marion; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 192. “Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828-1978,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4766 : accessed 24 Jun 2019), William F. McDade and Lula Marion; from County Marriage Records, 1827-1978, Georgia Archives, Morrow. 1935 FL state census, Duval Co., FL, population census, Precinct 20B, Sheet #1, W. F. McDate; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1506 : accessed 24 Jun 2019); from microfilm series S 5, State Library and Archives of Florida, Tallahassee. Weatherbe’s Atlanta, GA City Directory 1886 (Atlanta, GA: Ch. F. Weatherbee), p. 251, entry for Miss Lula Lanier; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 11 Aug 2012) > Georgia > Atlanta > 1886 > Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1886 > image 135. Atlanta City Directory 1910 (Atlanta, GA: Atlanta City Directory Co.), p. 1139, entry for Mrs. Lula Marion; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 14 Apr 2020) > Georgia > Atlanta > 1910 > Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1910 > image 591. Atlanta City Directory 1911 (Atlanta, GA: Atlanta City Directory Co.), p. 1132, entry for Mrs. Lula Marion; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 14 Apr 2020) > Georgia > Atlanta > 1911 > Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1911 > image 616. Atlanta City Directory 1912 (Atlanta, GA: Atlanta City Directory Co.), p. 1092, entry for Lula Marion, widow James W.; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 18 Sep 2019) > Georgia > Atlanta > 1912 > Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1912 > image 577. Atlanta City Directory 1913 (Atlanta, GA: Atlanta City Directory Co.), p. 1179, entry for William F. McDade & Lula.; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 18 Sep 2019) > Georgia > Atlanta > 1913 > Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1913 > image 548. I have not found her in the 1920 or 1930 U.S. censuses. In the 1940 U.S. census, she is again listed as Louisana.⁷1940 U.S. census, Duval Co., FL, population schedule, 20B Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 16-3, sheet 4A, visited # 62, William F. McDade; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442 : accessed 25 Jun 2019); from NARA microfilm 627, roll 584.

Her name is Lula on both her death certificate and headstone.⁸FL Dept. of Health, death certificate no. 8340 (1947), Lula Marion McDade; Bureau of Vital Statistics, Jacksonville. Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com : viewed 23 Jun 2019), memorial 99814456, for Lula Marion McDade, (Evergreen Cemetery, Jacksonville, FL), digital image, 3 Mar 2015, by Johnny. Her daughter Ella’s Social Security Number application has her mother’s name as Lula A.⁹“U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901 : accessed 23 Jun 2019), Ella P. Robertson, SSN 422922753; from Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936–2007.

Death certificates for daughters Beaula, Ella, and Lula Pearl all have their mother’s name as Louise. Ella’s includes the middle name Anna. Lula Pearl’s daughter Gladys Shepherd Gannaway was the informant for all three death certificates, so she believed Lula’s given name was Louise Anna.¹⁰AL Dept. of Public Health, death certificate no. 6754, (1974), Beaula M. Terpinitz; death certificate no. 92-007449, (1992), Ella P. Robertson; death certificate no. 87-10398, (1987), Lula P. Shepherd; AL Vital Records, Montgomery. Son Joseph J.’s death certificate has Lula as his mother and son John Curtis’s death certificate inexplicably says she was Mary Lanier.¹¹FL Dept. of Health, death certificate no. 204790 (1954),Joseph J. Marion; Bureau of Vital Statistics, Jacksonville. “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2272 : accessed 13 Jul 2019), death certificate no. 00454 (1974), John Curtis Marion; from Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982, Dept. of State Health Servicess, Austin. A death certificate hasn’t been located for her son James W.

Two of Lula’s siblings gave daughters Louise as a middle name, as did her daughter Lula Pearl.¹²“Kathryn Louise (McCauley) Tomes,” Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY), 5 May 2011, p. B2, col. 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 6 Jun 2019); daughter of John William McCauley aka Thomas Jefferson Lanier. Kathy Mehl, granddaughter of Dorothy Louise Dial, (Florida), phone conversations & e-mails to Pam Tomes Rumer & Linda McCauley,Mar 2009; notes privately held by Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY, 2009. Lula’s granddaughter Gladys, who provided the name Louise on her mother’s and two of her aunts’ death certificates, was Gladys Louise.¹³“Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61365 : accessed 12 Oct 2019), Isaac Walker Gannaway & Gladys Louise Shepherd; from Alabama Marriages, County Courthouses.

So. Lula’s real name was Louise Anna. Conflicting opinions or information welcome.