JOSEPH AARON ENDICOTT Jr.  (1855-1916)

Joseph Endicott Jr. was one of eight surviving children born to Joseph Endicott Sr. (c.1828 – 1902) and Mahala Mosby Endicott (c1833 – 1918), of Liberty, Clay County, Missouri.  His siblings were Eliza, Alice, James, Mary Ellen, Eben, Frank and Minirva.  Joseph and his older siblings were slaves in name only.  Their uncle owned them and treated them as family.  The uncle was concluded to be Albert Endicott.  He was the white half brother of their mulatto father, Joseph Endicott Sr.

Joseph Jr’s education began in 1863 after the family crossed the Missouri River and moved to Quindaro in Wyandotte County, KS.  The Endicott youngsters received private tutoring from the schoolteachers.

Joseph Jr. furthered his education at the normal school in Leavenworth, Kansas and became a high school teacher in St Joseph, MO.  He became the principal at Lincoln School in St Joseph, MO.  He became infatuated with one of the students, Mary Lincoln Lawrie.  They were married in April, 1884.  Their children were Zelma, Arthur, and Ruth.

Joseph Jr. was an active civil rights worker and gave many biting speeches; one specifically on the deplorable conditions of the Negro school in St Joseph, MO.  He was said to have a resonant bass voice, and he was a strict disciplinarian.

Joseph Jr. was very active in the A.M.E. church and was superintendent of the Sunday school in St Joseph, MO.  He was also a census taker for St Joseph, MO in 1900. 

In 1916, Joseph Jr. developed cancer of the stomach.  In September 1916 he died.

Sources:

1870, 1900 U S Census for St Joseph, MO

Estate settlement of Joseph Endicott (1902)

Will of Joseph Endicott Jr. (1916)

Oral History from daughter and aunt of Joseph Endicott Jr.