Miller County POC Families

Mary E. Birthright
WINDOW TO THE PAST
by Peggy Smith Hake
Permission to use granted 2/06/5 by Devere, the website owner.
Material used for educational and research purposes only on this website.
Copyrighted to Peggy Hake

Mary E. Birthright died in Miller County in 1899.

I found her estate records in old Miller County probate files. Mary was a black woman who was born about 1866 in Arkansas (per the 1880 census). She was the oldest of nine children born to Christopher and Julia Birthright, natives of Tennessee.

I believe her mother’s maiden name was Landers and she may have been a sister to Jacob Landers, who lived in the Iberia area at the turn of the 20th century. These families were probably former slaves since they were born before the Civil War.

The children of Christopher and Julia were:
Mary E. Birthright 1866-1899 who did not marry;
Frank Willis Birthright b. c/1868 MO; John C. Birthright b. c/1869 MO;
Mahala Frances Birthright b. c/1870 MO;
Samuel P. Birthright b. c/1873 MO;
Thomas B. Birthright b. c/1875 MO;
James Albert Birthright b. c/1877 m. Georgia A. Lollis in 1900;
Jacob Rufus Birthright b. c/1879; and Charles Birthright b. after 1880.

In the 1880 census, they were living southwest of Iberia near the families of Lawless/Lollis, Whittle, Spearman, Thompson, Condra, Allen, and Wood. The Birthright family moved to Miller County (probably from Arkansas) about 1870.

Evidently Julia Birthright died before 1896, because Christopher married a lady named Maria Christian in 1896, their marriage performed by Squire John Ferguson, Justice of the Peace.

In the probate records for Mary E. Birthright, the administrator of her estate was Jacob Landers of Iberia (her uncle). He signed the “Application for Letters of Administration” on 6 Feb 1899. On the application Jacob listed the known heirs of Mary E. Birthright who were:

John Birthright (brother) of Laclede Co., MO;
Albert (James) Birthright (brother) of Miller Co., MO;
Rufus Birthright (brother) of the city of St. Louis;
Charley Birthright (brother) of Howell Co., MO;
Frances Birthright (sister) of West Plains, Howell Co., MO.

The only member of the Birthright family still living in Miller County in 1900 was James Albert. He had married Georgia A. Lollis in early 1900 and they were living in the home of his uncle, Jacob Landers, near Iberia. Also in the Landers home was Hester M. Williams and her daughter, Violet. Jacob and Hester married in September 1900 and he helped to rear her child, Violet.

I do not know if Mary E. Birthright was buried in the Iberia area, but suspect that she was. In the probate records I found “paid” bills for a coffin, gloves, clothing, etc. She may be buried at Iberia Cemetery or possibly in Rankin Wright/Spearman Cemetery which was not too far from where the Birthright and Landers families lived. There is no record of her burial in inventoried cemetery records.................