Susannah L.E. Landtroop: born 5-27-1837

Susannah was the 5th child of the Virginian, Stith Landtroop, who moved to the Madison/Limestone County areas of Alabama around or before 1826. Susannah married Cassandra Urban, the son of a Prussian immigrant in 1856.

Susanna Urban is Mary Catherine Literal’s mother. Nancy, Susan, Susan, Agee, Margaret, and Daniel are all Mary Catherine’s siblings

Susannah & Cassandra are both buried in Hill Cemetery, Lauderdale County, Alabama.
.........4 Susannah L.E. Landtroop b: May 27, 1837 in Alabama, USA
          + Cassandra Urban b: Jul 04, 1831 in Alabama, USA,
                   m: 1856 in Madison, Alabama, USA
............5 Mary Catherine Urban b: Abt. 1857 ; Alabama or Tennessee ??
             + Timmons Seburn Literal
                      b: May 27, 1856 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA; from death certificate,
                      m: Jul 25, 1877 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA   
                                                     We descend from Timmons and Mary Catherine.
............5 John H. Urban b: Abt. 1860 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 James C. Urban b: Feb 20, 1860 in Tennessee, USA
             + Mary E. Newton b: May 16, 1856 in Tennessee, USA,
                       m: Sep 18, 1881 in Lawrence,Tennessee, USA
............5 Martha C. Urban b: Abt. 1864
             + John Harrison Smith m: Aug 03, 1881 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 George T. Urban b: Abt. 1866
............5 William C. Urban b: Abt. 1868 in Tennessee, USA
             + Emily Garrett b: Abt. 1867 in Tennessee, USA, m: Abt. 1888
............5 U.S.G. Urban b: Oct 1869
............5 Susan Malissa Urban b: Nov 26, 1871
             + Samuel Stutts b: Jul 15, 1871
............5 Daniel J. Urban b: Abt. 1874
             + Lola Sirvirginia Philips
............5 Thomas Marion Urban b: Oct 26, 1876
             + Mary Ann Robertson b: Nov 26, 1887
............5 Nancy L. Urban b: Dec 13, 1878
             + Claude P. Richardson b: Jan 11, 1881, m: Bef. 1898
............5 Margaret Urban b: Mar 01, 1881
             + Noah F. Robertson b: Sep 24, 1879
............5 Albert Agee Urban b: Oct 26, 1884
             + Emma b: Jul 04, 1886

reposted from 2016              103 / 140 / 145

Cassandra Urban: married Susannah L.E. Landtroop

reposted from 2018

(Cassandra was the father of Mary Catherine Urban, wife of Timmons Literal.)

Cassandra Urban was born July 04, 1831, in Alabama, and died July 21, 1912. He married Susannah L.E. Landtroop (#114), Abt. 1855, daughter of Stith Landtroop and Mary. She was born May 27, 1837, in Alabama ??, and died November 29, 1908. (1)
Family oral history and the inconsistent spelling of Cassandra and his father's name have caused confusion when identifying them. It is most probable that the elder Cassander, husband of Catherine Wise, was born in Prussia and migrated to Lauderdale County, Alabama sometime before 1830, and had at least one son (Cassandra) that spoke some German.
Children of Cassandra Urban and Susannah Landtroop are:


1. Mary Catherine Urban. (wife of Timmons Literal, mother of James C., John D., Presley Eli Sr, Suzie L., Lesley, & Mary M., Littrell)
   
2. James C. Urban, born February 20, 1860, in TN.; died August 23, 1945.
   
3. Martha C. Urban, born Abt. 1864. She married John Harrison Smith on August 03, 1881, in Lawrence Co., TN.(5)
   
4. George T. Urban, born Abt. 1866.
   
5. William C. Urban, born Abt. 1868 in TN.
   
6. U.S.G. Urban, born October 1869.
   
7. Susan Malissa Urban, born November 26, 1871; died December 23, 1925. She married Samuel Stutts; born July 15, 1871; died May 25, 1938.
   
8. Daniel J. Urban, born Abt. 1874.
   
9. Thomas Marion Urban, born October 26, 1876; died May 04, 1963.
   
10. Nancy L. Urban, born December 13, 1878; died February 09, 1957. She married Claude P. Richardson Abt. 1900; born January 11, 1881; died December 20, 1957.
    
11. Margaret Urban, born March 01, 1881; died March 25, 1969. She married Noah F. Robertson; born September 24, 1879; died September 25, 1937.
    
12. Albert Agee Urban, born October 26, 1884; died February 15, 1951. He married Emma [?]; born July

124 / 169 / 219 / 271 / 277

Susannah L.E. (Landtroop) Urban: died 11-29-1908

Susannah was the 5th child of the Virginian, Stith Landtroop, who moved to the Madison/Limestone County areas of Alabama around or before 1826. Susannah married Cassandra Urban, the son of a Prussian immigrant in 1856.
Susannah & Cassandra moved across the state line to Lawrence County, Tennessee before the outbreak of the Civil War. Coming from the ‘Nickajack’ region, and not being sympathetic to the southern cause, Cassandra enlisted late in the war with the 1st Alabama Cavalry, Union Army.
By 1870 the family’s appears to obtain some prosperity as they obtain at least 180 acres of land along Bluewater Creek. Several of their children own some of this land in the 1900s, enough to donate some land for a Church and Cemetery for the Fairview Church and Cemetery.
Prior to her (and Cassandra’s) death they are found back in Alabama, in the Green Hill and Lexington area living with their children.

Susannah & Cassandra are both buried in Hill Cemetery, Lauderdale County, Alabama.

.........4 Susannah L.E. Landtroop b: May 27, 1837 in Alabama, USA
          + Cassandra Urban b: Jul 04, 1831 in Alabama, USA,
                   m: 1856 in Madison, Alabama, USA
............5 Mary Catherine Urban b: Abt. 1857 ; Alabama or Tennessee ??
             + Timmons Seburn Literal b: May 27, 1856 in Lawrence, Tennessee,
                 USA; from death certificate, m: Jul 25, 1877 in Lawrence,
                 Tennessee, USA   
                                      We descend from Timmons and Mary Catherine.
............5 John H. Urban b: Abt. 1860 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 James C. Urban b: Feb 20, 1860 in Tennessee, USA
             + Mary E. Newton b: May 16, 1856 in Tennessee, USA,
                       m: Sep 18, 1881 in Lawrence,Tennessee, USA
............5 Martha C. Urban b: Abt. 1864
             + John Harrison Smith m: Aug 03, 1881 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 George T. Urban b: Abt. 1866
............5 William C. Urban b: Abt. 1868 in Tennessee, USA
             + Emily Garrett b: Abt. 1867 in Tennessee, USA, m: Abt. 1888
............5 U.S.G. Urban b: Oct 1869
............5 Susan Malissa Urban b: Nov 26, 1871
             + Samuel Stutts b: Jul 15, 1871
............5 Daniel J. Urban b: Abt. 1874
             + Lola Sirvirginia Philips
............5 Thomas Marion Urban b: Oct 26, 1876
             + Mary Ann Robertson b: Nov 26, 1887
............5 Nancy L. Urban b: Dec 13, 1878
             + Claude P. Richardson b: Jan 11, 1881, m: Bef. 1898
............5 Margaret Urban b: Mar 01, 1881
             + Noah F. Robertson b: Sep 24, 1879
............5 Albert Agee Urban b: Oct 26, 1884
             + Emma b: Jul 04, 1886

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reposted from 2016:    44/76/121

Landtroop Family: Current Research Completed

We have traced our ancestry to the immigrant John Lantthorpe, who immigrated to America as an indentured servant in 1679. We have processed information into our files for 1107 descendants of John, including spouses, of which almost 400 of them are also descendants of John Daniel & Kizzie Comer Littrell. John Daniel Littrell  is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of John Lantthorpe.

The first known immigrant to America was this John Lantthorpe, born in about 1647 and died about 1718.

On May 30^th, 1679 John was 'transported' along with eight (8) other indentured servants by Benjamin Hatcher and John Milner to their plantation on the James River in Henrico County, Virginia.

It would seem that Benjamin Hatcher and John Milner sold John Lantthorp's service to William Hatcher, son of Benjamin, as shown in a deposition made in court in 1680, Thomas Burton, Jr., age 16 testified he saw:

"Jno. Lantroppe strike a piece out of the head of Mr. Robert Woodson's canoe with an axe, and that ye deponent hear Mr. William Hatcher order ye said Lanthroppe and his other servants to split all ye canoes they found in the swamp."

The destruction of the canoes was evidently taken to discourage or stop poachers of fish or game on Hatcher's property.

It is not known when John Lantthrope fulfilled his period of indenture, but it appears to have been before 1714 which is when we find his first 'known' transactions as a free man (barring transgression, extensions of the original contract, or new contracts it is most probable that John gained his freedom long before this time):

• 1714 On 19 November a survey of 125 acres, South side of Second Swamp was made for John Lowthrop by Robert Boiling, Surveyor. This property was willed to his son John.

• 1714 John (1) is on the tax list for this year.

Most references point to the family being invested in the Second Swamp area. From several documents we know that John and his descendants settled in the Second Swamp area of Henrico County, Virginia. Henrico County would be sub-divided over the years into Prince George and Henrico, then Prince George into Prince George and Dinwiddie Counties. Dinwiddie County is where his descendants are found in 1812… still in the Second Swamp area.

From John's Will we know his children and wife's name was Margaret (maiden name unknown).

John died between 9 Jan. 1718 and 10 Mar. 1718. John, the immigrant, would have been 31 or 32 years of age when he arrived in this country in 1679, and 70 to 71 years of age at his death.

We do not know when John married or to whom, except her first name was Margaret.

1718 -John Lannthrope's Last Will and Testament (punctuation, spelling and grammar are kept as much as possible in their original form, but for clarity some spacing has been added) 

In the Name Of God Amen I John Lanthrop of Prince George County Do make and Design this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say First I bequeath by soul unto the hands of Almighty God believing remission of Sinns and everlasting Life by the merritts death and passion of Jesus Christ Lord and only Saviour.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Joseph Lanthrop all my Land on the North Side of Second Swamp to him and his heirs for ever, and to my son John all my land, the sough side of second swamp to him and his heirs forever -

Item. I do so desire that my Daughters shall have the privelege of tending ground on the plantation where on I now Live, keeping all things in repair, as Long as they keep themselves single

Item. the Bed where on I Lye I give to my Loving wife Margaret, and all the furniture belonging to it, but no more of beding, and but her third of the Land if she marries.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth one cow and calfe, and to my Daughter Mary and my Daughter Ann one cow and Calfe, and one sow and four piggs between them both,

Item. I give to my son Joseph one red Heifer with a white face and one — boor belonging to the black sow.

Item. I give the first fold that my Mair brings to my son John , and the old horse and mair I give for the use of the plantation amongst them all, as long as they Live all together, but my son John shall be free at Seventeen if his mother marries again, but if she remains my Widow she shall serve till he is one and twenty.

Item. I give and bequeath all the rest of my Beds and Bedding betwist my six children namely Mary and Ann and Francis and John and Margaret and Isabell them six children and to my wife to them do I give all moveables when the debts are paid, and my son John if he be unruly, I give unto my son Joseph all powere to give him correction. And I do desire that in Dividing the movables that they choose to or three men to Divide it amongst themselves, this my Last Will and Testament whereunto I set my hand and seal this 9th day of January 1718.

Moses Beck
Andrew (his mark) A B Beck
Henry (his mark) H L Ledbetter
(Seald w" red wax)

At a court held at Merchants Hope for the County of Prince George on the second Tuesday in March being the tenth day of the said month Anno Dom 1718

On 10 Dec. 1718 the Will and Testement of John Lanthrop Dec'd was presented in court by Margaret the relict and Joseph the son of the said Dec'd and there being no executors appointed therein the said - Margaret and Joseph made oath thereto, and it being proved by the oaths of Moses Beck, Andrew Beck and Henry Ledbetter witnesses thereto to be the Last Will of the said John Lanthrop Dec'd is by order of the court truly recorded and certificate is granted the said Margaret and Joseph Lanthrop for obtaining letters of Administration with the said will and next in due -?-

Test Wm Hamlin Cl Cur

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We have currently completed research on our Ancestral Family Line for the Landtroop Family. The maternal ancestors of our John Daniel Littrell. While we will return to all families eventually we beleive that we have collected as much as we currently can on this family, in fact we find ourselves with an amount of new material that has placed us in a position that we cannot process all of the new information without delay all other work. This is part of an ongoing cycle: research, processing, organizing, integration of new information, presenting and then publishing information; the ultimate goal being publication, we must sometimes cut off or delay some processes to get to publication. It much like doing a lot of laundry: wash, rinse, repeat… dry, fold, and putaway, sometimes you have to do it in segments inorder to complete it all.   GlennDL

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Landtroop-Luttrell Page / Landtroop Family Page

What's the difference? John Daniel Littrell’s grandmother was a Landtroop who’s ancestors go back to Virginia in the 1600s.

• So whenever we have information or articles on Landtroops that are the direct ancestors of John (and their immediate family) we will label them with the “Landtroop-Luttrell” tag.
• Whenever we have information or articles on any other Landtroops, not direct ancestors of John Littrell, we will label them with the “Landtroop Family Page” tag.

This way visitors to www.littrellfamily.org who are not descendants of John Littrell can narrow their focus when looking for missing Landtroop ancestors. It is suggested that all Landtroop researchers search both pages. Remember if a page contains a lot of articles/post it may cover more than one page… use the “older post” / “newer post” links to move among pages of the same label.
The labels, called “Index Labels” can be found under the article/post title or in the Table of contents section in the sidebars of the website. Use these labels to list and isolate multiple articles/post by those labels.

Simbecks are blood related to Littrell Cousins: Research notes from Deer Camp Road Trip

About 20 years ago I came across a book on the Landtroop families of America in the Indiana State Library. At the time I was not researching that line of our ancestry (Grandpa John's grand mother was a Landtroop.) so I just made a mental note to return to it later. A few years later I went back to the library looking for the book for some information and the library no longer had the book. Since then I have periodically tried to locate a copy of it, but was always unsuccessful.

At the time I first discovered the book I did not record detailed information that would have made finding the book easier. Fortunately a recent online search resulted in locating the publisher information that made a thorough search possible. This led to finding the book, now out of print, for sale on Amazon and various websites (all copies are sold out). With more accurate information it was possible to find several libraries with a copy of the book, the closest one being the St. Louis County Library.

Finding the book at the library on the last day of the Deer Camp road-trip has provided a treasure trove of information. The visit was planned for 2 hours to gather information, but it turned into a 6 hour visit that produced 30+ pages of notes and xerox copies and the possibility of a second visit at a later date.

Initial examination has provided clues to connecting/identifying at least two Landtroop families that were previously a mystery:

• We had a newspaper clipping from 1933, a wedding announcement, that identified some Ezells, Belews, and Landtroops. There was enough information to identify a family unit, Landtroop marrying an Ezell, but we were unable to connect them to any known Landtroops or Ezells. With new information we have been able to connect the Lantroops in the article to our Landtroops. As far as the Ezells and Belews we still haven't progressed on their identification.
  click for more information

• Many years ago Gary Littrell (<son of>Jesse<son of>John & Kizzie Littrell) provided me with a copy of a family history of the Johns/Simbeck family. The Johns/Simbeck families are connected to the Littrell family by the marriage of Jesse Littrell to the widow Viola Johns-Simbeck. Viola had two children by John Henry Simbeck, Geneva and James 'Bud' Simbeck. When Viola remarried to Jesse she had several children by him, making Geneva and Bud Jesse's stepchildren and half-siblings to Gary and the remainder of Jesse's children. Many of Geneva and Buds Littrell cousins were unaware or unconcerned that they were 'step-cousins' and not related by blood.
  In the Johns/Simbeck family history the mother of John Henry Simbeck was Elizabeth Landtroop, leading many to speculate that she might be connected to our Landtroop ancestry. The absence of any knowledge about the parents of Elizabeth prevented the discovery of that connection. Until now.
  click to see more on Elizabeth information
  We now know that Elizabeth's full-name is Elizabeth Betty Landtroop and her father is George C. Landtroop, brother of Grandpa John's grandmother, Susannah L.E. Landtroop. This makes Grandpa John and John Henry Simbeck (Viola's first husband) 2^nd cousins. Meaning that Jesse Littrell married the widow of his 2^nd cousin, once removed. More importantly it means that Geneva and Bud are true 'blood' cousins to their Littrell cousins.
  While we have always considered Geneva and Bud among the First Cousins they are also 3^rd cousins, once removed to the other First Cousins and their siblings.         
                                                               Mary & George are Geneva & Bud’s great-grandparents
  click her to see who are the first cousins

There is much more information to process from the St. Louis County Library trip. Several generations have to be added and identified, new information on the ancestral line is now available, and questions about the large Landtroop migration to Texas need to be answered. Much of this new information dwells on Landtroop families that break off from our family line in Alabama and Tennessee.

For now the new information has helped us identify all heretofore unidentified families and individuals of the Landtroop name that were in our files and database. There are still Ezells, Belews, Urbans and even Littrell's that are still unconnected or unidentified.

The following chart is provided for the Landtroop family. It does not contain all generations, lines, or information. It just shows basic information and only shows 5 generations:

Descendants of John Lanthrop

...2 Peter Lantrop b: Bef. 1782 in Virginia, USA
    + Martha {Lantrip} b: 1780 in Virginia, USA, m: 1799 in Virginia, USA
......3 William Landtroop b: Abt. 1800 in Virginia, USA; probably Dinwiddle County
       + Charity Rainboldt
.........4 John P. Landtroop b: Abt. 1825 in Alabama, USA
.........4 Stith Jackson Landtroop b: Bet. 1826–1829
.........4 Sarah E. Landtroop b: Abt. 1834 in Tennessee, USA
.........4 Rebecca J. Landtroop b: Bet. 1839–1840 in Tennessee, USA
......3 Stith Landtroop b: Abt. 1802 in Virginia, USA;
                Probably Dinwiddie County, or Prince George County
       + Mary "Polly" Agee b: Abt. 1805 in Tennessee, USA,
                m: Jan 05, 1826 in Madison, Alabama, USA
.........4 William Smith Landtroop b: Abt. 1829 in Alabama, USA
          + Louise Elizabeth Halbert
.........4 James Thomas Landtroop b: Dec 29, 1829 in Alabama, USA
          + Martha Jane Jones
............5 John Thomas Landtroop b: Sep 11, 1872 in Limestone, Alabama, USA
............5 Mary A. S. Landtroop
............5 Elizabeth E. Lena Landtroop
............5 Martha Catherine Landtroop
............5 Lodenvia Landtroop
............5 Harriett Landtroop
............5 Malissa A. Landtroop
............5 Louisa Eugenia Landtroop
............5 Labada Landtroop
............5 Georgia W. Landtroop
............5 Rosa E. Landtroop
............5 Lula B. Lucy Landtroop
          + Nancy Kerr
.........4 Julia Ann Landtroop b: Abt. 1830
.........4 Martha J. Landtroop b: Abt. 1833
          + James Brown
.........4 Susannah L.E. Landtroop b: May 27, 1837 in Alabama, USA
          + Cassandra Urban b: Jul 04, 1831 in Alabama, USA,
                   m: 1856 in Madison, Alabama, USA
............5 Mary Catherine Urban b: Abt. 1857 ; Alabama or Tennessee ??
             + Timmons Seburn Literal
                      b: May 27, 1856 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA; from death certificate,
                      m: Jul 25, 1877 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA 
                      Grandparents of Jesse Littrell
............5 John H. Urban b: Abt. 1860 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 James C. Urban b: Feb 20, 1860 in Tennessee, USA
             + Mary E. Newton b: May 16, 1856 in Tennessee, USA,
                       m: Sep 18, 1881 in Lawrence,Tennessee, USA
............5 Martha C. Urban b: Abt. 1864
             + John Harrison Smith m: Aug 03, 1881 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 George T. Urban b: Abt. 1866
............5 William C. Urban b: Abt. 1868 in Tennessee, USA
             + Emily Garrett b: Abt. 1867 in Tennessee, USA, m: Abt. 1888
............5 U.S.G. Urban b: Oct 1869
............5 Susan Malissa Urban b: Nov 26, 1871
             + Samuel Stutts b: Jul 15, 1871
............5 Daniel J. Urban b: Abt. 1874
             + Lola Sirvirginia Philips
............5 Thomas Marion Urban b: Oct 26, 1876
             + Mary Ann Robertson b: Nov 26, 1887
............5 Nancy L. Urban b: Dec 13, 1878
             + Claude P. Richardson b: Jan 11, 1881, m: Bef. 1898
............5 Margaret Urban b: Mar 01, 1881
             + Noah F. Robertson b: Sep 24, 1879
............5 Albert Agee Urban b: Oct 26, 1884
             + Emma b: Jul 04, 1886
.........4 Mary H. Landtroop b: Abt. 1840
.........4 John Dawson Lantroop b: Jan 09, 1842
          + [unknown spouse]
............5 Thomas Newton Lantroop b: 1868 in Lauderdale, Alabama, USA
............5 Edna Lantroop
............5 Martha Mattie Lantroop
............5 Lou Lantroop
............5 Mozella Lantroop
............5 Susan Lantroop
............5 Edward Luther Lantroop
............5 Maggie L. Lantroop
.........4 George C. Landtroop b: Nov 09, 1845 in Alabama, USA
          + Mary Neece
............5 John Henry Landtroop b: Dec 10, 1876 in Alabama, USA
............5 Marion Huston Landtroop b: Jul 15, 1879 in Alabama, USA
             + Laura Mae Fisher b: Nov 06, 1895 in Tennessee, USA,
                   m: Aug 04, 1912 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 Elizabeth Betty Landtroop b: Oct 06, 1881 in Alabama, USA
             + Henry J. Simbeck b: Dec 05, 1879 in Tennessee, USA,
                   m: Nov 23, 1902 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
                   Grand Parents of Geneva and Bud
............5 Nancy Lee Landtroop b: Jul 18, 1884 in Alabama, USA
             + Elic Fisher b: Mar 02, 1893,
                   m: Oct 11, 1914 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 Fanny Dasie Landtroop b: Abt. 1887 in Alabama, USA
............5 Frances Landtroupe b: 1889 in Alabama, USA
             + David Payne b: 1887, m: Sep 22, 1912 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 George Landtroop b: Feb 19, 1894 in Tennessee, USA
             + Virgie Hamsley b: May 20, 1906, m: Oct 01, 1922 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
             + Verena Hamsley b: Oct 09, 1909
............5 Susie Landtroop
             + James R. Fowler b: Aug 22, 1878 in TN., Wayne Co.,
                    m: Jan 27, 1901 in Lawrence, Tennessee, USA
............5 William E.J. Bill Landtroop
             + Haughty Fowler
.........4 Stith J. Landtroop b: Abt. 1850
......3 Sarah Landtroop b: Abt. 1805 in Virginia, USA; probably Dinwiddle County
       + John Frick b: 1803 in Virginia, of
......3 Susan Lanthrop b: Abt. 1808 in Virginia, USA; probably Dinwiddle County
......3 Julia P. Lanthrop b: Abt. 1816 in Virginia, of; probably Dinwiddle County

Family Picture Identified: 1898 Susannah Landtroop-Urban’s family

In 1898 a 17 year old Margaret Urban joined her mother, Susannah Urban, and her brothers, Daniel and Agee Urban, for a trip into town. They were joined by the families of her sisters, Nancy Richardson and Susan Stutts, all of the Green Hill Community of Alabama.

Susan had her husband and her two babies, Frank and Mary with her. Nancy and her young husband were so far childless. For some reason Margaret’s father, Cassandra Urban, was not with them that day.

Dressed in their Sunday best they all posed for pictures that day.

We know of at least two of the pictures that were taken that day, the one to the left and a group picture (not Shown)

A few years ago we gained possession of a copy of these two pictures from Annabelle Smith Springer, a niece of Grandpa John’s.

As you can see this picture was developed onto a picture card, probably sometime after the originals were developed. The group picture was also on a picture card. W. LeFan of J.J. LeFan, (Pulaski, Tenn.) took the picture. The reference to him as “Field Operator” might suggest that the pictures were not taken in the Pulaski Studios “1 Door North of Express Office” .

J. J. Lefan lived in Tennessee or Alabama. After his first wife died (buried in Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church and Cemetery, Lauderdale County, Alabama) he married Lula Richardson of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. They eventually moved to Green Hill Alabama where they resided for a few years before moving to Greenville, Hunt County, Texas, along with brother W. LeFan (W.J. LeFan). They continued their photography business at least until the 1927 death of J.J., where W.J. is listed as the funeral photographer.*

On the back of the group picture there was no writing. On the back of this picture the name “Margaret Urban” was written. In my files we have 54 Urban’s, of which we only have one possible match if you assume Urban is her maiden name. With no more than that to go on we could not properly identify that Margaret Urban as the one pictured. That left us stalled on the group picture even more so. Even if we knew the young lady was our Margaret Urban there would be no way to match the others in the photo without more information. Was it her and her parents family? Her and her husbands family?, a sister or brothers family?

Fortunately we have come across an earlier copy of the group picture which identifies everyone in the picture. We believe it is an earlier copy for two reason:

1. Everyone is identified. This could not have been done purely by research. Whoever had this picture either knew of all or most of those in the picture or the persons were identified on the back.
2. The condition of our pictures were worse than the new pictures and the quality was less. The picture card was not printed on photography paper. It was more like a card stock, like a postcard, which could explain the premature wear and tear.

I have overlaid the names on this new copy of the group photo. The date at the top the picture was not added by me.  This photo, the date, and the identification of the individuals is fairly consistent on the several internet postings of this picture. I have only this digital copy so I don’t know for sure if there is anything written on the back.

Up until now the oldest generation of our Littrell ancestors we had was of the family of Timmons and Mary Catherine Literal. We dated the picture about 1899. Even if that picture actually is older this picture predates it in terms of generation. Susanna Urban is Mary Catherine Literal’s mother. Nancy, Susan, Susan, Agee, Margaret, and Daniel are all Mary Catherine’s siblings.

I include the information on LeFan in the hopes that maybe some Hunt County, Texas researcher may take up the quest to locate where the photographic files of Mr. LeFan ended up. Perhaps the might be more Lawrence County, Tennessee pictures to be discovered.

GlennDL