Life History

Notes

• According to the 1900 and 1910 censuses, Susan's father was born in Mississippi, and her mother in Georgia.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, 13 June, Township 15, District 40, page 6B, Hse/Fam #126
  Green, Jacob Head  W M Nov 1848  51 Married 81 yrs  GA NC GA Farmer;
  Green, Susan Wife   W F Aug 1858  41 Married 81 yrs  6 children, 6 living MS MS GA
  
  In the 1860 census (see below), Susan is reported as 3 years old.  This seems to indicate that the birth year of 1858 in the 1900 census is wrong.  Even if the family was rounding up to her next birthday, in August after the census date, that would make her birth year 1857.  If they were reporting as intended in the census, her age of at the time of the June census date would mean she was born in 1856, and indeed one genealogy so reports.
  
  I expect that she was born in August 1857, and the family reported her in 1860 as 3 years old, thinking in terms of her 3rd birthday that year.  This kind of discrepancy in figuring ages and birth dates is extremely common in the 1900 census!
  
  1910 Federal Census, Nash, Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 April, District 107, Page 13B,  Hse/Fam #104
  Green, Jacob Head  M W 60  2nd marriage  1st married age 27 GA NC SC Farmer
  Green, Susan Wife  F W 51  1st marriage, married age 27  6 children, 6 living MS MS GA
  
  Note that Susan's father is reported born in Mississippi in these two censuses.  The 1870 census of her family indicates Susan's father John (reported as John B in genealogies) was born in Georgia, not Mississippi. Barnett family genealogies I found in December 2007 also indicate he was born in Georgia.  It is understandable that Susan would remember it as Mississippi, since that is where she grew up.  She is first recorded in the 1860 census in Itawamba County, Mississippi.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Itawamba County, Mississippi, 20 June, PO Gun Town, page 1 (scan 219), Hse/Fam #2
  Barnett, John 36 M Farmer  $200 real $1125 personal  Georgia [born abt 1824]
  Barnett, Minerva 38 F South Carolina [born abt 1822]
  Barnett, Susan A 3 F Mississippi [born abt 1857]
  
  Note that Susan is always listed as Susan A, or in later years, just Susan.  Some genealogies have her name as Susan Amanda.  It appears they have interpolated the initial A as Amanda.  Susan always appears in censuses as Susan A, but I have never seen the name Amanda in any records, only in genealogies, without any source or documentation.
  
  But in the 1860 census, when Susan A is reported as 3 years old, there was a younger child, Mandy reported as 1 year old.  Mandy is the standard nickname for Amanda.  Amanda was a younger daughter of this family, not the same child as Susan A.  Susan's age of 12 in 1870 is consistent with birth in August 1857.  To cinch it, the younger sister is enumerated as Amanda in 1870.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Prentiss County, Mississippi, 11 June, PO Booneville, Township 6 Range 7, pages 5-6 (scan 428), Hse/Fam #31
  Barnett, John 55 M W Farmer $200 real $1125 personal Georgia [born abt 1815]
  Barnett, Manerva 53 F W Keeping House Georgia [born abt 1817]
  -- page 6  --
  Barnett, Susan A 14 F W Mississippi [born abt 1856]
  
  This is an earlier birth year than previously.  Other ages are wrong in this census.
  
  In the 1880 census, John B's father John H is also reported to have been born in Georgia, but his father in South Carolina, which is a basis for connection to the other line of Barnetts in the Green family line.
  
  1880 Federal Census, Young County, Texas, 13 June, Precinct 2, District 168, page 17, Hse #144, Fam #148
  Barnet, John  W M 64   Farmer GA GA GA [b abt 1826]
  Barnet, Menerva W F 56 Wife Keeping House SC VA SC [b abt 1824]
  Barnet, Susen A  W F 22 Dau Single Keeping House MS GA SC [b abt 1858]
  
  Pink's uncle, Jacob's brother Jackson, also married a woman named Barnett, Clarinda.  It is possible there is a connection between John Barnett's family and the Carolina-Alabama Barnetts that Jorile R Barnett comes from.  I have not been able to establish the link.
  
  Two brothers married women named Barnett.  Clarinda had a sister named Susan, but the dates and other facts did not match for her to be Jacob's wife.  Working with Barnett researcher Susan Ball, I determined in January 2008 that Susan was the daughter of John B Barnett and Minerva (or Manerva) Taylor Owens.  The separate Barnett families migrated into Oklahoma from different Eastern origins and by different routes. Susan informed me that Jacob and Susan married in Cooke County, Texas, which makes sense from the Green family residence there in 1860. Several members of the Green and related Jackson families moved into Indian Territory.
  
  In 1896 Susan and her brother James C Barnett applied for recognition as Cherokees, seemingly based on the Cherokee identity of their mother Minerva Taylor Owens.  Cousin and co-researcher Winnie Yandell has a copy of the application in the 1896 census.  They were denied, but their application is on file.  Her name on this record is Susan S Green.  We have found her only as Susan or Susan A on all other records.
  
  "On Susan's application for admission to the Cherokee Tribe in OK (which copy I have) this is how she was listed: Susan S. Green.  I don't recall ever seeing her middle initial 'S' on anything.  The Application shows both Susan S. Green and James C Barnett, on same cover to application.  (Online, I did not find one for James C).  So possibly  they listed them together as they made claim on their mother, Minerva Owens Barnett's Cherokee ancestry.  Had they been approved, it would have entitled them to Indian land.  This app was sworn to on 3rd day of Sept. 1896."
  --  Winnie Yandell, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 29 March 2012
  
  A simple transcription of the basic information in the application is online.
  -- Commission, 1896 Application Search,  http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/commissionresults.php?s_surname=Green&s_given=Susan&s_middle=
  
  Winnie received a copy of the actual application from Susan Ball.
  
  No 5424
  James C Barnett
  and Susan S Green
  Cherokee Nation, Ft Gibson, Indian Territory
  Filed: Sept 9-96
  A S McKennan
  Comr [Commander]
  
  The first report of Susan with her husband Jacob Green is in the 1900 census.  But since her Cherokee application was in the surname Green, this means they were married earlier.  Barnett-Green researcher Susan Bell reports the marriage date as 12 July 1883, in Cooke County, Texas.  This would have been in Gainesville, just across the Red River into Texas.  This is where the Greens first came to the west from their Georgia home.  In the 1860 census Toliver Green is found there with his family, including Jacob who later married Susan Barnett.
  
  Marriage of Jacob Green to Susan Barnett 12 July 1883 in Cooke County, Texas.
  --  Susan Ball, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, December 2007
  
  So they got married on the Texas side of the Red River in 1883. They were probably living with other relatives we know of in the Marietta area, mostly with the surnames Green, Jackson and Barnett.  In 1896, Susan and her brother submitted an application to the Dawes Commission for recognition as Cherokee citizens.  The filing was at Ft Gibson, but we do not know if they filed this joint application in person, or it was done by a personal or legal representative.  In 1900 Jacob and Susan are in residence in the Ft Gibson area for the census, while her brother James C Barnett is back down in the Marietta area near the Red River in Chickasaw Nation.
  
  In the 1900 census, Susan and Jacob Green are in Cherokee Nation.  This census record reports her birth date as Aug 1858.  The Green family did not know the name of Jacob's wife.  I found this in public records.  Susan's mother is in Chickasaw Nation in 1900, widowed and living with her son James.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, 1 June, Township 7 South Range 2 East, Enumeration District 150, page 6A, Marietta, Hse #90, Fam #90
  Barnett, James C Head W M Oct 1856  43 Married 23 years  Miss Geo SC  Farmer, Stockman  Rents
  Barnett, Christiana Wife W F Mar 1858  42  Married 23 years  1 child/1 living IL NJ IN
  Barnett, Christopher Son W M Nov 1877 76 Single TX MS IL Farm Laborer
  Barnett, Minerva Mother W F July 1823 76 Widow SC VA SC
  
  We know from other sources that Susan's family were in Love County later.  Love County is a small county just north of Gainesville in Cooke County, Texas.  It seems likely that they were in Indian Territory, and went back to Jacob's home to get their marriage license and get married, then returned to their home in Love County.  They would have moved to Cherokee Nation between the time of their marriage in 1883 and the 1900 census.
  
  I have found Susan Barnett Green elusive after the 1910 census.  No record has been found for Susan Barnett Green in the 1920 census.  Known facts indicate she was still in Oklahoma at that time, and then moved to California with her sons in about 1925.
  
  Susan was reported in the 1921 Muskogee City/County Directory in 1921, along with her sons Pink and  Thomas.
  
  U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
  Muskogee and Muskogee County, Oklahoma, City Directory, 1921, p 547
  (Phoenix Directory Company)
  Pink (Lois) Green farmer
  Susan (wid Jacob) Green
  Thomas Green
  
  The Greens moved to California in about 1925 or 1926, according to some indications, and a couple of references seem to indicate they moved directly to Fresno. But it seems the common route would have brought them into Southern California in the LA area, where they could have turned north.
  
  In March 2012 I finally found an entry that appears to be her, in Riverside County, California.  The facts generally fit her.  There is little supportive evidence, however, since her sons Tom and Pink are a couple of counties north in Fresno.  Only Susan is reported in that area, in Riverside County, in 1930.  Susan may have decided to stay near LA while the others moved on.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Riverside County, California, 11 April, Perris Township, District 31, page 4B, Hse #148, Fam #126
  Green, Susan Head Rents $10 F W 75 Widow First married at age 23 MS NC SC No Occupation
  
  Her sons Pink and Tom are there for the 1930 census.  But Susan was with them later in Fresno County.  Susan is registered in the voting rolls in Kerman, Fresno County, in 1938, next to her son Tom G Green.
  
  California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968
  Kerman, Fresno County, California 1938
  Green, Tom G, Farmer, Route 1, Box 345, Kerman, Party Affiliation Town  (?)
  Green, Mrs Susan, housewife [sic, even though husband has died] , Route 1, Box 345, Kerman, Party Affiliation Town  (?)
  Fresno County, California, USA
  Residence Year 1938
  
  The addresses here tell us they used the same rural route address as Pink.  This may indicate they lived in the same household.  His address is the same in the 1936 voter registration and in his 1942 WWII draft registration.
  
  Through the good offices of fellow researcher Winnie Yandell, we received the obituary of Susan, procured by a librarian in Fresno whom Winnie contacted.  Sparse but very helpful with important details, this obituary fills in vital details that had been hiding for years.
  
  Obituary of Susan Green
  
  GREEN -- Near Kerman, Calif., June 17, 1939.  Susan Green, beloved mother of Mrs. Nora Smith of Fresno, Tom Green of Kerman and Pink Green of Fresno; seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren survive; a native of Mississippi, aged 84 years.  Funeral services will be held in the Mission Chapel, Broadway at Belmont, Tuesday afternoon, June 20, 1939, at two o'clock, Rev. T. E. Woods officiating.  Friends are invited to attend.
  --  The Fresno Bee, Sunday, 18 June 1939
  
  Through the good offices of Winnie Yandell, Melissa, a Fresno County librarian, was able to discover that Susan was buried in the Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno.
  
  ----------------------------
  Susan A Barnett Green
  Birth Aug 1855 Itawamba County, Mississippi
  Death Jun 17, 1939 Kerman, Fresno County, California
  
  Her parents were John B. BARNETT and Minerva Taylor (Owens) BARNETT. She was the ninth of twelve children. (two d. young) Her family migrated to Texas (Young Co) then to Love Co. I.T. (OK).
  
  She married Jacob Green 12 July 1883, in Cooke Co. TX and after some time in Marietta, Love Co., they moved to the northeastern part (Cherokee Nation) area of OK, and lived there until her husband died (ca 1917); then a son, Walter Jacob "Jake" died in 1925, Muskogee Co. OK. The family soon afterward moved to the Fresno Co. area of central Calif where her sons worked as farmers. The widow of W. "Jake" Jr. with three small children, also moved to the area.
  
  Susan and Jacob, Sr., had six children: Norah Green Smith; Pink Green; Thomas Gilbert Green; John (d. young); and Arthur T. Green.
  
  (Thanks to Nancy, Fresno Co. volunteer, for finding Obit, She also has a photo she is posting to memorial.
  Thanks also to Melissa, Fresno Co. Library for locating cemetery where she is buried.)
  Further research is ongoing--for Nora Green Smith, and Arthur T. Green.  Anyone with any information/photo of Susan, please contact me (wvy) or post here.
  
  Parents:
  John B Barnett (1814 - 1897)
  Minerva Taylor Owens Barnett (1817 - 1903)
  
  Children:
  Pink Green (1886 - 1968)
  Walter Jacob Green 1890-1925
  Thomas Gilbert Green (1891 - 1968)
  
  Siblings:
  Lucinda Katherine Barnett Rogers (1845 - 1902)
  John Franklin Barnett (1850 - 1914)
  Amanda 'Danie' Barnett Ridge (1859 - 1942)
  Mary Ellen Barnett Black (1862 - 1949)
  
  Burial Belmont Memorial Park, Fresno, Fresno County, California, Plot Block 14, Sect 108, Space 4
  Created by wvy Mar 27, 2012
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #87455614, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87455614/susan-a-green
  -------------------------------

Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 2. Obituaries from California
• 3. 1880 Federal Census, Young County, Texas
  • 13 June, Precinct 2, District 168, page 17, Hse #144, Fam #148
• 4. 1930 Federal Census, Riverside County, California
  • 11 April, Perris Township, District 31, page 4B, Hse #148, Fam #126
• 5. 1870 Federal Census, Prentiss County, Mississippi
  • 11 June, PO Booneville, Township 6 Range 7, page 6 (scan 428), Hse/Fam #31
• 6. 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory
  • 13 June, Township 15, District 40, Page 6B,  Hse/Fam #126
• 7. 1860 Federal Census, Itawamba County, Mississippi
  • 20 June, PO Gun Town, page 1 (scan 219), Hse/Fam #2
• 8. 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory
  • 13 June, Township 15, District 40, page 6B, Hse/Fam #126
• 9. California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968
• 10. 1910 Federal Census, Muskogee County, Oklahoma
  • 30 April, Nash Township, District 107, Page 13B,  Hse/Fam #104
• 11. Ancestry Trees
  • Kay Harper, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kattyu&id=I16762
• 12. California Death Index, 1940-1997
• 13. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939
• 14. 1910 Federal Census, Muskogee County, Oklahoma
  • 30 April, Nash Tonwship, District 107, Page 13B, Hse/Fam #104
• 15. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
• 16. 1940 Federal Census, Fresno County, California
  • 2 April, Fresno, District 10-52, Page 1A, Hse #9, Rents $9
• 17. 1940 Federal Census, Fresno County, California
  • 9 April, Judicial Township 11, District 132, page 2B, Belmont Ave, Hse #43, Rents $10, Live on a Farm
• 18. Social Security Death Index
• 19. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
• 20. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • Memorial #73346170, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=73346170
• 21. 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory
  • 13 June, Township 15, District 40, Page 6B, Hse/Fam #126
• 22. 1920 Federal Census, Ottawa County, Oklahoma
  • 17 January, Quapaw Township, District 124, page 13B, Hse #254, Fam #285
• 23. 1910 Federal Census, Muskogee County, Oklahoma
  • 30 April, Nash Township, District 107, Page 14A, Hse/Fam #107
• 24. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
• 25. 1930 Federal Census, Fresno County, California
  • 14 April, Township 2, District 11, page 13A, Belmont Avenue, Hse/Fam #4
• 26. 1940 Federal Census, Fresno County, California
  • 10 April, Township 11, District 1-30, page 2A, White Bridge Rd, Hse #19, Owns $2500
• 27. 1910 Federal Census, Muskogee County, Oklahoma
  • 30 April, Nash Township, District 107, Page 13B, Hse/Fam #104
• 28. U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962
• 29. U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006
• 30. 1920 Federal Census, Cooke County, Texas
  • 2 January, Gainesville Ward 3, District 32, page 1A, Hse #8, Family #4
• 31. California, Death Index, 1905-1939
• 32. Email Sources