Just a friendly reminder: Doing one’s family history is difficult work, yet conducting someone else’s family history is horrendous (rewarding, but horrendous).

Also: Always save drafts periodically or you will find yourself writing the same post twice =(

 What I do all day, everyday

This is the Flowers Family, well part of the Flowers family. Their story is a writing progress…

I focus a great amount of my research on the women who compose this family’s tree. I mean why shouldn’t I? Rachel, Geraldine, and Hilda are three incredible and resilient women, black women. Indeed, the Flowers women played a remarkable role in race relations, civil rights, art, and education. As I focus on the women, I, yes to being honest, neglect the stories of the Flowers men. You have met a few, Chauncey, Harry, and Henry Jr., but I never dive into their stories as I do with the Flowers women. This would be fine if I focused solely only the Flowers women; however, my research is on the Flowers family.

Today, I present to you Mr. Theodore Flowers.

Theodore Flowers
1903-1933

We were first introduced to Theodore in the 1910 Federal Census of the Household of N.J.P. Flowers.

There he rightfully stood with his mother and seven siblings, Chauncey, John, Fred, Rachel H., Vincent, Gladyce, and Hilda, living on a farm in a predominately white neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida. Next, we find Theodore’s Pennsylvania death record.

And those are the ONLY two documents I have for Theodore Flowers. He died at a relatively young age, 30 years old, leaving behind a wife, a mother, and many siblings, nieces, and nephews. Unlike his brother, there are no WWI and WWII draft registrations for he was either too young (WWI) or he had passed away (WWII). There is also no 1920 Federal Census. At this time, Theodore would have been seventeen and should have lived with his father, but he is not recorded as a member of Harry Flowers’ household. It does not help that I cannot find his mother’s 1920 Federal Census Record, perhaps he could have lived with her. Who knows?

As I learned from his death record, he was married; however, I could find little about his wife or their marriage. Out of all this week’s research, I did find a small clue. You see a last residence is left, 2036 West Turner Street in Philadelphia. I used this to search the census records myself using cross streets for either Theodore or Irma. What I found? Nothing. Not one damn name after two hours. I could not even find the street. I turned next to his cause of death, gun shot wound. He was murdered. Did not one newspaper document this homicide? I searched all over, looked high and low, still could not find one article referencing Theodore’s murder OR homicides in Philadelphia during this time period.

This is the life of a historian.

Until the next post…or the next find…

Christina