11Mary Clyde Black
Key Facts
Snapshot:farm laborer's wife; divorced
Parents:22Charlie Black
23Viola Tant
Born:16 September 1916
Georgia, probably Montgomery County
Died:29 November 2003
222 Fox Road, Jones County, Georgia
Buried:Harmony Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia
Coordinates: N32.39302 W82.56668

11Mary Clyde Black was born on 16 September 19161-3 in Georgia4-6 to parents 22Charlie Black4,5,7 and 23Viola Tant.7

I have a lot of photos of 11Clyde. A few are below.8,9 I've manipulated these copies, but unedited, raw scans are here . If you click any of the three black-and-white photos, you'll see a colorized, enhanced version of it.


Labeled on the back: "Mary Clyde Geiger 40 years old w/ Aunt Estell Beasley"


Labeled on the back: "Mary Clyde Geiger 42 yrs. old w/ Mr. Ben"

Labeled on the back: "Sept. 18, 1977 children of Mary Clyde Geiger Foskey,
Mary, Virginia, Maxine 39 yrs, Ann, Shirley, Carol"


Labeled on the back: "Mary Clyde Geiger 40 years old w/ Aunt Estell Beasley"


Labeled on the back: "Mary Clyde Geiger 42 yrs. old w/ Mr. Ben"


Labeled on the back: "Sept. 18, 1977 children of Mary Clyde Geiger Foskey, Mary, Virginia, Maxine 39 yrs, Ann, Shirley, Carol"

She is mentioned (although not by name) in her father's World War I draft registration card, which was filled out in Montgomery County when 11Clyde was about 9 months old:10


11Clyde mentioned in her father's draft card. Bigger copy.10

The 1920 and 1930 censuses both show her with her parents in militia district 1221 (map), Treutlen County.4,5



1920: 11Clyde's family in militia district 1221 (map), Treutlen County, Georgia. Full page: 1, 2.4


1930: 11Clyde's family still in militia district 1221. Full page.5

11Clyde married 10Curtis Geiger in Treutlen County on 18 August 1934.11


11Clyde's and 10Curtis' marriage certificate11

In 1940 they were living in a rental house in Treutlen County and had two daughters. The census notes that 11Clyde had completed the third grade in school.6


1940: 11Clyde's family in the 1940 census. Full page.6

By 1950 they had five daughters.12


1950: 11Clyde's family still in Treutlen County. Full page.12

Her husband was charged with incest in 1952, and although the court found him not guilty,13 11Clyde was probably displeased about whatever event(s) that caused him to be charged in the first place. They divorced in 1954.14

An honorary fishing and hunting license describes her as blue-eyed, 5'4", and 150 pounds.8 The license isn't dated but mentions Georgia Governor George Busbee, who was in office from 1975 to 1983.


11Clyde's honorary hunting/fishing license, found in a scrapbook in her daughter 5
[redacted, 5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

's house after her death.8

She was still living in Soperton in December 1992, according to the obituary of her sister Estelle.15

11Clyde died on 29 November 20032,3,7 apparently in the home of her daughter 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

, judging by some photos later found in 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

's home (222 Fox Road, Jones County, Georgia).8 Her obituary is below.7

11Clyde is buried in Harmony Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia at coordinates N32.39302 W82.56668. Below is a photo of her tombstone.3

Sources Cited:

1:
Family Bible that may have originally belonged to 11Clyde's daughter Shirley, judging by the text handwritten on the inside cover. Unfortunately, the outer cover and first several pages of the book were detached from the binding, and most of the book is lost. The surviving portion was found stuffed inside another book in the home of 11Clyde's daughter 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

after her death. This fragment was inherited by 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

's grandson
[redacted, 5ds]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my first cousin. His first name begins with the letter M. His mother's first name begins with the letter P. He and I both descend from my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

, who allowed me to scan a copy on 27 October 2010. The outer cover is labeled "HOLY BIBLE RED LETTER EDITION PRESENTED BY The Children's Bible Society OF AMERICA," although the publisher information is missing, and I've been unable to figure it out. To judge the book by its cover, it is quite old, faded, frayed, and it seems that some effort was made to use tape to hold the book together, perhaps on several occasions.

2: Social Security Death Index entry for Mary C. Geiger; SSN 257-36-9101; last residence Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia 30457; born 16 September 1916, died 29 November 2003. Ancestry.com, accessed 6 January 2009. FamilySearch also hosts a copy of the SSDI (11Clyde's entry is at <https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V9MT-NJ7>, although the Social Security numbers are not displayed.

3: Tombstone of Mary C. Geiger, Harmony Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia at coordinates N32.39302 W82.56668. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight on 21 August 2011.

4: 1920 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, Militia District 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 124, sheet 8A, family 143, Charlie Black household. NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 280. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu280unit#page/n1015/mode/1up> (page 8A) and <https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu280unit#page/n1016/mode/1up> (page 8B).

5: 1930 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, Militia District 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 142-1, sheet 12B, dwelling 211, family 211, Charlie Black household. NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 388. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/georgiacensus00reel388#page/n590/mode/1up>.

6: 1940 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lothair, militia district 1221, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 142-1, sheet 3B, house 47, household 49, Curtis Geiger household. National Archives, <1940census.archives.gov>, accessed 6 April 2012. This image is also available on Familysearch.org: <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27878-16083-86>, accessed 2 July 2015.

7: "Mary C. Geiger," The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), 1 December 2003, page 3B

8:
A scrapbook labeled "Mary Clyde Geiger." This scrapbook seems to have been compiled by 11Clyde's daughter 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

. After 55
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

's death, the scrapbook was inherited by her grandson
[5ds]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my first cousin. His first name begins with the letter M. His mother's first name begins with the letter P. He and I both descend from my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

, who allowed me to scan a copy on 27 October 2010. The pages are not numbered. The scrapbook contains a plethora of photos (especially of 11Clyde in her old age and a few post-mortem photos, but also some from earlier decades) and some of her relatives (including as well as many documents, mementoes, doodles, etc., many of them in no particular logical order.

9:
Undated portrait of 11Clyde Geiger as an old woman. The photograph originally belonged to 11Clyde's daughter 5
[5]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

, then (after her death) by her grandson
[5ds]
To protect my privacy and security, the names of certain close relatives have been redacted.

This individual is my first cousin. His first name begins with the letter M. His mother's first name begins with the letter P. He and I both descend from my paternal grandmother (ahnentafel #5).

, who allowed me to scan this copy on 27 October 2010.

10: World War One Draft Registration Cards. Charlie Black, born 15 February 1896, Montgomery County, Georgia. NARA microfilm publication 1509. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZZN-FKJ> accessed 6 April 2012.

11: Treutlen County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1919-1949 and 1960-1965, page 302, marriage of Curtis Geiger and Clyde Black. Copied on 28 April 2012 from microfilm 9688, Genealogical & Historical Room, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia.

12: 1950 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 140-5, page 10, dwelling 221, Bryant Knight household. National Archives, <https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Treutlen&name=disne&page=1&state=GA>, accessed 11 November 2022.

13: Treutlen County, Georgia. Superior Court Records Office. Criminal Docket 1 (index book), page 109. Page 109 is actually two pages (a left- and right-side).

14: Florida Department of Health, Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001, 1954, G, entry for the divorce of Curtis and Clyde Geiger, who divorced in 1954 in Polk County, volume 657, certificate number 2299. Ancestry.com ("Florida, Divorce Index, 1927-2001" / 1954 / G / image 5 of 22), <https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=FLdivorce&h=253013>, accessed 8 April 2020. Although I used Ancestry.com, FamilySearch also indexes this same record: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKWR-BCQ>

15: "Estelle Melissa Beasley." The Soperton News (Soperton, Georgia), 16 December 1992, page 6