Rebecca Wood (White) Summerson (1883 - 1928)

Born 26 Feb 1883 in Missouri, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Eugene Peyton Summerson — married 18 Jul 1905 in Alabama, USA

Descendants

Died 19 Feb 1928 at age 44 in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Rebecca "Wooda" White was born on February 26, 1883, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Eliza Marrancy Dancy White and Henry Charles White. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Rebecca E. Wood Dancy. ^[1] In 1885, when Rebecca was 2, her brother Edwin Bienvenu White was born, and her father died. Two years later, her mother died. At the end of 1887, Rebecca was still living in St. Louis, as per a published letter in the St. Louis Post Dispatch of 4-year-old Rebecca writing to Santa Claus.^[2]

It is unknown what happened to all of the White children after their parents died. In the U.S. Federal Census of 1900, Rebecca was living in a boarding house in Decatur, Morgan county, Alabama; no other members of her immediate family appeared to be living there. ^[3] Several of her relatives had lived in Decatur over the years, so perhaps she had a family connection to the town.

Decatur, Alabama had grown significantly in the years since the Civil War, due to its railroad hub and its proximity to the Tennessee River. Rebecca was active in the social life of the town, as evidenced by her name showing up in lists of party and wedding attendees. (E.g., "Mrs. Cartwright's Card Party," described in the New Decatur Advertiser, 1904. ^[4]) At least one of her brothers remained in St. Louis, as a brief item in the New Decatur Advertiser in September 1904 cites that "Miss Wooda White" had returned from "visiting her brother" in that city. ^[5]

In 1905, in Decatur, Morgan, Alabama, Rebecca married Eugene Peyton Summerson.^{[6] [7]} Eugene was originally from Staunton, Virginia, and his career in the utilities industry had taken him to Alabama, where he worked for the power and light company. The article linked above, from the Old Dominion Sun, notes that "Miss White was one of Decatur's prettiest and most popular young ladies, while Mr. Summerson is manager of the Decatur Light, Power and Fuel Company, and has made a host of friends since coming to Decatur and connecting himself with the Company." The article notes that the couple traveled to the Lookout Inn in Chattanooga, Tennessee after their wedding. Eugene and Rebecca's first child, William Henry Summerson, was born in April 1906. The Summersons also buried an unnamed infant in Decatur in December 1907.

When the 1910 United States Federal Census was taken, Rebecca was listed as married and living on Lefferts Avenue in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She is noted as having given birth 4 times, but only having 2 living children (i.e., William Henry, and Eugene Summerson, Jr., born 1908). ^[8]

Rebecca and Eugene had two more children following their move to New York -- Beverly Dancy Summerson (born 1912) and Mary Elizabeth Summerson (born 1918). The family lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and eventually in a single-family house on Geranium Avenue in Flushing, Queens. Flushing at the time was a rapidly industrializing area, thanks to the construction of subway tunnels, and the addition of an electrified train at the Long Island Rail Road station. During this time, Eugene was working as the secretary for the Electric Bond and Share Company, while Rebecca was a housewife.

An article in the Albany-Decatur Daily, 17 June, 1925, describes a trip that Rebecca took to Decatur to see old friends. A picnic and luncheon were given in her honor. ^[9]

Rebecca died after a long illness in 1928 ^{[10] [11] [12]}. She is buried alongside her husband and two of her sons in Flushing Cemetery, Queens, New York. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Dancy / Wood family Bible record. Accessed via FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/77363229
2. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30633766/wooda_white_letter_to_santa_claus/
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9DL-5K7 : accessed 16 April 2019), Wooda White in household of Max J Cohn, Decatur Decatur city, Morgan, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 124, sheet 26B, family 615, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,035.
4. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30667321/wooda_white_attends_card_party/
5. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30633801/wooda_white_traveling_to_st_louis/
6. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30624414/eugene_summerson_and_rebecca_wooda/
7. ↑ Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-TBQF-D?cc=1743384&wc=3LJ8-L2S%3A1586898502 : 16 July 2015), 004704576 > image 691 of 804; County Probate Courts, Alabama.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M5CR-27X : accessed 16 April 2019), Rebecca W Summerson in household of Eugene P Summerson, Brooklyn Ward 24, Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 682, sheet 7A, family 160, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 975; FHL microfilm 1,374,988.
9. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30624719/rebecca_wooda_white_summerson_visits/
10. ↑ Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Rebecca Summerson death notice - 20 Feb 1928 edition, page 5. "Mrs. Eugene P. Summerson dies"
11. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30624837/rebecca_wooda_summerson_death/
12. ↑ "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W15-DJ3 : 10 February 2018), Rebecca Summerson, 19 Feb 1928; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,056,274.
13. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180106738/rebecca-white

• "New York State Census, 1915", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9T3-X3M : 27 November 2020), Rebecca Summerson in entry for Eugene Summerson, 1915.

• "New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSC1-7SY : 8 November 2014), Robecla W Summerson, New York, A.D. 04, E.D. 87, Queens, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 15, line 42, New York State Archives, Albany.

• "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WR5-PDD : 11 February 2018), Beverly Summerson, 01 May 1942; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,130,787. (Note: in her son's death record, she is listed as "Wooda White." Several other sources use this name, or "Wooda Summerson.")