Cyntha Alberta (Clenney) Austin (1877 - 1961)

Born 20 Jul 1877 in Scotts Hill, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Wife of W Frank Hart — married 6 Aug 1895 (to 1897) in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States

Wife of James Mitchell Austin — married 4 Mar 1898 in Decatur County, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 9 Jan 1961 at age 83 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Richard Heritage [send private message]

Biography

Cyntha, who may have gone by Birda, was born in Scotts Hill, Tennessee, on 20 July 1877.^[1] Her parents were Melvin and Nancy Jane (Perkins) Clenney.^[1] In August 1895 she married Frank Hart, who died in 1897.^[2] They had one child, Pearl Amanda.^[3] On 4 March 1898 Cyntha married James M. Austin (who was her first cousin once removed) in Decatur County, Tennessee.^[4] The couple had seven children: Montie, Jesse, Gladys, Mary, Clarence, Mabel, and Clifford.^[5][6] At some point around 1920 the family moved to North Carolina, eventually settling in Greensboro. After James' death in 1923, Cyntha worked as a seamstress in a clothing factory.^[6] Cyntha died in Greensboro, North Carolina, on 9 January 1961 and is buried in Guilford Memorial Park, Greensboro.^[1][7]

Research Notes

• Determining the best names for this person is a challenge. She appears in documents in numerous ways:

Source	Name
1880 Census	Cintha A
1895 Marriage License	C. A.
1898 Marriage License	C. A.
1900 Census	Alvirda
1910 Census	Cyntha A
James Death Certificate	Bertie
1930 Census	Birda
1940	Byrd
1956 City Directory	Birda C
Death Certificate	Berda Cynthia
Headstone	Birda C
Clarence Austin Birth Record	Sintha Alberta
Mabel Austin Birth Record	Alberta

It appears that she preferred Birda, at least for the last part of her life. Following some apparently well-researched public trees on Ancestry, I have gone with Cyntha as her given name. Heritage-577 18:54, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

• Middle name Alberta is from cited birth records of children Clarence and Mabel. Seems more plausible than Alvirda from 1910 Census. Heritage-577 12:29, 26 February 2019 (UTC)
• A note on residence: Birda and her family were in Scotts Hill as late as 1918. (Although Clifford was born in Missouri in July 1911, so they must have been there for a while.) In the 1920 Census Montie, married already to Edgar Lee Williams, is in Stokesdale, Guilford County, North Carolina. Since this family stuck together, it seems likely the others were in North Carolina by then as well. Also in the 1920 Census, Jesse's future wife Nelia Gray is in Mayodan, North Carolina (about 30 miles north of Greensboro), where Birda's husband James died in 1923. There is no sign of Austins in Mayodan in 1920, however. James was buried in Stokesdale, which is closer to Greensboro and is the 1920 home of Montie and Edgar. The entire family except for Montie appear together in the 1927 Greensboro city directory, with none of them being listed previously. Birda, Audy, Cecil (Clarence), Mabel, and Clifford all live at 215 W. Bragg St. James (Jesse) with his wife Nelia and Gladys with her husband Jesse Connor both live at 221 W. Bragg St. The 1920 Census could be illuminating, but a record for the family has not been found. Heritage-577 17:49, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGTB-NVG : 18 July 2017), Berda Cynthia Austin, 09 Jan 1961; citing Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina, v 1A cn 1382, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,953,160.
2. ↑ "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKHW-9H9R : 23 December 2016), W F Hart and C A Clenney, 01 Aug 1895; citing Henderson, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 2,138,636.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS81-4LT : accessed 15 February 2019), Alvirda Austin in household of Jos Austin, Civil District 13 (north part), Henderson, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 53, sheet 8A, family 151, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,578.
4. ↑ "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH3-1G77 : 14 October 2017), J M Austin and C A Clenney, 04 Mar 1898; citing Decatur, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 979,650.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGN2-FLL : accessed 15 February 2019), Cyntha A Austin in household of James M Austin, Civil District 7, Henderson, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 107, sheet 6A, family 103, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1505; FHL microfilm 1,375,518.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X337-5KV : accessed 15 February 2019), Birda Austin, Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 17, sheet 2B, line 73, family 43, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1694; FHL microfilm 2,341,428.
7. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 15 February 2019), memorial page for Birda Cyntha Alvirda “Bertie” Clenney Austin (20 Jul 1877–9 Jan 1961), Find A Grave: Memorial #97078378, citing Guilford Memorial Park, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Melinda Bivins Lisby (contributor 46586124) .

See Also

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD79-H1S : 15 July 2017), Cintha A Clenney in entry for James M Clenney, 1880; citing enumeration district ED 24, sheet 1A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d), roll 1252; FHL microfilm 1,255,252.
• "Tennessee Marriages, 1796-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDSV-L24 : 11 February 2018), W. F. Hart and C. A. Clennie, 06 Aug 1895; citing , Henderson, Tennessee, reference ; FHL microfilm 978,744.
• "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNHF-LDC : 4 December 2014), J M Austin and C A Clenney, 04 Mar 1898; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing p. 512, Decatur, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
• Hill's Greensboro City Directory 1927. Richmond, Virginia: Hill Directory Co., 1927, p. 119. Accessed at AncestryLibrary, 26 February 2019.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWQH-46L : 15 March 2018), Byrd Austin in household of Audry Walters, Area B, Greensboro, Morehead Township, Guilford, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 41-49, sheet 6B, line 63, family 134, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2920.
• Hill's Greensboro City Directory 1956. Richmond, Virginia: Hill Directory Co., 1956, p. 25. Accessed at AncestryLibrary, 15 February 2019.
• Austin Families(AFAOA): WilliamRuthNC #I3576
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 09 March 2021, 00:29), entry for Alberta Cynthia Clenney (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LCQ7-GYF ); contributed by various users.

• "Tennessee, Birth Records (ER Series), 1908-1912", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2H5-SCP7 : 17 March 2018), Maybel Austin, 1909.
• Clarence Cecil Austin, Delayed Certificate of Birth. Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Delayed Birth Records, 1869-1909 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Tennessee Delayed Birth Records, 1869–1909. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Accessed at AncestryLibrary, 20 November 2018.