Donie was born in 1889, the eldest daughter of John S and Martha Rebecca Saxon Heard. She married William Altidore (Altie) Beverly 4 December 1910. Her daughter said she was a kind, gentle woman with loving manners and a sweet disposition.
My grandmother, Louise, would beam when she spoke of her mother, which was an almost daily conversation. She was about 8 when Donie passed, and she never stopped missing her. She recalled family meals, riding to church in a wagon, Sunday dinners where the families would gather at one home and spend the afternoon, picking blackberries, and working in the gardens. They also worked picking cotton on farms in Alabama.
Donie passed away from probable stomach cancer in 1926. She left behind five children, aged 3-14. She was 36.
Sources
"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9DT-Z2L : accessed 19 February 2021), Sallie Heard in household of J S Heard, Justice Precinct 4, Lamar, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 53, sheet 4A, family 61, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,037.
"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKWM-YZP : accessed 19 February 2021), Dona S Heard in household of John S Heard, Election Precinct 4 Lamar, Randolph, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 141, sheet 12A, family 224, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 31; FHL microfilm 1,374,044.
"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2D7-FPKG : 15 November 2020), Donie Heard in entry for Maury Brod and Gladys Beverly, 17 Apr 1937; citing Anniston, Calhoun, Alabama, United States,...
"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21C-YXPN : 15 November 2020), Donie Heard in entry for Herbert Jackson and Mattie Dee Beverly, 12 Nov 1937; citing Election Precinct 29 Alabama City, Etowah, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,877,203.
"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1W-43JB : 15 November 2020), Donna Herd in entry for Donald Hulon Beverly and Sarah Geneva Strickland, 9 Mar 1967; citing Montgomery, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,893,381.
"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1C-PGY8 : 15 November 2020), Donie Heard in entry for John Thomas Burt and Mattie Dean Fowler, 6 Jul 1964; citing Montgomery, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,893,340.
I cannot find an 1920 census for this family. In addition, a marriage record for Donie and Altie has not been located. Randolph County courthouse has burned several times, and my grandmother always said the records were lost. The marriage records listed in the references are for her children.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Donie by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Donie: