Betty (Martin) Coleman (1859 - aft. 1937)

Born Oct 1859 in Warren, Bradley, Arkansas, United States

Wife of George Coleman — married 29 Sep 1883 in Bradley, Arkansas, United States

Descendants

Died after 1937 after age 77 in Arkansas, United States

Biography

Betty (Martin) Coleman is a part of US Black heritage.

Betty Coleman was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in about 1937 about her life and her time as an enslaved person. The typescript is stamp dated August 31, 1937.

"My father belonged to Mr. Ben Martin and my mother and me belonged to the Slaughters. I was small then and didn't know what the war was about, but I remember seein' the Yankees and the Ku Klux. Old master had about fifteen or twenty hands but Mr. Martin had a plenty - he had bout a hundred head. I member when the war was goin' on we was livin' in Bradley County. We was goin' to Texas to keep the Yankees from gettin' us. I member Mr. Gil Martin was just a young lad of a boy. We got as far as Union County and I know we stopped there and stayed long enough to make two crops and then peace was declared so we come back to Warren."

"After the war ended we stayed on the place one year and made a crop and then my father bought fifty acres of Mr. Ben Martin. He paid some on it every year and when it was paid for Mr. Ben give him a deed to it. I'm the only child my mother had."

"I stayed right there till I married. My father had cows and he'd kill hogs and had a peach orchard, so we got along fine."

Betty does not name any family members in her interview.

Slave Owners

1. unknown Slaughter

Interview: Betty Coleman was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas by Mrs. Bernice Bowden as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are made available by the Library of Congress. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ [1] Library of Congress - WPA - Slave Narrative - Betty Coleman - Vol. 2, Arkansas, part 2; pages 36-37, images 40-41 of 358.

• "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NMG3-TYF : 9 March 2021), Bettie Franklin in entry for George Coleman, 29 Sep 1883; citing Marriage, Bradley, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 981,961.

• "Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQPX-FWP : 11 January 2020), Bettie Franklin in entry for George Coleman, 1883.

• "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3FH-PGV : 10 March 2022), Bettie Coleman in entry for Geo Coleman, 1900.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKV7-LJD : accessed 20 March 2023), Bettie Coleman, Pine Bluff Ward 1, Jefferson, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 113, sheet 13A, family 285, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 54; FHL microfilm 1,374,067.

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJM-NZR : 31 January 2021), Betty Calman in entry for Issac Gregory, 1920.

Son's Social Security file names parents: "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K42-K3TW : 11 February 2023), Bettie Martin in entry for Jim Coleman, .

Daughter's Social Security file names parents: "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K7Z-8KGB : 10 February 2023), Bettie Martin in entry for Lillian Griffin, .

Possible Enslaver

"United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKVS-5DZM : 16 October 2019), Charles A Slaughter, 1860.

Possible Enslaver of her father: "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKVS-58PZ : 16 October 2019), Benjamin N Martin, 1860.

"United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKVS-582M : 16 October 2019), Benjamin W Martins, 1860.