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Generated with AI (Microsoft Bing Image Creator) ∙ January 7, 2024 at 12:54 PM

Jones Family Tree: Sanford Talbert Jones and Ethelyn Stephens

At the end of 2023, I had a wonderful surprise and wrote about it here: Piggy-back. Antoinette has been generous, sharing family photos and history, which really led to breakthroughs in my son-in-law Jason's tree.

Researching families outside of my "own" has been enriching, and I learned so much researching the family of Ethelyn Stephens, Jason's great-grandmother. She married Sanford Talbert Jones the first, who was a laborer for the City of Los Angeles at the end of his life. To the right is a part of a photo of their son Sanford II (in the middle) in an old fire truck, from a great article about Black firefighters in Los Angeles. [1] 

Sanford Talbert Jones II and Ruby Alexander

Sanford carried on his father's experience in working for LA city. He  married Ruby Alexander who was born in Louisiana, possibly in New Orleans, although a birth record for her has not been found. Her father is unknown, although baby Ruby was given her mother's first husband's surname, Alexander. Amadee Alexander died 24 May 1920, and Ruby was born October 1922. Ruby had moved to Los Angeles by 1943 when she married Sanford II.

Ruby Alexander Jones' Mother Rosalie Dubuclet

While researching Ruby's mother Rosalie Dubuclet, I wondered if she was connected to the wealthy Dubuclets I had read about in Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South by Kimberly M. Welch, and an article by Elizabeth Shown Mills in the NGS Quarterly.

Public Trees Every Where!

Having a public tree is a gift that keeps on giving! Days ago, there was another message, from another of Jason's relatives, Denise, about a different branch of Jason's family, this one in Louisiana. The new second-cousin answered the Dubuclet part of the mystery!

Ruby's mother Rosalie Dubuclet shared the surname of a very wealthy Louisiana family, and I had wondered about her connection to them, because the family did not seem to have much money, especially after the accidental death of Amadee Alexander in 1920. For instance, when Rosalie died in 1940, I could find no obituary or burial information for her. 

Photos are Magic

Denise provided a lot of information about her branch of the Dubuclets, including pictures. Here is one of Rosalie's aunt, her father's sister Marie Rosalie DuBuclet Dessalles, taken about 1936. 

Denise said, "Jason and my ancestor, Antoine Dubuclet, was one of the wealthiest planters and owned more slaves than anyone. I don’t believe he was as kind and generous as my greats mentioned above. His grandfather was a Frenchman by the name Pierre Belly and grandmother a Free Woman of Color from Jamaica, Marie Rose, the progenitor for the name Rosalie. They had 5 daughters, all wealthy planters and are buried in a crypt purchased by their son-in-law, another wealthy planter, who was also a Free Man of Color."

Another Link in the Chain

We visited Anne and Jason a few days ago, and I could hardly wait to show him the expanded tree and photos. At first he was barely interested, but soon the mention of this wealthy Louisiana family - and the photos - stirred a memory about a very wealthy great-uncle. 

My daughter found the article that Jason remembered: 

It begins, "A $25 million donation to USC is being called the largest gift ever made to an American university by an African-American alumnus, the school said Saturday.

"Verna B. Dauterive, who retired after working in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 62 years, made the donation to USC in the name of her husband, Peter W. Dauterive." 

Of course I was off and running to research Peter Dauterive to find the relationship! I have not yet found a direct one, but he and Verna were both born in Louisiana - and the Dauterives are connected to Jason's other new cousin Antoinette! I can't wait to pin down the details and tell both new cousins about the connection!

Many of us have had the experience of adding one new tiny piece of information to a relative's profile and using that search to find new troves of records. My recent experience tells me that if that profile is public - relatives will find it, and add yet more details, which lead not only to new information, but to catching the interest of family members. Try it, keep on reaching out and putting your trees everywhere!

1. Photo from https://lasentinel.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/02/LOC-black-firefighters4.jpg which says: Afr-Amer… – (L-to-R): Fireman Billl Cotterell, Capt. James Akers, Fireman Sanford Jones and Fireman Herb Spragin (Courtesy of AAFFM)

Valorie Zimmerman