Maggie Garrett

 Margaret Jane Garrett

"Maggie"    

 

  

b. 20 May 1848

    Chambers County, Alabama, USA   

d. 6 Nov 1931

    Homer, Claiborne, Louisiana, USA

m. Larkin Randolph Lay 

     21 Nov 1866

     Claiborne Parish, Louisiana 

(you can read his "snapshot" by clicking HERE)

 

 Margaret was the first child born in the Garrett home.  She is on the 1850 Census above, at the age of two. Her father John is a farmer who was born in Georgia and is 25 years old.  Maggie's mother Elizabeth is 21 years old and was born in Georgia as well.

 

In 1853 John and Elizabeth moved their family from Alabama to Claiborne Parish in Louisiana where John purchases several plots of land about 8 miles north east of Homer and establishes a huge plantation. According to one source there was a time that he owned so much land that it was impossible to figure out exactly how much!  Another source said his plantation went from the Wade Center to Antioch.  The map below shows its proximity to Homer, Lisbon and Haynesville.

On the 1860 Census we find the enumerator used initials for families on this form but comparing each child's name, age and birthplace I found that this is the correct census. Notice that Susan who is three in 1860 had the initial of S.L. but her name is Susan Wilson Garrett.  This is the only child who could be three at the time so I am assuming it is either an enumerator error or Susan had another middle name beside Wilson. 

 

Also J.Y. Coleman is not a family member but the overseer on the farm. 

You may have noticed that Maggie's 10 year old brother is named Patrick Floyd Garrett....ever hear of Pat Garrett.  Yep that would be Maggie's little brother!

 

 Sheriff Pat Garrett

 

Mr. B and I have three sons and when we first told them the story of Pat Garrett they wanted to know why one of our relatives would want to kill a little boy. Once they got over the fact that "Billy the Kid" was not a kid, they loved sharing that story at school.

Maggie and Larkin Randolph Lay marry on 21 Nov 1866.  Maggie is 18 years old and Larkin is 30.

Hardships suffered during and after the Civil War (1861-65) drove the Garrett's into financial debt. In 1867 Maggie's mother Elizabeth passes away after giving birth to her last child, a boy just 19 days earlier. And four months later her father John dies and there are seven children to support. Maggie and Larkin assume responsibility for the siblings except for Pat who is 18 and wants to be on his own. The children had been left with a plantation that was more than $30,000 in debt so the property was sold.

 

By the 1870 Census Maggie and Larkin have had a son named William Lumpkin "Willie" and the remaining Garrett children are now living with them except for Sarah Martha "Sallie" who married at 15 years of age to John Sherman a farmer.

 The above photo was taken about 1888

 

They have ten children in all - six boys and four girls.  Mr. B's maternal grandfather is Matt Baker Lay above and their last daughter Leora Lena has yet to be born when this photo was taken.

*Note: this photo has been edited as several of their noses were pin pricked out. I also have the original.

 

 The 1880 Census has Larkin as a farmer, Maggie keeping house, Willie at 12 is a field hand and they have five more children.  Jim Nick is 10 and marked as "maimed, crippled, bedridden or otherwise disabled", Larkin R. Jr. is 7, David M. is 5, Lizzie C. is 3 and the baby Maggie (Annie M.)  is 4 months. Larkin's brother William C. Lay (25) is living with them as well as Maggie's brother Hillary Garrett (13).

On June 15th, 1900 the census shows that Larkin & Maggie have had four more children - Katie F. 18, Matt B. 15, Landrum L. 12 and Lena is 10. Their disabled son James Nicholson is now a "cattle buyer" and Larkin is a farmer on his fathers farm.

A newspaper article dated 25 Nov 1903 - So it appears that the Lay's had a group of young people join them on a Friday night and on Sunday they had several couples over. It is hard for me to imagine as I think of them working hard all of the time so I was delighted to come across this article showing that they did take some time to socialize.

On the 28th of February in 1908 tragedy struck as Maggie's brother Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett is murdered in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

 

 

 

In 1910 the census has Maggie (61) and Larkin (73) listed as not having an occupation but two of their children are living with them - Lumpkin (22) who is a Blacksmith for the Rail Road and Lena (20) who is working as a Milliner in a shop.  They are living in a rented home on South 3rd Street in the town of Homer. They have been married for 43 years and have had 10 children.

Larkin passes away on the 6th of December in 1917. Sometime before 1930 Maggie goes to live with her son Landrum Lee Lay, his wife Alice and their daughter Margaret.

 

Landrum is a veteran of the "World War" and is now a farm laborer. Their little daughter is 2 months old on the 1930 Census.

Maggie dies the following year on 6 November 1931 and is laid to rest next to her husband Larkin in the Antioch cemetery. 

If you would like to see how Maggie fits into Mr. B's tree just click HERE!