According to her obituary, my elusive Swedish great-grandmother, Celia Marie STEFFENSON, was born on 26 Feb. 1877 “on General Lee’s plantation in West Virginia.”
I’ve often puzzled over that.
Of course, obituaries are only as reliable as the person giving the information for the obituary, the reporter writing the obituary, and/or the editor editing them. So the obituary could be in error.
But, there was a family story that Celia was a “hillbilly,” and various genealogy sources claim she was born in West Virginia or Virginia. But born on General Lee’s plantation? Did he even have a plantation in West Virginia?
But wait, I’m thinking of the famous General Robert E. Lee from the Civil War. Maybe the obituary meant another General Lee. But if so, who? And why was it noted in the obituary?
I do know that Celia’s father, Swan STEFFENSON, worked in the lumber industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the family lived in Ludington, Mason County, Michigan.
I also know from Celia’s mom’s obituary that some time between 1873 and 1883, Celia’s parents twice “returned to Sweden, thinking to remain there, but finally returned to America as the land of their permanent choice.”
It wasn’t unusual for labor agents to recruit Europeans arriving in America to work in the lumber industry in West Virginia. This was close to the timeframe of Celia’s birth, so it’s possible this Swedish family was recruited to work in West Virginia. That may be why my Swedish great-grandmother was born in West Virginia.
But born on General Lee’s plantation? Any thoughts?
[...] a brakeman on the Pere Marquette Railroad at the time of his marriage on 14 Sept. 1898. William wed Cecilia Marie STEFFENSON, daughter of Swan STEFFENSON and Mary [...]