#52ancestors Post Forty-Eight: Next to Last - Bryant Rustus Giddens

This photo was taken between 1910 and 1918. If Mildred and Albert were already married when this photo was taken, the photo would have been taken after the marriage of the
Northcutts in 1917 and prior to the death of Cleo Patra Giddens O'Cain in 1918.
Click on the photos to see a larger version. 

The writing prompt for #52ancestors, post-forty-eight is next to last. Bryant Rustus Giddens was the next to last child of Mitchell Giddens and Letisha Britt of the North Carolina. Bryant Rustus Giddens was probably born in Duplin County. According to Bible records, he was born on September 2, 1851. His father was living in Duplin County when recorded in the 1850 census and appeared to remain in Duplin until at least November 1852. 

In 1860, Bryant Rustus Giddens was found as "Ristus W. Giddings" on the United States census. He was eight-years-old, attending school, and living with his mother, Letisha, and four of his siblings in Buck Swamp, Wayne County, North Carolina. 

His name was recorded as Bryan R. Gidden in 1870. He was living with his mother, Letisha, at the home of his sister, Patience E. and her husband, John O. Clifton. John was a farmer and it was written on the census that eighteen-year-old Rustus "works on farm."

Much changed for Rustus in the 1870s. He moved to Arkansas and married Martha J. Jones on December 29, 1875, in Lonoke in Prairie County, Arkansas. He was the only one of his siblings to move to Arkansas. Why and when did he leave North Carolina? Did he leave with friends or family? 

Bryant Rustus and his wife, Martha, had seven children. Letishe, Lenolia, and Willie died as infants and are buried in New Hope Cemetery. John Gilbert died at age 10 of congestion and is also buried in New Hope Cemetery. 

Cleo Patra

Daughter, Cleo "Patra" Giddens remained in Arkansas, married Charles O'Cain, died in 1918, and is buried in Concord Cemetery in Lonoke County. 

Mildred

Mildred Lee Giddens, the next to the last daughter,  remained in Arkansas where she married Albert Lafayette Northcutt in 1917. She died in 1969 and is buried in Hebron Cemetery in Lonoke County. 

Dochia

Daughter, Dochia Giddens, married James Oscar Cochran, remained in Arkansas, died in 1959, and is buried in Salem Cemetery in Lonoke County. 

Walter Rich

Walter Rich and his wife, Jessie Petty Rich, are seen in the above photo. Walter and Jessie were boarders living with Bryant Giddens in 1910. In 1900, Walter, age 14, was also a boarder living with the Giddens family. Notes, from a descendant of Bryant Rustus Giddens, mention him as an adopted son. 




R. Giddens of Arkansas was found in the obituary of James T. Giddens, older brother of Bryant Rustus, on April 21, 1908. Did Bryant Rustus keep in touch with family? In an old query on Genform, it was suggested that one of his descendants had a photo of his brother, James T. Giddens and a woman by the name of Hobbs. This could be his sister, Mary Susan Giddens, who married a Hobbs. 

By 1900, Bryant Rustus Giddens was living in Hickory Plains in Prarie County, Arkansas where he remained until at least 1930. He died on June 1, 1938, in Lonoke County, Arkansas and is buried with family in New Hope Cemetery in Lonoke County. 


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Diana

© 2018

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

Northcutt, Mildred (wife of Rex Northcutt). Letters, Giddens family bible pages, family photo, and correspondence. 2009.

Quinn, Diana Bryan. Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Sunday's Obituary: James Thomas Giddens. Blogger., 22 April 2012. Web. 25 Dec. 2018. <https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/sundays-obituary-james-thomas-giddens.html>

Quinn, Diana Bryan. Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: #52ancestors Post Thirty-Six: Mitchell Giddens was a Shoemaker. Blogger, 9 Sept 2018. Web. 25 Dec. 2018. <https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/52ancestors-posts-thirty-six-mitchell.html>