We all have gold mines in our family and; family history is one of our overlooked gold mines.
The Baltimore, Carter and Spriggs’ families in Alexandria, Virginia were old family surnames that have been in Alexandria prior and after the Civil War. The Spriggs’ family was in Alexandria prior to the war, the Baltimore family came during the war and the Carter family came after the war. What these families have in common is that they were part of the growing black mid-class. They were the lawyers, entrepreneurs, teachers and property owners. These families married into each other’s families and they were members of Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church (Roberts Chapel).
However, their affluence did not prevent them from the flu pandemic. This pandemic impacted rich, mid-class, poor, elderly, adults, children, black, white and everyone else who made up the world population.
Bessie Evans Baltimore Carter was born in Alexandria, Virginia on March 19, 1891. She married Irving (Irvin) Chesterfield Carter. She had two daughters Verma and Lucy. Bessie died during the Influenza Pandemic on December 26, 1918.
Unknown to Bessie’s daughter Lucy that her mother died during the Influenza Pandemic. Lucy was two-years old and her sister Verma was three-years old when their mother died. However, Lucy was unaware about the rich family history that her family had. She and her sister had many historical gold mines in their family. These historical gold mines died with the death of their parents who did not have the time to share their family history with their children.
A story about Bessie Evans Baltimore Carter titled, “A Family’s Devastation of Influenza Pandemic” is in the Alexandria Gazette Newspaper dated May 13, 2020 on page 6 at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2020/051320/Alexandria.pdf
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