Home > Family History > Marjorie Kersey

• Name: Marjorie Kersey
• Born: February 8, 1915 Randolph County, Georgia, United States
• Father: Joseph Ludie Kersey
• Mother: Mary Frances Parham
• Married:
• Spouse: Hubert Clay Blackstone
• Children:
• Lorita Blackstone
• Dolores Blackstone
• Married:
• Spouse: Sant Shoemaker
• Died: July 3, 1998 Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States
• Buried: July 5, 1998 Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs, Fulton County, Georgia, United States

It used to be a regular occurrence that when Vanessa and I visited Georgia we would go to her grandmother's (Marjorie Kersey) house to see her.

She told me several stories that were passed down in her family. One was that her grandfather was a guard at Andersonville (an infamous prison camp during the Civil War). There wasn't enough food or water for the prisoners. They would dig holes looking for water and some of them had their heads "blowed up" (swelled up) and died. It was pitiful. One time lightning struck the ground inside the camp so they knew to dig there and they found water that they could drink until the war was over. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersonville_National_Historic_Site)

Another story was about George Marion Blackstone. He was a blacksmith and had a blacksmith shop. One day some black men attacked and killed a white woman (this was her account, I am not claiming that it is known that these men committed the crime by writing this here). The men were put in jail but the town went crazy. They got his blacksmith tools to break into the jail. Then they hung the man in the street. After that all of the black people were run out of the county. They called it the Forsyth clear out. I asked "did he get his tools back after that?" She said, oh, he was in it with the rest of them. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1912_Racial_Conflict_of_Forsyth_County,_Georgia and https://www.npr.org/2016/09/15/494063372/the-racial-cleansing-that-drove-1-100-black-residents-out-of-forsyth-county-ga)

There was a bowling alley that she wanted to go to but her father wouldn't let her go at night. So she would sneak out of the window of her bedroom to go to the bowling alley and to go dancing.

She had a temper and didn't seem to be ashamed of people knowing it. She had a .410 that she kept by the front door to shoot at squirrels. One time she was angry at Sant and shot at his truck as he was driving away. Vanessa remembers the cover over the back of the truck had holes in it and shot rolled around in the truck bed.

A small detail that I remember is that she used to scratch on doors inside the house to announce herself rather than knock on the door.

[Opening of Gone with the Wind, Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Atlanta, crowd so thick they were stomping the shoes off of each other]

Sources:

• 1930 US Census, Georgia, Terrell County, Dover Precinct, Dwelling number 16, Family number 16, Line 57. Name, Marjorie Kersey; Relation, daughter; Lives on farm, yes; Female; White; Age, 15; Marital status, single; Attended school, yes; Able to read and write, yes; Birthplace, Georgia; Father's birthplace, Georgia; Mother's birthplace, Georgia; Able to speak English, yes; Occupation, none.
• 1940 US Census, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, Ward 5, Block 7, Twelfth Street, House number 187, Household 297, Rented; Value of home, 25; Live on a farm, no; Line, 44. Name, Margie Kersey; Head; Relation code, 0; Female; White; Age, 24; Single; Attended school or college, no; Highest grade completed, College second year; Education code, 10; Birthplace, Georgia; Residence in 1935, Same Place; Resident on farm in 1935, no; Employed for pay, yes; Hours worked week prior to census, 54; Occupation, operator; Industry, Beauty Parlor; Wage or salary worker in private work; Weeks worked in 1939, 52; Income, 416; Income other sources, no. Supplementary questions; name, Margie Kersey; Father's birthplace, Georgia; Mother's birthplace, Georgia; Native language, English; Veteran, no; Social security number, no; Usual occupation, Operator; Usual industry, Beaty Parlor; Wage or salary worker in private work; Married, no.
• 1941 Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory. "Blackstone Hubert (Marjorie) slsmn r187 12 NE".

• BLACKSTONE

  Mrs. Marjorie K. Blackstone of Cumming died Friday morning July 3, 1998 following a brief illness. A native of Randolph Co., GA, Mrs. Blackstone was a member of Cumming First Baptist Church. She was the widow of the late Mr. Hubert Clay Blackstone. Survivors include daughters and son in-law, Lorita Whitaker, Marietta; Dolores and Larry Shadburn, Cumming; grandchildren, Janette and Tom Nash, Tim and Alicia Shadburn, Vanessa and Floyd Reed, Tonya Shadburn, Daniel Whitaker, sisters and brothers in-law, Virginia and Douglas Rainey, Lakelake FL; Mary Frances and Bill Day, Brandon, FL; a number of neices, nephews, and other relatives also survive.

  Funeral services will be held Sunday, July 5, 1998, 2 P.M., Ingram Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Bob Jolly officiating. Interment, Arlington Cemetery, Sandy Springs. Ingram Funeral Home, Cumming.

  —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), Saturday, July 4, 1998, p. D11.

• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Marjorie_Kersey_%281%29
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kersey-161
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198595613/marjorie-blackstone
• Name: Marjorie Blackstone Gender: Female Race: White Age: 83 Birth Date: abt 1915 Residence Place: Forsyth, Georgia, USA Death Date: 3 Jul 1998 Death Place: Fulton, Georgia, USA File Date: 16 Jul 1998 Certificate Number: 030630 Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, 1998. Indexes of Vital Records for Georgia: Deaths, 1919-1998, Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, State of Georgia, Georgia, USA, 1998.
• Name: Marjorie K Blackstone Birth Date: 8 Feb 1915 Address: 1386 Kelly Mill Trce, 30130 Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings.
• Name: Marjorie Kersey [Marjorie Blackstone] Gender: Female Race: White Birth Date: 8 Feb 1916 Birth Place: Shellman, Georgia Death Date: 3 Jul 1998 Father: Joseph L Kersey Mother: Mary F Parham SSN: 256124008 Notes: Feb 1938: Name listed as MARJORIE KERSEY; : Name listed as MARJORIE BLACKSTONE; 11 Jul 1998: Name listed as MARJORIE K BLACKSTONE Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.
• Name: Marjorie K. Blackstone SSN: 256-12-4008 Last Residence: 30040 Cumming, Forsyth, Georgia, USA BORN: 8 Feb 1915 Died: 3 Jul 1998 State (Year) SSN issued: Georgia (Before 1951) Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.