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Continued: Bertie/Birdie Burton, age 3, was enumerated with her mother Caroline,age 26 on 9 Jun 1880. They were boarders in the household of GillieSmith, a black female, 68 years of age in Tywappity Township,Charleston, MO. (Lila S. Morton Clark told me that her motherBertie/Birdie had a sister by the name of Caroline). Caroline waslisted as single. She indicated that she and her parents were born inTN. Bertie's place of birth and that of her parents was listed as MO.
In an interview with Lila Morton Clark, Lila recalled thatBertie/Birdie had an older sister who was named Lucy.
In the 1910 Census, May/June, undated page, Bertie/Birdie was listedas a Titsworth. Viola Morton, Bertie's daughter, (listed as thedaughter of Bob Titsworth on her death certificate) was 16 years ofage and living with Bertie/Birdie on Locust Street in Charleston, MO.Albert Morton, 19 years of age at the time, was also living in thehousehold and listed as Bertie's brother. Dorothy Boens, Bertie'sdaughter, age four, who died in August of 1910 as a result ofcurvature of the spine, was also living in the household as was SamWeilly, a 22 year old lodger from Kentucky whom Viola married on 19Dec 1910.
According to the 1937 City Directory, Mt. Vernon Colored Residents,Birdie Swift was working as a domestic and lived at 1309 South 9thStreet. In the 1949 Mt. Vernon City Directory, Bertie Swift was listedalone without and address.
Bertie had lived in Mt. Vernon, IL for about 31 years at the time ofher death in 1960, having migrated there around 1929. Her father waslisted as Frank Moten (Frank Robert Morton, step-father) (father andstep-grandfather of daughter Lila Morton Clark). Bertie's mother'smaiden name was listed as Palace Ann Burton* and the informant wasLila Clark. Bertie was attended by W.G. Parker, MD from 6 through 25Oct 1960. She died at 10:45 AM from a Coronary Occlusion, Immediatedue to Arteriole Sclerosis. Parker Funeral Home, 1713 North St., Mt.Vernon, IL, handled her services.
Bertie's Tombstone in the Colored Section of Oak Wood Cemetery in Mt.Vernon, IL is a large blue/gray stone inscribed "Bertie Swift, Nov 4,1877; Oct 25, 1960; A precious one from us has gone, A voice we lovedis stilled; A place is vacant in our home which never can be filled". Bertie's Tombstone inscription is identical to Edgar's, herstep-brother.
*When Bertie was listed in the 1880 Census on 9 Jun, her age waslisted as 3 which would place her date of birth as 1876, not 1877 aslisted on her tombstone and death certificate.
There is a photo of Birdie/Bertie and Mable Clark in the Family Book.
There is also recent evidence that Annie (Palace) Burton married a Mr.Si Campbell on 29 Dec 1879 in Charleston, Mississippi County, MO.When Annie married great-grandfather Frank Robert Morton on 1 Feb1883, she used the name Annie Burton instead of Annie Campbell. Thedissolution of the marriage between Annie and Si requires furtherresearch. The identity of Birdie/Bertie's father has not beendetermined.
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