Last updated: November 14, 2021
Person
Leander Youngblood
Quick Facts
Significance:
Louisiana Homesteader
Place of Birth:
Mississippi
Date of Birth:
about 1857
Place of Death:
unknown
Date of Death:
unknown
Place of Burial:
unknown
Leander Youngblood filed his Homestead application No. 11610 on September 28, 1887 for the purpose of settling on public land with his wife Lucy J. (Brumfield) Youngblood. By December 1888, Leander had made improvements to this land located on Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4, Section 31 - Township 1S - Range 10 E of the St. Helena Meridian containing 127.20 acres of land.
In the 1880 US Census, Leander and his wife Lucy resided in Edward Dykes, Washington Parish, Louisiana with their two (2) children, Ella Youngblood and Alonzo L. Youngblood. By the time Leander applied for his homestead he had five (5) additional children (Vesti, Rosa Jane, Anderson, Lettie, and Josephine).
In compliance with requirements under the Homestead Act, Leander Youngblood made improvements to his land by adding a dwelling house, kitchen, smoke house, crib, stables, out house, and garden totaling a value of $500.00. He noted in his land entry testimony that his wife and their seven children lived on the land continuously since first settling on the property. Leander initially cleared 15 acres and over the course of six seasons up to 45 acres for the purpose of raising crops. The land was described as ordinary farming land, most valuable for the purpose of agriculture.
Several individuals were listed as witnesses on his land entry papers and also in the Franklinton New Era newspaper on October 17, 1894. His witnesses were Thomas Green, Green James, Isaac Fortenberry, and Clinton Harvey. Both Thomas Green and Isaac Fortenberry of Mount Point, Louisiana verified that Leander had complied with the homestead rules and supported his claimant testimony. Isaac Fortenberry and Clinton Harvey had also applied for a homestead in Washington Parish.
Leander Youngblood submitted his final affidavit required for the homestead claimant by signing his X on December 4, 1894. Upon satisfying all of the requirements Leander Youngblood successfully obtained land patent # 5791 on January 25, 1896 for 127.20 acres of land in Washington Parish, Louisiana.
While Leander Youngblood and his wife Lucy do not appear in the 1900 census, six of their children lived together. Their oldest son, Alonzo Youngblood, was listed as the head of household, with Vesti, Rosa Jane, Anderson, Letti, and Josephine all living together. Alonzo was enumerated as a farmer who owned the land he lived and worked on.
~ Contributed by Bernice Alexander Bennett
Bernice Alexander Bennett
Photo Credit: Anika Bennett
Bennett is a Louisiana researcher and descendant of 3 x great grandparents Thomas and Minerva (Smith) Youngblood, and 2x great grandparents Peter and Rebecca (Youngblood) Clark of Maurepas, Louisiana.Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcast stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. She also received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research in support of African American Genealogy. Bennett is on the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society.
Bennett--a New Orleans native and current resident in Maryland--enjoyed a 35-year career in domestic and international public health. She received an undergraduate degree from Grambling State University and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan.
Her genealogical research centers on Southeast Louisiana, and also Edgefield and Greenwood Counties, South Carolina. Her South Carolina journey is chronicled in Our Ancestors, Our Stories, which won the 2018 International AAHGS Book award for Non-Fiction Short Stories. Her second book Tracing Their Steps - A Memoir received the Phillis Wheatley Literary Award from the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage in 2019, the International AAHGS Book Award in 2020 for Non-Fiction Short Story and, the Next Generations Indie Award in 2021 for African American Non-Fiction book category and a semi-finalist in 2021 for the Winning Writer’s Book award.