Bertie Mae Ausburn
July 24th 1916 - June 16th 1957
Bertie Mae Ausburn was born on July 24th 1916 in Banks County, Georgia. She grew up in a household with her mother, Mittie Ausburn, and her grandfather, Benjamin Ausburn, who she looked up to as a father. She always said that she was raised by her grandfather and that she loved him dearly. When Benjamin was plowing the fields, he would gladly stop when Bertie Mae would bring him a glass of water.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae (Right) and her Aunt Maud (Left)
Father: Unknown
Mother: Mittie Ausburn
Half Siblings: Boyd Jackson, Lucille Jackson
_______________________
Husband: Harve Deaton
Children: Wayne Deaton
Child with Jack Peyton: Martha Ann Deaton,
Sensitive Content
Unknown Father
When Bertie's mother, Mittie Ausburn, was 18 years old, she had a child out of wedlock. It is currently unknown who the father of Bertie Mae Ausburn is. This was not talked about by the family and the information may have been lost through time. Bertie Mae's grandson told me that when Harve (Bertie's husband) was in his older age and had suffered many strokes, that he had brought it up and mentioned the name of Bertie's father. Unfortunately the name that was told to him has become a blur, he believes that Harve told him that it was a Charles "Langley" or "Langtree" or "Langford". Hopefully one day this will be revealed through lots of DNA testing.
Early Life
Bertie Mae was an active member at Damascus Church in Homer, Georgia. when she was five years old, Harve Deaton, had said she would be his wife some day and apparently Bertie Mae had cussed him out for it.
Bertie Mae grew up with two aunts and one uncle. Maud, Essie, and Grant Ausburn.
1920 Census showing Bertie Mae Ausburn living with her grandfather, mother, and aunt
In 1921, Bertie Mae's mother, Mittie, got married to Claude Homer Jackson. This would be her new step father. Mittie had two more children, Boyd and Lucille. Bertie Mae loved those children with a passion.
Bertie Mae in her teenage years with unknown children
Bertie Mae standing with step-son, Fred Gibson
.jpeg)
Top Row (L to R): Bentley Lewallen, Bobbie Jean, Benjamin Ausburn, Bertie Mae Ausburn, Claude Homer Jackson
Bottom Row (L to R):
Benny Lewallen, Mittie Ausburn, Lucille Jackson, Boyd Jackson
L to R: Harve Deaton, Bertie Ausburn, Odell Meeler, Robert Meeler, Charlie Meeler
This picture was taken when Ben Ausburn died. The Ausburn family is well represented here. The children on the front row left to right are Ruby and Rudolph Ausburn, Boyd Jackson and Eulean Lewallen. The second row: Bertie Mae Deaton, Belle Ausburn, Vassie Lewallen, Montene Ausburn, Marie Ausburn and Bentley Lewallen. Back row: Hubert Ausburn, Harve Deaton, unknown, Daisy Ausburn, Duck Ausburn, unknown, Grant Ausburn, unknown, Ralph Lewallen and Claude Jackson
Bertie Mae Ausburn is on the right. She is with an unknown friend.
Working for the Garrisons
Bertie Mae Ausburn completed school up to the 7th grade and at age 16, she went to Cornelia and stayed with the family of Brawner Martin and Fletcher Garrison. She kept the house, cooked, and took care of the children. The children were Oland and Jacqueline. Bertie Mae stayed there until she got married at the age of 19.
In 2023, I contacted Jackie Garrison at the age of 94. When I asked about Bertie Mae, she said that she remembered that Bertie was a "really country girl" and that "she was really poor".
L to R: Brawner Martin, Jackie Garrison, Bertie Mae Deaton
L to R: Jackie Garrison, Bertie Mae Deaton
Marriage
Bertie Mae Ausburn married Harve Wesley Deaton on February 21st, 1935 in Banks County, Georgia by Rev. Freeman Rice.
Bertie's mother, Mittie, became very sickly. Bertie and Harve would pick Mittie's children up on Sunday afternoon and keep them at their house until Friday afternoon so they could go to school.
Bertie got pregnant and they welcomed their first child, Martha Ann Deaton on July 5th 1941. Bertie's mother, Mittie, died the next day on July 6th 1941.
Other people worked the farm to keep it going while Harve was busy building military equipment during WW2. It was a sharecropper's farm. There was always someone staying with them that worked for a room. Everyday there was someone at the door asking Harve and Bertie for food; they were always fed leftovers and given water while sitting on Harve's backdoor step.
Bertie got pregnant once more but they had to bury their baby boy, Kenneth Wesley Deaton on March 13th 1943. He arrived too early and wasn't strong enough to make it.
Bertie Mae was pregnant once more and Harry Wayne Deaton was born on July 29, 1946 and the war had ended.
Headstone of Infant Kenneth Deaton
L to R: Harve, Martha Ann, Bertie Mae
.jpeg)
L to R: Harve, Wayne, Martha, Bertie
Bertie Mae holding Wayne Deaton and standing with Martha Ann.
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae holding daughter Martha Ann and standing with husband Harve
.jpeg)
L to R: Lucille Jackson, Bobbie Jean Lewallen, Bertie Mae and Harve Deaton holding Martha Ann
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae holding daughter Martha Ann
Postcard send from cousin Ralph Lewallen to Bertie Mae Deaton while he was overseas in Africa during the war.
Bertie and Harve's marriage certificate (Picture taken from Banks County Courthouse)
Jack Peyton
In August of 2023, a seemingly routine decision led to a profound discovery that would reshape the understanding of one family's history. It all began when my mother decided to take a DNA test through Ancestry.com. Little did we know that the results of this test would unravel a hidden chapter in our family's past.
As the test results arrived, we were met with a shock that left us bewildered. Contrary to our expectations, the DNA analysis revealed that we did not share any DNA connection with the "Deaton" family, despite our longstanding belief that we were firmly rooted in this ancestral line. Even more bewildering was the fact that we shared 0% DNA with many of my grandmother Martha Ann Deaton's first cousins, individuals who were assumed to be close relatives. We were at a loss for what to make of this unexpected turn of events. However, as we delved deeper into the test results, another name emerged as a prominent clue. We noticed a significant number of first cousin matches with individuals bearing the surname "Peyton." The name struck a chord for my mom and I because we have a photograph from 1941 depicting a man named Jack Peyton holding a baby Martha Ann.
Jack Peyton holding Martha Ann Deaton
With newfound determination, we embarked on a quest to uncover the truth behind the connection between the Deaton and Peyton families. Our journey led us to uncover a crucial piece of evidence in the form of Jack Peyton's World War II registration card. It revealed that Jack Peyton had been the farmhand for Harve Deaton, Martha Ann's father, back in 1940. The card listed Bertie Mae Deaton, Martha Ann's mother, as someone who would always know Jack Peyton's address. With this newfound information in hand, our quest led us to the last living link in the chain, Jack Peyton's only son, Ronald Peyton. At the age of 77, Ronald was surprised to receive our call, as he had always known about the existence of a half-sister living in North Carolina. However, he had never known her name or her identity. Our call offered him the long-awaited answers he had sought for many years. To confirm the connection, we convinced Ronald Peyton to take a DNA test. The results of the test confirmed our suspicions, as it revealed that he shared 9% DNA (634 centimorgans) with my mother, which is consistent with the genetic relationship of a half-uncle. It became increasingly clear that Jack Peyton was likely the biological father of Martha Ann Deaton. The revelation of this hidden family secret left us with a profound sense of empathy for Martha Ann and Harve Deaton, who possibly lived their entire lives without ever discovering the truth. The circumstances of how Bertie Mae Deaton became pregnant by Jack Peyton remain unknown, buried in the annals of time, and lost to history.
Living in Cramerton
The family eventually decided to move to Cramerton, North Carolina on March 10th, 1950. Bertie's husband, Harve, had already been working in the Mill there because farming was not productive enough to support a family of four. While working in the mill, Harve was living with Bertie's cousin, Vassie Lewallen and her husband Garnett Smith. Harve was eventually offered a job to be the caretaker for the Cramer farm and a house came with the job; therefore, Bertie and the children made the full time move to Cramerton. Their house address was 583 Mountain Road, Cramerton NC. This was the first house Bertie Mae had with a bathroom, running water, and electricity.
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae and Harve Deaton at their Cramerton House
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae with her children, Wayne and Martha Ann Deaton
Deaton Family in the yard of Stuart Cramer at the Maymont Mansion
The family loved going to Friendship Baptist Church, this is where Bertie Mae's cousin, Vassie and Garnett Smith attended church. Harve and Bertie had became good friends with the preacher, Albert Pressley Millen, and his wife, Nellie.
When attending a church dinner at Friendship Baptist Church in Belmont, the family got red measles (also known as rubeola). Everyone had gotten better except for mother Bertie Mae. Her measles turned into spinal meningitis. She laid in the hospital and went into a coma for 42 days. When she awoke, she was never quite right again and suffered physically and mentally. Things did not get better for Bertie Mae as there were instances where she had attempted suicide by trying to drown herself in the lake and her husband Harve jumped in and pulled her out. Harve had her committed to Broughton Mental Hospital on May 3rd 1954 and was she discharged on June 30th 1955. I was able to obtain Bertie's admission card to Broughton Hospital through the Broughton Hospital Library, everything that I was told was confirmed to be true about her medical conditions.
On Sunday, June 16th 1957 at 9:15 pm, Bertie Mae Deaton, had gotten her husband's .32 pistol and shot herself in the right temple outside of the garage of her house. She was followed by her son Wayne outside and she told him, "Do your mother a favor and go back inside the house". Wayne ran back inside the house and told his sister, Martha. Martha replied "She's not gonna do it" and then the gun shot went off.
Shortly before Bertie's death, her daughter, Martha Ann, had apparently been sneaking out of the house at night and was forming relations with the black folk down the road in "Baltimore Village". The town of Cramerton had assumed that Martha was dating black men. The local Ku Klux Klan heard about this and burned a cross in the Deaton's yard. Before Bertie Mae's death, she wrote a letter to her half brother, Boyd Jackson, which read "Make sure Blackie takes care of my flowers". According to Boyd's son, Ronnie, Boyd held onto this letter for a long time but that it was eventually burned in a house fire.
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae and friend Nellie Millen.
Bertie Mae's Broughton Hospital Admission Card.
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae after contracting Spinal Meningitis
The Gastonia Gazette June 18th 1957, Tue · Page 9
According to members of the family, there was a post-mortem photograph of Bertie Mae, but as of this writing, I have never seen the picture and it is unknown if it still exists today
Death Certificate of Bertie Mae Deaton
Memory of Bertie Mae Deaton Written by Daughter, Martha Ann Deaton
Bertie Mae was an excellent seamstress. She could cut a pattern out of a newspaper and it would look great. She made her daughter's fourth grade school teacher a velvet dress with sequins all over. She was a very good cook and loved all the Ausburn generation. As a child I remember a death in the community and the family was very poor. Mama went over to the house and each neighbor gave what they could to help out. Mama took chickens, eggs, ect. to the country store and traded them. She was so proud she was able to get each child and the father in the family a new set of clothes. She pruchased cloth and went home. She procceeded to make the mother a new dress. By late afternoon she delivered the clothes and had cooked their dinner as well. She always tried to help others.
A message written by Bertie Mae in Martha Ann Deaton's 1956 yearbook
.jpeg)
Bertie Mae (Right) with brother-in-law, Isaac Deaton (Left)
Extra Stories about Bertie Mae Ausburn
In 2023, I visited Baltimore Village (African-American Community) in Cramerton with my mother. Baltimore Village is directly across the street to where Bertie and the family lived in Cramerton from 1950-1962. When knocking on the door of the oldest living locals in Baltimore Village, I told them that my great grandparents lived across the street in the 1950s. Immediately, I got the response, "Martha Ann Deaton?". All 3 locals that I spoke to, remembered Bertie Mae and the family like they spoke to them yesterday. One lady told me that she remembered Bertie Mae sitting on the porch of the house and when the children from Baltimore would walk to the store and pass the Deaton household, Bertie Mae would look out for cars to make sure no one got hit. One man told me that he remembered Bertie Mae coming over to help the people in Baltimore sew some clothing and that she was a very friendly woman.
In 2023, I also spoke with a classmate of Martha Ann Deaton, she said she remembered Bertie well and that she had a real country voice and that she was always real friendly to her. She said she does remember Bertie Mae having breakdowns when she came to visit them and she would sometimes see Bertie cry for no reason. She also recollected the goodie bags that Bertie would sent her home with, filled with cake and cookies.
Bertie Mae Deaton's Social Security Card
Bertie Mae with children and famous Cherokee Indian, Molly Runningwolf Sequoyah
In 2023, Roy Gibson (Brother of Fred Gibson) told me that he remembered walking down Baldwin mountain when Bertie Mae recognized him and picked him up in her and Harve's Ford A model coupe. He said she was driving with Martha Ann and Wayne in the car.
Every Picture I have seen of Bertie Mae Ausburn
