Household #52: Shuman, Simon

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In the 1900 Barney census, Simon Shewman headed a 3-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Simon Shewman headed a 3-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 1 child.

Simon Shewman's listed occupation was Laborer Carpenter.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

The 1900 census places Simon Shewman in Barney as a young carpenter with wife Mary and infant daughter Cilla. The surname appears in several forms across the surviving records, including Shewman, Shurman, Shuman, and Schooman, but the age pattern, household members, and locations support treating those entries as one family line.

In 1910, the family remained in Brooks County under the spelling Shurman. Simon, then 32, was still working as a carpenter. The household included wife Mollie and children whose names align closely with the 1900 family and its expected expansion, including Cilla, Will, Felia, Mary, Aron, and Simon. By 1920, the family appears in Albany, Dougherty County, where Simon Shuman, 47, worked as a driver in a wood yard and the household included Mary, sons Will, Aaron, Simon, and John M., daughter Ruth, and grandson Willie Jno. In 1930, Simon Schooman, 55, appears in Precinct 6, St. Johns County, Florida, with wife Mary and children John, Ruth, and Tinie. In 1940, Simon Shuman, 60, appears in Brunswick, Glynn County, with wife Carry and sons John, Henry, and Charles.

The 1880 census in Ways Station, Bryan County, includes a four-year-old Simon Shuman in the household of Simon and Cylar Shuman. That earlier household is a plausible and likely fit for HH#52, but the parentage link still rests on cumulative evidence rather than a direct later record naming those parents.

Contemporary newspaper coverage ties Simon Shuman to the Hampton Smith case in June 1918. The Tampa Tribune of 22 Jun 1918 reported that Simon Shuman, described as being from near Morven, had been arrested and lodged in the Brooks County jail at Quitman. The Macon News of 25 Jun 1918 and the Atlanta Constitution of 26 Jun 1918 then reported that he had been removed from the Quitman jail to an undisclosed jail for safe keeping so that he could face trial rather than mob violence. Those reports support the conclusion that Simon was arrested during the crisis and moved out of Quitman for his protection. They do not by themselves establish the final disposition of the case.

The 1900-1940 census chain makes a strong case for long-term continuity of this family through Brooks County, Albany, St. Johns County, and Brunswick. The later shift from wife Mary or Mollie to wife Carry in 1940 also suggests that Simon may have remarried, but that transition should not be treated as proved until supported by direct marriage or death records.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
• Child census audit: Continue direct-record tracking for each child named in the 1900 household where later census, marriage, death, burial, obituary, or other parent-link proof is not already cited above.
• A marriage record is still needed to document Simon's union with Mary or Mollie and to identify her maiden name securely.
• The transition from Mary or Mollie in 1930 to Carry in 1940 likely reflects a later marriage, but the supporting marriage or death record has not yet been added here.
• The 1880 Bryan County household of Simon and Cylar Shuman is a strong candidate for Simon's family of origin, but the parentage link remains inferential until a direct linking record is found.
• The June 1918 newspaper reports document arrest and removal for safe keeping, but they do not show the final court disposition.
• A 1950 Simon Shiman entry was reviewed but is not used here because the reported age does not fit the 1880-1940 chain.
• A direct death certificate or similarly strong later-life record for Simon has not yet been integrated into this entry.

Research Status

Well-researched for the 1880-1940 census chain and the June 1918 newspaper coverage. Important gaps remain in Simon's marriage record, the transition from Mary or Mollie to Carry, and the final records for his later life.

Sources

• 1880 United States Federal Census, Ways Station, Bryan County, Georgia, Simon and Cylar Shuman household.
• 1900 United States Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household 52.
• 1910 United States Federal Census, Brooks County, Georgia, Simon Shurman household.
• 1920 United States Federal Census, Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia, Simon Shuman household.
• 1930 United States Federal Census, Precinct 6, St. Johns County, Florida, Simon Schooman household.
• 1940 United States Federal Census, Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia, Simon Shuman household.
• Tampa Tribune, 22 Jun 1918, p. 3, report on Simon Shuman's arrest and confinement in the Brooks County jail at Quitman.
• Macon News, 25 Jun 1918, p. 1, report that Simon Shuman was removed from Quitman for safe keeping.
• Atlanta Constitution, 26 Jun 1918, p. 10, report that Simon Shuman was removed from the Brooks County jail to an undisclosed jail for safe keeping.
• Ledger-Enquirer, 26 Jun 1918, p. 8, report that Simon Shuman was being held in an undisclosed south Georgia jail.
• Phillip Williams, "The 1918 Lynching Rampage in Brooks and Lowndes Counties, Georgia," Wiregrass Regional Digital History Project, section on Mary Turner, supporting secondary analysis that Simon Shuman was arrested, removed for safe keeping, and later traceable in post-1918 records.

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