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The Barney History Project: The people, places, and stories of Barney, Georgia

W. E. Westbury / Westberry

The Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal named W. E. Westbury among Barney's councilmen elected on December 15, 1911. He is strongly associated with the town's postal worker, although the surviving sources use different given-name forms.

In May 1905, the Atlanta Journal announced Walter E. Westberry's appointment as carrier for Barney's rural Route 2. Moses Westberry was named substitute; the notice does not explain whether they were related.

The 1910 census recorded a mail carrier named Emmerson Westbury on Main Street in Barney. He was 23 and lived with his wife Mary, 22, and their sons Homer, four, and Leon, two. The couple had been married five years and owned their home. Their entry is on sheet 2B, lines 88–91, dwelling and family 39.

A September 1913 newspaper notice, recovered as preserved text, names W. E. Westberry among those attending a carriers' convention at Quitman. Together, the postal appointment, census occupation, local residence, and later initials make the connection persuasive. The original convention notice still needs checking, and no inspected record explicitly identifies the councilman as Walter Emmerson Westberry. That combined full name should remain unresolved.

Several county deed-index entries may extend his property history, but their locators and dates contain unresolved errors. They are not yet a reliable title chain. The family records below clarify his parentage and marriage, although the councilman's full name and exact death date remain unresolved.

Family and the Hall connection

The 1900 census in Berrien County identifies Emerson Westberry, 15, as a son of General and Etta Westberry. His siblings included Ansel, May, Owen, Loren, and Willie. General and Etta are a strong match to Jack and Mettie Westbury's 1910 Barney household: Owen, Loren or Lovon, and Willie appear in the same family sequence. Ages and spellings differ between the records. The identification of General with Jack is strong probable; the inspected censuses do not consistently give his expanded name as General Jackson.

In 1880, Martha Westberry's Morven household included G. J., recorded as her son, and Malpher, recorded as her daughter. Malpha Westberry married Sion L. Hall on December 3, 1889. The 1920 census places Martha, recorded as Marth Westburry, in the Hall household as S. L. Hall's mother-in-law.

Together, these records strongly support Emerson as Malpha's nephew and Sion L. Hall's nephew by marriage. The census relationships are explicit within each household; connecting G. J., General, and Jack across decades remains a strong-probable identification. Applying this family history to councilman W. E. Westbury also depends on the postal and census identity match described above.

Mary Alderman and the later household

A Lowndes County marriage record names Emerson Westbery and Mary Alderman, married January 7, 1905. Their names and marriage date agree with Emmerson and Mary's 1910 Barney household, which included sons Homer and Leon.

The 1925 Valdosta City Directory lists Mary Westberry as the widow of W. Emerson, living at 506 Green. Homer and Leon are listed at the same address. This supplies another link between the census household and the W. E. name form, but does not expand W. to Walter. Ancestry labels this entry 1908; the original printed page is headed 1925.

An estate bond dated July 6, 1914 names T. A. Rozier as administrator of W. E. Westberry's estate. It establishes an estate by that date, but does not supply an exact death date or independently establish the deceased's parentage.

Moses Westberry

Moses Westberry's appointment as substitute carrier establishes a working association with Walter E. Westberry. His kinship remains unresolved. Family trees contain competing Moses and Mose identities, and none of the inspected records identifies which man was the 1905 substitute. He cannot yet be described as Emerson's father, brother, or uncle.

Sources