Longevity

Wilton Tisdale Booksh Sr.
1886-1985

    The oldest-lived ancestor that we know of in our Begue Booksh family tree is my grandfather Wilton Tisdale Booksh Sr. 

     Born 7 February 1886 in Grosse Tete, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, to Samuel Walker Booksh and Arabella Maria Tisdale, he was 99 years old when he died on 9 June 1985 in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

     I was lucky enough to have been able to listen him tell stories of his family and to sit with him and look through old family photos. Much of what I knew about the Booksh family came from him and his sister, my great aunt Vera Booksh Ventress.
     
    Wilton was a sugar chemist and spent many years working "in the tropics," Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as at sugar mills in Louisiana.  I remember as a child that he spent the fall grinding season in Louisiana and the winter season in the tropics. 



    On 16 July 1912 Wilton married Emma Collins Francis in New Orleans. A newspaper article in the Times Picayune described the event:

   "The marriage of Miss Emma Collins Francis, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Francis to Mr. Wilton T. Booksh, both of this city was quietly celebrated on Tuesday, July 16, at 4 o'clock, at St. George's Church, in the presence of the families and a few intimate friends. After the solemn and beautiful wedding services, which was performed by Rev. Byron Holley, The bridal [couple re]ceived the congratulations [of those] present. Later a dinner [took place at An]toine's restaurant..." New Orleans Times Picayune, 1912-07-21 p.18

   Wilton and Emma had four children: my father Wilton Tisdale Jr, William Francis, Marie Ernestine, and Emma Francis.

      In October 1916 the Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association newsletter contained a notice that said:
 "CHEMIST now employed in Louisiana factory desires engagement in the tropics, eight years experience, speaks the Spanish language, Address Wilton Booksh, care Belleview Plantation Company, Franklin, La., USA"

    In November 1917 Wilton applied for a passport for himself, his wife and two sons, Wilton and William, to travel to a sugar mill is El Salto, Guatemala, for the 1917-1918 sugar season. He gave his address as 7102 Birch Street in New Orleans, the home of Emma's parents, Charles Alfred and Anna Belle Francis. Wilton and his family appear on several ships passenger lists, including one in 1918 returning from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and in 1919 returning from Havana, Cuba to New Orleans.

   On 19 February 1918 Wilton registered for the draft (World War I). He gave the same 7102 Birch Street address in New Orleans.  He was described as tall and slender with brown hair and grey eyes.

William and Wilton Booksh, Guatemala, c1918

   In the 1920 census the family is living on Benachi Avenue  in Biloxi, Mississippi. Listed are Wilton, age 33; his wife Emma, age 31; sons Wilton, age 6; William, age 4; and baby daughter Ernestine, 6 months old.  The surname on that census is spelled Bocksch, the same spelling as his great grandfather Carl Frederick Bocksch, who was born in Baden, Germany, about 1775. His parents were Johan Bocksch and Maria Lang. The family story is that he was a German soldier.

  On 7 February 1925 daughter Emma Francis Booksh was born in New Orleans and the next day Emma died. On 3 November 1926 Wilton married Agnes Gladys Lincoln in New Orleans. They had three children including twins Charles Leonard and Thomas Lincoln. Thomas died a few months later. Their last child was John Richard.

   When I was a child Grandpa Booksh came for Sunday dinner every other week when he wasn't working at the sugar mill. He always had interesting stories and even taught me a little Spanish. I also remember many interesting trips to visit him at the sugar mill at Cedar Grove, Louisiana, in the 1950s. After I married and moved to Florida, we always enjoyed visits to Grandpa and Noo (my great Aunt Vera) whenever we came back. 

   I remember one time asking him about the family story that we were related to Benjamin Franklin. He said, "Well, that's what my mother told me, but when I asked Louisiana Light and Power for free electricity, they wouldn't give it to me." It wasn't until I got interested in genealogy that I found out the story was true. Benjamin Franklin was our sixth great grandmother's first cousin. Benjamin Franklin's grandmother, Abiah Folger, and our ancestor, Joanna Folger, were sisters.

   There were many other surprises in that family tree. For more on the Tisdale branch see Belle's Letters