Caroline Leath

Our reunion namesake is Caroline Leath. Her birth is said to be sometime in 1828. The 1870 U.S. census showed that Caroline lived in Craven County in North Carolina with her five children. The boys were Peter Jones, 21; Willis, 17; Lewis, 15; Richard Green, 10 and Sydney, 18. No record is shown for Caroline's daughter Luvenia in the 1870 census. However, we know she existed and was Caroline's youngest daughter because her name appears in the Lewis Leath family bible and her death certificate lists Caroline as her mother.

Craven county records show that Caroline purchased a small homestead in Oriental, North Carolina in 1883. The late Ada Green Mann, Caroline's granddaughter (daughter of Richard Green and mother of Queenie Hands) acquired the homestead through a public auction in 1947 to prevent its loss because of delinquent taxes. Ada later deeded the property to her children and Queenie currently resides on this site.

Caroline is believed to have died sometime between 1884 and 1899 because the 1900 census does not list her. The 1890 census records were destroyed by fire.

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The Reunions

The first Leath Family reunion took place in 1989 in New Bern and Oriental, NC. The pioneers of the reunion include Carolyn Moore Bland, Marie Larson, Alice Leath, Clara Leath and Ruth Ennis. We thank these pioneers for setting the foundation for what has become a wonderful celebration of our family.

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If you have any family history to add, please contact Angela White, our family historian at whiteang@gmail.com.