The Mystery of Emma Bella Lawrence's Parents

My Granddad Wise died when my mom was a teenager and I was never able to meet him. My Nana didn’t talk a lot about his ancestors and when she died, I had no idea where to begin. I knew three things about my Granddad’s family:

•  They were from the South, namely South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana.
• Nana converted to the Catholic religion when she married Granddad.
• We were somehow related to Jimmy Carter’s wife. 

As I looked through Nana’s notes, I saw that she wrote down Grandad’s relatives. The Wise side was very well documented, but the Clohecy side was not. Nana said that her mother in law was Corinne Clohecy and her parents were Mark Andrew Clohecy from New York and Emma de la Vergne from New Orleans.  Clohecy is an Irish name and de la Vergne sounded French.

My normal searches turned up nothing. Ancestry and Family Search had nothing on an Emma de la Vergne. A collegue pointed me to Findagrave.com and I was able to find their graves in Atlanta, Georgia. The name on the grave was not de la Vergne, it was Lawrence, Emma Bella Lawrence! Imagine my surprise. 

This was her obituary-“MRS. MARK CLOHECY OF ATLANTA PARISH DIES. Member of Leading Louisiana and Georgia Families. ATLANTA – Mrs. Mark Clohecy, one of the oldest and best loved members of the Sacred Heart parish, died here recently after a long illness. Born in New Orleans, a member of the well known de la Vergne family, she passed her girlhood and young married life in that city. In 1914 she, with her family, came to Atlanta, where she lived in the Sacred Heart parish until the time of her death. Until age and infirmity prevented, she engaged in all parish activities. Her deep piety and lovable character endeared her to all. She is survived by three daughters: Mrs. Dan Wise of New Orleans, and the Misses Viv and Aimee Clohecy of Atlanta. Her funeral took place from the Sacred Heart Church, Rev. Edward McGrath, S.M., pastor, officiating. The interment was at Great Lawn Cemetery.” She is buried next to her husband and one of her daughters. 

Marriage License  and Date-1876

I was thrilled! Now I knew her name and her birth date, it should be easy to find her parents!!! WRONG. The dates began to be inconstant. Emma was born in 1865, but her marriage certificate is dated November 28, 1876. That would have made her 11 or 12. She did not have children until 1883. She had 4 daughters. Two remained unmarried, one died in 1929 and Corinne, my Great Great Grandmother outlived everyone by living until 1972. Emma died on March 6, 1934. Census records have different birth years for both Emma and Mark. One year it said she was born in 1860 and another stated 1855.  

When I found Emma’s Death Certificate, the math added up that she was born in 1865. However, it did not include the name of her mother or her mother’s birthplace. The one piece of evidence it included was the name of her Father- John Lawrence. Do you know how many John Lawrence’s were in Louisiana at the end of the Civil War? Hundreds. 

Death Certificate

I am not sure what to do next. I wish I could find Emma’s Mom. Perhaps one day there will be more evidence to paint a clearer picture.