Our Family History
From Americus, Georgia to cities across America — the story of Micah Tripp, Alfred Jones, and the family they built.
OUR ORIGINS
Micah Tripp & Alfred Jones
Micah Tripp was born sometime between 1850 and 1863, the second or third daughter of Wesley Harris and Eliza Tripp. Her maternal sisters were Mollie, Sarah, and Sylvia. Census records indicate that Mollie was a school teacher.
In 1865, the daughter of a plantation owner named Tripp moved from Henrico County in Virginia to Americus, Georgia. As a gift from her father she took Micah, her parents, and her sisters. Micah was believed to be about 15 years old at the time.
Micah married Alfred Jones on June 30th, 1881, in Americus, Georgia. The marriage ceremony was performed by Reverend Thomas Steward. Micah and Alfred had thirteen children. The 1900 census records the names of their living children as Rose, Sybil, Susan, Olivia, Lizzie, Isabel, Alfred, and Mamie Lou. A fire destroyed the 1890 census records, and those records may have given us the names of the other five children.
Alfred died prior to 1890. Micah supported her children by working as a cook. Her sisters Rose, who worked as a servant, and Olivia, who worked as a laborer, assisted her. Micah died in 1927..
Our Family Lineage
The Tripp line of our family lineage has come from one of two families of Tripps who came to southern America. The first was Edward Tripp who resided in Northampton County, Virginia in 1649. The second was Henry Tripp who resided in Maryland in 1663.
Biographies
Rose, Isabelle, Lizzie & Sybil
Rose
Rose was married to Mr. Warren. After a couple of years she moved to Macon, Georgia, then to North Carolina. Rose returned to Americus when her health began to fail, where she lived with her sister Lizzie. They later moved to Davenport, Florida, where Lizzie lived until her death.
Lizzie Gibson
Born in Americus, Lizzie entered domestic service at an early age. In 1910, she met and married Lucius Gibson. When her sister Sybil died and left six children, Lizzie provided a home for four of them. After World War II, Lucius and Lizzie moved to Davenport, Florida, where she died on June 19th, 1962.
Isabelle
Born in Americus, Georgia, Isabelle was the tenth child of Alfred and Micah Tripp. She attended McKay Hill School and was the mother of 11 children. While in Georgia, she was a member of Trinity AME Church. She moved to Alexandria, Virginia in 1917 and died January 7th, 1945.
Sybil Jones
One of thirteen children born to Alfred and Micah Jones, Sybil was born in Americus and married Hosea Kendrick. After Hosea died, she married Burton Reynolds. They moved to Helena, Georgia, where they lived until their deaths. Her children were raised by her oldest sister, Rose.