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margaret riser adkins

1868-aft. 1940

Life Story

Early Life in the Riser Household

Margaret R. Riser was born in March 1868 or 1869 in Mississippi, likely in Newton County.

She first appears in the 1870 U.S. Census in Township 6, Range 11, Newton County, at age two in the household of:

  • Stephen Riser (36)
  • Margarett Riser (28)
  • Sister Marietta Riser (5)

Like many Black children born just after the Civil War, Margaret entered a world legally free but socially unstable. Her parents were part of the first generation navigating life after slavery.

Marriage Into the Atkins / Adkins Line

Around 1885, Margaret married Mitchell Atkins (later Adkins). She would spend more than three decades as a farmer’s wife in Beat 4, Newton County.

The 1900 Census records:

  • Birth: March 1869
  • Married 15 years
  • Literate (able to read and write)
  • Mother of 8 children, 7 living

By 1910, the census shows:

  • Married 25 years
  • Mother of 12 children
  • 10 children living
  • Literate

The growth in reported children between 1900 and 1910 reflects additional births and possibly earlier infant deaths—common in rural Mississippi at the time.

Her known children included:

  • Fannie Adkins
  • Mamie Adkins
  • Mitchell Adkins Jr.
  • Henry Adkins
  • Stephen H. Adkins
  • Etta M. Adkins
  • Harriette Adkins
  • George Adkins
  • Maudrie Adkins
  • Mabel Adkins
  • Missouri F. Adkins
  • Frankie Adkins

Margaret was not merely a farmer’s wife—she was mother to one of the largest second-generation Adkins households.

A Literate Farm Matriarch

Unlike many women born in the late 1860s, Margaret was consistently recorded as literate in 1900, 1910, and 1920.

Her literacy reflects either:

  • Early schooling during Reconstruction
  • Instruction within the Riser household
  • Or education within the growing Black church network in Newton County

Her husband Mitchell rose from farm laborer to employer-landholder. Margaret stood beside him throughout that economic ascent.

1920: Transition and Widowhood

The 1920 Census shows Margaret living in Beat 4 with:

Later in 1920, Mitchell died in Hinds County, Mississippi.

By 1930, Margaret appears under a striking variation:

“Mariah Wadkins”, age 60, living in Raymond, Hinds County.

This entry likely represents Margaret under a misheard surname:

Adkins → Wadkins

The age, birthplace, and timeline align. She is listed as:

  • Single
  • Laundress
  • Living alone
  • Illiterate (which conflicts with earlier records)

The literacy inconsistency likely reflects enumerator error or fatigue in self-reporting.

Life in Jackson: City Directories and Nursing Work

By 1932, Margaret appears in the Jackson, Mississippi city directory:

  • Residence: Jackson
  • Occupation: Nurse

This is significant.

After decades as a rural farm wife and mother of twelve, Margaret transitioned into urban wage work.

By 1940, she is listed as:

  • Age 70
  • Widowed
  • Living on South Evans Street, Jackson
  • Residing with daughter Marjorie Conerly and children

Her highest grade completed is listed as 4th grade—again conflicting with earlier literacy entries but not uncommon in enumerations of older adults.

Name Variations Across Records

Margaret’s records reflect numerous spelling shifts:

  • Margaret Riser
  • Margarett Adkins
  • Margarette Adkins
  • MO?Glet Atkins
  • Mariah Wadkins
  • Margaret Adkins

These variations reflect:

  • Phonetic recording by census takers
  • Southern pronunciation patterns
  • Possible hearing or clerical errors

The continuity of birthplace, age range, husband’s name, and children confirms these entries reflect the same woman.

Generational Position

Margaret R. Riser Adkins represents a powerful generational arc:

Born just after the Civil War
Married into a landholding Black farm family
Mother of twelve during the height of Jim Crow
Widowed in 1920
Relocated to Jackson
Worked as a laundress and later listed as a nurse

She moved from rural Newton County to urban Hinds County—an internal Mississippi migration that mirrors broader Black demographic shifts before the Great Migration north.

Legacy

Margaret’s life reflects endurance and adaptation.

She:

  • Raised one of the largest Adkins households
  • Helped build farm stability during Reconstruction’s collapse
  • Survived widowhood
  • Transitioned to wage labor in Jackson
  • Lived into at least 1940

Her story stretches from the Reconstruction countryside of Newton County to the streets of Jackson’s Pearl City community.

If Thomas Atkins represents emancipation, and Mitchell Adkins represents landholding ascent, then Margaret Riser Adkins represents maternal endurance—the woman who sustained that rise across four decades.

Resting Place

Unknown

Photos/Albums

Sources

  • 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 Federal Censuses
  • Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967
  • Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2011
  • U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

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