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The Richardson - Lobrano Connection:
The Lobrano Story

This is an interesting story.  Every family has its share of "colorful characters."  While researching my Richardson family roots, I found an interesting connection to another south Mississippi - south Louisiana family, the Lobrano family.  From time to time my Richardson grandparents, my mother and her brother and sisters, and various other Richardson relatives mentioned our connections to the Lobrano family.  I never paid much attention to the connection until I started digging into my Richardson family history at which time I uncovered the Lobrano family story.  Talk about "colorful characters!!"

My grandfather Clarence J. Richardson (1896 - 1972) was the son of Reverdy Hunter Richardson (1864 - 1916).  One of Reverdy Hunter's brothers was Edward Everett Richardson (1856 - 1925).  He and his wife had ten children, one of whom was Edna Richardson (1878 - 1952)  Edna Richardson (my grandfather's cousin) married Emile Lobrano (1879 - 1949).  I recall hearing my grandparents and my mother talking from time to time about "Cousin Edna," Emile," and Emile Lobrano's family.

My connection to the Lobrano family is by the marriage of my grandfather's cousin Edna Richardson to Emile Lobrano.  Now, non-Southerners would consider this relationship to be too distant to be of any interest, but, to a Southerner, my grandfather's cousin's family is . . . well, they are family.  With that explained, let's look at the Lobrano family.

Jacinto Lobrano

The Lobrano family entered the US in the person of Jacinto Lobrano (also spelled "Jacynthe").  He was born in Naples, Italy, between 1783 and 1786.  I was not able to determine exactly how he came to the US from Italy but it seems as though he spent some time on one of the French colonies in the Caribbean -- Martinique or present-day Haiti or the Dominican Republic.  From there he made his way to New Orleans where he married Adeline Romano.

When Jacinto Lobrano died on 12 November 1880 in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, he was the last surviving member of Jeanne Lafitte's pirate band.  His obituary is online at the Hancock County (Mississippi) Historical Society website.
http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/reference/recordobit.htm?id=818

He was given a sword by one of the American commanders at the Battle of Chalmette (Battle of New Orleans) in the War of 1812; Jacinto claims Andrew Jackson gave him the sword.  I am not certain but the Lobrano Sword may still be in the Hancock County Historical Society Museum, in the Kate Lobrano House, Bay Saint Louis, MS.

Jacinto Lobrano and his wife Adeline Romano had several children, one of whom was Phillip Lobrano.  The Lobrano family has several Emile's and Phillip's, so, I'll refer to this Phillip (the son of Jacinto) as Phillip the First.

Phillip the First married Elvira Posey Reilly.  Now, let's pause here.  My Great-great-grandfather was Robert Reilly Richardson.  His parents were James Brumfield Richardson and Mary Martha Reilly.  Mary Martha Reilly -- my G-g-g-grandmother -- was the daughter of Samuel Reilly (1767 - 1822).  Samuel Reilly had a son,  Wesley Reilly (1814 - ???) who is the father of Elvira Posey Reilly.  Confusing??  Okay -- here's a chart.

Clear?  I am related to the Lobrano family distantly through marriages that occurred decades ago.

Phillip Lobrano I, Elvira Posey Reilly, and a New Orleans madam

While searching the Lobrano family history, I found that Elvira Posey Reilly married Phillip Lobrano I in New Orleans in 1872.  They had five (some sources say six) children.  She died in 1879.  I found no references to Phillip or the children in the 1880 census.  The 1890 census was largely destroyed by fire.

In the 1900 census, I found this household in Centreville, Mississippi:
-- Jack Reilly, age 40
-- Sarah Reilly, age 68
-- and the five Lobrano children who were born to Phillip I and Elvira Reilly

A descendant of Edna Richardson and Emile Lobrano told me that, after Phillip I's wife (Elvira) died, their children "went to live with Grandma Reilly in Centreville."  Thus, it appears the Sarah Reilly, age 68 in the 1900 census, is the grandmother with whom the Lobrano children went to live after the death of their mother (in 1879, New Orleans).  Jack Reilly, age 40 in the 1900 census, likely is their uncle, a brother of their dead mother, Elvira.

NOW -- why did the children go to live with their grandmother and uncle in the village of Centreville, Mississippi, after their mother died in New Orleans?   The answer is another part of the colorful history of the Lobrano family. 

For that answer -- READ ON --

Specifically, read the article from this website:
http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/josie-arlington/

Josie Arlington

February 8, 2011 by Maggie McNeill

 

Nowhere in this country will you find a more complete and thorough sporting house than the Arlington…Miss Arlington, after suffering a loss of many thousand dollars through a fire, has refurbished and remodeled the entire place at an enormous expense, and the mansion is now a palace fit for kings.-  Blue Book (Third Edition)

 

Mary Deubler was born in New Orleans to German immigrant parents on February 8^th, 1864, and began working as a prostitute in 1881 under the name Josie Alton.  It is likely that the idea first came from her boyfriend Philip Lobrano, a useless man with whom she stayed until 1890 though they never actually married.  Josie was very attractive, intelligent and industrious and therefore had no trouble supporting Lobrano and several members of her family as well.  She was also, however, notoriously hot-tempered and never shied away from a fight with either customers or other whores, and when she opened her own brothel at 172 Customhouse Street in 1888 (under the name Josie Lobrano), the place soon became notorious for the feistiness of both its madam and the employees she attracted.

 

Since Josie was a shrewd businesswoman the brothel prospered, but the situation was too unstable to continue for long and on November 2, 1890 a free-for-all broke out which involved nearly everyone in the building.  In the ensuing melee Philip Lobrano shot Josie’s brother Peter, and though he was eventually acquitted she would have nothing more to do with him nor with anyone else who had a reputation for fighting.  Changing her name once again to that by which she is remembered, Josie Arlington, she fired her entire staff and vowed that from then on fighting would not be tolerated in her house; she further decided that only “refined gentlemen” who preferred “amiable foreign girls” would be welcome as customers.  She had apparently decided to operate the highest-class brothel in the entire country, and in the minds of many she eventually succeeded.

Here's the timeline I constructed from these records:

•  1872:  Phillip Lobrano I marries Elvira Posey Reilly.  They live in New Orleans and have five (six ?) children.
•  1879:  Elvira Posey Reilly Lobrano dies, leaving her husband Phillip with five (six) children.
•  1881:  Mary Deubler starts working as a prostitute using the name Josie Alton, an idea she may have picked up from her "boyfriend," Phillip Lobrano I, ". . . a useless man with whom she stayed until 1890 though they never actually married."
•  Unknown date:  The children of Phillip Lobrano and Elvira Posey Reilly go to Centreville, MS, to live with Grandma Reilly.
•  1890:  Phillip Lobrano shoots and kills Josie's brother, thereby ending his relationship with Josie.  Josie by now is the madam of a well-known (and probably profitable)  "sporting house" in New Orleans.
•  1912:  Phillip I dies in New Orleans.
•  The children of Phillip Lobrano I and Elvira Posey Reilly are:
  •  Mary C. Lobrano, 1873 - 1935
  •  Robert Morgan Lobrano, 1874 - 1950
  •  Sarah Adeline Lobrano, 1876 - ??
  •  Phillip Percy Lobrano, 1878 - 1944
  •  Emile Lobrano, 1879 - 1949.

This may explain why the Lobrano-Reilly children left New Orleans -- a well-known den of iniquity -- and went to the quiet village of Centreville, Mississippi (my birthplace), to live with their grandmother.

Grandma Reilly

One evening in March 2024, while checking my Ancestry.com account, I found a hint linking to another Ancestry.com family tree.  There I found a large family group of Lobranos, containing this photo of Grandman Lobrans and grandchildren.  There were no notes as to when or where the picture was made but given the information above, I feel certain this is Grandma Lobrano with Philip Lobrano's children who came to live with her in Centreville, MS, from New Orleans after their mother died.

•  Mary C. Lobrano, 1873 - 1935
•  Robert Morgan Lobrano, 1874 - 1950
•  Sarah Adeline Lobrano, 1876 - ??
•  Phillip Percy Lobrano, 1878 - 1944
•  Emile Lobrano, 1879 - 1949.

Phillip Percy Lobrano and Anna Floyd

Phillip Percy Lobrano is the son of Phillip Lobrano who married Elvira Posey Reilly, had five (six) children, lived in New Orleans, then took up with the prostitute Mary Deubler/Josie Alton.

From time to time I heard my Richardson grandparents as well as my mother and her siblings refer to a family known as "the Lobrano n****rs," who lived either in or around Centreville, MS.  A few months before her death in 2007, my mother told me about this family.  According to her, Phillip Percy Lobrano (son of Phillip Lobrano and Elvira Posey Reilly; grandson of Jacinto Lobrano) had a common-law wife, a black lady, and they had several children.  (Phillip Percy Lobrano is the brother of Emile Lobrano, who married my grandfather's cousin, Edna Richardson.)

The matter of personal relationships between white men/women and black men/women is one of the facts of life that lies just below the surface of Southern culture.  Mixed-race children and adults were and are a fixture of the Southern landscape.  The relationship is complex and complicated.

During slavery, recorded, documented instances abound of white plantation owners and their sons fathering children by slave women, and, there are occasional recorded instances of white women having children whose fathers were slaves.  There are numerous examples of white slave holders leaving bequests and instructions in their wills for the care and support of their mixed-race children.  In some cases, this support spanned several generations, with the mixed-race children and their descendants supported by the original bequest, even after they left the South.  In some cases, the mixed-race children and their descendants were enabled by the bequests from their white forebear to obtain land, property, businesses, and advanced education.

For example:  The author William Faulkner's great-grandfather, William Cuthbert Falkner (1825 - 1889; the "Old Colonel" of several Faulkner stories) was a slave-owner who had a "shadow family" of mixed-race children born to one of the Old Colonel's female slaves.  Several Faulkner biographers tell of the Old Colonel's black mistress, Emeline Lacy Falkner, whose grave is in the Ripley, MS, cemetery, not far from the Faulkner family plot.  She had at least one -- possibly two -- daughters by the Old Colonel Falkner.  The first, Fannie Forrest Falkner Dogan, was named after the Old Colonel's favorite sister and a Confederate general.  The Old Colonel paid for her education at Rust College, a prestigious black Mississippi school where she was class valedictorian

After the end of slavery -- although the Jim Crow laws and stern social mores enforced a separation of the races not unlike that of slavery -- men and women crossed the color lines either to marry, to live as common-law couples, or, simply to have liaisons resulting in children. Illustrative of this fact is the case of James Meredith, the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi.  Meredith applied for admission in 1961; the University Board of Trustees voted unanimously not to admit him.  One member of the Trustees (a white man, of course) and James Meredith shared the same great-grandfather:  J.A.P. Campbell (1830-1917) who served on the Mississippi Supreme Court for 18 years (1876-1894).

Thus, a relationship between Phillip Percy Lobrano, a white man, and Anna Floyd, a black woman, while not common, was not unusual.

One Lobrano family member with whom I am in occasional contact told me the children lived with their mother and called themselves "Floyd."  However, at some point, the children began calling themselves by their father's name, "Lobrano," which caused considerable concern and embarrassment to their white cousins.

Be that as it may, I find this story quite interesting because of the insights it provides into the daily lives of people living in a society whose rules they were violating.

Anna Floyd's Family, 1920 Census

The 1920 census shows the following:

• Bob Floyd; father; age 50 (born approx 1870); Mullato (mixed race)
• Ida Floyd; mother; age 49 (born approx 1871); Mullato
• Ida Floyd; daughter; age 16 (born approx 1904); Mullato
• Anna Floyd; daughter; age 15 (born approx 1905); Mullato
• Harry Floyd; son; age 13 (born approx 1907); Mullato
• Robert Floyd; son; age 9 (born approx 1911); Mullato
• Emma Floyd; daughter; age 6 (born approx 1914); Mullato

Anna Floyd's Family, 1930 Census

In the 1930 census, Anna Floyd is listed as a Negro, widow, with three children.  Are these Phillip Lobrano’s children, or, children of Anna Floyd’s first husband? 

Anna Floyd's Family, 1940 Census

The 1940 census shows:

•  Anna Floyd's parents living next door to Anna and her children.

  • Bob and Ida; ages 69 and 68 (which corresponds to their approx dates of birth, 1870, '71, '72)

  • They are listed as "Father" and "Mother."

  • The head of the household is Harry, age 34 (approx date of birth 1906, which corresponds to Harry in the 1920 census)

  • All are listed as "Negro"

  • Thus, Anna Floyd's parents, in 1940, are living with their son Harry, next door to Anna and her children

   

• Anna Floyd and her eight children, all listed as "Negro."

  • Evelyn, age 15 (1925); she is the same Evelyn listed in the 1930 census

  • Robert, age 14 (1926); this must be "Bill Floyd," b. 1 Sep 1926, d. 18 Dec 2007, obituary below; he is the same Robert in the 1930 census

  • Edward, age 12 (1928); see his obituary and photo below

  • Richard, age 8 (1932); his age does not correspond to the Richard in the 1930 census; this could be a problem with family not recalling his age exactly, which is a common occurrence in these old census records -- OR -- Richard on the 1930 census may have died as a child and this Richard was born later and named for his brother.  Note the statement in the obituaries for Bill Floyd and Edward Lobrano (below) they are survived by a brother, Dick, of Janesville, Wisconsin.  See his obituary below.

  • Lucille, age 6 (1934)

  • J. D., age 3 (1937)

  • Jimmie, age 2 (1938); Peter James, b. 8 Apr 1938, d. 17 Mar 2001

  • Elvira, age 9 months (1939)

   

• Philip Lobrano lives in the next house, beside the Anna Floyd family.

  • He is listed in the census as "Head" of the household; no other names are listed at his address; the census has a note "Same house," which may mean the same house as Anna Floyd and her children.

Children of Phillip Lobrano and Anna Floyd

After some searching, I found information about the children of Phillip Lobrano and Anna Floyd in several locations on the Internet.

Burials in Lobrano Cemetery, Centreville, MS

Here is a link to photos of the Lobrano Family Cemetery in Centreville.  This page has directions to the cemetery; it appears to be well-kept.

http://wilkinson.msghn.org/cemlobranofamily.html

•  Anna Floyd  25 Jan 1905 – 25 Jun 1965

•  Charlie, 16 Jan 1931 – 21 Apr 1935

•  Doby, 18 Jul 1942 – 3 Feb 1944

•  Bill Floyd  1 Sep 1926 – 18 Dec 2007 (See his obituary below.)

•  Edward W. Lobrano  19 Jun 1932 – 25 Mar 2005 (See his obituary below.)

•  Mack A. Lobrano  8 Mar 1942 – 12 Apr 1977

•  Peter James L. Lobrano  8 Apr 1938 – 17 Mar 2001

Anna Floyd, common-law wife of Phillip P. Lobrano

Obituary of Bill Floyd, Woodville Republican, 27 December 2007

BILL FLOYD

Funeral services for Bill Floyd, 81-year-old resident of Centreville, were held at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 21, 2007, at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church with the Reverend Dalton Hill officiating.

Burial was in the Lobrano Family Cemetery near Centreville with Newman Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Floyd was born in Wilkinson County on September 1, 1926, the son of the late Phil Lobrano and Anna Floyd.  He died at his home on Tuesday, December 18, 2007.

He was a former employee of the First Supervisor District of Wilkinson County and was a former U. S. Marine.  He was a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Sadie Floyd of Centreville; one son, Charlie Floyd of Centreville; three sisters, Lucille Lobrano of Centreville; Elvira Roig of Slidell, La., and Anna Lobrano of Slaughter, La.; two brothers, Dick Lobrano of Janesville, Wisconsin, and J. D. Lobrano of Centreville; and a host of other relatives and friends.

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by five brothers and one sister.

According to this obituary from 2007:

1.  Bill Floyd was the son of  Phil Lobrano (Phillip Percy Lobrano; 1878-1944) and Anna Floyd (1905-1965).

2.  He is survived by THREE sisters and TWO brothers:

•  Lucille Lobrano, Centreville

•  Elvira Lobrano Roig, Slidell, LA (more about her later)

•  Anna Lobrano, Slaughter, LA

•  Dick Lobrano, Janesville, WI (This is where another brother, Edward Lobrano, was police chief in Janesville, according to his obituary.)

•  J. D. Lobrano, Centreville

 3.  According to the obituary, five brothers and one sister died before him -- he died in December 2007.  If you check the burials in the Lobrano Cemetery, you find these individuals who died before 2007.

•  Four, not five, brothers

  •  "Charlie" Jan-Apr 1931, name on Anna's headstone

  •   Edward W. Lobrano, 1932-2005

  •  Peter James L. Lobrano, 1938-2001

  •  Mack A. Lobrano, 1942-1977

  •  Christopher R. Lobrano, 1977-2004.  HOWEVER, Christopher is not likely to be a brother of Bill Floyd.  Bill Floyd's mother, Anna Floyd, died in 1942; Christopher was born in 1977 and could not be Bill's brother.  Thus, I am not certain who the fifth brother is.
     

•  One sister

  •  "Doby" 1924-1944, on Anna's headstone. In June 2013 I found one Internet site suggesting that "Doby" . . . also spelled "Dobbie" . . . is Eveline Floyd, born 1924.

 Thus, it appears that Phillip P. Lobrano and Anna Floyd had ten children born between 1926 (Bill Floyd) and 1942 (Mack); the father, Phil Lobrano, was born 1878, died 1944 -- still having children in 1942 at age 64.  The mother, Anna Floyd, was born in 1905, thus, her last child was born when she was 37 (1942).

 Elvira Lobrano Roig

Her father, Phillip P. Lobrano, was the son of Elvira Reily (D. 1879) and Phillip Lobrano.  She may have been named for her paternal grandmother.

Edward W. Lobrano

From Janesville (Wisconsin) Gazette, March 29, 2005

Lobrano, Edward "Ed" 
June 19, 1932 - March 25, 2005 

(Published Tuesday March 29, 2005)

LACOMBE, LA/SHARON? Edward "Ed" Lobrano, 72, of LaCombe, LA for 22 years, a native of Centreville, MS, died Friday, March 25, 2005, at Northshore Medical Ctr., Slidell, LA. Ed retired from the U.S. Army after 20+ years of service, where he was a member of the 82nd Airborne Rangers, serving in both Korea and Vietnam. He was retired police chief of Sharon, WI, serving from 1970 - 1983, and a member of St. John the Cross Catholic Church in LaCombe. Surviving are his wife, Dorothy Oftedahl Lobrano of LaCombe, LA; a stepdaughter, Lynne Lucas of Golden, CO; 2 stepsons, James Garner of Cadott, WI, and Donald (Trish) Garner of Bellvue, CO; 3 sisters: Lucille "Bunch" Lobrano of Centreville, MS, Elvira Roig of Slidell, LA, and Anna Lobrano of Baton Rouge, LA; 3 brothers: Bill Floyd of Centreville, MS, Dick Lobrano of Janesville, WI, and J. D. Lobrano of Centreville, MS; 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Phillip and Anna Floyd Lobrano; a sister and 3 brothers. Visitation was held from 1:00 until 2:45 p.m. Monday, March 28, 2005, at NEWMAN FUNERAL HOME, Centreville, MS, with a Religious Graveside Service conducted at 3:00 p.m., with Father Walter Brown officiating. Interment was in Lobrano Family Cemetery, Centreville, MS.

Here’s a photo of Ed Lobrano:

Richard "Dick" Lobrano; 1928 - 2017

In February 2019, while searching for Lobrano family information, I found the obituary of Richard "Dick" Lobrano along with a photo.

Richard Lobrano appears in the 1930 census as "Richard Floyd, age 1-11/12 (b. Mar 1929), son, Negro."  His obituary lists his birthdate as January 21, 1928.  Meanwhile, his age in the 1940 census is listed as 8 years, meaning he was born in 1932.  I have no explanation for these discrepancies. 

Dick Lobrano; Photo accompanying his obituary

Obituary

Dick Lobrano, age 89, a longtime resident of Janesville, passed away Thursday morning, December 7, 2017 at the Agrace Center for Hospice & Palliative Care in Janesville, with his family by his side. Dick was born January 21, 1928 in Centerville, MS, the son of the late Phillip & Anna (Floyd) Lobrano. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After his discharge, he re-enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, and he served his country during the Korean Conflict.

On June 20, 1953, he married the former Della Mae Rochester at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Madison. He was a longtime member of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Janesville.
Dick worked as a Driver for W.R. Arthur & Co., and later with JATCO, starting in 1954 until his retirement in 1990. He was a member of the Teamsters Local 579.

Dick loved hunting of all kinds, and loved to fish. He enjoyed driving to Mississippi to visit his family. As a veteran, he was very proud to be able to make the trip with VetsRoll in 2014, traveling to Washington, DC to see the monuments dedicated to our veterans! His family was the center of his world, and he especially loved spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Della; his 3 children, Phillip (Betsy) Lobrano, Pamla (Wally) Wolter, and Russ Lobrano, all of Janesville; his 9 grandchildren; his 8 great-grandchildren; his brother and sisters, Lucille Lobrano, J.D. (Alma) Lobrano, Elvira Roig, and Anna Lobrano; nieces, nephews, and many friends. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his daughter-in-law, Annie Lobrano, on March 23, 2016, and by his 6 brothers and sisters.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at the WHITCOMB-LYNCH FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, with Rev. Daniel Decker officiating. Burial with full military rites accorded by the V.F.W. Kienow-Hilt Post 1621 will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery. Visitation will take place from 4:00 until 6:00 P.M. on Monday, or from 10:00 until 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday at the FUNERAL HOME.

The brothers and sisters listed in the obituary are various Lobrano-Floyd children who appear in various census records and obituaries -- Lucille, J.D., Elvira, and Anna.

Jack DeLoach "J.D." Lobrano Obituary

J. D. Lobrano is one of children of Philip Percy Lobrano and Anna Floyd.  Born in 1936, he died on June 29, 2020, at the age of 84.  Here is his obituary as published in The Woodville Republican newspaper, Woodville MS, July 9, 2020.

Phillip Percy Lobrano is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, Centreville, Mississippi:

Lobrano Family Website

At one time there was a detailed Lobrano Family website at http://www.lobrano.com/   That site has been down since late 2011.  A Lobrano family member told me her cousin (?) was the family member who maintained the site and he was too busy to keep it up.  He had a lot of Lobrano genealogy on the site along with details of many family members.