Barq's Root Beer

[SODAPOPBOB]

Back to the History Channel!

Speaking of treasure maps ...

According to Ancestry.com, Edward Barq's illegitimate son, Jasper "Jesse" Robinson, was born in ...

Choctaw, Mississippi





(To be continued)

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I don't plan to do a complete ancestry on Jesse Robinson, but there is one aspect of his life I'd like to do a little focus on - it involves the 1900-1910-1920 and 1930 U.S. Census records. Every one of those four census' show his father as being born in Ireland. And yet, we know that Jesse's birth father was Edward Barq who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1871. Based on what I know about census records, the information is usually obtained from the head of household who either gave it directly to the census recorder or else mailed it in. Okay, fine! So why does this 1930 census record for Jesse show his father as being born in Ireland? Jesse was about 41 years old in 1930 and surely must have known who his true father was by then. And lets not forget the accounts about Jesse being "raised" by the Barq's but was never adopted by them, hence his keeping the last name of "Robinson." I realize this is a minor point, but it just seems weird to me that Jesse's lineage appears to have been so secretive and mysterious. And if you think that's weird, the 1900 and 1910 census list Jesse's parents as Charles D. Robinson and Susan M. Robinson. It was Charles D. Robinson who was born in Ireland and not Edward Barq!

Here's the complete 1930 Census for Jesse - New Orleans, Louisiana



And here's Jesse's specifics ...

Notice:

1. 326 N Lopez Street
2. Father's birth place "Irish Free State"
3. Proprietor Bottling Plant




And here's a close up of the "Irish Free State" where his father was born

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Minor Correction / Clarification ...

I did some double checking and discovered that Jesse Robinson was born in Reform, Mississippi which is in Choctaw County, Mississippi. Earlier I said he was born in Choctaw but didn't realize it was a county.

We will probably never know the whole story about his being raised by the Barq's, but according to his 1917 draft card, when he was 27 years old, he was living in Reform, Louisiana, (Choctaw County) and involved in farming. It wasn't long after this that he returned to New Orleans and became a bottler. Anyhoo, trying to make sense of his entire life timeline is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so I'll just leave it here and let future researchers put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together.

1917 Draft Card

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Back to Bottles ...

Questions:

1. Why does this Barq's bottle have an orange on the label?
2. Would they produce a bottle like this just for an orange flavored soda?
3. Did they also produce bottles with a lemon, strawberry, grape, etc. on the label for those flavors?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hey, look at what I just found ...

1. Jesse L Robinson

2. Registered: September 16, 1924

3. Renewed: September 16, 1944

4. New Orleans, Louisiana

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

:fireworks:1924

 

[Bass Assassin]

Great question Bob.
Many mysteries abound in the search for Barq's history. I don't know if it was just really bad record keeping or maybe some things were kept hush hush for so long that the truths are now like muddied water.
Here's what I do know about south Louisiana. You can draw an imaginary horizontal line between Alexandria and Lafayette. The good folks to the south of that line are independent and a little on the stubborn side. They will give you the shirt off their back but don't dare try to order them around. I've had many good friends from Acadiana (south central area of LA) and they are some of the most generous people in the world. The folks in the New Orleans area are a different group of people. They are living in a different world than the rest of the state.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Bass

Thanks!

Interesting info about Louisiana - The only time I was there I was driving straight through to Florida in 1971 - I don't remember much about it except a lot of weird looking trees! But that was in the early 1970s and a lot of things looked weird back then! But then again, maybe it was just me!


More Questions ...

Are these the same bottles?

1. Yes?
2. No?
3. Maybe? (Possible Variation)




1923

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

More Barq's Bottles ...

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Last but not least ...


The Fearsome Foursome

(With the Coca Cola script bottle being the rarest and most valuable of the lot)