Dear Danielle,
My 2nd great-grandfather, William Littlejohn, came to Lamar County, Texas, in the mid-to-late 1850s from Union County, South Carolina.
He was a slave holder with about fifty slaves in South Carolina (in 1850) and about that same number in Lamar County (in 1860).

By studying the 1870 census (Lamar County), it is easy to see that almost all the Black Littlejohns were born in South Carolina. In fact, of seventy-eight Black Lamar County Littlejohns (in 1870), forty-four stated that they were born in South Carolina. Of the thirty whose birthplaces were listed as Texas, the oldest was only twelve, which means they were born after the group came to Texas, almost certainly of South Carolina parents. There were only four Black Littlejohns in Lamar County in 1870 who were not born in either South Carolina or Texas.

In both 1880 and 1900, Spencer Littlejohn stated that he was born in South Carolina. Also, his mother, Caroline, stated that she, too, was born in South Carolina.

I have almost no doubt that Spencer and Nora's families took the Littlejohn surname from my 2nd great-grandfather.

I also have almost no doubt that Spencer's mother, Caroline, was named in William Littlejohn's will. It is highly possible that Spencer was, too. I cannot be absolutely certain because there were two Carolines named and there was an older Black Spencer Littlejohn.
It is quite possible that your 2nd great-grandfather Spencer was included in the statement in the will "Caroline and her increase."

In 1880, Spencer and Nora had a young daughter named Liza E. (In 1900, her name is listed as Electer and she is twenty years old.)

By 1900, Spencer and Nora had eight children at home. (Nora stated that she was the mother of nine children with all nine living. Possibly, one was married.) The children's names are very hard to read (in 1900), but I'll give you my interpretation. Then I will study them some more and try to figure them out.

Electer-daughter-age 20
J?-son-age 17
Charlie-son-age 16
Bethel-son-age 13
Rosa L.-daughter-age 10
Blanche-daughter-age 8
Dudley-son-age 7
Roscoe-son-age 5

O.K., now here is the part you are absolutely not going to believe! For over thirty years, I have had the ORIGINAL marriage license for Spencer Littlejohn to Minora Littlejohn, issued the 14th day of March, 1878, in Lamar County, Texas.

I would be very pleased to pass the marriage license on to you and I have much more information for you if you are interested. However, I will need a mailing address to send it to. If you had rather not give your address by this means, please send it to me at 1801 County Road 3314, De Kalb, Texas 75559. If you prefer, you may call me at (903)667-3344. I would like to talk to you to get an idea of what information you have and what you need. Also, it would help me to have a little more information on Spencer and Nora, provided you can furnish it, to help me track down a few items.

I am looking forward to helping you in your search and I believe I can answer a lot of questions for you.

Sincerely,
Mike McCrary
De Kalb, Texas