Birth Name: Truman Streckfus Persons
Date of Birth: September 30, 1924
Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Date of Death: August 25, 1984
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of Scottish, Welsh, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Dutch, and German
Truman Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. He is known for his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the journalistic true crime novel In Cold Blood, the short story Miriam, and the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms; as well as many other short stories, plays, and books. Some of his works were in the southern gothic genre. He also co-starred in the film Murder by Death.
Truman was the son of Lillie May/Mae “Nina” (Faulk) and Augustus Archilus/Archulus “Arch” Persons, Jr., a salesperson. After his parents’ separation, he was partly raised in Monroeville, Alabama, as well as Mobile, AL, on the Gulf Coast. As the character “Charles Baker “Dill” Harris,” his childhood friendship in Monroeville with Harper Lee, who was two years his junior, is fictionalized in her book To Kill a Mockingbird and the subsequent film. In 1932, he moved to New York City, New York, and in 1939, to Greenwich, Connecticut; living with his mother and stepfather, José García Capote, a Matanzas-born Spanish-Cuban colonel and landowner. His stepfather adopted him, renaming him as Truman García Capote.
Truman’s paternal grandfather was Augustus Archilus/Archulus Persons (the son of John Williams Persons, Jr. and Elizabeth/Eliza Pauline Persons). Augustus was born in Alabama, and was a professor of natural science, agriculture, chemistry, and metallurgy. John was the son of John Williams Persons and Martha Ann Flewellen. Elizabeth was the daughter of Nicholas Williams Persons and Ann/Anna Elizabeth/Eliza Persons/Stanford. Truman’s great-grandparents John and Elizabeth were first cousins.
Truman’s paternal grandmother was Mabel Knox (the daughter of John Brewer Knox and Lula Margaret Dinkins). Mabel was born in Alabama. John was the son of Dr. Oscar FitzAlan/Fitzallen Knox, whose father was Scottish, from Edinburgh; and of Susan M. Kendall. Lula was the daughter of Edward Dinkens and Lucy Perry.
Truman’s maternal grandfather was James Arthur Faulk (the son of Seaborn Jackson Faulk II and Ida Electra Henderson). James was born in Alabama. Seaborn was the son of Seaborn Jackson Faulk and Mary Jane Rumbley.
Truman’s maternal grandmother was Edna Marie Hendrix (the daughter of Moses Hendrix and Betty Wilson Lucas). Edna was born in Alabama. Moses was the son of Eli Hendrix and Margaret Hendrix. Betty was the daughter of Charles Lucas and Sarah Ann Burris.
Sources: Genealogies of Truman Capote – https://www.findagrave.com
https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Truman Capote (focusing on his father’s side) – https://famouskin.com
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