Monday, October 31, 2011

Uncle Claude remembers stories

Claude Brown of Noel, Mo “remembers stories”
[undated, unsigned transcript]

Old Joe Hendry who was a brother of great grandma Sarah Hendry
Brown [actually a nephew, son of William and Nancy Carter Hendry],
was shot in Henry hollow (4) by his son-in-law then some
say the son-in-law then shot himself in the yard.  the family waited
untill daylight and found him. Others say he was shot by the family
after he shot Joe Hendry.  Joe Hendry had a son named Jim and he
and Joe fell out.  Jim went to hunt his dad down to kill him and
when he fired the gun blew up and Jim Hendry lost his arm because
of it.  Joe Hendry and Uncle Henry Brown ran around together during
the civil war and made moon shine whiskey untill Uncle Henry came
to Arkansas. I talked to one of Uncle Henrys nieces and she said her
dad Uncle Will Brown told her that he and Uncle Henry were scouting
during the civil war and heard some southern soldiers comming so
they hid in the brush and waited then Uncle Henry shot both of the
soldiers and cut their heads off and hung them on a sapling.  Uncle
will was just a small boy and was almost scared to death.  A year or
two later he past the place and the limbs had sprouted and grew
around the heads still hanging there. I visited Hendry hollow and
saw the Hendry place.  Uncle henry later lived on Brown’s mountain
(6) untill he came to Arkansas.

Uncle Henry’s boy Will got in to some slight misunderstanding with
the law and hit out for Kentucky wher he lived for some time. While
there he had a disagreement with a fellow and when Will was talking
to a neighbor one day this fellow come along and being drunk he
had a notion he would just cut Will’s head off or his liver out
and feed it to the dogs. Will run around the house while the man
he was talking to keep telling him that the man would kill him.
Finally the man threw Wll a gun and he killed the fellow.  The man
talking to Will was afraid to testifie and will went to the penin
[blank] for life and died there.  Either some one went and got him or
he was shiped back and burried on Brown’s mountain. I talked to his
son in Greenville about July 4, 1974 and he had just put a tumbstone
up for his dad. The Grave is at the point of Brown’s mountain the
back toward Baileyton at the head of a hollow. This is where uncle
Henry lived along with Ramsey Harris when he came to Arkansas.

The old timers still tell how mean old Joe and Jim Hendry were.
One of the old timers told me he found one of the old pistols
where Joe and some of his folks were having a battle years after
but after he washed it and oiled it years later someone stold it.
I would like to have had it. It was the old musle loading type.

Grandma Mathilda Brown’s old home place has been bulldosed down
for the new interstate 81 which has been finished to Bullsgap.
We saw it before it was taken down but the old house was long
since gone with a few of the chimney bricks left. It was reported to
us by a niece, Uncle Matt Pierce’s granddaughter that Great grandpa
Jimmy Pierce was a law-in-forcement officer at that time. We were
unable to find his burial place but all the rest of the emediate
family were buried at Mt.Carmel where grandma Brown went to church.

The following is a list of Pierces buried at Mt. Carmel:

W.E (Willie) Pierce-1884-1965 -Nephew Grandma’s
Ova Jeffer Pierce-1893-1918-Willie’s wife- I had meet both of these.
Joel N. Pierce -1882-1918
H.M (Matt) Pierce -1854-1924-Grandma’s brother
Louise Hendry Pierce -1862-1913
[handwritten]
Guy Pierce 1902-1966 - Teddy Pierce 1941-1965
Willie Pierce 1907-1957 Chas Pierce 1883-1959 wife Ida -1884-1952
Chas B Pierce 1887-1942

Thursday, October 20, 2011

cemetery limbo

How is it possible that no one is responsible for fixing this problem?  Really incredible:


A concrete burial vault still protrudes from the bank near the top of the ravine. A 5-inch-high hole in the dirt shows where animals have been digging. A few yards down the steep slope, bits of rusty hardware, possibly from an old coffin, sit next to what appears to be the end of a human leg bone. A couple of pieces of other bones peek out from under fallen leaves. 
“It’s just a heck of a mess,” said Phil Berglund, a Yell Township trustee who oversees the cemetery’s maintenance. Berglund said his little township can’t afford to stabilize the ravine, and a proposal to move graves away from the edge is snarled in bureaucratic red tape. “This is a problem that is beyond us,” he said.

Friday, October 07, 2011

Ahhhh, middle names

I'm not sure why they are so important to me (and not just me).

As a way of confirming you have the right John A. Smith?  Or in may case, the right Robert N. Scott?

But I'm still pleased as punch to have found that he is Robert Newton Scott.  The only place he admitted it was an application to the Missouri Confederate Home that specifically said you could not abbreviate names on the application.

I also have the ancestor that we all thought was named Robert Walker Jackson, until a family bible turned up showing he was named Robert William Jackson.  I'm still not sure when the idea that Walker was his middle name crept in.  He was a man who liked to use R.W. Jackson for most everything he signed.

And then there's Martha A. Davison.  One researcher's uncle said the middle name was Avarilla and she used it to mark her work (so she could see who was using her research unattributed) although she thought he was a pretty unreliable source.  I had seen a family note that it was Ann, but now I can't find it again, so for now I leave it "A.".

Now, if only someone made my Elmer J. Gilbreath admit what his middle name was, maybe I can relax.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Finally found her: May Belle Green Inman

Amongst the papers my grandmother shared with me about her family was this story written by her aunt:

"Belle married a Mr. Green from Fulton, [Fulton Co.] Ky.  (His family raised race horses).  They came to near Lamar, [Barton Co.] Mo.  She died in child birth.  Mr. Green took the baby girl and went back to Kentucky." 
-Jessie Mae Jackson
 Belle was Lucy M. Arabella R. B. "Belle" Jackson.  Her full name will surely never be known as the family bible contained nothing but initials.  The other names that filled in the gaps are all from census records.  A little digging and I found her marriage to "J.R. Green" MAY 28, 1873 by J.M. Spence, M.G., in Weakley County, Tennessee.

I'd always wanted to track down Mr. Green and the daughter and thanks to one of my favorite databases, the Tennessee Death Records at familysearch.org, I finally have:

Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955
familysearch.org
noted 24 Sep 2011
name: May Belle Inmann
event: Death
event date: 28 Apr 1943
event place: Union City, Obion, Tennessee
gender: Female
marital status: Married
race or color: White
age: 64
birth date: 31 Aug 1878
birthplace: Joplin, Mo
spouse: W J Inman
father: Jim Green
father's birthplace: Mo Or Ky
mother: Belle Jackson
mother's birthplace: Mo Or Ky
occupation: Hw
street address: RFD #3
residence: Obion Co, Tenn
cemetery: Beulah
burial place: Union City, Tenn
burial date: 29 Apr 1943
additional relatives: X
digital folder number: 4184876
volume/page/certificate number: cn 8076
No question that it is her.

So, no special skill this time.  No unravelled puzzle.  Just diligently looking and never giving up.  These databases are so amazing.  It's hard to remember that you had to know where to look before you could really get started...

I'm having trouble finding out very much about May or her husband.  I have found them in only one census, with May's half-sister Dolly living with them:

State Kentucky
County Hickman
McAlister Magistereal Dist
s.d. 1?, e.d.  50, Sheet No. 108?A/89A
20th? June 1900 James [smudged]
line 1, 196/200 INMAN W J head WM Dec 1875 24 M 1 Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Farmer Rents Farm
M B wife WF Aug 1879 20 M 1 0/0 Missouri Kentucky Missouri
GREEN Dolly Sister WF Mar 1885 15 S Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky attended school 5 months
WILLIAMS Dolphus laborer WM about 26 S Kentucky Tennessee Kentucky Farm laborer unemployed 4 months
But I'm sure I'll find more.  I'm just excited that one of my oldest and biggest mysteries is solved.  Now on to a few others...


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Hannah Stockwell Hamilton

A new maiden name!

Such a rare discovery for me in my direct line at this point.

I've tried looking for the marriage record without luck, but I noticed a younger son with an unusual name and I thought I'd throw it in the Michigan Deaths and Burials index on familysearch.org.

Bingo!
Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995
familysearch.org
noted 18 Sep 2011
name: Simeon Hamilton
gender: Male
death date: 14 Sep 1901
death place: Bertrand Tp., Berrien, Michigan
age: 69
birth date: 1832
birthplace: Ohio
occupation: Retired Farmer
race: White
marital status: Married
father's name: Nathaniel Hamilton
mother's name: Hannah Stockwell
indexing project (batch) number: B51819-8
system origin: Michigan-EASy
source film number: 945406
Yeay and whew.

and then also his brother:

Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995
familysearch.org
name: Francis M. Hamilton
gender: Male
death date: 06 Jul 1915
death place: Bertrand, Berrien, Michigan
age: 73
birth date: 1842
birthplace: Mich.
occupation: Farmer
race: White
marital status: Married
father's name: Nathanial Hamilton
mother's name: Hanah Stockwell
indexing project (batch) number: B02571-0
system origin: Michigan-EASy
source film number: 1954721

Friday, June 03, 2011

Mary Palina Campbell Cox

Mary P. Campbell Cox has been a funny little conundrum since I ran across her marriage to Anderson Cox many years ago when first working on my husband's genealogy.

Here was a Campbell clearly born in Georgia, but married and living in Greene County, Tennessee, and no other Georgia-born Campbells were in the area!  Very odd...

So, with the vast new array of databases I started digging again.  I found her death record that helpfully said her parents were Campbell and Campbell.  No first names.  Her listing was actually as "Mrs. A. Cox", so it had been awkward to find in the first place.  But no matter.   She married in 1872, so I threw a search into the 1870 census:
United States Census, 1870 
Name: Mary Campbell, Event: Birth, Place: Georgia, Year: 1846-1848

Mary Campbell
birth: 1847 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary P Campbell
birth: 1847 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary Campbell
birth: 1847 —Georgia
residence: Tennessee, United States
Mary Campbell
birth: 1846 —Georgia
residence: Alabama, United States
Mary Campbell
birth: 1848 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary Campbell
birth: 1848 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary F Campbell
birth: 1846 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary Campbell
birth: 1846 —Georgia
residence: Texas, United States
Mary J Campbell
birth: 1846 —Georgia
residence: Florida, United States
Mary Gamble
birth: 1847 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary Jane Gambol
birth: 1848 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States
Mary Gamble
birth: 1846 —Georgia
residence: Georgia, United States 
familysearch.org
noted 3 June 2011
The Mary P. and the Mary b. Georgia but living in Tennessee both sprang out at me.

As it turns out the Mary b. 1847 in Georgia but living in Lincoln County, Tennessee was not born in Georgia - but her husband was.  So database transcription error there.  And Lincoln Co., TN is not near Greene Co., TN, so off to check out the Mary P.

Pulled it up - Walker County, Georgia  This was good!  Walker County is not an uncommon place for my Tennessee folks to end up.  Then I looked at the family.  Blink, blink.  I knew the family:
1870 Walker Co., GA Census
Page No. 12
Subdivision No 128, County of Walker, State of Georgia
17th June 1870 by Leander H Dickey
P.O. Frick's Gap
line 11, 80/77 CAMPBELL James 61 MW Farmer 1275/600 Tennessee
Sarah 62 FW Keeping house Kentucky cannot r/w
Mary P. 23 FW Keeping house Georgia
Eliza M 21 FW Teaching School Georgia attended school
Cardelia 18 FW At home Georgia
James C 13 MW Farm laborer Georgia cannot r/w [appears to be son of James]
William C 11 MW Farm laborer Georgia cannot r/w [appears to be son of James]
Martha 13 FW At home Georgia attended school cannot write [appears to be daughter of William]
Wiley W 10 ME Farm laborer Georgia cannot r/w [appears to be son of William]
Dora B 6 FW Georgia [appears to be daughter of William]
line 21, 81/78 CAMPBELL Andrew H 36 MW Farm laborer 1250/600 Tennessee
Mary L 32 FW Keeping house Tennessee
George F 7 MW Georgia attended school
Robert I 4 MW Georgia
Daniel W 3 MW Georgia
Landon A 7/12 MW Georgia Oct
That is Sarah Dodd Campbell's family. She and James were married in Greene County, Tennessee on 15 Oct 1828.  She is the sister of my ancestor Massey Dodd Hendry.

Also threw Sarah and her husband into Find-A-Grave and found the most fascinating cemetery photos I've ever seen.  There were only four grave (left?) and you had to know they were there to find them.  They did a nice job of showing the whole layout.  Well worth a look.

So, now we know.  I did check a few more of the Mary's but it's pretty obvious how a Georgia girl ended up in Greene County, Tennessee: she had other family there.

And we have yet another case of my husband's cousin marrying mine.

Good grief.  I should make a list some time.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Poweshiek Co., Iowa marriages online

Had some nice luck with the Poweshiek County, Iowa marriage records at familysearch.org and found Margaret H. Hall, daughter of Elijah Hall and Rosetta Hamilton Hall, and Paulina J. Block, daughter of Martin Block and Anna Jeska Block.

Margaret was the more awkward of the two - her marriage record did not mention her parent's names.  But it sure looked like my gal:

familysearch.org
noted 26 May 2011
record title: Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992
groom's name: Hiram Strong
groom's birth date: 1845
groom's age: 25
bride's name: Margaret Hall
bride's birth date: 1846
bride's age: 24
marriage date: 13 Mar 1870
marriage place: Brooklyn, Poweshiek, Iowa
bride's marital status: Single
indexing project (batch) number: M02559-0
system origin: Iowa-EASy
source film number: 1028402

I strongly suspect Hiram is related to Daniel O. Strong.  They appear to both be from Niagara County, New York, though I've found no firm connection yet.  Dan was married to Margaret's aunt Mary Hall Strong.  She and Hiram were right in Brooklyn in 1870:


Page No. 14
Town of Brooklyn, County of Poweshiek, State of Iowa
16 August 1870 by A.J. Wood
P.O. Brooklyn
line 9, 109/115 STRONG Hiram 30 MW Day Laborer /100 New York
Margrett 24 FW Keepinghouse Michigan
line 11, /116 EARLEY Moses 34 MW Day Laborer Ohio
Hanah 22 FW Keepinghouse Ohio
Geo 1 MW Iowa


And here she is with two of her children in the 1900 census:


State Iowa
County Tama
Tama township, Tama city, Ward 1
s.d. 5, e.d. 146, sheet no. 22A/216A
15th June 1900 by Myrtle M. Mills
line 36, 493/514 STRONG, Charles Head WM Aug 1874 25 M 2 Iowa New York Michigan Coal bearer? Owns Mortgaged House
Julia Wife WF Feb 1880 20 M 2 1/1 Iowa Germany Iowa
Mildred Daughter WF June 1899 11/12 S Iowa Iowa Iowa
SHALLER Joseph F-in-law WM Apr 1828 72 D. Germany Germany German 1846/48/Na
B Franklin B-in-law WM Jan 1882 18 S Iowa Germany Germany Laborer unemployed 7 months
line 41, 494/515 STRONG Maggie Head WF Dec 1844 56 Wd. 5/4 Michigan Ohio Indiana Owns Mortgaged House
Ina Daughter WF Aug 1884 15 S Iowa New York Michigan at school 9 months


The final bit of proof for Margaret was discovering she was born in Berrien County, Michigan from a birth record of one of her children in the Iowa Births and Christenings, 1830-1950, database also at familysearch.org.

Paulina's marriage record notes her father's name was Martin, so it was a firm connection from the start:

familysearch.org
noted 27 May 2011
record title: Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992
groom's name: Add A J Myers
groom's birth date: 1861
groom's birthplace: Michigan
groom's age: 22
bride's name: Paulina G Block
bride's birth date: 1867
bride's birthplace: West Prussia
bride's age: 16
marriage date: 18 Feb 1883
marriage place: Malcom, Poweshiek, Iowa
groom's father's name: Orlando Myers
groom's mother's name: Lucilla Crill
bride's father's name: Martin Block
indexing project (batch) number: M02559-1
system origin: Iowa-EASy
source film number: 1028403

She passed away some time between 1896 and the 1900 census (a big part of the reason I'd been unable to track her down otherwise).  Here is her family in the 1900 census:


State Iowa
County Hancock
Crystal Township
Crystal Lake
s.d. 10, e.d. 117, Sheet No. 1A/240A
1st June 1900 by James A. Johnson
line 14, 3/3 MYERS Add J Head WM Jan 1861 39 Wd Michigan New York New York
Grain Buyer Owns House Free of mortgage
Orlando Son WM Jan 1886 14 S South Dak Michigan Germany At School 7 months
Willis S Son WM June 1887 12 S South Dak Michigan Germany At School 7 months
Herold Son WM Feb 1889 11 S Iowa Michigan Germany At School 7 months
Irena Daughter WF Jan 1892 8 S South Dak Michigan Germany At School 7 months
Frank Son WM Oct 1896 3 S South Dak Michigan Germany

I was very excited to track them both down!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Robert N. Scott

I finally tracked down and (essentially) verified my educated guesses about my Robert N. Scott.

And, yep, it was Find-A-Grave that helped me pull it all together.  (The love affair thrives...)

I had been trying to track a couple of other Scotts living near my ancestor Allen Scott in the 1830 Overton Co., TN Census.  My Allen had just gotten married, so one would imagine he might be near family.
1830 Overton Co., TN
[in margin] Overton County State of Tennessee
Pg. 172, allotted to Robert Nevins,
[line 10] SCOTT Martin 000001 110001
[1M 30-39 (b. 1791-1800) Martin,
1F 30-39 (b. 1791-1800),
1F 5-9 (b. 1821-1825),
1F 0-4 (b. 1826-1830)
[could be the Martin Scott in Hart Co., KY in 1850]
pg. 174, allotted to Robert Nevins
[line 7] ASHLOCK Jesse 000000001 0000000001
[1M 60-69, 1F 70-79]
[line 11] BUFORD John 10002 1001
[line 13] Aggrippa CLARY 10001 0001
[line 15] JENINGS Ezekiel 0112001 0010001
[line 17] SCOTT Allen 001 0001
[1M 10-15 (b. 1815-1820) Allen,
1F 15-19(b. 1811-1815) Valeria]
[line 27] SCOTT John 01001 10001
[1M 20-29 (b. 1801-1810) John,
1F 20-29(b. 1801-1810),
1M 5-9 (b. 1821-1825),
1F 0-4 (b. 1826-1830)]
pg. 175, allotted to Robert Nevins
[line 1] SCOTT Samuel 212001 010001
[1M 30-39 (b. 1791-1800) Samuel,
1F 30-39 (b. 1791-1800),
2M 10-15 (b. 1815-1820),
1F 5-9 (b. 1821-1825),
1M 5-9 (b. 1821-1825),
2M 0-4 (b. 1826-1830)]]
[line 2] GREEN William Jr 1101 01101
It appears that the Samuel Scott nearby ends up in Lafayette County, Missouri in 1850.  There was also a John Scott in Lafayette Co., MO in 1850 that could fit the bill for the 1830 Overton John Scott I am looking at.  So, off I run to Find-A-Grave to see if any interesting Scotts pop up in Lafayette County.

But the first thing that pops out at me is R.N. Scott 1843-1919.

Okay, pops out is an understatement.  It screamed at me.

This was the final clue in Robert N. Scott's long, fairly sad tale.

He was born in 1843 in either Tennessee or Kentucky.  His brother Washington Scott said that the family lived in Overton Co., TN until he was 18 (abt. 1857), but Robert repeatedly (though not consistently) reports his birthplace as Kentucky.

Sometime between 1843 (his birth) and 1855 (when his father remarried the sister of is mother) his mother died.

As with most men of his generation, Robert N. Scott enlisted for the Civil War.  His and his brothers Washington and John all joined the 11th Regiment Missouri Infantry (Confederate), Company K.  It was his cemetery record that pointed me to the 11th Regiment and the fact that the three Scotts listed were himself and Washington and John that helped confirm that the Robert N. Scott buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Lafayette Co., MO was my ancestor.

In the 1880 census he is listed with the family I know:
1880 Jasper Co., MO Census,
State Missouri
County Jasper
Jackson Township, S.D. 4, E.D. 64, Page No. 15/434A
[noted on previous census page: Village of Scotland]
11 June 1880 by WB McNeel
line 13, 125/125 SCOTT Robert N WM 37 M Farmer Kentucky NC NC
Martha WF 27 wife M Keeping house Missouri Geo MO
Willam WM 11 Son S At home attended school Missouri Ky MO
Charley WM 9 Son S Missouri Ky MO
Robert WM 7 Son S Missouri Ky MO
Alice WF 5 Daughter Missouri Ky MO
Anna WF 2 Daughter Missouri Ky MO
[near father Allen Scott].
But by 1900 I cannot find Martha McRae Scott and the best record I had for him was:
State Arkansas, County Boone, Long Creek Township
S.D. 3, E.D. 22, pg. 19B/98B,
Sixth July 1900 by James S. Goodwin
line 100, 350/350 HUFFMAN George? Head WM June 1865 34? M 3 Missouri Indiana Missouri Farmer [rest of entry illegible]
Sheet No. 20A/98A
line 1, HUFFMAN Mary E Wife WF Mar 1875 25 M ? 1/1 Missouri Kentucky Missouri
Christene Daughter WF Dec 1897 2 S Arkansas Missouri Missouri
line 3, 351/367 SCOTT Robert N. Head WM Sept 1844 55 M 11 Kentucky Un Un Farmer Owns Farm Free of mortgage
Amanda Wife WF June 1849 50 M 11 9/8 Missouri Carolina Kentucky
HUFFMAN John H step-Son WM May 1874 26 S Missouri Indiana Missouri Farm laborer
PETTY Froney E step-Daughter WF Mar. 1879 21 S Missouri Missouri Missouri
Isaac R step Son WM Apr 1882 18 S Missouri Missouri Missouri Farm laborer attended school 1 month
SCOTT Alonzo V. Son WM Oct 1890 9 S Missouri Kentucky Missouri attended school 1 month
Martha McRae Scott died 17 Mar 1903 and was buried under her maiden name.

Martha Amanda Sisney Huffman Petty Scott died in 1906, after Robert had apparently abandoned her.

Further research on Alonzo V. Scott revealed a young man who claimed on his WWI Draft Registration form that his father was dependent on him.  At that time his father was already being housed at the charitable Confederate Veterans Home in Lafayette County, Missouri.  Unfortunately, when Alonzo was drafted he died of Lobar Pneumonia 11 Oct 1918 before even being deployed to Europe, leaving a widow.

Robert N. Scott died 8 Jun 1919 at his dressing table, probably of heart trouble.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

In love with FInd-A-Grave

While looking up the known gravesite of Margaret McRae Shuey McClelland in Stone Cemetery near Diamond, Newton County, Missouri, I checked the search engine for other McRae's gravestones and was thrilled to find the missing stone for her mother Catherine Gibson McRae!

We had a family letter that said she was buried next to her daughter Martha McRae in Carthage, Missouri.

Close, but not really...one of those little mistakes that crop up in oral tradition.  But I should have guessed earlier - Catherine was living with Margaret and not Martha in her last census.

I also discovered the grave of Andrew Goas's wife Hannah Lewis Goas way over in Longs Run Cemetery, Columbiana County, Ohio.  The only reason I found her was the good luck that they could still read her unusual last name on the stone.  They thought her first name was "Fannah", but if you know what you're looking for you can see it's an H.  It's so neat to actually get to see her gravestone.

So, it's official.

I'm totally in love with Find-A-Grave!!

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Wilda May Taylor Hamm

I have finally tracked down Wilda May Taylor, the daughter of William V. Taylor.

What astonishes me is that my guess based on nothing but census browsing was absolutely correct.

I wouldn't have even known she existed except that a cousin of hers died without heirs and without a will so a document was produced that listed all of her potential heirs - in this case her first cousins.  Wilda was listed in the document as the deceased daughter of William V.  I'd known from his 1930 census record he'd been divorced, but knew nothing of and offspring.

Here are her census records that I gathered while in guess-mode:
State Kansas
County Wyandotte
Delaware Township
Edwardsville City of 3rd Class Beginning Line 1
s.d. 2, e.d. 152, Sheet No. 16A/34A
4th February 1920 by Calvin L. David
line 30, 349/351 REEVES Albert Head OM MW 49 M /yes/yes Iowa Iowa IowaRock Road Patrolman
Sarah wife FW 58 m /yes/yes Indiana Ohio Indiana
Willis son MW 17 S yes/yes/yes Kansas Iowa Indiana Truck Driver/Rock Road
line 33, 350/352 TAYLOR Edna Lodger FW 37 M /yes/yes Kansas Kansas IowaServant/Housekeeper
Wilda Lodger FW 6 S yes/ Missouri Missouri Kansas

1930 Dickinson Co KS
State Kansas
County Dickinson
Herington city, Second Ward
Lyons township
e.d. 21-18, s.d. 3, Sheet No. 9A/153A
Apr. 30, 1930 by Mrs. Mildred Persinger
11 South 9 St.
line 41, 199/218 BERRY Edna Head H o $2000 R No FW 48 Wd no/yes KansasKansas Iowa
Johnnie Step-son MW 22 S no/yes Ohio Missouri Ohio Attendant/FillingStation
TAYLOR Wilda daughter FW 16 S yes/yes Missouri Missouri Kansas
At the time of her death she was divorced from her husband so his name was not given.  The informant was her mother Edna May Berry - who said her maiden name was Berry, which was also her name from her second marriage.  So that may not be correct.

Oh!  I forgot to mention how I found her - I went to the Missouri Death Records online and looked at each of the death records for anyone named Wilda.  Such a long shot!  Glad I didn't have to do the whole 100, also glad I didn't start at the end of the alphabet!

And such a genealogy junkie thing to do...nice when it works out.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Margaret Elizabeth Baker Smith

After having found Simeon/Semyen Perry "Perry" Smith and Margaret Elizabeth Baker’s marriage record online at Sevier County, Tennessee Genealogy and History:
Smith, Simeon P.-Baker, Margaret E.-1869 Sep 25-1869 Sep 29-Maples, P. W. - MG
I decided to try to track her down again.  I’d been hamstrung by not having a definitive 1870 census for her and Perry.  This was my best guess:
Page No. 16
The 3rd District, County of Sevier, State of Tennessee
15th August 1870 by N.M. Baker
P.O. Fair Garden
[near Andrew and Jane Dickey Smith - could this be Simeon P. Smith mis-enumerated?]
line 39, 110/110 SMITH James P 21 MW Farm laborer /350 Tennessee
Margaret E 16 FW Keeping house Tennessee
But as Perry’s family was from Jefferson County, TN I hadn’t really been convinced.  I did all my looking for Margaret there.  This marriage record in Sevier Co., TN really opened things up.  I found two possibles in 1860 for her and very quickly one became my favorite:
1860 Sevier Co., TN Census, pg. 120

S034-26
BAKER -Dist 3, PO Fair Garden, Sevier Co., Tenn., June 28, 1860- 217/ 217
 N. M.         40    M     W     Farmer            300   Tn
 Dicey         34    F     W                             Tn
 Martha        11    F     W                             Tn S
 Nancy         10    F     W                             Tn S
 Margaret      9     F     W                             Tn S
 William       4     M     W                             Tn
 Melville      2     M     W                             Tn

 S034-33
MAPLES -Dist 3, PO Fair Garden, Sevier Co., Tenn., June 28, 1860- 218/ 218
 Preston       40    M     W     Farmer      3000  1300  Tn
 Cirena        25    F     W                             Tn I
 William       20    M     W     Farm Laborer   Tn S
 James         16    M     W                             Tn S
 Gilbert       14    M     W                             Tn S
 Martin        7     M     W                             Tn S
 Rachel        5     F     W                             Tn
 Preston BUCKHANNON 3M     W             Tn
 Albert G. W.BUCKHANNON 1M W        Tn
As you can see this Margaret Baker is enumerated next door to the man who performed my Margaret’s marriage.

So I began doing research on this Baker family and finally found this:
Bruce Baker, James Baker VA d bef 1742, desc TN, OH
“Nathaniel kept a family Bible where he recorded his
marriage and the birth of his children and the deaths of those
who preceeded him in death. Bobby Kirk Hamonson of Oddessa,
Texas had the Bible in November 1992 when I made photo copies
of the information from the Bible.”
170 iii. Margaret Elizabeth Baker was born in Sevier Co.,,
TN 6 APR 1851. Margaret died 1 JAN 1873 at 21
years of age. She married Smith.
Found her.  And proof that my guess about which children were hers and which children belonged to Perry’s second wife was correct.  This was crucial for me as my ancestor ended up being the first child of the second marriage.  And I am now confident that the 1870 enumeration for James P. and Margaret Smith are actually Simeon Perry and Margaret Baker Smith: notice that they, like Margaret’s family, are enumerated in “Fair Garden”.  But one really weird problem.  Do my eyes deceive me?  Or was it Margaret's dad who enumerated the 1870 census?!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Lucy [Maiden name unknown] Atchley Smith

Maiden name known!  Or at least a most probable guess...

This was a fun one to track down.

It was serendipitous as usual.  I haven't done genealogy for a while, so when I noticed an ancestor missing a marriage record for (probably) Sevier County, Tennessee around 1870 I thought I'd see if anything new was available.  And yes:

Sevier County, Tennessee Genealogy and History has a lot of great information and some very usable databases, including marriages.  I quickly found what I was looking for:
Smith, Simeon P.-Baker, Margaret E.-1869 Sep 25-1869 Sep 29-Maples, P. W. - MG
This is the first marriage of my ancestor Simeon/Semyen Perry "Perry" Smith.

While I was looking around, I checked the immediate family for some of my other undocumented marriages without much luck.  Most of this Smith family did its marrying and living in Jefferson County, Tennessee, including Perry's father Gilbert C. Smith:
1850 Jefferson Co., TN Census
The 13th District
26th October 1850 by James Baker
line 18, 1013/1050 Gilbert SMITH 25 "[M] Laborer " [Tenn]
Eliza 27 F " [Tenn]
Andrew 3 M " [Tenn]
Simeon 2 "[M] " [Tenn]
line 22, L. THOMAS 51 "[M] Laborer " [Tenn]
Nancy 17 F " [Tenn]
James 15 M " [Tenn]
George 13 "[M] " [Tenn]
William 11 "[M] " [Tenn]
Catharine 9 F " [Tenn]< John 7 M " [Tenn]
Here he is 50 years later still in Jefferson County, TN in 1900 with a second wife:
17 Cival District, S.D. 2, E.D. 55, Sheet No. 1B, 1st + 2nd June 1900 by Andrew J. Bush, [next door to his former son-in-law Martin Acton],
line 71, 14/14 SMITH Gilbert C Head WM July 1924 75 M 3 Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Farmer Owns Farm Free of mortgage,
Lucy Wife WF Mar 1849 51 M 3 3/1 Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee,
ATCHLY Daniel B Stepson WM WM Dec 1888? 14? S Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Farm Laborer
But when I got digging for this second marriage undocumented marriage for Gilbert and Lucy, I found this:
 Atchley, Isaac T. / Maples, Burlenda  1867 Apr 27  1867 Apr 28  Atchley, William D. - JP 
Atchley, I. T. / Hodge, Lucy  1883 May 30 blank blank
Nothing definitive there.  The marriage is about the right time, Lucy having had a son Daniel B. Atchley in 1886.

But when I looked up this Isaac I found him married to Malinda Maples and among his children were Benjamin Ambrose and James P. Atchley.  And in 1910 I had noted that Daniel had moved to Young County, Texas and was living near these two men and their families.

Still nothing definitive, and those blanks on the marriage bond mean no marriage was reported from the bond, so possibly the marriage never happened.  But there's many a slip, and I know of one man who refused to turn in his marriage license to the court house after the minister had signed it because he "had paid 7 dollars for it" and he meant to keep it...

But for me, the coincidences have piled up way too high.  I believe this is my Lucy Hodges Atchley Smith.

Still more work to do, but here is her 1880 census record:
1880 United States Census, www.familysearch.org
Calvin M. HODGES  Self  Male  62  TN  Farmer  TN  TN
 Lucy HODGES  Dau  Female  31  TN  Keeping House  TN  TN
 Lina HODGES  Dau  Female  29  TN  Keeping House  TN  TN