Samuel Watson Death Certificate

Missouri State Board of Health

Bureau of Vital Statistics

Certificate of Death, File No. 24617a

Samuel Hansford WATSON

Date of birth unknown, born in TN

Died August 11th, 1925 in Moore Township, Oregon County, Missouri

He was about 75 years of age at time of death [b. abt 1850]

He was married to wife Tabitha Watson

He was a farmer

His father's name was Samuel Watson, birth date and place unknown

His mother's name, birthplace and date were unknown

His cause of death was unknown and there was no medical attendance

The informant was Tabitha Watson of Rover, Missouri

He was buried in Union Hill Cemetery, August 12th, 1925

His Neighbors were the undertakers

Death certificate was filed Dec 24th, 1925 by Mrs. A . O. Roberts, Registrar, of Thomasville, MO

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Samuel Hansford Watson was my 3rd great-grandmother, Tabitha House Watson's 2nd husband. I am descended from Tabitha's first husband, Robert KING who died in 1876 according to Tabitha's obituary. Tabitha Watson outlived both of her husbands as you can see she was the informant on her husband's death certificate above. According to Samuel's headstone and Tabitha's obituary, Samuel Watson died August 10 (not the 11th as the certificate above states). It probably took Tabitha a day to get into town to inform the registrar of his death and that's the date that was recorded. 

Samuel Hansford Watson

born 5 Sept 1855 TN

died 10 Aug 1925, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO

Married Tabitha House 16 Nov 1879, Highland Twp., Oregon Co., MO

The undertakers listed on Samuel's death certificate were "neighbors" so it seems as if he died at home and his neighbors buried him in the local cemetery (Union Hill). He must have died of natural causes or died in his sleep because no cause of death was noted on the death certificate. Surely Tabitha would have told the registrar had Samuel been sick and died resulting from an illness? 

I'm sure Samuel's children wrote an obituary up for him and posted it in the local newspaper. I would be interested to see what his obituary says. The one for his wife, Tabitha, was glowing with love and appreciation. I got the impression from talking with his descendants, that Samuel wasn't as well-liked. Check out his FindAGrave memorial page to see this growling photo of him...

Tabitha Watson Death Certificate and Headstone - The Trouble With Dates

Missouri State Board of Health

Bureau of Vital Statistics

Certificate of death, No. 13796

Tobetha Ann WATSON

Died 9 Feb 1937 in Birch Tree, Bartlett Township, Shannon County, Missouri 

[where she also resided]

Born 4 Mar 1846 in Missouri, aged 90 yrs, 11 mo, 5 days at time of death

She was widowed, but her husband's name was Samuel H Watson

Her Father's name was Hull House, and he was born in Missouri

Her Mother's name was Millie Thompson and her date and place of birth were unknown to the informant

The informant was Malinda Moore of Thomasville, MO

She was buried in Union Hill Cemetery on 10 Feb 1937 by John Duncan of Mt View, MO

Cause of death was "Senile Gangrene"

Death certificate was filed 10 Feb 1937 by R. J. Davis, M. D. of Birch Tree, MO 

(his name was also in the field of Registrar). 

I downloaded this death certificate from the Missouri Digital Heritage Site, online database of death certificates from 1910-1960 in March, 2012. It downloaded as a PDF and since I cannot import a PDF into a blog post, I took a screen shot and saved it as a JPG and uploaded the JPG to this blog post. It might be grainy or difficult to read. I have provided the transcript above. 

Tabitha/Tobetha (House) Watson was my 3rd great-grandmother. She was the daughter of Hollingsworth HOUSE and Millie THOMAS. The name on her death certificate for her mother Millie was incorrect as it should be THOMAS and not Thompson. 

There is some discrepancy about the spelling of Tabitha's name. Tabitha's headstone, obituary, and death certificate, all presumably created about the same time, each have a different spelling of her name and different birth and death dates as well! Malinda Moore was the informant on her death certificate. She was a daughter of Tabitha and Samuel Watson. 

Samuel Watson was Tabitha's 2nd husband. She was married 1st to Robert King, July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri. I found their marriage record in the Howell County, MO marriage book. Robert King died in 1876 and Tabitha "King" remarried to Samuel Watson in 1879. I also found their marriage record as well. Samuel Watson preceded Tabitha in death as well in 1925. They were both buried side by side in Union Hill Cemetery in Oregon County, Missouri. Here is a photo of their headstone: 

I can't remember who sent me a copy of this headstone, and as you can see, it's not a very good quality scan and cannot be blown up. The photo on Tabitha's FindAGrave memorial page is a little bit better. According to the headstone, Tabitha died January 9th, 1938. This date is off quite a bit from her obituary and death certificate which both say she died February 9th, 1937! I wonder why there is such a discrepancy? 

If you would like to cite this article, please include the following: Ginger R Smith, "Tabitha Watson Death Certificate and Headstone - The Trouble With Dates," Genealogy by Ginger, posted 24 May 2012 (http://http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). 

Follow Friday - May 25th 2012

I had such a nice time reading blog posts from my friends last week and sharing with everyone that I decided to do it again this week. Not surprising, posts from the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference that went on a couple of weeks ago are still trickling in. I really enjoy those because you get the down to earth sense of what message the really got from each speaker. Some were positive and some not so positive.

Kim von Aspern-Parker of Le Maison Duchamp wrote about an NGS speaker who professed that using the internet was, plain and simple, "Bad Genealogy." She refuted this claim with examples of how the internet can and should be used to help us perform "Good Genealogy."

Michael Hait of Planting the Seeds also posted a list of blogs published by certified genealogists that I started following recently and wanted to share with you. If you are interested in reading about Copyright Law, Citations and Source Writing, Legal Genealogy, etc and topics of a more professional nature, then check out these professional genealogists' blogs. Not every blog is related to professional genealogy of course, but there is a good mix to pick and choose from that you can add to your Reader.

Harold Henderson of the Midwestern Microhistory Blog gave us a very good review of what you would expect to find in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSq) magazine that is included in your membership dues with topics covering plagiarism, newspapers, immigration research, and Civil War research. Have you read up on your NGSq lately? (I read mine during lunch time).

Many Alamance County Records now Offsite at Archives

I just received this notice from the North Carolina State Archives today on their blog, History For All the People. One item to note is that many records in Alamance County, including the Record of Wills, are stored offsite and are no longer available for viewing on Saturday. If you would like access to any of the following records from Alamance County on a Saturday, you will need to call 919-807-7310 to request to view them.  

Polk County:
 ·         Record of Inheritance Tax, 1921-1968; C.R.080.513.1 (Arranged alphabetically by last name of the deceased)
 ·         You may also find Inheritance tax records in the loose estate records (C.R.080.508).

 Alamance County:
 (Records stored offsite.  No access available on Saturday.  Please call (919-807-7310) and request to view volumes on Saturday.)
 ·         Record of Wills, 1849-1968; C.R.001.801.9-C.R.001.801.30
 ·         Record of Administrators, 1902-1968; C.R.001.504.1-C.R.001.504.16 (15 volumes)
 ·         Record of Settlements, 1919-1951; C.R.001.518.4-C.R.001.518.10 (7 volumes)
 ·         Guardian Bonds, 1910-1953; C.R.001.511.3-C.R.001.511.5 (3 volumes)
 ·         Guardian Returns, 1879-1951; C.R.001.509.02-C.R.001.509.06 (5 volume)
 ·         Guardian Record, 1954-1963; C.R.001.509.07 (1 volume)
 ·         Record of Guardians and Trustees, 1963-1968; C.R.001.509.08 (1 volume)
 ·         Record of Accounts, 1932-1951; C.R.001.501.04-C.R.001.501.07 (4 volumes)

I LOVE using the Will Records! These are the original wills written by or for my ancestors. These records are organized first by county, then alphabetically within each county, then by date, so it is really easy to find all of the people of the same surname who wrote wills in each county because they are all grouped together in the same box. I'm kind of surprised that the Alamance County Wills are being stored offsite because in my mind, it seems as if it is a break in the collection. If I were looking for a will in Randolph County, for example, and I did not find it, the next place I would look would be in Alamance County because they are right next to each other. Since I can only go to the Archives on Saturdays, I would have to plan ahead of time for them to pull all of those records for me prior to my arrival. 

Also, I usually investigate the Guardian returns, records, and accounts at the same time I look at the wills and estate files, so it seems again odd to me that the Estate files would be left onsite for Alamance County, but the wills and associated administration and guardian records would be stored offsite. 

Oh, and did you notice that in the Record of Wills for Alamance County listed above, that the list starts at box 9? Does anyone else find that odd? Why not start at box 1? Hmmm.....

I just found out about the Record of Inheritance Tax files last week. They are not really of much interest to me because most of them did not start until the 1920s. However if you are researching in Orange County, NC, these records started in 1820!!! So do check them out if have exhausted all avenues (wills, estates, guardians, etc) and looking for something new to check out. You can check out the complete list here. 

Francesca, “Recent Transferred County Records: Alamanace and Polk Counties,” History For All the People, posted 24 May 2012 (http://ncarchives.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/recent-transferred-county-records-alamance-and-polk-counties-2/ : accessed 24 May 2012). 

Ginger Smith, "Many Alamance County Records now Offsite at Archives," Genealogy by Ginger, posted 24 May 2012, (http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). 

The Well-Loved Mother, Mrs. Tobitha Watson of Oregon County, Missouri

These newspaper clippings were sent to me by Wanda Watson, a descendant of Tobitha's husband's brother. Here is the transcription of Tobitha's obituary. She died 9 February 1937 in Birch Tree, Missouri: 

"Tobitha Ann-Watson, daughter of Hol and Millie House, was born in Oregon County, March 4, 1846 and died February 9, 1937 at Birch tree, Missouri. Her age was 90 years, 11 months, and 5 days.

She was united in marriage to Robert King in 1870. To this union two children were born; Fletcher and Dora. Mr. King passed away in 1876. On December 28, 1879 she was married to Samuel H. Watson at King Chapel, Missouri. To this union eight children were born; three daughters, Cora Judd, Linda Moore, Ora Brown, and five sons, Henry, Amos, Bob, Lee and Sam.

Mr. Watson preceded her in death on August 10, 1925. Two of her children, Dora and Henry, also have preceded her in death several years ago. 

She leaves to mourn her passing 4 sons, Amos Watson of Thayer, Mo.; Bob, Lee and Sam Watson of Thomasville, Mo.; and 3 daughters, Cora Judd of Rover, Mo., Linda Moore of Thomasville, and Ora Brown of Birch Tree. She is also survived by three brothers, a sister, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.

She was converted and united with the Methodist Church at King Chapel, Mo., at an early age. She was a devoted Christian, a good kind mother, and a lovable companion.

Funeral services were conducted at Union Hill Church at 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoon on February 10, by Rev. Knight of Mtn. View. A host of relatives and friends were present at the burial at Union Hill Cemetery.

Her toils are past, her work is done

She fought the fight, the victory won

In childhood day her patient smiling face,

Meant more than all the world to us,

There’s nothing here on earth can take her place."

"Card of Thanks

We wish to thank our friends and neighbors who were so kind to us during the illness and death of our mother, Mrs. Watson. And especially do we wish to thank Rev. Knight for his consoling words and those who rendered the music. Also the undertaker and all others who so willingly helped.

The Children."

It has been several years since I have actively done any research on the King or Watson family. This is the first time I've actually noticed that her obituary and death certificate (upcoming post) list her name as Tobitha. I had always thought her name was Tabitha. Most researchers have her listed as Tabitha as well. 

According to her marriage record to her first husband, Robert King, she was listed as what looks to be Tobitha House; according to the marriage record between her and her 2nd husband, Samuel Watson, she is listed as Tolitha King. On her husband, Samuel Watson's death certificate, she is listed twice as Tabitha Watson (once as the wife and once as the informant). However, on her own obituary and death certificate, she is listed as Tobitha Watson and on her headstone, she is listed as Tabitha Watson. I guess I will need to query some of her descendants for clarification. Many of her grandchildren are still living today in Missouri. There is a lot of discrepancy around her date of birth as well, so I am not surprised to see this discrepancy around her name too. 

What is not in question is that Tobitha/Tabitha was the daughter of Hollingsworth HOUSE and Millie THOMAS. I came up as a Family Finder (autosomal DNA) match to a gentleman who also had Thomas as one of his surnames and that prompted me to do some research into my Thomas surname last fall. I learned that my Thomas line supposedly comes from an Ephraim Thomas of Franklin County, Virginia (source: Anne Jobe Brown, via personal email). 

According to the above obituary, and their marriage record, Tabitha House married Robert King July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri. I am in the middle of looking for a notice in one of the local newspapers for their marriage. You can read about my trials and tribulations with historical newspapers here. Her obituary also says that Robert King died in 1876. Again, I have been looking for his death notice to no avail. It could be that the information in this obituary is incorrect. 

Tabitha and Robert King did have two children - Fletcher King and Dora King. Dora was my 2nd great-grandmother who married William Peters. Dora King Peters died of a snake bite around 1912. No record of her death has ever been found. Dora's half-brother Henry Watson, who was mentioned in Tabitha's obituary as the other child who preceded her in death, was shot to death according to Wanda Watson. This obituary contained a lot of very useful information, including the names of the eight children she had with her 2nd husband, Samuel Watson. 

It also states that she was Methodist and was buried in Union Hill cemetery. She was buried beside her 2nd husband, Samuel Watson who died in 1925 and they share a double headstone. Her FindAGrave memorial with photos of her and her headstone is here. This is the second mention of the Methodist affiliation as Tabitha's son Fletcher King was married by a Methodist Circuit Rider named Joseph Martin Willard. 

Next I will see what I can learn from Tabitha/Tobitha's death certificate. Here is a photo of Tabitha when she was older.


Ginger R Smith, "The Well-Loved Mother, Mrs. Tobitha Watson of Oregon County, Missouri" Genealogy by Ginger, posted 22 May 2012 (http://http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). 

Follow Friday - 18 May 2012

I don't do Follow Fridays much anymore mostly because I can't seem to keep up with it all. But here are a few posts that caught my eye this week:

Ancestral Breezes wrote about her Favorite Tweets from the NGS 2012 Conference. Check this out to see the highlights from the speaker presentations and a few funnies.

Diane Haddad of the Genealogy Insider wrote about the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act of 1862. In this post she gives a good overview of the history of the Homestead Act and the resources you can find and use today to help you understand the process your ancestors might have gone through at the time and to help you find your ancestors' actual records!

One post that I know has been very popular and very necessary is Using OneNote to keep up with Those Ancestors by Caroline Pointer of 4YourFamilyStory.com blog. She created a video that takes you step by step through the process of creating research reports in your OneNote software and even offers her readers a downloadable template you can use for your own research!

Laura from The Last Leaf On This Branch wrote about Passing the Test - the DNA Test that is. Although her 23andMe Relative Finder results are not in yet, she was able to view her health results and found some interesting surprises.

There is a new player on the field in the game of genealogy software products. It's called Geungle and it made headlines at the NGS conference in Cincinnati last week. Susan at Nolichucy Roots volunteered herself as a beta tester and is excited about the prospects of this cloud based system being designed by Pentandra.

If you come across a blog or blog post you found interesting and would like to share please let me know via emailor in a comment below.

Marriage Certificate of Tabitha (House) King and Samuel Watson

Photo of Tabitha House and Samuel Watson, privately held by Fern Miller Harris, descendant of Tabitha and Samuel Watson's daughter Cora Bell Watson, shared with me Oct 2008. 

My 3rd great-grandmother, Tabitha House (pictured above), was married first to Robert King on July 28th, 1870. You can view their marriage record here.  According to Tabitha's obituary, written some 60 years later, Robert King died about 1876. I have been unable to verify this information to date. Shortly after the death of her first husband, Robert, Tabitha remarried to her 2nd husband, Samuel Watson (pictured above with Tabitha), in Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri, on November 19th, 1879.

Marriage Certificate of Samuel Watson and Tabitha King, 19 Nov 1879, Highland Twp., Oregon Co., MO. Downloaded from  Ancestry.com. 

A copy of their marriage certificate is pictured above. Here is the transcript:

Transcription:

State of Missouri
County of Oregon                                                                            This Certifies
                That Samuel H Watson of Oregon Co. in the State of
Missouri and Tabitha King of Oregon Co., in the State
of Missouri were at Highland Tp, in said County by me joined together in

HOLY MATRIMONY,

on the 19^th day of Nov in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and Seventy nine [1879]
IN PRESENCE OF

B E H Warren LM

The foregoing Marriage Certificate was filed for record in this office on the 17th

day of Dec A. D. 1879.                                                    M G Norman      Recorder

                                                                                         J F Norman         Deputy 

When Tabitha married Samuel Watson, she had 2 small children - William Fletcher King and Dora King, my 2nd great-grandmother - with her. It appears, from talking with folks who lived in the area and knew of this family, that Dora and Fletcher took their step-father's surname of Watson for a while. In fact, they were enumerated as such on the 1880 census.

1880 Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri Census Report, Samuel Watson head of house, Bica, William and Dora listed as Watsons as well. 

Tabitha and Samuel Watson were married 46 years before Samuel passed away in 1925. Tabitha lived another 12 years following the death of her husband Sam and died in 1937 at the age of 90. Here is a photo of Tabitha in her old age. Tabitha and Samuel had eight children that I know of: 

1. Cora Bell Watson, b. 10 Aug 1880, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 12 Jun 1964, Koshkonog, MO
2. Henry E Watson, b. July 1882,  Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 13 Sep 1929, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
3. Mary Malinda Watson, b. 17 Apr 1885, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 25 Nov 1954, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
4. William Amos Watson. b. 21 Mar 1887, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 10 Sep 1960, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
5. Charles Elbridge "Bob" Watson, b. 31 Mar 1889, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 16 Sep 1959, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
6. Walter Lee Watson, b. 23 Mar 1891, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 7 Feb 1954, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO
7. Samuel Hansford Watson, Jr., b. 28 Feb 1893, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 30 Nov 1961, Memphis, Shelby Co., TN
8. Ora May Watson, b. 28 Mar 1896, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO, d. 24 Jun 1973, Mountain View, Howell Co., MO

Sources:

Ancestry.com, "Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 7 March 2012), The Marriage Certificate of Samuel H Watson and Tabitha King, Oregon County, Missouri; From the microfilm of the Missouri Marriage Records; Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives; Notes: Tabitha was indexed as "Talitha King."

1880 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Highland Township, Page 326A, Samuel Watson; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2005); NARA Film T9, Roll 707, FHL Film 1254707.

Names, birth and death dates and locations of the children of Tabitha and Samuel Watson were compiled from a multitude of sources. If you would like more information or have information to share, please feel free to Email me.

My first Introduction to a Methodist Circuit Rider

Last month, I posted the marriage license of William Fletcher King, the brother of my 2^nd great- grandmother, Dora King. According to the marriage license, they were married in Oregon County by a “local elder” named Joseph M Willard. [1]

I found Reverend Joseph M Willard on FindAGrave thanks to a cousin who emailed a link to his memorial to me. From there I noted that another cousin, Mary Jo Freeman, had posted some photos of him and his wife, Rhoda. Here is a photo of them together, with permission of Mary Jo Freeman:

According to Mary Jo’s website, Joseph M Willard, her great-grandfather, was a Methodist circuit rider preacher for the districts of West Plains and Koshkonong, Missouri, and Independence County, Arkansas. Both of these neighboring towns bordered the Missouri-Arkansas State Line. Methodist circuit riders travelled around to various communities and preached to their members and tried to set up congregations.

Joseph Martin Willard was born July 14^th, 1865 in Oregon County, Missouri to John and Sarah Colyott Willard. He began preaching when he was 21 years of age. He met his bride-to-be, Susan Rhoda Spurlock at a Methodist Church in Liberty Hill, Sharp County, Arkansas where he was preaching. They were married March 19, 1889 in King’s Mill, Sharp County, Arkansas. They lived in Rover, Oregon County, Missouri until their children were grown at which point they moved to neighboring West Plains, Howell County, Missouri. In his 70s, Joseph became a Judge. Joseph and his wife celebrated their 73^rd wedding anniversary before she passed away in 1962 and he followed shortly thereafter.  [2]

The first question I had when I saw Joseph Willard’s name on my 2^nd great uncle’s marriage license was “I wonder if he is related to Posey Willard, my great-grandmother’s half brother’s father?” I wrote about Posey Willard being the father of my great-grandmother’s half brother, William Herbert Peters previously. Well Mary Jo Freeman was kind enough to write me back and she informed me that yes, in fact, Posey Willard and Joseph Martin Willard were related. They were 2^nd cousins and shared the same great-grandfather, Henry Willard (This is suggested, but not proven).

The Reverend Joseph M Willard lived fairly close by to Fletcher and Mary King in Highland Township in 1900 and Joseph was only 34 years old at the time the census was taken which means he was only 28 years old when he married Fletcher and Mary. He started preaching when he was 21. And the census lists him as a “farmer” which also threw me off, but it was him as the children and wife match up with what Mary Jo has listed for his family members.  

This was a fun experiment in looking at not just bride and groom but also the other key players like the person who married them! I am always skeptical when someone says that “the people who witness the deed are always related.” However, in this case, I was able to provide some context in which the elder and groom had some connection, if not directly related by blood, but by an extramarital affair!

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Additional resources:
[1] The marriage license between William Fletcher King and Mary A French.  And the question of who was the “local elder.”
[2] More about Reverend Joseph Martin Willard and his family on his great-granddaughter Mary Jo Freeman’s website.
[3] Read about how the mystery of my great-grandmother’s half brother’s parents was solved

Tombstone Tuesday: Jesse and Nathan “Gus” Hill

MOTHER FATHER

JESSIE N GUS

1875-1950 1873-1944

HILL

N Gus or Nathaniel Gustaves Hill and Jessie Inez Barton were my 2^nd great-grandparents. They were the parents of my great-grandmother, Blanche Kathryn Hill. You can see photos of my Hill family here.

Their headstone was placed in a family plot in Center Point Cemetery (Center Point, Howard County, Arkansas). Nathan Gus and Jessie Hill’s headstone is the short one on the left. The middle stone belongs to Nathan’s mother, Josie Hill pictured below and the one on the right belongs to Nathan’s son-in-law, Barnard Maggard, also pictured below.

Hill Family Plot, Center Point Cemetery, Center Point, AR

JOSIE

________

J W HILL

Born

In Greenville Dist SC

July 11, 1841

Died

Jan 12, 1887

Josie Hill was Josephine F Cox who married Joseph Watson Hill, 16 January 1861 in Newberry, South Carolina. She predeceased her husband by about 26 years.  Joseph Hill died in 1913 in Annona, Texas, so he is not buried in the Hill family plot. Josie and Joseph Hill were the parents of Nathaniel Gustaves Hill and were my 3rd great-grandparents.  

BARNUM MAGGARD

SEPT. 16, 1894

APRIL 5, 1937

AT REST

Barnum Maggard married Doris Hill, my great-grandmother’s oldest sister. Barnard predeceased Doris by about 31 years. They did not have any children. Doris moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon and married her 2^nd husband, Roscoe Hines. She is buried in Klamath Falls.

Here is a picture of the Centerpoint Cemetery in Centerpoint, Howard County, Arkansas:

Photos taken courtesy of Doyle Wester, Nov 2010. Centerpoint Cemetery, Centerpoint, Howard Co., Arkansas.

Photo of Centerpoint Cemetery Sign was copied from FindAGrave.com website and was originally uploaded by D. Ann on 30 July 2006. 

Putnam County IN Order Books and Abner Goodwin

A couple of years ago, I wrote a series of posts entitled "Finding the Heirs of Etheldred Godwin" in which I used land records to determine who were the children of Etheldred Godwin. Following the discovery of seven separate deeds each naming off their 1/7th share of Etheldred's land, I decided to see if there was any other mention of this division of land in the Putnam County, Indiana Circuit Court. I had already determined that there was no probate or estate record on file for Etheldred Godwin.

I ordered the "Complete Order books, circuit court, Putnam Co., IN, 1823-1915, vols. C-D, Apr 23, 1841 - Apr 12, 1862" family history film no. 2416111 from my local Family History Center. I was looking for court cases related to the probate of Etheldred Godwin's estate in 1852. I did not find any listings for Godwin or his descendants with the surnames of Thomas, Sabin, and McAlister in either of these two volumes C and D.

The only entry I found was for the estate of Abner GOODWIN:

On May 6, 1858 a case came before the court between Polly and James Goodwin, executors of the estate of Abner Goodwin, dec'd on the one part, and David, Elisha, and Greenberry Mullinex and Riley Bev's(sp?) on the other part. The Mullinexes had an attorney present who agreed to appear before the court for them and to waive the essence of a "scirifaces" and to confess a judgment of "revion" in favor of Polly and James Goodwin, executors of the last will and testament of Abner Goodwin, dec'd for the amount of a judgment rendered in favor of said Goodwin for $485 and with all interest and costs due thereon, rendered at the Nov term of said court 1848. 

(Source: Complete Order books, Putnam Co., IN, Family History Film no. 2416111, volume D, p. 238)

I have identified this Abner Goodwin as one Abner Connely Goodwin, son of John Goodwin(e) and Martha Heady. According to a user submitted IGI file on Ancestry.com, Abner was born about 1791 in Wheeling, VA. He married Charollet Ginn 27 Aug 1812 in Bardstown, KY.

He died 12 Sept 1849 according to his headstone transcription in Bethel Baptist church, Vermillion Cemetery posted on the Putnam Co., IN USGenWeb site.

Abner "Godwin" was enumerated on the 1830 Putnam Co., IN census report.

In his household, he had:
1 male under the age of 5
2 males between 5 and 10
2 males between 10 and 15
1 male between 30 and 40
2 females under the age of 5
3 females between 5 and 10
1 female between 10 and 15
1 female between 15 and 20
1 female between 40 and 50

The male between the ages of 30 and 40 was probably Abner, which would put his date of birth at approximately between 1790 and 1800. His first wife, Charlotte, was probably the female who was between the age of 40 and 50, making her born approximate between 1780 and 1790.

Other than Abner and Charlotte, there were a total of 5 males and 7 female children living in the household at the time this census was taken. We cannot assume they were all necessarily children, though, as they could have been nieces or nephews, etc.

(Source: 1830 US Federal Census, Putman County, Indiana, population schedule, , Page 193, Abner Godwin; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : downloaded 14 May 2012); NARA Film M19, Roll 30, FHL Film 0007719.)

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Between 1822 and 1839, Abner Goodwin purchased a total of 9 tracts of land (almost 800 acres total) in Putnam, Owen, and Monroe counties, in Indiana. According to his first two patents for 72 and 80 acres in Putnam County, Indiana on November 13, 1822, Abner Goodwin was "of Nelson County, Kentucky." It is always a good idea to look at the patent image that is usually included on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) site because it can give you clues like this that can help to tie your ancestor to another location. This "of Nelson County, Kentucky" helps to support the IGI file that mentions that Abner spent some time in Kentucky. By the time he filed for his 2nd set of patents in 1823, Abner Goodwin was "of Putnam County, Indiana."

Cropped patent image for Abner Goodwin "of Nelson County, Kentucky" for 80 acres in Putnam County, Indiana in 1822.

A list of all of Abner Goodwin's land patents filed in Indiana between 1822-1839.

1.  Abner Goodwin "of Nelson County, Kentucky," received 72 ac, Putnam Co, 13 Nov 1822 (Terra Haute Land Office)
2.  Abner Goodwin "of Nelson County, Kentucky," received 80 ac, Putnam Co, 13 Nov 1822 (Terra Haute Land Office)
3.  Abner Goodwin "of Putnam County, Indiana," received 80 ac, Putnam Co, 10 July 1823 (Terra Haute Land Office)
4.  Abner Goodwin "of Putnam County, Indiana ," received 160 ac, Putnam Co, 15 Apr 1824 (Crawfordsville Land Office)
5.  Abner Goodwin and Levi S. Stewart "of Putnam County, Indiana," received 80 ac, Putnam Co., 10 Nov 1824 (Crawfordsville Land Office)
6.  Abner Goodwin "of Putnam County, Indiana," received 72.6 ac, Putnam Co, 15 Dec 1826 (Crawfordsville Land Office)

In 1828, we see a change: Abner Goodwin purchases land in Owen County instead of Putnam County and he is listed as being of "Monroe County, Indiana." - check the Monroe Co deed indexes. There are deeds passed between Abner and Nancy Goodwin and Joshua, Josiah, and William Goodwin, none of which are named as children of this Abner Goodwin - were there two Abner Goodwins? - Yes, there was Abner Connolly Godwin, b. 1791 in VA who moved from KY to Putnam Co., IN and died in 1849 and there was Abner Goodwin who married Nancy Hogan who was born about 1804 in KY and moved to IN in the 1820s. The lives of these two men overlapped. 

7.  Abner Goodwin "of Monroe County, Indiana" received 80 ac, Owen Co, 5 May 1828 (Vincennes Land Office)
8.  Abner Goodwin "of Putnam County, Indiana" received 80 ac, Owen Co, 10 Sept 1838, (Crawfordsville Land Office)
9.  Abner Goodwin "of Greene County, Indiana" received 40 ac, Monroe Co, 1 Aug 1839, (Vincennes Land Office)

(Source: U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Website, Land Patent Search, Abner Goodwin (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx, accessed 29 Aug 2006).

In 1828 and 1829, Abner Goodwin was listed on the Clay County, Indiana tax lists. 

(Source: Charles M Franklin, Owen County, Indiana, Miscellaneous, Volume 1, Tax Lists, 1819-1829 (Indianapolis, Indiana: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1982), page 13; North Carolina State Library, Raleigh, NC). 

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On 11 Sept 1834, Abner Goodwin took out a marriage bond to marry Polly Gardner in Putnam Co., IN. His first wife, Charlotte, must have died between 1830, when Abner and a woman old enough to be his wife was enumerated, and 1834 when Abner was remarried.

(Source: Charles M Franklin, Putnam County, Indiana Early Marriage Records, 1822-1837 (Indianapolis, Indiana: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1982), no page noted; North Carolina State Library, Raleigh, NC).

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Either Abner and his family moved around a lot or the county boundary lines between Owen and Putnam changed a few times because Abner was next enumerated in Owen Co., IN in 1840. He had 14 children living at home with him and his wife. They lived in Montgomery township. In 1838 Abner, who was "of Putnam County, Indiana," purchased 80 acres in Owen County and a year later in 1839, Abner Goodwin "of Greene County, Indiana," purchased 40 acres in Monroe County.

Here are a list of all the counties that Abner was mentioned in:

Clay - formed 1825 from Brazil
Owen - formed 1819 from Spencer
Putnam - formed 1822 from Greencastle
Monroe - formed 1818 from Bloomington
Greene - formed 1821 from Bloomfield

All of these counties, with the exception of Clay, were formed before Abner arrived in Indiana so there is no possibility of boundary changes.

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On 10 Sept 1849, Abner Goodwin wrote a will that was filed in the Owen County, Indiana Will Book 1, p. 130. It was recorded 22 Spt 1849. His wife was Polly Goodwin; It mentioned 18 children. The following were listed by name: Milton, Berton (deaf and dumb), Mary (deaf and dumb), Helen, James H, Christopher C, Cela, George, Malinda, Charlota, Rebecca, Newton Thomas; He named his wife Polly Goodwin and son James H. Goodwin as the executors of his estate. John W Gladson, Ervin P. Carmack, and James Carmack witnessed the writing of his will.

Abner Goodwin's headstone transcription is listed in the Putnam County, Indiana Cemetery Records on the Indiana USGenWeb site. He is buried in Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, now known as Vermillion Cemetery in Putnam Co., IN. He died September 12th, 1849, and was 58 years of age (putting his date of birth about 1791). His 2nd wife Mary died April 11th, 1855. She was 56 years old (born about 1799). His 1st wife Charlotte was also buried beside him, however the dates listed on her headstone were unreadable. Another website, "Memorial Menders of Putnam County" (Indiana), added the note that Abner's will also stated that "I, Abner Goodwin of Owen County, State of Indiana ... direct that my body be decently buried by the side of my first wife ... There is one acre of land that I gave to the Baptist Church in Putnam County for a public burying ground to be used for that purpose by the people." So this is probably the main source of information that Abner's first wife Charlotte was also buried in this cemetery next to him.

I have not reviewed a copy of Abner Goodwin's will directly as I am not related to him. However if you have a copy of his will and would like to share with me I would be happy to post to the site. Also, if you or a descendant of either of these two Abners and would be interested in participating in the Goodwin DNA Surname project at ftDNA please let me know as there is significant interest in separating the various Godwin-Goodwin-Goodin/Gooden lines in Ohio and Indiana.

More information on the ancestry of Abner Goodwin can be found on the Goodwine Family Genforum message board here.

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** Disclaimer: This post is in development mode, so if you find any discrepancies or errors, please let me know. Or if you have any comments or suggestions to add, please feel free to Email me. I have been updating this post gradually as I come across more information.

“Grand Arrival” – new items at the B. C. Thomas & Co. Store in West Plains, Missouri, June 23rd, 1876

My 2^nd great-grandmother, Dora KING, was the daughter of Tabitha HOUSE and Robert KING. Robert KING supposedly died in 1876 in either Oregon or Howell County, Missouri. While I was looking through Southern Missouri newspapers in 1876 for a death notice of Robert KING, I came across an advertisement for the B. C. THOMAS & Co “Grand Arrival” of new stock and goods (click on image to make larger):

Grand ArrivalOf new goods at B. C. THOMAS & Co’s.
Our new stock carefully selected with
reference to the needs of this community,
is now arriving. Our Prints, Domestics
and Ladies’ Dress Goods will be found
especially fine. Call and see us and see
how cheap we sell goods.
                                                B. C. THOMAS & Co.

I learned a few months ago that I have quite a long line of THOMAS’ in my family. Tabitha HOUSE, my 3^rd great-grandmother, was the daughter of Hollingsworth HOUSE and his first wife, Millie THOMAS. Millie THOMAS was the daughter of William THOMAS and Nancy HUDDLESTON. If you are from Southern Missouri, then you are sure to know the HUDDLESTON family! However, Oregon County, Missouri, where the THOMAS, HUDDLESTON, and HOUSE families are from, was said to have been founded by a THOMAS family. I am unsure if my William THOMAS was related to John and Matilda THOMAS who is said to have founded Oregon County, Missouri. If so, they were probably brothers. Learning more information about my THOMAS family is definitely on my to-do list.

Most of my THOMAS and HOUSE family stayed in Oregon County, but some crossed back and forth between Oregon and Howell Counties. Unfortunately I do not have a list of Millie THOMAS’ brothers and sisters, so I do not know for sure if this B. C. THOMAS was related to my THOMAS family or not. I did a little research on him and found the following on Ancestry.com:

His name was Blackman Coleman THOMAS, born about 1817 in Tennessee. According to the 1880 Howell County, Missouri census report, he was married to Hannah, he was a stock dealer and both his parents were from Virginia. This actually matches up very well for him to be my Millie THOMAS’ brother. Millie was born in 1818. Her father, Ephraim THOMAS, was born in Franklin County, Virginia. He moved to Smith County, Tennessee about 1815 and stayed with his wife’s TEAL family for a bit before removing to Missouri.

Unfortunately, most online family trees have Blackman as the son of William THOMAS and Harriett KEYS from Tennessee. And of course, I couldn’t find any trees (or census reports) pointing to a single source of evidence supporting this theory.

Either way, I just wanted to share this item from the newspaper that my ancestors would have been reading at the time they lived in West Plains or possibly even while living in Thomasville or Alton in neighboring Oregon County, Missouri. Did they visit the B. C. Thomas Store? Did they buy stock from him? I highly doubt the missus purchased dresses from his store as they were probably too poor for that. But they might have purchased fabric to make their children’s clothing out of.

Oh and still no mention of Robert KING’s death in 1876…so I will keep looking. I wonder what other interesting stories I will find in this paper? Oh and I wonder how long it will take for those 33 Ancestry.com online family tree owners to find this post and copy this newspaper article to their online family tree and NOT attribute it. Anyone want to place any bets? And how many do you think will even take the time to write a source citation giving the date and name of the newspaper. Ah hem, even though I have included a citation at the bottom of this post (and note, I did not include a mention of my blog as the secondary source from which the next person to copy this article from also should use.) Hey, it's a start, right? 

Source: West Plains Journal, (West Plains, Howell County, Missouri, USA), 23 June 1876, Page 2, newspaper clipping; The American Antiquarian Society, Massachusetts, USA. Column 1, "Grand Arrival".

Keeping Track of My 2nd Great-Grandparents

I have 8 sets of 2^nd great-grandparents with a total of 16 individuals.

Paternal Line:

Set # 1: Claude Rual Smith (1896 - 1975) and Willie Harriet Riddle (1899 – 1985)

Set # 2: Fred Fox (1884 – 1974) and Melvina West (1882 – 1978)

Set # 3: John Milton Binns (1868 – 1961) and Perthinia “Pert” Eula Brooks (1873 – 1942)

Set # 4: Nathaniel Gustaves Hill (1873 – 1944) and Jessie Inez Barton (1875 – 1950)

Maternal Line:

Set # 1: Alvin Theodore Godwin (1879 – 1950) and Louella Davis (1882 – 1947)

Set # 2: William Edward Peters (1874 – 1948) and Dora King (1875 – 1912)

Set # 3: James Franklin Lasiter (1876 – 1968) and Rosalie Putman (1875 – 1961)

Set # 4: Barney Sheron Benson (1884 – 1952) and Eva Mae Dennis (1889 – 1983)

I was born in 1976. As you can see, two of my paternal 2^nd great-grandfathers died 1 or 2 years before I was born and 2 of my paternal 2^nd great-grandmothers lived to hold me in their arms (The obituary of one of my 2^nd great-grandmothers, Willie Harriet Riddle Smith, mentioned that she had 18 2^nd great-grandchildren!)

One of my maternal 2^nd great-grandmothers lived to hold me. I wasn’t the only one though. She had several other 2^nd great-grandchildren that she travelled around to visit with. Check out my 5-generation photos:

 Back Row: Sue Lasiter (my grandmother), Marilyn Godwin (my mother), Louise Benson Lasiter (my great-grandmother); Front: Eva Dennis Benson (my 2nd great-grandmother), Ginger R. Smith (me!). Taken March 1976, Fort Smith, Arkansas. From personal collection of Ginger R. Smith, inherited from Louise Lasiter. Copyright 2012. 

Back Row: Claude Rual Smith, Jr (my great-grandfather) and Willie Harriet Riddle Smith (my 2nd great-grandmother); Front: Tim D. Smith (my father), Ginger R. Smith (me), Darrel E. Smith (my grandfather). Taken 1976, Fort Smith, Arkansas. From personal collection of Ginger R. Smith, scanned from photo album of Barbara J. Smith, Copyright 2012. 

L to R: Reba Fox Smith (my great-grandmother), Ginger R. Smith (me),  Melvina West Fox (my 2nd great-grandmother), Tim D. Smith (my father), Darrel E. Smith. Taken March 1976, Fort Smith, Arkansas. From personal collection of Ginger R. Smith, scanned from photo album of Barbara J. Smith, Copyright 2012. 

Most all of my sets of 2^nd great-grandparents lived in Arkansas with the exception of the Bensons. I’m pretty lucky because the Arkansas death certificates started about 1914. I can actually probably take my ancestry back another generation to 3^rd or even 4^th great-grandparents just by using death certificate research!

As I said in my last post about requesting death certificates from the Arkansas Department of Health, it can become quite addicting and difficult to keep up with all of the requests and processing of incoming certificates. I try to space them out. I have employed the following two tables to help me with my research. They track my progress in securing and processing death certificates and obituaries. From looking at these tables I can see from a glance what I am missing.

From the tables I have filled out below, I can see that I have the obituaries and death certificates of 8 of my 16 great-grandparents. I am half way there! The obituaries I obtained either from family members or from various newspapers. My cousin, Doris Hamblin Smith, sent me copies of a bunch of Smith family obituaries in 2010 before she passed away.

In order to understand what the headers Scanned?, Transcribed?, FTF Notes?, and FTF Source? refer to, you must first know my genealogy work flow:

1.       Scan and save obituary and death certificate as a PDF, TIF, and JPG file

2.       Transcribe and save to Word document or Notepad File

3.       Copy the Transcript to the notes file for that person in my genealogy software

4.       Enter the Birth, Death, Burial, Occupation, Marital, etc facts into my genealogy software, including the parents' names

5.       Create a source and attach to the Facts (some call these "Events")

Nos. 3 and 4 are included under the FTF Notes heading in the table. FTF stands for “Family Tree File.”

As I collect more obituaries and death certificates, I can  update this table. I already know which death certificate I plan to order next – that of Rosalie Putman. However, since 6 of the remaining 8 died in Arkansas, I can go ahead and order them all at once.

Dora King died in 1912 in Missouri. I have not found a death record for her yet, probably because she died before deaths were required to be recorded. Family stories say she died of a snake bite. I might be able to find a death notice for her in a local newspaper. But I've found this to be difficult; or at least time consuming when you don't know the month and day. 

Barney Benson died while visiting his son in California. I have not yet ordered a death certificate from California, so this will be my first experience.

Obituary Resources
Name	Scanned?	Transcribed?	FTF Notes?	FTF Source?
Claude Smith Sr	yes	yes	yes	yes
Willie Riddle	yes	yes	yes	yes
Fred Fox	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Melvina West	No	No	No	No
John M Binns	No	No	No	No
Eula Brooks	No	No	No	No
Gus Hill	No	No	No	No
Jessie Barton	No	No	No	No
Alvin Godwin	No	No	No	No
Louella Davis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
William E Peters	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dora King	No	No	No	No
James F Lasiter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rosalie Putman	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Barney Benson	No	No	No	No
Eva Dennis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Death Certificates
Name	Scanned?	Transcribed?	FTF Notes?	FTF Source?
Claude Smith Sr	yes	yes	yes	yes
Willie Riddle	No	No	No	No
Fred Fox	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Melvina West	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
John M Binns	No	No	No	No
Eula Brooks	No	No	No	No
Gus Hill	No	No	No	No
Jessie Barton	No	No	No	No
Alvin Godwin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Louella Davis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
William E Peters	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dora King	No	No	No	No
James F Lasiter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rosalie Putman	No	No	No	No
Barney Benson	No	No	No	No
Eva Dennis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

How do you stay organized? Does your genealogy work flow look like mine? If not, how does it differ? How is it similar? I’m looking forward to hearing how other people process the obituaries and death certificates they receive.