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

---------------------------------------

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]). 

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]). 

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.

“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".

Mention of Mr King in Missouri Newspaper, 1876

In the search for my ancestor, Robert King’s death notice in either Howell or Oregon County, Missouri (You can read about my ongoing process here), I came across a mention of a “Mr King” in the August 4^th 1876 edition of the Doniphan Prospect from neighboring Ripley County, Missouri. 

Robert’s spouse, Tabitha House King Watson’s obituary of 1937 says that her husband Robert King died in 1876. I have been unable to locate a death notice for him in 1876 in the Doniphan Prospect so far. However, if this “Mr. King” is my ancestor, Robert King, then at least I could speculate that he was still living in August of 1876.

Here is the transcript of the above newspaper clipping: 

Doniphan Prospect, Volume 3, Number 7, 04 August 1876

       Esq. S. D. Gatlin living near
the State line was awakened
from his slumbers on Saturday
night by some one knocking at
his door. He did not know
whether it was the K. K., or
something worse. Upon en-
quiring of the visitors what was
wanted, he was told it was a
wedding party, and that his of-
ficial services were needed. The
Esq. struck a light invited the
Party to come in, when William
Werden and Sarah Little, pres-
sented themselves, and were un-
ited in marriage. They had
traveled on foot from near Po-
cahontas, Arkansas. They
went to Mr. King’s near by, and
staid all night. King says he
slept no more that night,

Samuel Gatlin was a free mason master of the Pleasant Hill Lodge which met on the Saturday before the 4^th Sunday each month at Pylant’s school house. I was surprised to learn of the problems that the community had with the "K. K." From the articles I read throughout 1876, this group was pretty ruthless and engaged in breaking their brothers out of jail by holding the jail officers hostage while the breakouts occurred. 

Here’s a map of the counties in Missouri. Ripley County, in which the Doniphan Prospect is written, is just 10 miles to the East of Oregon County.

I also found a reference to 18 deaths that happened in Oregon County that was originally reported in the South Missourian, 23 Sept 1876. It is possible my ancestor, Robert King could have perished along with this group. The article does not say if the deaths were due to sickness or even if they all occurred at the same time or throughout the year. I did not find any more mention of these deaths. But the date might help me to narrow down a time period. It would be nice to know what happened to these 18 persons who died in Oregon County as reported in September of 1876.

Doniphan Prospect, Volume 3, Number 16, 06 October 1876

       The South Missourion of
Sept. 23d, reports 18 deaths in
Oregon county. We think that
pretty serious for a healthy coun
ty like Oregon.

I am definitely learning a lot by going through newspapers and looking for what repositories have what newspapers. Jenna from the Desperately Seeking Surnames blog suggested I check out the Midwest Genealogy Center to see what newspapers they have on microfilm. I looked through their list of newspapers found here and located several papers from the time period I am interested in (1870-1876); however, they were located in St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Kansas City, each almost 200 miles away. I am not sure the death of my ancestor, Robert King, or his marriage to Tabitha House would have warranted a notice in one of these big city newspapers. More than likely, it would have been mentioned in the more local Springfield newspaper. However, I also looked through the online archive of Springfield news [Missouri Digital Heritage site, Hall’s Index & Itemsof Genealogical Interest from the Springfield, Green County, MO Newspapers ] but did not find any mention of either the 1870 marriage or 1876 death. This index began in 1865. 

In case you are wondering, in addition to keeping all my readers apprised of my journey here on my blog, I am also using the new Research Manager feature in my genealogy software (Rootsmagic 5) to keep track of each source I search and what I find.

This is what it looks like so far (click on the image to make it bigger):

The research report looks just like this in my RootsMagic software. I then print the report and I saved it to an RTF file. I adjusted the widths of the columns in order for it to fit in my Word document program window and look nicer. But other than that, I did not make any changes. I will add to this report as newspapers are searched. 

John D. Lee is convicted for his Participation in the Meadow Mountains Massacre of 1857

From the Doniphan Prospect, October 13, 1876 (page 1). Mention of the conviction of John D. Lee for his participation in the Mountain Meadow Massacre in southern Utah in 1857. Lee was convicted on September 20, 1876, but the story was not picked up until October 13, 1876 in Doniphan. Doniphan was the neighboring town to where my ancestors, Robert King and Tabitha House resided in 1876. I found this article while I was looking for the death notice of Robert King who supposedly died in 1876.

Here is the transcript of the article:

Justice at Last.

SALT LAKE, Oct. 10. – At Bea-
ver, Utah, to-day, Judge Bore-
man passed sentence upon John
D. Lee for participation in the
Mountain Meadow massacre, 19
years ago. In doing so he call-
ed attention to the attrocities of
the crime and tae [sic] inability,
heretofore, of the authorities to
procure evidence, stating that
the conspiracy to murder was
widespread, that Lee was finally
offered up as a sacrafice to pop-
ular indigna ion, but that others,
equally as guilty, might here-
after expect punishment. The
prisoner, having the right under
the laws of the Territory, to
choose death by hanging, shoot-
ing or beheading, and having
chosen to be shot, was sentenced
to be shot to death January 26,
1877.

Wow, he had a choice to be shot, hanged or beheaded? And they think capital punishment is harsh today! Needless to say he chose to be shot. He was shot by a firing squad on March 23, 1877.

I included this article because my Dunlap family was one of the families that was killed during the Meadow Mountain Massacre. The Utahians believed the wagon convoy of familes from Arkansas had poisoned their people, farm animals, crops, and water supply so they retaliated by killing everyone in the convoy. Only a few children survived. You can read more about the massacre and find references on its Wikipedia page here. Lee was the only man convicted and as you can see, it took 19 years to do so. 

Here is a photo of John D. Lee from the Wikipedia page (original source is the Utah Historical Society) as it is in the public domain.

You can read John D Lee's memoir that he wrote in prison here.

More information about the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857

Searching for marriage and death notices in Missouri Newspapers

In my last post I published the marriage certificate of Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE that I downloaded from Ancestry.com. Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE were married on July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri. They had two children, Dora and William Fletcher King, and then Robert King died in 1876 according to Tabitha’s obituary.

From watching Who Do You Think You Are? and from setting a new goal this year of going “outside the box,” I’m trying to learn how to find and use newspaper articles in my research. I would therefore like to find both a marriage notice for Robert King and Tabitha House and a death notice for Robert King from a Missouri newspaper. It’s just never as easy as it seems. The marriage notice might be the easiest to tackle because I have an exact day, month and year. The death notice, not so much.

I started off my search by getting a sense of what newspapers were local to the area during the time of these events.  

I went to the Chronicling America website at the Library of Congress and did a search in their US Newspaper Directory for Newspapers in Howell County, Missouri from 1870 to 1880 and it returned two newspapers: The South Missouri Journal (1870-18??) and the West Plains Journal (1870-1898). The South Missouri Journal is only available for the year 1873.

The West Plains Journal is available as the following:

1876 (6:23) – from American Antiquarian Society, Newspaper Project, Worcester, MA

1874 (10:1) – from the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA

1926 (2:25) – from the Kansas State Historical Society, Newspaper Project, Topeka, KS

1896-1898 (1:2 - 9:22) – from the State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO

1896-1898 (1:2 - 9:22) – from the West Plains Public Library, West Plains, MO

I checked out the American Antiquarian Society’s website and they do have this journal, though no specific volume, year, or date information is provided on their website. I created a free account and I submitted an order for a PDF copy of the newspaper, I guess in whatever format it turns out to be in.

**Update 5/13/12: I waited a few days and didn't hear anything from them regarding my order, so I sent them an email. They processed my request the next day. I was sent JPG copies of the 4 page issue of the newspaper. It was the June 23, 1876 issue. I paid $15 via credit card to their site over the internet. The cost was quite steep for a paper that I did not even know contained any references to my ancestor, but sometimes that's the price we pay for information. 


It wasn't a bad first experience with the American Antiquarian Society. I did not find any references to my ancestor, Robert King, in this issue, but I did find, and write about the B. C. Thomas & Co Store which was in business in Howell Co during the time that my King ancestors were living there. I also posed the question of whether Mr. Blackman C. Thomas was related to Robert King's mother-in-law, Millie Thomas. 

Since there were no newspapers for the year 1870, when Robert and Tabitha were married, I changed my county search from Howell to Oregon. This resulted in the South Missourian (Alton, MO) and the South Missourian (Thomasville, MO), however they did not start until 1871 and 1873 respectively, so would not help me find a marriage notice, but might help me find a death notice for Robert KING.

The year 1876, in which Robert King died, is held by the following:

·         Chicago Historical Society Library in Chicago, IL (Vol 7, issue 22)

·         The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Vol 8, issue 5)

·         The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, MO (Vol 7, issue 8).

It might be difficult to narrow down the exact date of death for Robert KING if these newspapers are not digitized and cannot be searched easily and quickly. I would probably have to hire a researcher to go through each issue at each repository to look for a notice of his death, unless these repositories offered a reasonable search fee.

As far as online historical databases go, I have checked the following:

·         America’s Historical Newspapers which includes Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876 by Readex

·         Newsbank which my university subscribes to but which only goes back to

·         GenealogyBank, via their list of publications

I went on the Missouri Digital Newspaper Site and found the Doniphan Prospect newspaper that was put out weekly. Doniphan was in neighboring Ripley County and had some news associated with Oregon County as well. I scanned through the issues for the year 1876 which took me several hours. I found a mention of a Mr. King fromAugust 4, 1876. He was mentioned as a neighbor to a gentleman who was called upon in the middle of the night to marry a young couple who had come up from Arkansas. I did not, however, find a death notice for him in 1876 or in January 1877. I did find at least one death notice for a man from Oregon County, so I’m fairly confident that a death in Oregon County would have warranted notice in the Doniphan Prospect.

So either my Robert King did not die in 1876 like his wife’s obituary some 60 years later said, or he died in Howell County which was too far away to be mentioned in the Doniphan Prospect. (Howell County is only one county west of Oregon, which is only one county west of Ripley for which the Doniphan Prospect was written).

I’m not sure where to go from here. I need papers from South Missouri for the year 1870 and 1876. When I did a search on the Chronicling America website for all of Missouri, it came up with over 300 results. There really isn’t an option for “South Missouri” on that site.

I guess I will have to start asking around and inquiring with the local genealogy societies and libraries. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave in the comments below. 

Marriage Record of Tabitha House and Robert King of Oregon and Howell Counties, Missouri

So far in 2012 I have been working on trying to break down my PETERS brick wall. Part of that process has been going “outside the box.” One of the ways in which I’m trying to do that is to gain exposure of this family by putting more documents and stories on my blog. So far my PETERS line has branched into my KING line and today I would like to further branch into my HOUSE line.

Last week I wrote about Fletcher King who was the brother of my 2^nd great-grandmother, Dora King Peters. He married Mary French in Alton, Oregon County, Missouri on December 3, 1893 at the home of Mary French’s father, John French. My 2^nd great-grandmother, Dora King, married William Edward Peters in November 1900 at the age of 26.

Dora and Fletcher KING were the children of Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE. Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE were married July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri in probably what is now known as West Plains Missouri. I have actually been to West Plains and to the courthouse. In fact, to this date, this is the only courthouse I have ever been in!

Unfortunately, it was early on in my research when I visited the courthouse and I did not know what I was looking for at the time, so I did not find this marriage record there. I did, however, pull it off of Ancestry.com on March 7, 2012 from the “Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002” online database.  Tabitha House was indexed as Tabitha “Course.” The record cited the Missouri Marriage Records, Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives - Microfim as the source for the database entry.

Here is a copy of the page entry. The entry for Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE marriage is the very light print in the lower left:

This is what it looks like zoomed in and cropped:

The transcription is as follows:

This is to certify that the rites of
matrimony were solemnized by the
undersigned minister of the gospel
between Robert King of Oregon
county and Tabitha House of Howell
County both of the State of Missouri on
the 28th day of July 1870
                                                by Wm _______
                                                Minister of the Gospel
Recorded this 1st day of August 1870
                                                by _______ Rec

The 1870 census was taken in August in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri, where Tabitha HOUSE was from, so she was not enumerated with her family, Holensworth [sic] HOUSE because she was probably already moved out of the house and living with her new husband, Robert KING by then. The 1870 census was taken July 10 in Oak Grove, Oregon County, Missouri, where Robert KING’s family was from, so he WAS enumerated with his family (presumed to be Wilzey KING).  They were married July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri, so they should have been caught on one of the census reports, but I have yet to find them on any. Unfortunately, Robert KING died in 1876, leaving Tabitha with two young children.

I don’t have a very big window with which to find much information. I got Robert’s date of death from Tabitha’s obituary. I would like to find a marriage announcement for Robert and Tabitha (27 July 1870) and an obituary for Robert KING (1876). Tabitha remarried to Samuel Watson in 1879. You can view their marriage record and see a photo of the young couple here. 

William Fletcher King

Photo of William Fletcher KING sent to me by Wanda Watson, 2005.

William Fletcher King was born June 28, 1873 in Missouri.¹ He was the brother of my 2nd great-grandmother, Dora KING PETERS. Fletcher and Dora KING were the children of Robert "Bob" KING and Tabitha HOUSE. Robert and Tabitha were married July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri.² In 1876, Bob King died and Tabitha remarried to Samuel H WATSON Nov 16, 1879 in Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri.³ In 1880, Dora and Fletcher were enumerated as "Watsons" on the 1880 Oregon County, Missouri census report while living with their mother, Tabitha and her new husband, Samuel Watson.⁴

This photo is undated, however Samuel Watson is actually in the photo with young Fletcher King, but he has been cut out. So this photo was probably taken between 1879-1890. Fletcher would have been about 6 years old in 1880. It was probably taken in Oregon County, Missouri.

In 1893, William Fletcher King married Mary FRENCH, daughter of John and Cynthia (Pace) FRENCH.⁵ In 1900, they were enumerated on the Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri census report with two young children, William and Nancy King.⁶ Fletcher’s mother Tabitha Watson, step-father Samual Watson, and 7 step-siblings lived nearby.⁷

Fletcher’s sister Dora KING had given birth to a baby boy in March of 1900 and has not yet been found on the 1900 Missouri or Arkansas census report (taken in June). She married my 2nd great-grandfather, William E. Peters on November 3, 1900⁸ and was enumerated with him on the 1910 Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri Census Report.⁹

William Fletcher King, wife Mary, and 5 children were also living in Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri, not far from his sister Dora Peters in 1910.¹⁰ However, in 1918, Fletcher King signed up for the Draft in Gilchrist, Weld County, Colorado ¹and was enumerated TWICE in 1920! He was enumerated January 26, 1920 in Precinct 29 of Weld County ¹¹ and then again on March 4, 1920 in Precinct 22 of Weld County, Colorado. ¹² He had different neighbors on each census and he was renting each time, so that leads me to believe he moved to a new house sometime between Jan and Mar of 1920.

According to the census reports and his WWI draft card, Fletcher King was a farmer and worked on a general farm. He was of medium height and build, had blue eyes and dark hair. Unfortunately I cannot locate him or his family after the 1920 census. He seems to have disappeared into thin air, kind of like his sister, Dora Peters.

If you have information about this family or would like to contact me personally, please feel free to email me Ginger R. Smith.

SOURCES

1. "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 7 March 2012), William Fletcher King; citing World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, National Archives and Records Administration Publication M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm No 1561803. ↩
2. Ancestry.com, "Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 7 March 2012), The solemnization of marriage between Robert King and Tabitha House, Howell County, Missouri; From the microfilm of the Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives; Notes: Howell County, MO. Tabitha was indexed as “Tabetha Couse.” ↩
3. Ancestry.com, "Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 7 March 2012), 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.” The marriage certificate of Samuel H Watson of Oregon Co., and Tabitha King of Oregon Co., MO: joined in matrimony in Highland Township, Oregon Co., MO on 19 Nov 1879 by B E H Warren LM? and filed in this office on 17th Dec 1879. ↩
4. 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. ↩
5. Wanda Watson, Yakima, Washington, [E-MAIL FOR PRIVATE USE], to Ginger R Smith, email, 28 November 2005, "Family," King; privately held by Smith, [E-MAIL & ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Durham, NC 27713, 2005. ↩
6. 1900 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Highland Township, enumeration district (ED) 80, Page 7a, Lines 8-11, dwelling 112, family 113, taken Jun 1900, William F King; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2005); NARA Film T623. FHL Film 1240879. ↩
7. 1900 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Highland Township, enumeration district (ED) 80, Page 5A, Lines 42-50, dwelling 83, family 84, taken Jun 1900, Samuel Watson; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2005); NARA Film T623. FHL Film 1240879. ↩
8. William Bill Rogers, [E-MAIL FOR PRIVATE USE], to Ginger R Smith, email, 28 February 2006, ","; privately held by Smith, [E-MAIL & ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Durham, NC 27713. ↩
9. 1910 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Big Apple Township, enumeration district (ED) 117, Page 7B, Line 67, dwelling 130, family 133, William Peters (head); digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 February 2012); NARA Film T624, Roll 804, FHL Film 1374817. ↩
10. 1910 US Federal Census, Oregon County, Missouri, population schedule, Highland Township, taken 28 Apr 1910, enumeration district (ED) 122, Page 6A (penned), Lines 3-9, dwelling 104, family 108, William F King; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2005); NARA Film T624, Roll 804, FHL Film 1374817. ↩
11. 1920 US Federal Census, Weld County, Colorado, population schedule, Taken 26 Jan 1920, Precinct 29, enumeration district (ED) 239, Page 4A (Penned), Page 206 (stamped), Lines 16-24, dwelling 78, family 87, Fletcher W King; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : downloaded 8 March 2012); NARA Film T625, Roll 172. ↩
12. 1920 US Federal Census, Weld County, Colorado, population schedule, Taken 2, 3, and 4 Mar 1920 Precinct 22, Beebe Draw, enumeration district (ED) 246, Page 13A (penned), Line 32, dwelling 258, family 259, Fletcher King; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : downloaded 8 March 2012); NARA Film T625, Roll 172. ↩

Wordless Wednesday - Tabitha House

Tabitha "Bitha" House was born in Thomasville, Oregon County, Missouri in the 1840s or 50s and died February 9th, 1937 in Birch Tree, Missouri. She married 1st to Robert "Bob" King and 2nd to Samuel H. Watson. She had two children with Bob King, including my 2nd great-grandmother, Dora King and her brother William Fletcher King and eight children with Mr. Watson. Tabitha House was the daughter of Mr. Hollingsworth House who purchased land from the State of Missouri in the Land Case Files I wrote about previously and Millie Thomas.

Additional Posts:
Tabitha House Watson's obituary
Tabitha House's marriage to Robert King, her first husband, and my 2nd great-grandfather, July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri
Tabitha King's marriage certificate to Samuel H. Watson, her second husband, in 1879, Highland Township, Oregon County, Missouri and a list of their children
Information about her son, William Fletcher King

Land Case Files – Part 3 – Cash Entries

Last week I started a series of posts about my trip to the National Archives (NARA) in Washington, D. C. where I obtained copies of several ancestors' Land Case Files. Although the final Land Patents are available to download from the Bureau of Land Management website, the Land Case Files that are housed at NARA are the original documents pertaining to your ancestors and sometimes contain information about your ancestors that is of genealogical significance. Last week I covered Military Scrip Warrants and this week I am going to cover Cash Entries. You can read my original post on Land Case Files if you are interested in learning about how to order Land Case Files onsite from the Archives.

Cash Entry Files:

On December 8^th, 1856, my ancestor, Hollingsworth House, made an application to purchase 142 acres in Lot No. 4 in the Northwest quarter of Section No. 1 in Township No. 24, North of Range 6 West and the Southeast quarter of the Southwest quarter of Section No. 35 in Township No. 25 North of Range 6 West in Oregon County, Missouri. 

Application of Hollingsworth House for 142A of land in Oregon Co., MO, 08 Dec 1856, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

In many instances, applicants had to fill out an affidavit attesting to what they planned to do with the land, and then another witness had to testify to the validity of the applicant’s statement.

Affidavit of Hollingsworth House, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

In his affidavit, Hollingsworth House swore that the land will be used for the purpose of “actual settlement and cultivation under the Provisions of the Act of Congress of 4^th August 1854.” He also swore that he had been occupying the land since the 1^st day of January 1851 and that he has a dwelling house, kitchen, cribs, stables, and other buildings thereon about 35 acres of said land which is now in cultivation. Lastly, he swore that he was 21 years of age. 

An additional affidavit stating he was 39 years of age and currently residing in Oregon County, Missouri, was a male and head of house. One small note here is that his age does not actually match up with the date of birth I have for him of December 25, 1816. He should have actually been 40 years old at the time this application was filled out in 1856. [1]

Affidavit of Hollingsworth House, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

Benjamin A. Huddleston was a corroborating witness who swore that Hollingsworth House was the same guy who had been residing on said land since the 1^st day of January, 1851.

Affidavit of Benjamin A Huddleston, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

  

Hollingsworth House paid $17 for this transaction. Here is a copy of his receipt:

 Recipt for land purchased by Hollingsworth House for $17, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

He also received a proof of purchase that he was instructed to bring to the Commissioner of the Land Office (Jackson, Missouri):

Proof of Purchase of Hollingsworth House for land purchased, copied from Land Case Files at NARA, Washington, DC

Here is a copy of the final patent that my ancestor received after he had filed an application, proved he was going to cultivate the land, paid his money, and presented his receipt to the Land Commissioner:

Land Patent certificate No. 24495, copied from the BLM Website, Holingsworth House

Conclusion:

I was a bit skeptical at first about the worthwhileness of my trip to NARA because it seemed like most of the Land Case Files I pulled consisted of the patent (which I already had a copy of thanks to the BLM online records) and a receipt, which didn't even offer a signature. However, it only takes coming across one "thick" file to make it all seem worthwhile. In this packet, I found an adequate description of the land, when my ancestor had moved to it, what he had done to the land, how old he was, and who his closest friend or acquaintance was, enough to paint a nice picture of my ancestor's life on the land. 

Cherie wanted to know the link for ordering the Land Case Files from the NARA website. You can access information on ordering Land Case Files from the NARA (Washington, D. C. site) here. Thanks Cherie for the suggestion!


 [1]  This date of birth came from his grave marker in Union Hill Cemetery, Thomasville, Oregon Co., MO.