BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Is it Truth or is it Fiction?

In honour of Black History Month I thought it would be nice to remember Alex Haley's 'Roots' - the 1976 Mini Series that some say started the "Genealogy Craze".

Some digging around on the internet and one finds that most genealogists and historians believe Haley's research in to his past is considered faulty at best.  The following article explains some of the discrepancies noted:  Roots Revisited


Regardless Roots was a best seller and the content just as compelling today, 35 years later, as it was when it was written and aired.  Below is a clip from early in the series.

~Roots~ Kunta Forced to Say Slave Name

"Don't you care what that white man call you. He make you say Toby, what you care, you know who you be - Kunta, Kunta Kinte.
That's who you always be. There's gonna be another day."

Divulging in some of Tim McGraw's ancestors

Who Do You Think You Are?'s next episode will feature the famous country music star and actor, Tim McGraw. Watson and I have done a bit of detective work and looked into some branches of Tim McGraw's family tree. This post will dish out some long-forgotten family secrets and facts, that most certainly would've been passed down as family stories!
Tim McGraw was born as Samuel Timothy McGraw, on 01 May 1967, in Delhi, Richland Parish, Louisiana. He was an illegitimate son of Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw, Jr. and Elizabeth Ann D'Agostino. Tim's father "Tug" made his debut in major league baseball on 18 Apr 1965 for the New York Mets. According to very many biographies, he was born 30 Aug 1944 in Martinez, Contra Costa County, California. He was the son of Fred Edwin "Big Mac" McGraw, Sr. and Mable McKenna. This is when our search began to really take off and get interesting.


..an illegitimate son..
We found that Frank Edwin McGraw, Sr. was born on 21 Jul 1911 in San Francisco County, California and died 24 Jul 1991 in Napa County, California. He was the son of Andrew McGraw (the son of Irish immigrants) and Ella May Nave (a native of Missouri).




Research into the 1900 census finds Ella May living with her father David Robert Nave and her step-mother Bessie (who was only about 9 years older than Ella), living in Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. Now according to Ella May Nave's death record, she was the daughter of a Chrisman. Interestingly enough, knowing that Ella May's mother was a Chrisman, I find two of Ella May's younger brothers living with their grandmother "Dotia" Chrisman in Prairie Township, Jackson County, Missouri in the 1900 census.



Here you find Ella May living with her father in Kansas


Why would two of Ella May's younger brothers be living with their grandmother
in Missouri, when Ella May was living with her father in Kansas?


Here you see Thomas & Grover Nave living with grandmother Dotia Chrisman


Just to prove the case that this "Dotia" Chrisman was Ella May's grandmother, we find David Robert Nave with his wife Amelia Chrismas in the 1880 census living in the household listed just below a James and Dosha Christman. Something else very interesting that helps prove this, is the fact that Dotia's spinster sister Permelia Hodges was living with Dotia in both 1880 and 1900. It's definitely them. :)



The Chrisman, Hodges & Nave families in 1880
Why did Permelia Hodges remain a spinster her entire life?

Further research provides us Dotia (Hodges) Chrisman's true name, Theodosia! She appears in the 1850 census in Marshall Township, Platte County, Missouri with her parents and siblings. She was the daughter of Welcome Hodges and his wife Rebecca Callaway. According to this family's entry in the 1850 census, Dotia had at least six siblings and another possible older brother listed in the household below. And Permelia was one of those six siblings.


The Hodges family in Marshall Township, Platte County, Missouri

Welcome Hodges and Rebecca Callaway were married in Knox County, Tennessee on 16 Feb 1817 by Amos Hardin, the Justice of the Peace for Knox County.



Marriage license record for Welcome Hodges & Rebecca Callaway


Sometime between 1850 and 1860, Welcome Hodges and wife Rebecca Callaway moved to Cass County, Missouri. On 01 Aug 1866 in Cass County, Missouri, Welcome Hodges requsted a pardon from President Johnson. He appears to have lost a large amount of his estate because of the Civil War. At the time the parden was written, Welcome Hodges was living in a "little home which is about all that is left to him out of ravages of war." The letter is very hard to read, unfortunately.


In 1860, Welcome Hodges held a considerable amount of property. The value of his real estate was estimated at $14,500 and the value of his personal estate at $8,590. By 1866, he had but a "little home".




Going back another generation to Rebecca Callaway's parents, we begin to get into the era of the Revolutionary War. Rebecca was the daughter of Thomas Callaway, Jr. and his wife Jude. Thomas Callaway, Jr. was involved in the battle of Kings Mountain on 07 Oct 1780 near Kings Mountain, Gaston


..achieved the position of Captain..

County, North Carolina. Thomas Callaway, Sr. achieved the position of Captain during the French-Indian war, who George Washington was well known to have participated in.


What's your secret?
-Sherlock


Sources:
(In order of use)
1. California Birth Index, 1905-1995, Ancestry.com.
2. California Death Index, 1940-1997, Ancestry.com.
3. 1920 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
4. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com.
5. 1930 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
6. 1910 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
7. 1900 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
8. 1880 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
9. Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002, Ancestry.com.
10. Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1959; http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates.
11. 1850 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
12. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002, Ancestry.com.
13. 1860 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
14. Confederate Amnesty Papers, Footnote.com; Missouri; Hodges, Welcome; Page 2.
15. The Callaway Journal, Volume 4; Published by Callaway Family Association, 1979; Page 30.
16. Daughters of Republic of Texas, Volume 1; Published by Turner Publishing Company, 1995; Page 28.

The White Kin Of Vanessa Williams

As we watched last week on Who Do You Think You Are?, we learned much about the family of Vanessa Williams. One in particular was her ancestor, David Carll. He was a veteran of the Civil War and served as a private in Company I, US Colored Troops 26th Infantry Regiment, for the Union in New York. Sherlock and I did some sleuthing and found David Carll and his family in the 1880 census. They were living in Oyster Bay, Queens County New York and David's occupation was listed as a Boatman. The interesting fact with this family is that David Carll, listed as a mulatto man, was married to Louisa, a white woman. Note that there is an Appleford family on the bottom of the page.

Imagine the hardships an inter-racial married couple would've
gone through, 80 years before the Civil Rights Movement.

In the next census, Sherlock and I found the David Carll family again in Oyster Bay. David Carll and his children are listed as mulatto and his wife Louisa, is listed as white. Note again, the two Appleford households living above them on the sheet. The first one is George W. Appleford, who could be a brother to Louisa. The second household is a Freelove Appleford, who could be the mother of Louisa.. and obviously George W. Appleford.




Now coming to the 1860 census, the David Carll family dries up; David and Louisa would've been too young to be married. We naturally became interested in who this white wife of David Carll was. We did note that they lived relatively close to the Appleford family in both the 1870 and 1880 census. In the 1860 census, we found the George Appleford family, with wife Freelove, living in Oyster Bay. They had living in their household a son named George W. Appleford and a daughter Louisa Appleford.




Is Louisa Appleford the white wife of the mulatto man David Carll?


We then located the same family in the 1850 census. We believe Louisa was incorrectly recorded as Sophia. Looking at the details of the 1850 census, we find that the father George Appleford was born in England! He was an immigrant! The same wife Freelove is listed, as well as the son George W. Appleford. Other children are listed as well: Thomas, Mary S., Joseph and Wellington.





Doing some more detective work, Sherlock and I found some very facts about the Appleford boys. It appears that four of Louisa Appleford's brothers (Thomas, George W., Joseph & Wellington) served in the Civil War, and also her future husband David Carll.




Only in New York, could you have an English immigrant bear four sons to serve for the Union in the Civil War. He then also had a daughter who married a mulatto man, who also served for the Union in the Civil War.

What's your secret?
-Watson


Sources:
(In order of use)
1. Historical Data Systems, comp.. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
2. Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA form the following list of works.
3. National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online , acquired 2007.
4. National Archives and Records Administration. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 544 rolls.
5. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
6. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
7. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
8. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S.