Tag Archive for Gilbert

Getting Back to Some Hard Genealogy

October 5, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

It took a near-disaster in the form of a hard disk failure to bring me back to doing some basic genealogy. I took me a week to recover and reassemble my files, which had been backed up onto three different systems. The redundancy was a fortunate thing born out of some lethargy in organization. As a fortuitous happenstance, I lost not a single file.

But as I reassembled and reorganized my files (an ongoing project), I came across several items that I had not looked at in awhile. That fired up the research imagination and fueled a new round of seeking some of my MIA ancestors.

 Desperately Seeking Sarah

As my sole remaining Loyal and Constant Reader, you recall that I have spent years trying discover information about my maternal gg-grandmother, Sarah Gilbert Johnson, said by family tradition to be an Indian. Here’s what we know about her:

  • She seems to appear with her husband on the 1870 US Census in Liberty, Clay County, MO [The entries are for “Johnson” (no first name; male, black, farmer) and “-------”, female, black, “keeps house.”]. I think this refers to her because they are the only black Johnson couple in the county without any children and their ages are within an appropriate range.
  • She seemingly appears on no other census records after 1880, by which time she has six children, living with Ezekiel in Kansas City, MO.
  • “Zeke” marries one Irena Neal in 1885; suggesting that Sarah has died.

We then undertook the following search efforts:

  • Searched US Censuses 1850 & 1860, for “Sarah Gilbert.” We looked in Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties, Missouri. We chose these counties for their proximity to the site of her marriage and where she lived in 1880. We didn’t find her in those places in those years.
  • We searched marriage records in Jackson County, Missouri and found that several “Sarah Johnsons” had married after 1880. A possible implication here is that Sarah did not die in the 1880s, but was divorced from Zeke. There is no further evidence that would allow a conclusion on that theory,
  • One clue I found tantalizing from the Kansas state census is a woman named Hannah Gilbert, married to one William Gilbert. This family is African American. Could they be Sarah’s parents? However, they appear for a brief while, then vanish from the records. There’s no reasonable path from them to Sarah.
  • We looked at marriage records for Clay County and Jackson County in Missouri. We found no Gilbert other than Sarah herself, marrying Zeke in 1867.
  • We examined a limited sample of newspapers from the appropriate times and locations; again we found no Gilberts.
  • We examined the pre-1910 Missouri Death Certificates from the Missouri State Archives. This was also unproductive (as it might be if our supposition that she died in the 1880s in correct; Missouri didn’t have mandatory death certificates until 1910).
  • We examined the post-1910 Missouri death records for Jackson County and the counties comprising the greater Kansas City area. There are several “Sarah Johnsons” listed. However, further identifying information is missing. For example, one “Sarah Johnson” had a unknown birthplace and unknown parents.

Part of our thinking about the methods shown above was to locate collateral relatives of Sarah’s who might lead to a clue about her. But the main assumption we made was that Sarah was born and lived in the greater Kansas City area her entire life. This theory would have Zeke perhaps having known her or known of her before he joined the Army and returned to marry her. Or the other possibility is that he met her upon his return from the Army.

Thinking about Zeke and Sarah marrying after his return from the war brought me back to the realization that he was mustered out of the Army in February 1866 in Huntsville, Alabama. He married Sarah in September 1867. What was he doing in that intervening year and a half? Well, for one thing, he was finding his way back to Kansas City.

So suppose Zeke met Sarah somewhere along his way back to Missouri from Alabama?

What route and what mode of travel did he take? How long did it take him to make the homeward journey? Did he perhaps stop in St Louis where he had been inducted? Did he meet Sarah there? A reasonable route on the nearly 700 mile trip would pass through Nashville and St Louis. The answers to these questions may shed light on the origins of Sarah Gilbert.

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Grand Genealogy Journey: My Kansas City Families

September 27, 2010 Craig Family History, Genealogy

The Gines Family

My closest relatives in Kansas City would be in the Gines family, descendants 0f Richard and Sylvia Gines of Shreveport, Louisiana, (who, as far as anyone knows, never set foot in Kansas City).  Two of Richard and Sylvia’s  sons, William Edward Gines (1898-1955) and Henry William Gines (1903-1980) left Shreveport in 1920 and headed for Kansas City.  Why they left Shreveport and how they got to Kansas City is unknown to me.

“Eddie” Gines, as my grandfather was known, left his baby daughter, Grace, in the care of his mother, Sylvia.  But he apparently brought to KC with him one Sarah Green, also of Shreveport, whom he married in 1920 in Kansas City.  No documents exist as to what happened in their marriage, but in the 1930 census, Eddie is living with Annie Florida Corrine Long, and their two  sons, Richard Edward Gines (1926-1996) and Perry Wesley Gines (1928-1985).  They had four more children, two boys (Alfred and Kenneth) and two girls (my mother, Lillian, and Delorise).  I could find no marriage license for Eddie and “Flo,” and once was told cryptically by a relative, “There probably isn’t one.”

Eddie Gines was a gregarious man who could and would talk to anyone about anything. After having worked at a fine hotel in Shreveport, he found similar work in Kansas City.

Most of Eddie and Flo’s descendants remained in the Kansas City area or nearby.  I wrote about Grandpa Eddie in Faces & Places, March 2006, and My Favorite Photograph, August 2008.

Henry William Gines married Ora Mae Wilkerson in Kansas City on December 22, 1934.  Records in  Shreveport show that Henry had been married to a woman named Corrie Mae Simmons. What became of her and that marriage, I do not know. Henry and Ora had three children, twins Frank (1935-1999) and Henry (1935-1993), and a girl, Sylvia.

The Long Family

As previously noted, my grandmother was Annie Florida Corrine Long, daughter of  Rev. James William Long (1866-1945) and Mary Elizabeth Johnson (1870-1946).  The Rev. Long and his wife had fifteen children, some extremely long-lived and others who survived a very short period after birth.  The Long children were:

  • William Henry Long  (1889-1990)
  • Theodore Roy Long (Feb 1891-Oct 1892)
  • Clarence Long (1892-1970)
  • Benjamin Franklin Long (1893-1953)
  • Luther T. Long (1894-1896)
  • Julius Walter Long (1897-1970)
  • Christina Alta Long (1898-2002)
  • Rosetta Bell Long (1900-1994)
  • Annie Florida Corrine Long (1902-1986)
  • Mary Beatrice Long (1905-1921)
  • “Baby Boy” Long (lived for two days in February 1907)
  • David Long (Nov-Dec 1908)
  • Rafael Matthew Long (1910-1988)
  • James Robert Long (1912-1977)

What accounts for the number of lengthy lives and the number of premature deaths in the same family? It’s difficult to know. Here’s what the available death records show:

David Long died of pneumonia.

“Baby Boy” Long died of intestinal hemorrhaging.

Luther Long died of whooping cough.

Mary Beatrice Long died of tuberculosis.

From Missouri State Archives, Missouri Digital Heritage Collection, Pre-1910 Births and Deaths at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/ and Missouri State Archives, Missouri Digital Heritage Collection, Missouri Death Certificates, at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/.

James William Long was a Baptist preacher who began his career as assistant pastor at Kansas City’s well-known Paseo Baptist Church and later pastored the Sunrise Baptist Church.  Folklore has it that at the time, Sunrise Baptist was on the west side, straddling the Kansas-Missouri state line. Supposedly, the pulpit was in Missouri and the congregation in Kansas.

What makes that story plausible is that the Longs lived on the west side at 27th and Wyoming, a location barely more than 50 feet from the state line.

I wrote about my misadventures in trying to identify James William Long’s parents and siblings in The Wrong Longs? May 2007, and The Right Longs, May 2007.  I analyzed the mistakes in Evidence, Hypotheses, and Analyses, May 2007, and You Say Regetha, I Say Rozetta, May 2007.

The Johnsons

No family has given more joy of discovery and yet more frustration at the same time as the Johnson family.   James William Long’s wife, Mary Elizabeth, was the daughter of Ezekiel Johnson (1847-1933) and Sarah Gilbert (1849-1880-85?).  Ezekiel, “Grandpa Zeke,” has given me the joy; Sarah, not so much.

I discovered that Zeke was born a slave in Clay County, Missouri,  and that his mother’s name was Harriet Mitchell.  His father likely was Clay County businessman and church leader Daniel Carpenter (1825-1920). Either Harriet or Zeke himself was at one time owned by a man named Emmons Johnson,  a Kentuckian who moved to Clay County, Missouri, with so many other of his Blue Grass fellows.  In 1864, Zeke, all of seventeen years old, ran away from his then-owner, Henry Wilhite, and joined the 18th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry.  H saw action at the decisive Battle of Nashville and throughout Tennessee and North Carolina, before being mustered out i n 1866. He returned to Clay County and married Sarah Gilbert on September 5, 1867. I’ve written about Grandpa Zeke a number of times, including How Grandpa Zeke Collected a Bounty on Himself, July 2009.  My mother actually met her great-grandfather when she was a year old. he died shortly thetrafter.  There supposedly exists a photograph of him holding my mother, but I haven’t found it yet.

Now Sarah Gilbert is my most elusive ancestor.  I have found virtually nothing about her other than the 1867 marriage record and her listing with Zeke in the 1880 census.  I presume she died sometime between 1880 and 1885, because in April of 1885, Zeke married a woman named Rena Neal, and Sarah is no longer to be found in any census records, city directories, or any records that I have found.  Family lore says that she was an Indian, but I’ve never been able to substantiate that either.

I’ve written a lot about Sarah Gilbert, hoping that someone will know something about her.  See:

The Elusive Sarah Gilbert, October 2007

Once Again, There are No Easy Cases in Genealogy, August 2007

Sarah Gilbert Johnson: A Trip to Kansas, A Step Forward, March 2007

The Lost Families–Part II, September 2006

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Happy Mother’s Day, Haplogroup L3!

May 9, 2010 Craig Uncategorized

Yes, a genetic genealogy remembrance of Mitochrondrial DNA Day!

Here are my mothers (my matrilineage), as far as I know them, with their spouse’s name in [ ]:

Lillian Gines (living)[H.V. Manson]
Annie Florida Corrine Long (b. 1902, Kansas City, MO; died 1986, Kansas City, MO)[Wm. E. Gines
Mary Elizabeth Johnson (b. 1870, Clay County, MO; died 1946, Kansas City, MO)[James W. Long]
Sarah Gilbert (b. 1849, MO; died btwn 1880 and 1 Apr 1885) [Ezekiel Johnson]
==============BRICKWALL=============================

(There’s nothing more that I would like in the world than to find Sarah Gilbert’s parents!)

I’m within Halpogroup L3d. L3 originated in East Africa about 85,000 years ago according to GeneTree.com, and is the predecessor of many other haplogroups. It is said that L3 “is also the haplogroup from which the haplogroups M and N have arisen covering the mtDNA pool of all non-African lineages.” [Source]

I am aware of several matches via Ancestry.com and GeneTree.com, but have been unable to make contact with them.

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My DNA Adventure, Part II: The Search for Sarah Gilbert

April 21, 2009 Craig Uncategorized

When last we met, I had been going over the results of my DNA submission to the DNAAncestry.com project.  Frankly, nothing I saw came as any huge surprise.   My Y-DNA places my ancient ancestry in West Africa; my mtDNA  also seems to be grounded in West  Africa.

There were three “exact matches” on my mtDNA results.  All three of the profiles of these persons had a link through which they could be contacted via Ancestry.com.   The profiles also indicated that each such person had last signed onto their DNA account many months ago.  They likely had not seen my results matched with theirs.

I contacted each pf the three individuals through Ancestry.com.    It’s been several months now and I haven’t heard back from any of them.  Their profiles show that none have signed on since before I contacted them.

The reason the mtDNA is so important to me is that it may give me a clue about Sarah Gilbert (1843-btwn 1880-1885) who was the first wife of Zeke Johnson (1847-1933), mother of Mary Elizabeth Johnson Long (1870-1946)  and thus my great-great-grandmother.  Sarah Gilbert has shown nothing of herself save for a record of her 1867 marriage in Clay County, Missouri and her residence in Kansas City at the time of the 1880 census.  Supposedly, she was an Indian.

I decided to take some alternative steps to locate the three mtDNA “matchees.”   I started with the first one and ran the name against several “people finder” databases.  One of them produced five possible matches in an eastern state.   The five matches appear to be the same person.   I think this is likely the mtDNA person.  The search directory has a middle initial that is consistent with the middle name that the DNA results reported.  (And the whole name is, if not “unusual”, at least, “uncommon.”)

The search database indicated that the person may have been born in the late 1920s or early 1930s.   This bit of information told me that there was a chance that the person might be on the 1930 census.  There were two persons with nearly identical names on the 1930 census. One person was born in Texas in 1902 and was eliminated as being obviously too old.  The other person was born in Kentucky in 1927.

But I felt I needed some additional evidence on this issue.  So I went on to examine birth, marriage and death records.  This yielded a number of persons with similar names, but who were also either too old or too young to be the person I’m seeking.  But two individuals piqued my interest.

One person of interest was born in a northeastern state in 1922 and died in 1985.   This is obviously not our subject because our subject was alive in 2007 to submit a DNA sample (additionally, the person just slightly beyond our age parameters).  But this person could be a relative of our subject–again, the name we’re seeking is not all that common.

The second person of interest was born in 1885 and died in 1976.   This  person has the same name as our subject and is old enough to be the subject’s parent.  And also tantalizing is the fact the person died in a county in a southern state, which county has a large population of people with my mother’s maiden name.

I then was moved to examine passenger manifests for New York.  There I discovered that a person with the same name and middle initial had arrived in New York from a European country in 1956, traveling on an American passport.  The US passport and the name of the ship made me relaize that this person was in some way affiliated with the US military.  The person was accompanied by a child, but appparently no other adult.  This fact, though explainable, is unusal for a military family returning from overseas.

To further locate and identify this person, I checked the child’s name against various databases, but came up with nothing. I’m willing to bet that the person I found in the search directory is the same person who submitted the matching sample. So I’ll try to write a letter.

The other two people with whom I had matches on the Ancestry site I could not reasonably identify further because too many similar names exist.

But there are other alternatives. Once you have DNA results, you can submit them to a number of other puicbl DNA databases and look for matches. I did that with the sites described below.

The first one is called mitosearch.com, sponsorted by the folks at Family Tree DNAmitosearch.

Above is the mitosearch Welcome page.  On the page below, one can enter mtDNA values from any test.

I entered my Ancestry.com mtDNA values here.

I entered my Ancestry.com mtDNA values here.

On the following page are the registered mitosearch users whose mtDNA “matches” mine.

Three individuals had exact matches with me for HVR1

Three individuals had exact matches with me for HVR1

As you can see, three people matched my HVR1 value exactly, and several others were with one mutation. Using the “Compare” feature for the matches produces a page like this one below:

A "match" compared

A "match" compared

I can now contact the “matches” through mitosearch.   I can also determine if their most distant female ancestor appears in my family tree.   I did not find any of these in my files, but I will be contacting several of the individuals for more information.

Another database in which to enter mtDNA results is the Sorenson Molecular Genetics Foundation (SMGF) database.

Sorenson Molecular Genetics Foundation mtDNA Database Search

Sorenson Molecular Genetics Foundation mtDNA Database Search

The  page below is produced by my search.  There were 14 “zero mutation” matches in all, molstly in Africa.  Notice the pedigree symbol at each of the matches.

SMGF mtDNA Comparison Page

SMGF mtDNA Comparison Page

Some of the pedigrees were useful; some were not because all the data was marked “private.”  Here’s mine so you can see what they  look   like.

My pedigree as shown on the SMGF site

My pedigree as shown on the SMGF site

The SMGF site has the smallest database and most of the other users seem not very easy to contact.

But I’ve gotten some ideas from the other databases, so next step:  Contact!

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My DNA Adventure, Part 1

April 10, 2009 Craig Uncategorized

There’s much to be said about DNA testing in genealogy, but most of it is best said by Blaine Bettinger on his blog, The Genetic Genealogist, which  I highly recommend.  So please visit there soon.  But for now, I’d like to describe my recent experience with Ancestry.com’s DNA offering.

I got in on one of Ancestry’s DNA “sales” where the price was affordable for me to do a 46-marker test (a relatively “high resolution” test). The results came in about 18 days. They were posted in  my “DNA account” at Ancestry.com. Note you don’t have to be an Ancestry subscriber to get DNA results.

Ancestry.com DNA Results

Ancestry.com DNA Results

The screen shot above is what one first encounters on the Ancestry.com DNA site. On the left side below “Welcome” are buttons that toggle between “Paternal” (Y-DNA) and “Maternal” (mtDNA).  Below those buttons, we can “Find Matches,” “See Ancestry,” “View DNA,” or “Visit Groups.”   We are toggled to the Y-DNA section;  let’s go “See Ancestry.”

A generic description of my Y-DNA results A generic description of my Y-DNA results

This generic  description of my “deep” paternal ancestry shows my DNA belongs to Haplogroup E1b1a [formerly known as E3a].  This group is associated almost entirely with sub-Saharan Africa, although  some authorities say that is too broad a statement to make at this point in our understanding of the issue. It can be stated confidently that E1b1a has a high frequency in West Africa among Bantu-speaking peoples such as in Cameroon.  E1b1a is now well-dispersed throughout Africa.

My Y-DNA

My Y-DNA

The screen above turns up when we click on the “See DNA” button.

Now the fun part.  Let’s “Find Matches!”

The location and names (redacted) of 84 matches!

The location and names (redacted) of 84 matches!

Here we find the locations and names of 84 people who “match” my Y-DNA results.

The "best match" is a person (name redacted) in California

The "best match" is a person (name redacted) in California

Now I have a name and location for the “best match.”  But our “Most Recent Common Ancestor” is likely more than 30 generations away!

My mtDNA Deep Ancestral Results

My mtDNA Deep Ancestral Results

When we toggle over to the “Maternal” side, we get this screen  showing that my mtDNA is classified in Haplogroup  L.  Like my Y-DNA, this shows a connection to Bantu people in West Africa, although the haplogroup is now spread over the entire African continent.  Haplogroup L has subdivisions L0, L1, L2, and L3.   I evidently have some connection to these subgroups.  L3 is said to be the progenitor of  “all non-African haplogroups alive today.”

This is my mtDNA!

This is my mtDNA!

And we can see the alleles in the shot above.

Three people in the Ancestry.com database match my mtDNA exactly.

Three people in the Ancestry.com database match my mtDNA exactly.

The top three people “match” my mtDNA.  Again, I’ve redacted the names.  The list actually has all names with bewteen 0 and 2 variations.  The top three had zero variations.  Unlike the Y-DNA page, there is not a way to ascertain the physical locations of mtDNA matches in this set. So all I have are names.  Could one of them hold the key to my most uncooperative ancestor, Sarah Gilbert Johnson?

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Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

February 26, 2009 Craig Uncategorized

I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers.  The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them.  For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience.

List the surnames you are researching and the general localities.  Then tell the names of your “Most Wanted Ancestors,” that is, the ones you most want to find behind that brickwall.   (You can tag people if you want; I’ve chosen not to do that here so that all readers are included).   Let’s see your lists; maybe we can each help someone out!

Surnames & Locales:

MANSON: Georgia (Talbot, Taylor & Upson Counties) Texas (Milam, Midland Counties)
BOWIE: Louisiana (Cataholua, Avoyelles, Monroe, Rapides Parishes) Texas (Gregg, Harrison Counties)
BIRDSONG: Georgia (Talbot, Upson Counties)
BRAYBOY: Louisiana (Caddo, De Soto Parishes) South Carolina
BRYANT: Texas (Aransas, DeWitt, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio Counties)
GILBERT: Missouri (Clay, Jackson, Platte Counties)
GINES: Louisiana (Bossier, Caddo, Tensas Parishes) Mississippi (Claiborne, Hancock, Hinds, Pearl River, Walthall Counties) Texas (Harris, Nacogdoches Counties)
JOHNSON: Missouri (Clay, Jackson, Platte Counties)
LeJAY: Louisiana (Caddo, De Soto Parishes)
LONG: Kansas (Johnson County) Missouri (Jackson County)
MICHEAU/MISCHEAUX: California (San Mateo, Los Angeles County) Illinois (Randolph County) Missouri (St Louis)
SANFORD: Tennessee (Williamson County) Texas (Milam County)

Most Wanted Ancestors: Parents of Sarah GILBERT (b. 1849, Clay County, Mo); Parents of Richard William GINES (b. 1860, Bossier Parish, La); Parents of George MICHEAU (1813-1907; Prairie du Rocher, Ill.)

What about you?

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An Indirect Lead to The Elusive Sarah Gilbert?

April 19, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

In the last post, I mention Ancestry.com’s excellent collection entitled, “Missouri Marriages 1805-2002.” As I tried it out, I may have come across an indirect lead to my elusive ancestor, Sarah Gilbert.

The only matters of record that I have ever found concerning Sarah Gilbert are her 1867 marriage to Ezekiel Johnson in Clay County, Missouri, and her residence with her husband and children in Kansas City on the 1880 census. Other than those things, Sarah Gilbert is a phantom. There is no one alive today who knew her or saw her. There are not even any hearsay stories about her, except the persistent and unsupported rumor that she was an Indian. That’s it; that’s all.

Based on the fact that she seems to have disappeared after the 1880 census, I have surmised that she may have died sometime after 1880. No children appear to have been born to her after 1880.
Today, as I checked out the new Missouri marriages collection on Ancestry.com, I came across an 1885 marriage in Jackson County (Kansas City) between Ezekiel Johnson and one Rena Neal. If this is the same Ezekiel Johnson who married Sarah Gilbert, this may lend some credence to the notion that Sarah Gilbert died sometime after 1880. More investigation need on this, but it could be an indirect lead to Sarah Gilbert.

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Where Were They in 1808?

January 28, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Awhile ago, the challenge issued by Lisa was to describe where one’s ancestors were in 1908. I blogged about that here. Now the topic is where one’s ancestors were in 1808. Many bloggers have written about this already; I’m just getting caught up.

1808 was a signal year for some of my families. That was the year that Congress banned the Atlantic slave trade from the United States. The U.S. Constitution of 1789 had provided in Article I, section 9:

The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

This somewhat obtuse sentence was one of the several compromises in the Constitution on the issue of slavery. The importation of slaves could not be banned by Congress for two decades after the Constitutional Convention. Note that states were free to ban slavery at any time; and several had done so prior to 1808.

Manson: Charlotte Manson, the likely first ancestor born in America, was probably still with her Scots-Irish parents in South Carolina or northern Georgia. We have not yet discovered her parents’ names.

Gines: I have no information about the Gines family that goes back to 1808. I do know that they likely came from the Carolinas.

Bowie: James Bowie, free man of color, is believed to have been born in the 1790′s in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, and probably was living there in 1808.

Brayboy: William Brayboy was born into slavery in South Carolina in the 1790′s. I do not know where in South Carolina.

Johnson/Carpenter: Benjamin Carpenter had been born in 1745 in Gloucester, New Jersey. In 1808, he and his wife, Elizabeth McFarland Hughes, lived in Harrison County, Virginia (now in West Virginia). Their son William, grandfather of Ezekiel Johnson, was born in Harrison County in 1790.

LeJay: I am reasonably certain that my LeJay ancestors were held in bondage in South Carolina in 1808. They were most likely in the eastern part of South Carolina.

Birdsong: John Birdsong III and his wife, Elizabeth Latimer, had moved to Oglethorpe County, Georgia, by 1808.

Sanford: The earliest known ancestor in this family, William Sanford, was born into slavery in Virginia in 1809.

Bryant, Long, Gilbert, Martin: I have no information on these families in 1808.

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Where Was Your Family in 1908?

January 9, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Lisa, who has the energy to write several interesting blogs, posed the question, “Where was your family in 1908?” on, appropriately enough, her 100 Years in America blog.

A century ago, neither of my paternal grandparents had been born yet, although one, my grandmother Jessie Beatrice Bowie, was just a year away. Her parents, my great-grandparents, Hattie Bryant and Elias Bowie, Sr., had recently met and were living in San Antonio, Texas. Hattie’s and Elias’ parents were also in Texas. Guy Bryant and Maria Martin lived in Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, in 1908. Guy was a butcher. John Wesley Bowie and Amanda McCray made their home in the east Texas town of Longview in Gregg County. They lived at 114 Morgan Street and 63 year old John did “odd jobs.”

My other paternal great-grandparents, Otis Manson and Bettie Sanford, lived on a farm near Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. My great-great-grandmother, Matilda Manson, lived near them. Bettie’s father, Billie Sanford, a 98 year old former slave, was still alive, also in Milam County. Billie would live to be 106 years old.

My maternal grandfather, Eddie Gines, was 10 years old and lived with his parents, Richard William Gines and Sylvia LeJay, at 1540 Ashton Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Great-grandpa Dick was a fireman at Shreveport’s electric powerhouse. I know nothing of Dick’s parents. Sylvia’s parents were Lewis LeJay and Syntrilla Brayboy. By 1908, Lewis had probably passed away. Syntrilla, however, still lived in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, not far from where she had been held in slavery.

My maternal grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, was six years old and lived with her parents, James William Long and Mary Elizabeth Johnson. Their house was at 2711 Wyoming Street, on the west side of Kansas City, Missouri. Great-grandpa James was a Baptist preacher and in 1908 was the pastor at Kansas City’s Sunrise Baptist Church. His parents, Richard and Pauline Long, were deceased. My great-great-grandfather, Zeke Johnson, was still alive and well in Kansas City. My great-great-grandmother, Sarah Gilbert, may have been alive in 1908, but this is not certain. Zeke’s father, Dan Carpenter, was alive at age 83, in Clay County, Missouri, just north of Kansas City. He died at age 95. There is some evidence that Zeke’s mother, Harriet Mitchell, was alive and living in Johnson County, Kansas, but this is not certain. She would be about 83 years old as well.

In 1908, none of these ancestors could have foreseen me and life as it is today.

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The Elusive Sarah Gilbert

October 29, 2007 Craig Uncategorized

I’ve blogged quite a lot about Sarah Gilbert Johnson, wife of Ezekiel Johnson, and my great-great-grandmother. She appears in the marriage records of Clay County, Missouri, at the time of her marriage to Grandpa Zeke and in the 1880 census for Kansas City, Missouri. Then she appears of record no more.

I’ve been over and over the available materials. Indeed, a key purpose of my big research trip to Missouri this past summer was to find more on Sarah Gilbert. I found nothing new. I talked to several cousins descended from Zeke and Sarah Johnson, but none knew anything about Sarah.

Here’s what I know about her: she and Zeke Johnson were married in Clay County, Missouri, on September 5, 1867. On the 1880 census, her age is given as 31. If that’s true, she would have been born in about 1849. Her children are listed as Henry, 11; Mary, 10; Richard, 8; Ambrose, 6; Robert, 4; and Mattie, 1. I’ve since discovered that Mary (my great-grandmother) was in fact the oldest and not Henry. “Ambrose” was actually named Amos. I have death certificates for Mary, Richard, Amos, and Robert. Of Henry and Mattie, I know nothing beyond the 1880 census data. [Actually, the problem with Henry is that "Henry Johnson" is such a common name. I have identified some records that are "possibly" the "right" Henry Johnson].

Grandpa Zeke died in 1933. But in 1920, he was living with Richard and listed as widowed. So Sarah must have died before 1920. Noting that there seems to be no death certificate for her in Missouri’s excellent 1910-1956 death certificate database, one might surmise that she died before 1910. This is a situation in which an 1890 census would be a great help. Her last child seems to be Mattie, born in 1879. She would have been just thirty years old. Perhaps then she died between 1880 and 1920.

There is one other strange thing that appears concerning Sarah Gilbert Johnson. There is a death certificate for one Robert Franklin Johnson who died on May 17, 1955. One might presume that this would be Sarah and Zeke’s son, Robert, who according to the 1880 census, was born in about 1876. But the birth date on the death certificate is November 23, 1891. And the mother’s maiden name is given as “Sarah Agnes Lewis.”

The place of death on the Robert Franklin Johnson death certificate is given as “2444 Chestnut Avenue” in Kansas City, Missouri. On May 17, 1955, that house would have been occupied by my great aunt Rosetta Bell Long, and perhaps my grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long and her daughter, my aunt Delorise Gines. Rosie and Flo Long were sisters and the granddaughters of Zeke and Sarah. In May, 1955, Grandma Flo would have been 53 years old, and Aunt Rosie would have been 55 years old. And indeed, the informant is stated to be “Rose Long” of 2444 Chestnut Avenue.

But why did Aunt Rosie get Robert’s birth date wrong by 15 years? And who is “Sarah Agnes Lewis”?

Yesterday, Lorine McGinnis Schulze blogged about the potential inaccuracies of primary records. She gives the (actual) example of a 17 year old informant who may have been confused by the questions asked by the official making out a death certificate. But Aunt Rosie was a mature, educated and experienced woman. How could she have made these mistakes?

The week before Robert Franklin Johnson died, my grandfather, William Edward Gines died. Could Aunt Rosie confused some of his information with that of her uncle? The informant on my grandfather’s death certificate was “Harry Gines” [most likely his brother Henry]. Harry got everything right. My grandfather was born on August 10, 1898, and his mother was Sylvia LeJay [which is misspelled "LaJay" on the death certificate]. None of this information is similar to Robert’s.

So what happened here? How did Sarah Gilbert manage to elude me once more?

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