Digging Up Your Family

Paternal Grandmother In 1940

Last night I searched the census records for the entire city of Madisonville, Hopkins County, Kentucky and the surrounding areas looking for my paternal grandparents.  I am still looking for Elbert Tracey “Shorty” Vincent (my grandfather).  I was able to find Louise Rose (my grandmother)!

In 1940 Louise and her family were living just outside of Madisonville in Hopkins County.

Louise and Shorty didn’t marry until December of 1940.  So, when the census was enumerated she was living with her father Silas and her siblings: Carlos, Avanell, Rosalie, Maybelle and JT (I hope I got those names spelled correctly!)

Today I will go through the rest of Hopkins County, then start searching Muhlenberg County (yesterday I searched the civil district of Muhlenberg County where the family lived in 1930, but no luck) and McLean County (yesterday I also searched Sacramento, McLean County, Kentucky since my understanding is that at some point Lucy, Shorty’s mother, may have lived on a farm owned by her sister Drusie).  I have asked several people if they know about where Shorty may have lived at the time, but no one knows. 

The search continues!

Bring Out The (figurative) Bloodhounds

Trying to track the maternal line of a family is pretty difficult (unless you are royalty, in which case you probably aren’t making your family tree since it’s been recorded throughout the years anyway).  Pretty much women weren’t as important to keep up with back in the day.  Really, up until 1850 when everyone in the household was required to be listed by name on the census records, the only place you could find a woman’s name was in a family Bible, marriage and divorce records and/or possibly wills. So, in an effort to keep the maternal lines of my parents fresh in your mind, I decided to list them along with the information I have (and the information I don’t have yet).  Enjoy!

 

My direct maternal line (beginning with my grandmother):

Ruth May Craft

b. August 9, 1925 Gibson County, Tennessee

d. January 14, 2007 Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee

Katie Clady Cathey

b. December 18, 1897 Indian Bayou, Lonoke County, Arkansas

d. November 25, 1935 Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee

Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers

b. March 15, 1870 Tennessee

d. October 20, 1952 Martin, Weakley County, Tennessee

Amanda Summers

b. abt 1852 Tennessee

d. abt 1889 Tennessee

Emily Jane Duffel

b. abt 1822 Tennessee

d. aft 1880 Tennessee

Susan McCarroll

b. abt 1800 North Carolina

d. aft 1860 Tennessee

Susan Currey

b. abt 1770 Rockingham County, North Carolina

d. aft 1830 Williamson County, Tennessee

Elizabeth Brownlee

b. ?

d. aft 1790 Rockingham County, North Carolina

(note: I have spelled Currey as Currie in other posts and on the sidebar. It has come to light that it may actually be Currey. Also, Elizabeth Brownlee’s last name might have actually been Brownlees. I am awaiting confirmation before I change them, though.  Another important note to add concerns Emily Jane Duffel.  Though she seems to be listed everywhere on the internet as Susan McCarroll’s daughter, I haven’t actually seen any confirmation on it.  I mean, I pretty much assumed since the census records for Susan’s husband, Allen Duffel, list an extra female-older than the rest of the children-that the Houston County, Tennessee: History and Families (Turner Publishing Company, 1995) failed to list (which isn’t surprising, considering the book is trying to tell me that Emily Jane Duffel and Basil Pinkney Summers married in 1830, which would mean Emily was about 8 years old…in reality they married about 1839).  Also, there wasn’t another Duffel family in the area that I have found.)

 

My father, Roger Dale Ray (Robert Jewell Vincent)’s, direct maternal line, beginning with his mother, my grandmother:

Louise Rose

b. March 20, 1923 Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

d. January 9, 2004 Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Nellie Lillian Claxton

b. abt 1893 Kentucky

d. abt 1962 Indiana

Willie Melton

b. abt 1873 Kentucky

d. aft 1920 Kentucky?

Hepseba Powell

b. abt 1848 Indiana

d. ? Kentucky?

Alice Bean

b. abt 1824 Virginia

d. aft 1880 Indiana?

(note: as you can see, I don’t have much information on this line at all. I haven’t found the death records of Lilly Claxton or Willie Melton yet, mainly because I haven’t figured out what mix of first, middle and married names might be on the records. I haven’t found Hepsy on a census after 1880 yet.)

Augustus Powell

I am at a total loss for Augustus Powell.  I really hope someone pops up with more information on him than what I have.

The first time I have been able to find Augustus Powell is on the Indiana State Library Genealogy Database (thank you Mary Taylor for pointing me in that direction!).  On June 15, 1845 Augustus married Alice Bean (1824-?) in Union County, Indiana.  His name was recorded as, or misread as, Augustus Powers and Alice’s name was spelled “Allice”.  As Mary Taylor pointed out, the handwriting may have been difficult to read on the marriage record.

The US census records didn’t start recording all family members separately until 1850 (though a few states that had their own census reports did).  It is on the 1850 census that I find Augustus alive (for certain).  He is listed as living in Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana.  His wife is Alice and he has two children, Hepseba (Hepsy)-daughter, age 2 years, and “Alameen” (Alanson)-son, age 1 month.  We learn from this census record that Augustus was born in Pennsylvania.  He was also a carpenter.  The age given for him is 24 years, putting his birth about 1826.  One of his neighbors, interestingly enough, is a John B Powell, age 40 years, married to Caroline (maiden surname unknown).  John was also from Pennsylvania.  He was also a carpenter and something else, but I can’t quite make it out (possibly a jailer?  I don’t know!).  Living in his household was Elijah Brewington or Bronington, age 31 years, Hester Ann Brewington or Bronington, age 8 years, and Louisa Ann Powell, age 8 years.  Elijah was a teamster.

I am sure that Augustus and John are related, but I cannot figure out how.

I can find no other record of Augustus alive.  He is not on the 1860 census.  HOWEVER, between 1850 and 1860 two more children were born:  Sarah A Powell (1852-?) and John Powell (1853-1923).  John’s death certificate lists his parents as August Powell and Alice Bean (though the handwriting looks like “Breens”).

Augustus is also not on the 1870 census, but by then Alice has had another child, Frederick (1862-1939).  Alice is widowed at this point.  Frederick’s death certificate says that his mother is Alice Bean, but it says his father is William Powell.

Is this a clue?  Maybe his real name is William Augustus.  Or maybe Augustus did pass and Alice married a William Powell in late 1860 or 1861 that passed before 1870.  Or maybe she had her last child out of wedlock.  I just don’t know.  I have looked up every imaginable mix of names I could think of.  I cannot find this guy anywhere!  I have found several men named William Augustus Powell, but the dates and locations don’t match up with mine.  I have not yet located the death records of Hepsy, Alanson and Sarah to see how their father’s name is listed.

Augustus Powell is my 4th great-grandfather through his daughter Hepsy.

I would really like to be able to trace this family back further.  If anyone has any information,PLEASE let me know!

Louise Rose

Louise Rose was born March 20, 1923 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky to Silas Rose, Jr (1888-1954), a farmer, and Lilly Claxton (1896-1961).  According to the 1930 census, the first census after her birth, she was 7 years old and had not attended school

Some time prior to 1941 she married Elbert Tracey “Shorty” Vincent (1912-1995).  With Shorty she had five children, one being my father, and she had a sixth child who had a different father.

Unfortunately, in the midst of divorce between Shorty and Louise the children were adopted out, yet several still kept contact with her, one going as far as to run away quite a bit from his adoptive family.

Louise then married Malcolm W Collins (1913-1982).  Both Louise and Malcolm were members of Wing Avenue Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky.  Louise also worked for General Electric in Owensboro, Kentucky and retired from the company after 34 years of service.

Louise Rose passed away January 9, 2004 in Owensboro, Kentucky.  I have not yet been able to locate her birth record or her death record, except for her SSI Death Record.

At the time of her death she had a living brother, JT Rose, who I have been unable to locate.  I was able to speak with someone at her church that told me she remembers her as a very nice woman who was large boned and always showed up for her Women’s Group at the church.  They were nice enough to send me the picture of her that appeared in the church directory in 2000 and her church enrollment card.

As always, if you have information, please contact me!