Daniel and Sarah Elizabeth Tickle

I realized I never hit "publish" on this post! Rather than back post it, I have simply replaced this week's scheduled post with what was supposed to be last week's post. Sorry for the technical glitch!

The last few weeks' posts have featured families and topics in North Carolina. This week, I thought I would take us back to Virginia.

Sarah Elizabeth ("Betsey") Lineberry was born about 1802 in North Carolina. She was the third of 12 children born to Jacob Lineberry, IV and Mary Elizabeth Fanning. 

Betsey married Daniel Tickle on 22 November 1819 in Guilford County, North Carolina. Daniel was born about 1800 in North Carolina to John W. Tickle, Jr. and Elizabeth Cockelress.

Daniel and Betsey's Marriage Record

Betsey and Daniel had at least the following children:

• Salome Tickle, born about 1820
• Hezekiah C. Tickle, born about 1825
• Peter Conrad Tickle, born 25 August 1830
• Solomon Tickle, born about 1831
• Daniel Lineberry Tickle, born 13 October 1833
• Mary Tickle, born about 1835
• Harvey Bennett Tickle, born 26 November 1839
• Molly Adaline Tickle, born about 1840

All of the children were born in North Carolina, but it seems the entire set of children moved to Virginia when Daniel and Betsey did. (Salome is the only child that stayed in North Carolina since she was married by 1848.) Family legend says they moved to Bland County, Virginia in 1846. In reality, it looks as though they moved around a little bit before finally ending up in Bland County.

For the 1850 census, they were living in Giles County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1850 Census

In 1860, they are living in Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1850 Census

Then, in 1870, they finally end up in Seddon, Bland County, Virginia. By 1880, they have settled in Mechanicsburg, Bland County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1880 Census

Betsey is listed in the Virginia Deaths and Burials Index as having died 15 January 1880 in Bland County, Virginia. If that is the case, however, that would leave me to believe the Elizabeth, age 70, living with Daniel in the 1880 census is actually a second spouse of Daniel's. (It is possible that Elizabeth died in June instead of January if it was a mis-transcription. I have not been able to locate a copy of the actual record yet, so I can not say one way or the other what the situation is.)

I have not found a death record for Daniel yet. I assume he died some time between 1880 and 1900. Without a copy of the 1890 census, I think that may be as narrow as I can get that date range for now.

Sources:

• 1850 Giles County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Wythe County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia U.S. Federal Agricultural Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Seddon, Bland County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Mechanicsburg, Bland County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Guilford County North Carolina Marriage Records, Daniel Tickle and Betsey Linebury (accessed on Ancestry)
• Orange County North Carolina Marriage Records, John C. Low and Sally Tickle (accessed on Ancestry)
• Virginia, Deaths and Burials Index, Elizabeth Tickle (accessed on Ancestry)

John B. and Christina W. Smith

John Benjamine Smith was born 25 November 1815 in North Carolina. His parents were Frederick and Elizabeth Lineberry Smith.

John married Christina Charlotte Walk, daughter of Johann Joseph Alexander and Elizabeth Goss Walk. Together, they had at least 11 children. They are:

• Martha Elizabeth Smith, born 1843
• Webster Smith, born 1845
• Lawrance Smith, born 1845
• Caroline Lucetta Smith, born 1846
• John Reuben Smith, born 1850
• Joseph Coke Smith, born 1851
• William J. Smith, born 1854
• Constantine A. Smith, born 1856
• Benjamin Alford Smith, born 1859
• Louisa V. Smith, born 1862
• Frederick F. Smith, born 1863

I couldn't help but notice that the children stopped before the end of the Civil War. I decided to look for military service for John. I thought I found him in the 35th North Carolina Infantry, but that man died in the War, and I know from John's tombstone that John lived until 1895.

Clipping from 1860 Census

John still could have enlisted in the War, but I haven't found him in the service rolls yet in North Carolina, but maybe I've been looking in the wrong state. I do know, sometime between 1860 and 1870, the family moved from Davidson County, North Carolina to Carroll County, Virginia. I've been trying to pinpoint the exact timeframe of their move, and I think I have a pretty good idea of when that happened.

As far as I can tell from census records, all of John and Christina's children were born in North Carolina, so that means the family would have moved sometime after 1863. So, I thought, maybe John enlisted in the War after moving to Virginia. This would have put their move between 1863 and 1865. In my mind though, I imagine moving to another state during the Civil War, even within the South, would have been incredibly dangerous. 

Or maybe the family moved to Virginia after the War since it would have been too risky to move with so many young children during such a turbulent time. This would have put their move between 1865 and 1870. This would mean John probably did not serve during the Civil War. He would have been rather old compared to the 20-something year olds that often enlisted, but I won't be convinced until I check the Virginia records a little more.

The last thing I will say about this family is how I love the work ethic that they seemed to have according to the census records.  In the census clipping above, you see how John had $800 of Real Estate and $400 of Personal Estate in North Carolina as a farmer. Just 10 years and an entire Civil War later, he's moved to another state and he's not much worse off for it.

Clipping from 1870 Census

Most farmers that didn't move lost most of the value of their property after the War. John went from $800 down to just $600 during this time. That's pretty impressive on its own. When you consider he was starting over from scratch with a new farm in a new state in a country still trying to rebuild, it is truly an incredible story. I think I would have liked to have known this man very much.

Sources:

• 1850 Davidson County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Salem, Davidson County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Fancy Gap, Carroll County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Tombstone, John B. Smith (as posted by Dan Stevenson on Find A Grave)