Robert and Lucinda L. Kirkman

Robert Kirkman was born about 1804 in Randolph County, North Carolina. I believe I know who his parents are, but I am still working on getting more solid evidence.

He married Lucinda Lane on 12 May 1830 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Together, they had at least eight children:

• Mary Kirkman, born about 1836
• Rebecca Kirkman, born about 1836
• Tabitha Kirkman, born about 1838
• Nancy Kirkman, born about 1840
• Isabel C Kirkman, born 21 April 1844
• John W Kirkman, born about 1847
• William Alfred Kirkman, born 18 November 1850
• James Monroe Kirkman, born 17 August 1855

Robert was a farmer, as most of the people in Randolph County were. One thing I found interesting when looking at his census records was the value of his real estate. For most people, real estate values rise over the years even with the divisions amongst sons, except of course for the years immediately after the Civil War.

In Robert's case, however, he went from $1216 in real estate in 1850 to $1200 in 1860. Personal estate values were not recorded until 1860 though, and his personal estate was listed at $3700. In 1870, after the Civil War, Robert's real estate stands still at $1200. Only his personal estate was affected it seems having dropped from $3700 to $800 in 1870.

Clipping from 1870 census of Robert Kirkman's household

Robert's ability to maintain his real estate values post-War is not the only thing fairly unique about him. Randolph County, being comprised mostly of poor farmers with no standing or position, was not a place where slavery was common. Robert is listed in the 1840 census as having a male and a female slave both aged 10-23. His neighbor in 1840 (and his suspected father) Thomas Kirkman has the most in the area at 12. 

Clippings from 1840 census of Robert and Thomas Kirkman's slaves

As anyone who has researched slave ancestors knows, it is difficult to place names to the tick marks in census records or to the genders and ages listed in slave schedules, but it is something I strive to do whenever I find families that had slaves. More investigation will be required to find out who these men and women may be and how long the family kept slaves, but it is an investigation I think worth undertaking. Hopefully I can post my findings in a future post.

Robert and Lucinda are supposedly buried at Bethany United Methodist Church Cemetery in Franklinville, Randolph County, North Carolina. I have not yet found proof of the date of Robert's death, but his Find-A-Grave page lists his date of death as 5 May 1882. There is no photo shown to corroborate this date, and I have taken photos myself at the cemetery a couple of times, but I have no photo of their tombstones in my personal collection either. Either their graves are unmarked or I somehow missed them the last time I was there. Until someone posts one or until I can make it back to the cemetery myself, the search for a tombstone continues.

Sources:

• 1840 Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1850 Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Sandy Creek, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Liberty, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Liberty, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Find-A-Grave memorial #149695684
• North Carolina Death Certificate, Isabel C Kivett (accessed on Ancestry)
• North Carolina Death Certificate, James Monroe Kirkman (accessed on Ancestry)
• North Carolina Death Certificate, William Alfred Kirkman (accessed on Ancestry)
• North Carolina County Marriage Registers, Randolph County (accessed on Ancestry)

Peter King

Today's family will feature one of my pseudo-roadblocks in my husband's family. I think I know each spouse and their parents' names, but I have no proof of them. To help sort this family out a little bit, I will try to only focus on the information I can back up with sources. Peter King was born about 1808 in North Carolina.

The 1840 census shows Peter living in West Pee Dee River, Montgomery County, North Carolina.

Clipping from 1840 census

In the household are:

• Male, under age 5
• Female, under age 5
• Female, age 5-10
• Male, age 20-30 (assume this to be Peter)
• Female, 20-30 (assume this to be Peter's wife)

The 1850 census shows Peter living in Montgomery County, North Carolina. A wife is not present in the household, but the following children are:

• Ann E. King, born about 1834 (assume this to be the female 5-10 in the 1840 census)
• Allen King, born about 1837 (assume this to be the male under 5 in the 1840 census)
• Dany King, born about 1840 (assume this to be the female under 5 in the 1840 census)
• Emely King, born about 1845
• Cummings King, born about 1847
• Peter King, born about 1849
• William King, born about 1849

I do not know if all of the children listed in this household are the natural children of Peter, but I assume they are. Some researchers suggest multiple spouses for Peter. I can only prove what I find in records, but more on that in a bit.

The 1860 census shows him living in Diffies, Montgomery County, North Carolina. Once again, his wife is not present, so I assume she probably died before the 1850 census. All of the same children are living in the house except for Ann, whom I assume has married by this point. Emely (listed as a female in 1850) is now Emsly (listed as male). So, since there are no new children in the household, it is possible that all of the children are, in fact, Peter's own.

Clipping from 1860 census

There is also a 41-year-old woman living with them in the 1860 census named Sally Manor. I do not know anything about her, but I hope to do some digging at some point to find out her relationship to the family. Perhaps she was there as a nanny (unlikely because they were farmers and didn't seem to be very wealthy), or perhaps she was a family member who was just visiting for a while.

The 1870 census shows another new person in the family. This time, it is 30-year-old woman listed in the place a spouse would appear. Her name is difficult to read, but I think it reads something like Ancis T. King. If this is right, then I believe this woman to be Ancez Coal.

Clipping from 1870 census

I have found a marriage certificate for Peter King and Ancez Coal dated 10 February 1866. This would fit with the lady in the 1870 census.

Marriage Licensus for Peter King and Ancez Coal

In addition to Peter's youngest boys, Peter and William (who are either twins or "Irish twins" since they always appear to be the same age or one year apart), there are also some new children in the house now. They are:

• Lucy King, born about 1858
• Martitia King, born about 1861
• George King, born about 1867
• Ella King, born about 1866
• (illegible girl's name - maybe Lebsa), born about 1869

If these (last few) are the children of Peter and Ancez, this means Peter would have been about 61 when the last child was born!

The first two children in the household appear to have been born before Peter and Ancez were married. Children out of wedlock was not unheard of in these days, but the 1880 census could shed some more light on the situation.

I believe Peter to have died between the 1870 and 1880 census. I have found what appears to be his widow living in Randleman Mills, Randolph County, North Carolina in 1880. Notice the name differences:

Clipping from 1880 census

Ancez is now listed as "Sarah," the illegible girl's name appears as "Liddia V." and is listed older than George, Ella is now "Mary E." and appears younger than mentioned in the previous census, and finally, Lucy J. and Nancy "Martitia" appear with the last name Cole.

This leads me to believe that Ancez/Sarah was married before she married Peter. (I was able to find a marriage record for Willis Cole and Ancetis Craven dated 23 January 1857 in Randolph County, North Carolina. The 1860 census shows the couple with daughter Jane living in Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, but Ancetis/Ancez/Sarah shows up as Margaret this time!)

So, all of this still does not show Peter's previous spouse(s) name(s) or the names of his parents. I have my speculations and my leads based on other family researchers' efforts, but I haven't found any proof to substantiate any of the claims made yet. Until then, this is what I know.

Sources:

• 1840 West Pee Dee River, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1850 Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Diffies, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Little River, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Randleman Mills, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage License, Peter King and Ancez Coal (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage License, Willis Cole and Ancetis Craven (accessed on Ancestry)

James C. and Martitia Stout

My husband's fourth great-grandmother was a Stout. (Sarah Stout, born about 1807 in North Carolina, to be specific.) His Stout family is actually proving to be rather difficult to research. (All I have is a name and an estimated birth from a census!) To help try and figure out the family, I started working researching all the Stouts in the area hoping I may come across the right Stout family. That's how I found this branch.

James Calvin Stout is an in-law of an in-law of an in-law in my husband's tree. I actually have two James Calvin Stouts in the tree, but for this post I'll stick to the younger one. He was born about 1862 to Calvin Newton Stout (son of the older James Calvin Stout) and Emily J. Bray.

James married Susana Martitia Brown on 25 September 1881 in Randolph County, North Carolina.

Clipping from the Randolph County, North Carolina Marriage Record Book

I don't know anything about her except her estimated birth (about 1862) from census records. I do know that, together, they had at least four children.

• William Oscar Stout, born about 1884
• Fannie Stout, born about 1893
• Leslie Stout, about 1897
• Annie Stout, about 1902

Clipping from the 1900 Census

Clipping from the 1910 Census

It seems from the census that for his entire life, James lived in Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina. (I have yet to find him in the 1880 census, but I have a feeling if I comb page-by-page through the Columbia census of that year, that I will find him.)

He was listed as a farmer, as was his father before him. Since he was too young in the 1870 census to be a farmer in his own right, and I have yet to find him in the 1880 census, I do not have any agriculture census records for James. I hope to look into his father's records a little more to see if I can guess what kinds of crops James may have tended, but that's a post for another day.

James died on 8 March 1935 in Columbia, North Carolina. His cause of death was myocarditis, but I can't read one of the contributing factors. I can tell it says "and broncho-pneumonia," but I can't make out the first word.

Clipping from Death Certificate of James Calvin Stout

I hope to ask someone with more of a medical background about this later to see if they can make it out.

Sources:

• 1870 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1900 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1910 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1920 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1930 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Death Certificate, James Calvin Stout (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage Records for Randolph County, North Carolina (accessed on Ancestry)

B. L. Saunders

B. L. Saunders (sometimes seen as Sanders) was born 19 April 1809 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. His parentage is largely unknown. His name is also debated. (Some say his first name is Britton, but no solid proof of that has been found.)

The first time I find B. L. in records is in the 1850 census. He is living with his wife, Lydia Yow, some of their children, and some laborers.

Clipping from 1850 Census

B. L. is listed as a constable.

In 1860, B. L. has picked up farming in addition to his job as a constable. Apparently, the occupation shift has been beneficial for B. L. In 1850, his real estate was valued at $150, but, by 1860, his real estate is up to $1,500.

Clipping from 1860 Census

Rumor has it that B. L. Saunders was also a gunsmith. A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. I haven't found any records of B. L. as a gunsmith, but some of his guns are supposedly on display some place in North Carolina. I hope to find out where they are located before our next trip to North Carolina.

B. L. and Lydia had at least the following children:

• Sarah Saunders
• Aaron T. Saunders
• Martha Saunders
• Nancy Saunders
• Andrew Edward Saunders
• Alexander A. Saunders
• Benjamin Franklin Saunders
• David S. Reid Saunders

B. L. remarried between 1860 and 1864 to Mary Loftin. They had at least the following children:

• Daniel Wesley Saunders
• Mary Amarentha Saunders
• Lyda Saunders

B. L. died 23 June 1890. He is buried in the Bruton-Saunders Cemetery in Montgomery County, North Carolina.

Copyright Brittany Jenkins, 2011

Sources:

• 1850 Montgomery, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Brutons, Montgomery, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Troy, Montgomery, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Troy, Montgomery, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Tombstone, B. L. Saunders (photo taken 24 December 2011)

Edmund and Mary S. Sheron

This week, I thought I would focus on a family about which I know relatively little. Edmund Sheron, my husband's third great-grandfather, was born about 1835 in North Carolina. He married Mary Self on 7 July 1861.

Clipping from the Guilford County Marriage Records

They had at least the following children:

• Sarah Sheron
• Elizabeth Sheron
• William Henry Sheron
• Nancy Sheron
• Charles Wheeler Sheron

I have found this family living in Walkertown, Middle Fork, Forsyth County, North Carolina in 1870. 

Clipping from 1870 Census

I have also found this family living in Huntsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina in 1880. I lose everybody in the family until 1920 when I find their son, Charles, living in Providence, Randolph County, North Carolina. I have also found their son, William, living in Guilford County, North Carolina. But Sarah, Elizabeth, and Nancy are still mysteries to me.

This family definitely requires quite a bit of work, but I hope to keep digging into them to find more about them and where they originated. (I don't even know where they are buried.) The only clue I have was found in the 1880 census for Edmond. It states that Edmond's father may have been born in Virginia and his mother may have been born in North Carolina. Here's to open genealogical doors!

Sources:

• 1870 Walkertown, Middle Fork, Forsyth County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Huntsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1920 Providence, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Guilford County Marriage Records (accessed on Ancestry)