I started my search with the Ancestry hint and learned more about The Rev Tomlinson McCarty who died in 1868 and was buried at the Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery in Lamar County, Georgia. We would expect the wife of a minister to be buried along side him, but I could find nothing on FindAGrave, Billion Graves, or random Google searches to indicate a burial place anywhere for Elizabeth Slade McCarty.
Next I tried using US Census records where I found entries for her in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 but wasn't able to find her in any later census records. Those records did provide some interesting information that indicated Elizabeth moved with all of her younger children to Clay County, Georgia by 1870 and then moved further to Randolph County, Georgia, by 1880. With each of these moves, the children 18 and younger moved with her while her older children, at times, lived elsewhere.
Since census and burial records had not provided the information I was seeking, I decided to use a technique I call "So, Where's Mama?", researching the children of a mother to see if she eventually ended up living with any of them or was buried in the same cemetery as one of her offspring. Since Tomlinson McCarty and Elizabeth Slade McCarty had 14 children, it took a while to see who lived where through the years.
Here is a brief summary of what I learned about the McCarty children, my first cousins, 3x removed.
- Martha R McCarty (1844-1914) had no record of any marriage. She lived with her parents and later with her mother through the 1880 census, but according to the 1870 census Martha was living next door to her mother, living with the family of Seaborn and Julia McCarty Jones, most likely a relative of her father. Later in 1900, Martha was living with her brother James McCarty and his family in Dothan, Alabama, where she died in 1914 and was buried.
- Julie E McCarty (1845 - unk) has no record of marriage up through 1880. Julie lived with her mother according to the 1850 and 1860 census records, but in 1870 she lived with her uncle Herbert Turner and aunt Lavinia Slade Turner. According to the 1880 census, Julie was still living with her mother's sister Lavinia Slade Turner and had moved with that family to Whitfield County, Georgia. I was unable to find any further census, marriage, or death record for Julie.
- Samuel A McCarty (1846-1916) left his mother's home in 1870 after his marriage to Armonia Crawford. The young couple, in 1870, lived with the family of Alexander McCloude where Samuel was a laborer on the McCloude farm. Samuel continued to farm for the rest of his life. Sometime after the mid 1880s, Samuel and his family moved to Union County, Arkansas. The 1900 census showed the McCarty family living close to the family of D W Crawford who seems likely to be Daniel Crawford, a brother of Armonia Crawford McCarty. After Armonia died about 1910, Samuel's son James and his family moved to live with Samuel until Samuel died in Arkansas and was buried there in 1916.
- Joseph Cicero F McCarty (1847-abt 1892) married Susan Oxford in 1868 after which the young couple lived in their own home in Pike County, Georgia according to the 1870 census. Some time about 1878, Joseph and Susan moved to Texas as indicated in birth information for some of their children in the 1880 census record for Smith County, Texas. James was originally a farmer, but later became a County Treasurer and then a state Tax Adjuster. The 1891 City Directory for Dennison, Texas listed Susan McCarty as the widow of Joseph and indicated that two of her sons were living with her at her Dennison home. An entry in FindAGrave listed Joseph's death in 1888 and his burial in an unmarked grave in Dennison, Texas, but once again no mention of his mother Elizabeth being buried in that cemetery.
- Sarah Lavinia McCarty (1851-1875), following her marriage to Jehu Clark, lived in Pike County, Georgia were the couple raised a family. Sadly, Sarah died in 1875, possibly due to complication of childbirth as her fourth child was born that same year. After her death, Sarah was buried in the Ebenezer Church Cemetery of Lamar County, Georgia, the same cemetery where her father was buried.
- James H McCarty (1852-1922) was living with his mother Elizabeth in Clay County, Georgia until his marriage to Caroline Bell in 1876. By the 1880 census James and Caroline were living in Randolph County, Georgia, and his mother Elizabeth's census information was the next family on the census record. James, Caroline and their four children had moved to Dothan, Alabama by the 1900 census enumeration, and at that time, his sister Martha or "Mat" was living with them. As mentioned previously, Martha lived with James and his family until her death in 1914. The 1920 census listed Mary Bell, the sister of Caroline Bell McCarty, as living with the family, even though Caroline had died in 1918. James McCarty passed away in 1922 and was buried in Dothan, Alabama.
- William C McCarty (1855-1933) lived in Clay County, Georgia for a number of years, first with his mother and by 1880 living on another farm where he was a hired laborer. Sometime after the marriage of William and Hattie Naramore in 1887, the couple moved to Colquitt County, then by 1910 to Early County, Georgia where they lived with Hattie's father Cyrus Naramore. Later, in the 1920 and 1930 census records, William was living in Polk County, Florida with the family of Clarence Bell, a younger brother of Caroline Bell McCarty. The Florida death index records that William died in 1933, but I was unable to find a burial site for him.
- Charles W McCarty (1857-1888) lived with his mother in Clay County, Georgia until he married Rosa Thornton in 1878. Following their marriage, Charles and Rosa were living in nearby Stewart County, Georgia. Some time before Jan, 1889, Charles, Rosa, and their family had moved to Texas. Charles died in January of 1889 and was buried in Dennison, Texas. His wife Rosa never remarried and lived in Texas where she died and was buried in 1933.
- Mary P McCarty (abt 1859 - unk) is one member of the family for whom I could find no record beyond her living with the mother Elizabeth in the 1870 census. Age wise, she might have married by 1880.
- Simon S V McCarty (abt 1860 - unk) like his sister Mary, has no record beyond his mention in the 1860 census and no burial information. HOWEVER, the 1870 census included information about a Thomas McCarty, born about 1859. Perhaps it was Simon T McCarty in 1860 and Thomas in 1870 because there is information about Thomas McCarty.
- Thomas McCarty (1860- 1907) IF Simon V was really Simon T for Thomas, it was fairly easy to trace the life of Thomas McCarty. Thomas was listed as living with his mother Elizabeth in the 1870 and 1880 census records. In 1881, a marriage for Thomas McCarty and Willie Glenn was recorded in Henry County, Alabama. Thomas and Willie continued to live in Dothan, Alabama until Willie died in 1901 and Thomas in 1907; both are buried in Dothan, Alabama in the same cemetery as Thomas's brothers James and Richard and his sister Martha.
- Emma McCarty (abt 1862 - unk) like her sister Mary had left no record beyond her mention in the 1870 census where she was living with her mother.
- Richard C McCarty (1862-1931) left lots of records for tracing his life. He stayed with his mother through the 1880 census then married Mollie Glenn in 1883. Apparently soon after their marriage, the couple moved to Florida where their two oldest children were born after which the family moved to Alabama by 1893 where their youngest child was born. Living in Geneva County, Alabama, Richard and his family were near his brother James. The family continued to live in that area until Richard died in 1931 and his wife Mollie in 1941.
- Albertus S McCarty (1865-1945) was one family member who moved away from farming, becoming a jeweler and watch maker for his entire career. In 1896 Albertus, or Bert as he became know, married Eulalia Stawall. By 1910 the couple had birthed five children, but only two daughters were still alive in 1910. The family moved to Tampa, Florida by 1920 and lived there for the remainder of the lives of Bert and Eulalia.
- John R McCarty (1867-1944) apparently lived with his mother Elizabeth until he married Lillian Sims in 1892. By the 1900 the young couple were living in Dothan, Alabama, the same town as his brother James and his family. The 1910 census found John and his family living in Decatur County, Georgia where he farmed and was a carpenter. John's wife Lillian died in 1930 and John in 1944; both are buried in Bainbridge, Georgia.
Lessons Learned:
- Sometimes it's OK to spiral down a rabbit hole in researching a family. I was somewhat familiar with the Slade family, but the McCarty family was new to me. I found that using many of the resources already familiar to me helped me find a lot of information about a new family.
- It was also interesting to see the connections between family members living near or with each other through the years, something not so much the norm in today's mobile society. The westward movement of individuals was similar to what I had found in other families in the post Civil War time period as individuals sought more land and perhaps a new sense of adventure. The variety of occupations within the McCarty family was also interesting to note.
- Finally I continually wished that more Georgia counties had maintained an index of marriage for women and not just had an index for males. With an index of women, it might have been possible to find marriage records for Julia, Mary, or Emma.
- As for Elizabeth, I will continue to return to her from time to time as see if newly digitized records can help me learn more about her.
Resources used: (rather than 100+ footnotes)
- U S Census records, various years, accessed www.Ancestry.com
- "U S City Directories, 1822-1995" various cities, accessed www.Ancestry.com
- "Florida Death Records", accessed www.Amcestry.com
- FamilySearch.org
- FindAGrave
- BillionGraves
- Georgia's Virtual Vault "Marriage Records" various counties. accessed https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/countyfilm
Labels: Genealogy Resources: Lessons Learned; Rabbit Hole Genealogy; Slade
