Marriage Records

Glean All the Clues from a Marriage Record

What do I mean by glean? Glean means to gather information piece by piece. It means to gather bit by bit. Analyzing the marriage record making sure there are no clues overlooked. When researching a record, we often do not see all the vital information that is in the record.  We may be focused on the name, spouse, and possibly the birth date of the ancestor. That is what I did with the marriage record for Flora Lee, the missing daughter of William Alfred and Emma Lee.

Last year I wrote an article about "The Missing Lee Daughter." The missing daughter was Flora Elizabeth Lee daughter of William Alfred and Emma Meadows Lee. The known children of William and Emma, my paternal great grandparents, were Uncle Jim, James William, Aunt Dollie, Dollie Ophelia, Uncle Bob, Robert E. and Granny, Alice Lee. What started me on the quest for Flora Lee was that a second cousin on the Lee paternal line asked, “if I had heard of Flora, another daughter of Emma’s.” I was surprised to find out there possibly was another child since I had done extensive research on the Lee family line, and no one had ever mentioned a child named Flora.

Armed with information; a name, spouse’s name, parents’ names and location I was off on a research quest. I was very curious about this child named Flora. Researching for Flora was relatively easy since the cousin provided her name and the surname of her spouse. The area Flora would have been living was around Shelby, Elmore, or Tallapoosa County areas.

The first record that I looked for was the censuses. I only had an estimated birth year from looking at the birth years of the other children. I found a Florey E. West living in District 56, Tallassee, Elmore County, Alabama in 1900. She married in 1893 according the 1900 census information. She had been married seven years. She was the mother of two children, both living. Flora E. was born July 1875 in Alabama. It states on the 1900 census that her relation to head of house is wife. The link from her to a husband. Her husband Lon West was by occupation a teamster, a shoe maker. It also states on the census that her parents were born in Alabama. A clue that I was on the right track. Florey E. West was living in Tallassee, Elmore County, in 1900. The area where her parents lived when they left for Louisiana about 1904. She married in 1893 according the 1900 census information. She had been married seven years. She was the mother of two children, both living.

By 1910 Florine West was living in District 50, Police Jury Ward 6, Franklin Parish, Louisiana. The William Alfred Lee family, the children, grandchildren, spouses and related families migrated from Alabama about 1904 to Jackson Parish, Louisiana. Apparently, for reasons unknown the West family moved on down to Franklin Parish, south of Jackson Parish. William L.’s occupation in 1910 was tiemaker and woods. The general nature of industry, business, or establishment in which William L. worked was woods. He worked on his own account and was out of work for only four weeks in 1909. Florine apparently had lost a child during the ten-year span, because she was the mother of three children with two living. 

Marriage records can provide important genealogical information about our ancestors and may point us to a new path for researching our ancestors. The marriage records are one of  the most valuable sources of genealogical research, providing data about the geographical location of ancestors, birth information, and information about their parents.

Marriage records are often over looked in researching our ancestors. We often overlook them as clues to family members and their families. I was focused on finding Flora, the unknown daughter of William and Emma, and overlooked some important clues in the marriage license for the couple. On the 1900 census it stated she married in 1893; however, on the marriage license it stated she married 29 December 1899. Her middle initial was also written on the marriage license. This marriage license states the place of the marriage as Claud, Alabama. That town has popped up in other records while I was researching. Claud is in Elmore County, Alabama.

A marriage record can lead to another family member. Or the marriage record might have names of witnesses who will help in identifying the bride or groom. The signature of the clerk, ordinary or probate judge may be on the record. This was the case with the marriage record of Flora E. Lee. The Justice of the Peace who married Flora E. Lee and L. W. West was A. J. Langley. One of the witnesses on the Marriage Bond was J. H. Edwards. This was a very important clue that I overlooked when I first found the marriage license. J. H. is John Houston Edwards husband of Dollie Ophelia Lee, sister of Flora Elizabeth Lee. What a find that was! Her brother-in-law was a witness to his wife’s marriage. Also, the Justice of the Peace was related to the Edwards family.

A marriage record most likely will have the name of the bride, maiden name, or her married name if previously married, and the groom, the date and location of the marriage, the name of the official such as the clergy, justice of the peace, or judge, who performed the ceremony, and the names of at least two witnesses. Also, the ages of the bride and groom may be included. Some licenses have the names of parents.

On the affidavit for marriage license it stated that Flora E. was over eighteen years old. That gives me a time frame to estimate her year of birth.

When researching for a record we sometimes do not see all the vital information that is on the record and overlook clues that will lead us to other family members or other records. There is so much to be gleaned from a marriage record.

Marriage records can provide important genealogical details about our ancestors and information on a marriage record may lead us to further research. Most marriage records will likely contain some of the vital information. Take the time to glean all the information from the record. The marriage record for Flora E. Lee contained valuable information and this daughter of William Alfred and Emma Meadows Lee now has her rightful place in the family tree. 

I concluded that Flora Elizabeth died sometime after the 1910 census but before the 1920 census. She wasn’t found on any other records after 1910. She would have been about thirty-five years old at the time of her death. 

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Source Citations
Ancestry.com. 1900-910 United States Federal Census
Ancestry.com. Alabama, County Marriages, 1805-1967 

Marriage Records. Alabama Marriages. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, UT.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Tallassee, Elmore, Alabama; Roll: 14; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 0056; FHL microfilm: 1240014
Year: 1910; Census Place: Police Jury Ward 6, Franklin, Louisiana; Roll: T624_514; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0050; FHL microfilm: 1374527

Finding our Direct Ancestors Using Collateral Relatives

Direct or Collateral Ancestors:  What is the Difference? 

Over the years I have been making every effort to encourage my genealogy cousins to do the research for their ancestors, rather than fill in the gaps in their family trees by copying from online trees. Online family trees are a great resource for genealogy research and without them I wouldn’t have gotten a jump start to research my second and third paternal Lee line great grandparents. However, I used the online trees as a guide and found the records to prove I had the correct ancestors before adding them to the family tree.

This might seem a simple task, but one thing I’ve realized is that others either don’t take the time to find the records to prove their ancestors; or just don’t want to research their ancestors. It’s much easier to just add names to family trees and claim them as their own. It is easy to get carried away in building family trees; however, we want to have our ancestors in our family trees.  Perhaps because I began my research with very little information and not having family stories passed down to me, I have a broad view of what a family is. My mindset is that who belongs on my family tree is set, and it is important that I research my ancestors and prove they are mine. This helps others who are researching the same line tremendously.

The plan must be to research those direct ancestors and their children one family at a time. Until I’ve tied down the people I’m descended from, (some of whom are elusive) one family at a time, one generation at a time then I move to the next family and generation. I spend time tracing the parents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It is very helpful to research collateral lines to identify our ancestors at each generation.

How did I begin my research? With my direct ancestors. These ae the ancestors who are responsible for my existence – parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents on and on. You get the picture. My parents’ siblings are not responsible for my existence, although they are related to them, their siblings are collateral relatives. That is, they are relatives who share my blood to a certain extent. Their siblings are not in my direct line; however, they are part of the family. 

Many times, when researching our ancestors, we get so focused on our direct line ancestors that we forget about the collaterals. One of the reasons for that is to make genealogy research less overwhelming. But we build our genealogy on a direct line ancestor, and take advantage of the information from each generation. That is, when I research my parents, I find information about their parents and that leads to information about others. 

If you are stuck on an ancestral line in researching your ancestors, then research the children of the ancestor.  The ancestor's children may provide valuable clues that help verify a person being researched is the right person. There may also be clues in records for a collateral relative that will provide leads to a record that will lead to further research. When I began the research on my paternal line great grandfather William Alfred Lee, I had very little information to go on. A family member provided the small amount that I used to research my great grandfather. With that information I researched William Alfred and set out to prove my lineage to him. Then I researched Emma Meadows his wife, and their children, James William, Dollie Ophelia, Robert E. and Alice Lee, my grandmother. The records were available to link Alice Lee to William Alfred and Emma. Once I completed research on this family I moved on to William’s father Benjamin and his family. The further back time the more difficult it is to find records to link children to parents. It can be done; however, it takes time and is a painstakingly slow and tedious job to find records. Once Benjamin’s family was complete I began to research Jordan Lee and Lidia “Letty.

The only information that I had for Jordan Lee of South Carolina was from online family trees. Jordan and wife Lidia “Letty” and their supposed children were listed in those trees. This was information that I didn’t have and didn’t know how I would have ever identified Benjamin Lee, my second great grandfather or his parents, without the online family trees. I used that information from those online family trees to jump start my research on Benjamin and Jordan Lee.

Benjamin’s family was placed in my family tree once I felt confident I had the correct family. Next, I set out to research Jordan and Lidia Letty Lee. Jordan died about 1848 in Tallapoosa, so the only censuses were the pre-1850 censuses. There were a couple of land records that showed where Jordan acquired land in Tallapoosa County, as did his sons Burrell and Benjamin. Jordan was also mentioned in the Revolutionary War pension for Benjamin Hodge, his father-in-law and in the inventory of the estate for Benjamin Hodge, his father-in-law.  So, with all that information I knew that I had the correct Jordan Lee and wife Lidia Letty.

After Jordan died, Lidia was a little more difficult to locate. She disappeared after 1850, but with perseverance and using all the clues that I could find about that family I found her. How did I find Lidia? I started looking for each of the “supposed” children, starting with the oldest, and researching them.

While researching online for Letty Lee or Lidia, name varies depending on the records, I found her living with this unknown family in another county, not Tallapoosa County where I had found her previously. Also, the county where Jordan died about 1847.

The records used in determining the known children of Jordan and Letty Lee, was gleaned from online family trees, DAR records, and the 1850- 1870 censuses. In 1850 Lidia Lee was living alone in Township 24, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. She was living in dwelling 1933, family number 1933, and her son Zachariah Lee, his wife Martha E. and their daughter Susan F. were living in dwelling 1932, family number 1932 nearby. In 1860 Letty Lee was listed on the United States Federal Census for N. Hastin living in Post Office Friendship, Precinct 6, Butler County, Alabama. Letty Lee was seventy-five years old at that time. This was her daughter, Neomy’s family. Finally, in 1870 Lettie Lee was living with her daughter Elizabeth “Betsy” Fetner and her husband James in Township 22, Randolph County, Alabama.

When we hit a dead end in our research then we come to the realization these collaterals are a part of the family. We need to research them to complete the family. You also may find a direct line ancestor by researching a brother or sister. There may be clues in records for collateral relatives that provide leads to records for an ancestor.  Our collateral relatives may be the link to that hard to find ancestor when we have exhausted all avenues of research. If we adhere to the standards of accuracy, reliability, and proof of our direct and collateral line ancestors then we must not mind recording the information in our family trees.

In other words, research your direct and your collateral ancestors and verify and record information for them as you go along in your research, then share your family tree online.  

Preserving Our Cultural Heritage

October a Special Month to Honor Our Heritage

Since 2001 Americans have officially observed Family History Month in October. This is the month set aside specially to observe this very important part of our culture. To many, October is a time to decorate with ghosts, skeletons, witches, and all kind of horror characters. The trick or treaters look forward to their special night of celebrating on Halloween.  For others, October means the beginning of fall and cooler weather, the turning of leaves to fall colors, and pumpkin flavored seasonings for their special treat. Then, there is a special day set aside for Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. His landing celebration in the Americas is set aside on October 12.  But to the genealogists and family historians, October is a special time set aside for Family History.

The month of October is a time for us to pay tribute to our cultural heritage. My ancestors were farmers. There is much to be learned from my ancestors and their deep roots as farmers. There are lessons to be learned from the ways our ancestors lived – the trials, traditions, and experiences of their lives. There are stories of lives that we can preserve and share for future generations. Honoring our cultural heritage is an important part of family history.

How will you honor your cultural heritage? How do you want to be remembered? Some ways you can pay tribute is to begin researching a family line. You can do that by choosing  one family line and research that line – maternal or paternal line. Another tribute is to visit a cemetery and take photos of headstones and share those on Findagrave.com., or share some family photos with family members. It is important to talk to the eldest family member and get family information. That person may have vital information about the family that you didn’t find while researching your family.  So now is the time to set up an interview with an elderly family member. Do you know about traditions of your family? What traditions does your family have?  Learn about food traditions or other traditions of your grandparents.

Genetic Genealogy is a fast-growing tool being used in genealogical research and family history. A great way to honor your heritage is to share your online family tree if you have DNA tested, and be willing to share family stories or information with new found cousins. Or if you have not DNA tested take the time to consider DNA testing and take the steps to make that a part of your family history. If you have a living male in your surname line have him YDNA tested. Get other family members or relatives on board with autosomal DNA testing, and utilize DNA test results in researching your family.

If your family has not had a family reunion, plan a family reunion. Fall is a good time for reunions since the weather is cooler and the changing of the season is in the air. A family reunion is a great way to get to know your collateral line relatives – cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, siblings, etc. Your direct line ancestors are your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. Plan to take family stories, photos, memorabilia, or artifacts to the reunion and encourage others to do the same.You will be happy you had this time with family, and who knows this may be the beginning of a family tradition.

Lastly, take time to record some things about your immediate family such as - your husband, your parents, grandparents, or aunts/uncles. What are some special character traits or attributes about your love ones? Write a story about that person sharing those with others.

October is a time when we are reminded to honor our cultural heritage. What is the legacy of your family? What artifacts or heirlooms have been passed down from generation to generation? What traditions have been passed down? What folklore do you know of in your family? How are you preserving your cultural heritage? Are you doing what you can to preserve your family’s heritage for future generations?  

This is the time to start if you aren’t doing your part in preserving your cultural heritage. Future generations will thank you for doing that for them.

More on the Lees from South Carolina

Burrell Lee Son of Jordan Lee and Letty "Lidia" Hodge

Research on the Lee family line has been a trial of endurance and persistence for me. The records have been difficult to find online; however, that doesn't mean there aren't any records available for Burrell. It means that I haven't found them all. There most likely are records in a courthouse or other repository waiting for me to come and remove the dust from their storage boxes or bins and find them. That is for another time though. For now I will do my best to utilize the records that I do have and present my case as to how I determined that Burrell Lee is in fact the son of Jordan Lee and Letty "Lidia" Hodge.

The Jordan Lee family line has been researched for about sixteen years. The descendant that I began my research with was Alice Lee one of Jordan Lee's descendants and my grandmother. That particular Lee family migrated from Elmore County, Alabama to Eros, Jackson Parish, Louisiana about 1903. The Lee and Edwards families migrated and settled in that area of Jackson Parish. The Edwards sometime later migrated back to Alabama.

Burrell Lee acquired land in Shelby County, Alabama 20 Sep 1839 at the Tuscaloosa land office. He acquired the land after his service in the Indian War. He had no other service at that time. As stated on the pension application Burrell served in the war about thirty days and was honorably discharged at Collumbus, Georgia in 1836. Keep in mind this was before he married Nancy Ann Pate. Mahalia Nelson Lee was still living at this time. If you use the AniMap to look at the Alabama and Georgia Counties, you will have a better understanding as to why the Lee family was in Alabama and Georgia during these time periods.

The documents used to place Burrell Lee in the Jordan Lee family were applications from member applications of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). Those applications and the documents are invaluable to genealogists and family historians. The DAR has very strict standards that prospective members have to adhere to when applying for membership into the lineage society. The documents used for the application process must be reliable and authentic, and the application must meet the DAR standards.Therefore, I am confident that I have the son of Jordan and Letty "Lidia" Lee. There are censuses for 1840-1880 with a Burrell or Russell (on 1850 with Mahalia) Lee listed as the head of the house.

1854 Tallapoosa County, Alabama state census with Burrell Lee listed

on it. Burrell' s brother Benjamin Lee is also enumerated on this census. 

Benjamin is my direct line ancestor and the son of Jordan Lee. 

The pre-1850 censuses only give numbers in age categories for male and females. Using names for the particular family member you can get a picture of the family for that year. However, the information is not reliable to use for proof of the family members link to the head of the house.

The 1850 Hallocox, Muscogee County, Georgia census has a Russell Lee as the head of the household. Family stories shared from other Lee cousins say that Burrell was Russell Burrell. Listed on the 1850 census is Mahaia Lee; however, it doesn't state the relationship to Burrell. Descendants of Burrell Lee have shared information about Burrell and his first wife, therefore,  I will assume that Mahaia Lee is the wife of Burrell Russell Lee. Listed on the 1850 with Russell Lee are Isabell Lee age fourteen, Berky Lee age thirteen, Betsy Lee age eleven. Possibly there was a child born between Berky and Betsy given the ages of the first three children and their births. Maniver Lee was eight years old, Malvinia was six years old and then there was the youngest Harman age four years old.

As I observed the age of the first child listed on the 1850 census I concluded that Burrell Russell Lee and Mahala married at a young age.

Mahalia Nelson Lee apparently died about 1854 in Georgia. Possibly she died in childbirth. Between the birth of Harmon and the next child Geedene (the spelling looks more like Gesour on the census, probably named Gasper) a male child age thirteen, so who is that child? Nancy was listed as twenty-two years old, so Nancy would have been nine years old when the child was born. I concluded that child, a male, was Burrell and Mahalia's child. And that the name and age was a transcription error. Burrell Lee (Burwell) and Nancy Ann Pate got married 23 Nov 1956 in Chattahoochee, Georgia. There is another child Thos (Thomas) Lee age nine. Thomas was born about 1851, and Harmon would have been about fourteen years old in 1860. The next three children listed on the census, Jeff, age three and a child named Logene age two who isn't on the 1870 census as Logene, but after researching further I discovered her to be Martha. Nancy age three months isn't listed on the 1870 census, so I can only speculate as to what happened to her.

In 1870 there is a family with B. Lee as head of the house who is sixty-nine years old and born in South Carolina. Nancy is thirty years old and her place of birth was listed as Alabama. Burrell and Nancy married in Georgia. Is this the same Nancy? The children listed on the census are Thomas fifteen years old, Jefferson twelve years old, and Martha eleven years old, and was born about 1859. Martha is the child of Burrell and Nancy Ann. The male Gasper is living nearby B. Lee and Nancy Lee, and is married by 1870. He is listed as G Lee and is nineteen years old and Sarah E. is living in the household. There is a Rebecca J. twenty-two years old living nearby, and listed with her is a Hugh Isbell twenty-one years old. There are two children Sherman age four and Annis a female age two listed with that family. As I scanned the 1870 census further, I noticed a family living nearby in dwelling number 241 with a Melina age twenty-four living in the household, and also listed was Thomas Harris twenty-eight years old and the head of the household. There was a young male child living in the house named James Harris.  As I scanned down the 1870 census I noticed an H. Lee age twenty-six and a Rebecca age eighteen with a child five months old living in dwelling 245.

Burrell's children were living nearby him and Nancy, and all the families were farmers. In order of visitation of the census taker, the families were listed from family 240, first was Rebecca J., 241 was G. Lee, 242 was B. Lee and Nancy, 243 was Melina, and 247 was H. Lee.

The Burrell Lee family was living near Branchville Post Office in Precinct 3, St. Clair County, Alabama by June 1, 1870. Burrell left South Carolina after 1830, lived in Georgia a few years then migrated to Alabama. Tallapoosa County is where Jordan Lee settled and it wouldn't be impossible for Burrell to travel from Tallapoosa County to Muscogee, Georgia. B. Lee is living in Tallapoosa County in 1840. There are Nelson families living nearby B, and are probably relatives of Mahalia Nelson Lee.  In those days wives wanted to be near family when they had their babies, so that is a possibility of why B. Lee is in Tallapoosa County, in 1840 and back in Muscogee County, Georgia in 1850.

By the time the 1880 census was taken Burrell and Nancy Lee's family had gotten smaller with only three children left in the household. Three sons, Benjamin fourteen years old, John J. thirteen years old, and Alexanderia eleven years old were left with their aging father. Nancy is listed as forty-three years old and it shows that her occupation is keeping house, her place of birth is Georgia and she was born about 1837. On the 1870 census it stated she was born in Alabama and was born in 1840. It makes more sense that Nancy would have been born in Georgia since she was married in Georgia.

Burrell Lee served in the Indian Wars and applied for a Survivor's Pension in St Clair County, Alabama on 10 July 1894 at the age of 85 years. It states on the application that he enrolled as a soldier in 1836  and commanded by __ L. Smith of the Georgia volunteers in the war with the Indians known as the Cherokee War. It is difficult to read the name but it looks like a Colonel Scott commanded the volunteers.

Listed on the application is vital information for the family historian. Burrell states on the application that he was twenty-seven years old at the time of entering the war. He would have been born in 1809. He was five feet six or seven inches tall, blue eyes, black hair, fair complexion, a farmer by occupation, and was born in Richland District, South Carolina. He also states that since leaving the service he resided at Muscoggee County for several years at the age of thirty-four years. Burrell states that he then resided at Wolf Creek, St. Clair County.

The 1850 census has him listed as age 43; so the census taker probably transposed his age. Keep in mind that there are numerous mistakes on censuses, and it is vital for a family historian to use more than three records when possible to prove the information.

It states on the Survivor's Pension application that he was married to Mahallie Nelson 5 or 6 January 1834 in Collumbus, Georgia. Columbus in Muscogee, the first consolidated city-county in Georgia, began development in 1826, building on ceded Creek Indian territory. Muscogee is the name of a branch of the Creek Nation. Columbus was named for Christopher Columbus. Burrell stated that Mahallie died in 1854 and he remarried his present wife Nancy Ann Pate. At the time of the application Burrell lived in Cook Springs, St Clair County, Alabama.

Burrell is eighty-five years old 11 August 1894 at the time of the claim for the Survivor's Service Pension, for the Indian Wars, so he is coming to the end of his life. By the time the 1900 census was taken Nancy was widowed and living with her son John J. Lee.

Burrell Lee memorial onFindagrave.com and the link below will take you to the memorial. 

 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=105218350&ref=acom

The 1900 United States Federal Census has vital information on it for the family historian that isn't listed on the previous censuses. Nancy is residing in District 133, Dunnavant, Shelby County, Alabama.  Nancy's birth month is listed as Oct and she was born in 1838. Her father was born in Virginia and her mother was born in South Carolina. Nancy had eight children with six living. She is listed as a farmer and John J., her son, is a farm laborer. John J. was born Sep 1865 in Alabama. Alexandria D. Lee is living nearby his mother and brother. Alexandria D. was born November 1869 in Alabama. A very important lesson in genealogical research is, when you come to a census with your ancestor listed on it, scan the current page and scan two or three pages to the left and two or three pages to the right. Almost always family members are living nearby.

In 1910 Nancy was seventy-eight years old and living with her son John, who was forty-four years old. After an exhaustive search, I finally found John and Nancy on the 1920 census. Nancy was listed as Mandy by the person who transcribed her name. The foreign indexers who transcribe the records for Ancestry are not familiar with our American names and there are many spelling mistakes in the transcription of  records and censuses. I was an indexer for the Family History Library for the 1940 census. Getting back to the 1910 census, apparently John never married since he is listed as single on the census as he was on censuses up to 1940. John probably was handicapped since he is single and living with his brother Alex D. in 1930 and with a nephew in 1940. However, John and Nancy were living on Montevallo Road in Precinct 12, of Jefferson County, Alabama in 1910. John worked odd jobs and they were renting their home. Nancy is still widowed.

The FindaGrave Index has Nancy Ann Lee's death date 27 Jan 1922 in Jefferson County, Alabama. her interred in the Henry Ellen Cemetery, Scott City, Jefferson County, Alabama. The bio has Burrell Lee as her spouse, her father Benjamin Pate, children Thomas B., Martha Ann Lugenia Isbell, John Joshua, Alexander Daniel, and Benjamin Henry Lee. Nancy Ann would have been eighty-four years old when she died.

Burrell and Nancy Ann Lee lived a long and productive life, and between the two wives Burrell was the father of at least fourteen children. After extensive research on this Lee family member I am confident in the research, conclusion, and that Burrell is the child of Jordan Lee. Questions that I had about the Lee family in Georgia and Alabama were answered due to the research and records found during the search. Utilizing all available resources enabled me to place the Lee family in certain locations at given times. While looking at certain records for the Lee family, those records almost always gave me clues for further research. 

This project has been ongoing for several years and now I believe the project is complete. There are other Lee family members to research.