Surname Saturday

The Mysterious Carmack

The challenge in researching the William R. Carmack family line is lack of records for that time in which I am researching. The other problem is that online family trees show William R. Carmack with no child named Drucilla, and those online trees show William R. Carmack with varying names for his parents. Drucilla, according to Lee relatives, was a Carmack. There are no historical records to link her to her parents,William R. and Pency Kent Carmack.

The question remains, who are her parents? How does Drucilla fit into the family? I recently connected with a descendant of one of Benjamin and Drucilla Lee's daughters. Connecting with a descendant of the daughter's was a confidence builder in that at least I have the children's names correct.

Who is Drucilla? This question is an easy one to answer if I look at the family trees for the Lee family; however, to prove she is a Carmack is an impossible research tasks because there are no records to link Drucilla to her parents. The link that I have made from Drucilia to William R. is an indirect link. There is a William Carmack on the 1820-1840 censuses. I have taken each of the censuses put the assumed children of William and Pency in the age categories and they fit the categories for each census year. The estimated ages for William and Pency also fit their categories. Drucilla, her husband Benjamin, and their children are listed on the 1850 Tallapoosa County, Alabama census and living in the area is William, Pency was deceased by 1850. Also, William’s son John and his family lived in Tallapoosa County. Then, there was an 1855 Tallapoosa County census with William, John and James Carmack listed on it. Using these censuses to make an indirect connection from Drucilia to William is the closest that I have come to connecting Drucilia to William Carmack. William R. Carmack didn’t leave a will, or one hasn’t been placed online yet. Wills sometimes have the children’s names listed in them, and the connection from the parent to the child is proven.

Drucilla married Benjamin Lee about 1830 give or take a few years. Elizabeth “Betsy” is the first child that was born, or is listed on the 1850 census. Although there possibly is another child that I am unaware of in researching the Benjamin Lee family.

Benjamin Lee was forty-three years old and wife Drucilla was thirty-two years and they are living in Township 24, Tallapoosa County, Alabama in 1850. Their children are Elizabeth age twelve years old and was born about 1838 in Georgia, Jourdin T. ten years old and born in Alabama about 1840, Benjamin W. eight years old and born in Alabama, Lety J. seven years old born about 1843 in Alabama, and the youngest child was Charlote C. two years old and born 1848 in Alabama. Probably, Benjamin and Drucilla were married in Georgia since Elizabeth was born in Georgia. It is inferred these are Benjamin and Drucilla's children since the relationship for the 1850 census doesn’t state the relationship.

Drucilla Lee is living in Youngsville, Western Division or Beat 2, in Tallapoosa County in 1860, and Benjamin is absent on the census with her and the children. However, living near her is a Patterson family and Drucilla and Benjamin’s son Thomas is living with the Patterson family. The Black family lives nearby Drucilla. Their son Henry married Sarah Ann Black and they live in dwelling 1357 and Drucilla lives in dwelling 1356 with Saphronia twelve years old, William A. ten years old, Washington seven years old, and two-year-old Francis. The mystery here is that William A. was born in Georgia and Saphronia was born in Alabama. Did Drucilla go back to Georgia to be  near family to have William A. Lee? Possibly she did go back to Georgia to be near her family to have her baby, William A.  Women sometimes would go back to be near family when they were expecting a child. Washington and Francis were born in Alabama. Where is Benjamin in 1860? Since the 1860 doesn’t state relationships or whether married, single, divorced, or widow I can only infer what happened to Benjamin before the 1860 census was taken.

In 1866 Drucilla and the three males and three females are living in Tallapoosa County and Drucilla is head of the household. Therefore, it is presumed that Benjamin Lee was deceased by 1866 since he isn't found on censuses after 1850.

I haven’t found Drucilia listed on an 1870 census; however, she may be living with one of her family members or a relative. In 1880 Drucilla was living with her daughter Fannie Thomason, husband Clem, daughter Alice, Sarah, and son Zacheriah B. in District 141, Hackneyville, in Tallapoosa County. Drucilla is a boarder and was born in North Carolina as were her parents. Again, Benjamin Lee is missing from the census and is presumed to have died before the 1860 census since he isn’t on any records after 1850.

The parentage of Drucilla Lee will remain uncertain until records are found that will connect her to her parents. However, the indirect evidence and family stories are as close as I can get in connecting her to William R. Carmack and Pency Kent as her parents. Research will continue, and possibly historical records and DNA evidence will prove or disprove the parentage of Drucilla.

Tallapoosa County, Alabama