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My great grandmother, Martha Jones, my paternal grandfather's mother seems to be even more difficult than my great-grandmother Fannie.

Oral History

1. My aunt, Martha Edith Jones, was named after both of her grandmothers.

2. My dad always said that Mary Williams who reared my granddad and who dad and my aunts and uncles called grandmother wasn’t really my granddad’s Mom. Dad always suspected that Mary Williams was my granddad’s aunt.

3. On occasion, dad mentions that he thinks granddad had some siblings.

What I know and have discovered through the years

1. On my grandparents’ marriage license, granddad lists his mother as Martha and she was still living when my grandparents were married (Dec. 27 1914). No father was listed and we have never known who his father was or could possibly be.


2. On the 1900 census, Hamilton, Martin, North Carolina, there are three families listed for dwelling, 110.

Family 121, General Williams and his wife, Mary E.

Family 122, Je* Williams (female), age 70, is listed as head. With her is Joseph Williams, age 16, listed as her son and Clansy Jones, boarder, and Leter Jones, boarder.

Family 123, Martha Jones, head

3. I’m fairly confident in stating that (1) this is the Mary E Williams that reared my granddad (granddad’s death certificate list General Williams as his father and Mary Elizabeth Jones as his mother. My grandmother was the informant on granddad’s death certificate), (2) Clansy is my granddad, Claudius, and (3) the Martha listed is my great-grandmother.


Headaches, Frustrations and Questions

1. Where were Mary and Martha between 1880 and 1900? Based on the 1900 census, Mary was been born abt. 1872 and Martha was born abt. 1877. To date, I’ve not been able to locate either of them on the 1880 census. I've also never been able to locate them or granddad on the 1910 census.

2. What happened to my great-grandmother after 1914? I’ve not located her on the 1920 or 1930 census. Did she marry?


3. Who is Leter Jones? Is it possible that my grandfather had a twin? On the 1900 census both are listed as being born in 1892 with granddad being born in July and Leter being born in August.


Any suggestions in tracking down great grandmom would be greatly appreciated.

Views: 104

Replies to This Discussion

Gene,

Thanks for the reply and the second set of eyes. I'm just now getting back to my paternal side of the family and hadn't looked at the census enough times, again, to pick up on that little nuance. Silly me always thought maybe one was born July 31 and the other was born Aug 1. Now this adds another puzzlement to this already puzzling picture.
Gene,

Thanks for the reminder about the WW1 draft registration for granddad. Don't know how I missed geting one for him. You would think I would have gotten it when I got the one for my maternal granddad. Will let you know what if anything that reveals.
Guess I forgot I had the WWI card. I had it saved on ancestry. States granddad was born in Hamilton, NC. Date of birth July 3, 1892. Laborer for J. E. Roberson in Everetts, NC. Has a wife and child.
My grandmother was the informant on granddad's death certificate, she stated that General Williams and Mary Elizabeth Jones were his parents. The grandparents were no longer living in Martin County at the time of granddad's death. I've attached a copy of his death certificate.

Thanks for the information on General Williams. Never thought to look for a death certificate for him. Have been so focused trying to find Mary and Martha. I'm sure that's him as I remember family mentioning Parmelee, NC.

Only other tidbit which I can't remember if I've haven't already mentioned is that my oldest aunt was named after both grandmothers and my aunt's name was Martha Edith.
Attachments:
Gene,

Once, again, thanks for giving this a shot.

Checked with dad to see if he remembered when Mary died and he didn't but my mother remembers that my grandmother, Iola, took care of Mary before Mary died. She died in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC but was buried in Martin County, NC. Strangely, I've not come across a death certificate for her. Of course I could be overlooking. I think she died after 1959. My parents were married in 1959 and she died after they were married.

In 1920, my grandparents (Harry Claudius and Iola) were living in Halifax County, NC and in 1930 they had reached their final distination, Winsto-Salem. I think the path was Martin, Halifax, Robeson (dad and Aunt Martha were born there) and finally Forsyth. Dad always joked that the grandparents had two kids where ever they stopped.
Attachments:
Thank you for the death cert. I had been looking on line for it since Sunday when mom gave me the details but I hadn't come across it. That's it. My grandmother was the informant. Interesting that grandmom buried her in Pitt County. I would have thought she would have been buried somewhere in Martin County even if she wasn't buried beside General Williams. The only connection I know to Pitt County is on my grandmother's side. Her paternal grandparents were born in Pitt County.

I wonder if we went to the funeral and burial. I was 2 at the time. Will have to ask my mother since she actually seems to know more about certain events in dad's family than he does. (Dad doesn't know alot. Now that my uncle is suffering from Alzheimer's. I guess I'm the most knowledgeable one. Even my older first cousins don't know much. Sad but true.) This past Sunday, I remembered mom saying ???? had told my grandmother she couldn't take care of Miss Mary anymore and asked my grandmother to take her. So, I decided to ask mom if she remembered when and where Mary died and was buried.
Gene, if only it were scattered memories. I would settle for that but this is no memories. And it isn't just dad. Practically my entire paternal side was / is like that.

Anyway, thanks to your efforts, I finally turned up granddad on the 1910 census. For whatever reason whenever I did a search for him in 1910, I could never find him. I guess nobody back then had a clue how to spell Claudius, so henceforth the Clansly (1900) and now Claudio (1910). Anyway, on the 1910 census, he's listed as a lodger on it, too with J L Williams and Mary E Williams. Maybe there's no blood relation there at all. You would think that at least on the 1910 census that if he were Mary's nephew that granddad would have been listed as nephew and not lodger.
Gene,

Was curious as to why you think there may have been earlier marriages for General Williams and Mary. Wondering if there is something I didn't pick up on.
Sorry if it came across as I thought this was a bad thing. I just hate when I miss the details.
Thanks GeneJ

I had gotten back to the 1870 census. Have been working on the other ggrandmother, Fannie, for the past few weeks and hadn't worked on my paternal lines during that time.

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