The Sons of Edwill Thacker (And a few other odds and ends…)

I confess. It always surprises me to find that not all genealogists share my affinity for history. What good is it to know dates, names, or places if you cannot tie them to the events of the day? How can your ancestors ”come to life” without knowing first the events that shaped their lives?


For example, if you didn’t know about Edwill Thacker’s court case how can you possibly understand the significance of events that followed?



On August 11, 1837, Joseph Arabaugh (elder of the Christian Church) married Edwill Thacker and Polly Ann Napper. The marriage between two members of what would later be called by Calvin Beale, The Vinton County Group, is part of what makes an isolate, well, an isolate. All that intermarrying, besides making a nasty knot of impossibly tangled identities, solidifies all those interconnected alliances that contribute to the continued existence of the group.

According to the interview that Madeline Jones Norris did with Lizzie Dorton in 1983, Polly Napper was one of 11 siblings who came to Gallia County.

Of the 107 listed as Negroes in Vinton County (see map posted from the book, “The Color Line in Ohio”) Edwill Thacker’s family accounted for eight – all eight listed as mulattoes. In 1850 the family included, in addition to Edwill and Polly (ages 33 and 30 respectively), Fountain 13, Mahala 11, Charles H. 9, Elizabeth 7, Ebenezer 5, Alzada 3, and Lucinda 1.

Sometime after the 1850 census, and before the 1860 census, Edwill and his family moved to Pike County, Ohio. Edwill was not the first to leave the Vinton County enclave. Nor was he the first to move to Pike County.

In 1850, John A. Thacker and Ellis M. Thacker are found working as laborers in Jackson Township, Pike County. They are listed as mulattoes living on the farm of Clifford Smith. John Thacker found not only work on the Smith farm but also his future wife, Delilah Smith, the farmer’s 18-year-old daughter. The couple would marry later that year, on Christmas, and spend the next 55 years of married life living on the border of Jackson and Vinton counties.

In addition to the two Thackers living in Pike County, Polly Ann’s sister, Lucinda Napper Smith who on October 20, 1847 had married Sanford Smith also resided in Jackson Township of Pike County. In 1850, Lucinda and Sanford are listed as mulatto as well as their young daughter, Mary.

The 1860 Census finds Edwill and family living in Jackson Township of Pike County. The family at this time included Edwill (listed as Edward) 45, Mary (I believe this was still Polly) 43, Fountain 24, Mahala 22, Charles 20, Elizabeth 19, Ebenezer 15, Alzada 14, Lucinda 11, Mary 9, Sarah 6, Delilah 5, and Rosina 1. There is an “m” beside each of their names.

As far as we know Fountain, Charles and Ebenezer were the only sons that Edwill had. On November 7, 1861 Fountain Thacker, along with a cousin, John Freeman, enlisted in Company I of the Ohio 56th Infantry. A week earlier, a Joseph Thacker of Vinton County enlisted in the same company and unit.

An interesting side note about Fountain was posted on the Thacker family Genealogy forum, by Joyce S. Dennis on June 21, 2000 in which she stated:

“Fountain was thought to have been killed in the Civil War, so his wife remarried and took her son with her.”

True or not Fountain married his second wife, Sarah Crosslin on May 16, 1867. Though Fountain served in a “white unit,” in 1903 he is listed as Black on the death records for Franklin County.

Edwill’s two younger sons also enlisted. Charles went to Circleville, Ohio and enlisted in the 5th Infantry Regiment, Company H of the United States Colored Troops on June 19, 1863. His age is listed as 22. His height as 5 ft. 7 ½ inches, Complexion yellow, Eyes brown and hair straight. He told them he was born in Vinton County, Ohio and his occupation was farmer. According to the military compiled record, Charles spent May through August 1865 in the hospital. He mustered out on September 20, 1865 in Carolina City, North Carolina. On November 8, 1866, he married Maggie Blake in Pickaway County, Ohio. He died in Columbus on Oct 29, 1928. His race is listed as colored on his death certificate.

Ebenezer, the youngest son of Edwill and Polly Thacker, enlisted on February 27, 1864 at Camp Delaware in Morrow County, Ohio. His age is listed as 20, his eyes brown, his hair brown, his complexion “mulato,” his height 5 ft. 8 in. He told the recruiter he was a laborer by occupation and gave his birthplace as Pike County, Ohio. He was part of the 27th Infantry Regiment, Company E of the United States Colored Troops. He mustered out in Smithville, North Carolina on September 21, 1865.

Though Ebenezer is listed as white on his death certificate, he is listed as Black on both the 1900 and 1910 census.

The compiled military files for Ebenezer and Charles paint a picture of the appearance of two of Edwill’s children. However, a better picture is the actual photo of one of Edwill’s daughters. On the website, Find a Grave, a contributor has added the picture of Delilah Thacker Green. Married on February 10, 1875 to Thomas Frank Green, she is buried in Carr’s Run Cemetery in Jackson Township, Pike County, Ohio. Her death certificate lists her as “colored”.

Black-white, white-black, the family of the man whom the Supreme Court of Ohio had proclaimed white teetered back and forth across the color lines for the following eight decades.



Notes:

1. For a complete list of regimental histories, see Mike Northway’s wonderful website, CIVIL WAR ARCHIVES.

2. The listing of Ebenezer Thacker’s race was ambiguous when I first looked at his death certificate. The single letter did not conform to the “M” that the county clerk used when writing the “m” for married or male. However, the long flourished sweep at the tail end of the letter for race, made me wonder if it was indeed a “w.” Therefore, I searched the LDS image files in Madison County for a similar looking letter and found that the clerk had done the same conformation for a John M. Roberts. I used Ancestry to confirm that the John M. Roberts who was born in August 21, 1833 and died July 17, 1914 in Madison County (Ebenezer died July 3, 1914 in Madison County) was listed in 1900 and 1910 as being white, confirming that both Ebenezer and John M. Roberts had been listed as white by the county clerk’s office at the time of their deaths.

References:


1. Jackson County, Ohio, Marriage Register, Probate Court, Volume 1, No 753, Edwill Thacker and Polly Ann Napper, 1837, Jackson County Probate Office, accessed and photographed by Teresa Snyder, 20 May 2008.

2. Norris, Madalene Jones (1985). A Genealogy of the Broady, Harris, Napper, Thacker and Trent Families. Trotwood: self-published.

3. Beale, Calvin L. “American Triracial Isolates,” Eugenics Quarterly, Vol. 4. No. 4. December 1957, pp. 187-196, Accessed online 14 May 2009, Melungeon Heritage Association, http://www.melungeon.org/

4. Quillen, Frank U. The Color Line in Ohio: A History of Race Prejudice in a Typical Northern State, Ann Arbor, George Wahr, 1913, accessed online at http://books.google.com/books, 30 November 2010.

5. 1850 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 1040, Head of Household, Edwill Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

6. 1860 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Pike County, Jackson Township, visit 1150, Head of Household, Edward Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

7. 1850 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Pike County, Jackson Township, visit 940, Head of Household, Clifford Smith, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

8. 1850 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Pike county, Jackson Township, visit 740, Head of Household, Sanford Smith, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

9. Scott, Margaret Hiles and Mollenkamp, Merdrith (1991). One Hundred Years, 1815 -1915, of Pike County, Ohio Marriages. Waverly, Pike County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society.

10. Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 1999.

11. Ancestry.com. U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2007.

12. Dennis, Joyce S. “Pike Co., OH Thackers,” Genforum, Thacker Family Genealogy Forum, 21 June 2000. http://wwwgenforum.genealogy.com 2010.

13. Death Record of Fountain Thacker, Probate Record, Franklin County, Ohio: Volume 3, Page 326. "Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/). Index entries derived from digital copies of originals housed in various repositories throughout Ohio.

14. Compiled service record, Charles Thacker, Pvt. Co. H, 5 th Regiment Infantry, US Colored Troops, Ancestry.com. U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2007.

15. Compiled service record, Ebenezer Thacker, Pvt. Co. E, 27th Regiment Infantry, US Colored Troops, Ancestry.com. U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2007.

16. Certificate of Death: Charles Thacker, Filed 31 October 1928. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 392, File no. 60497, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 3 July 2008.)

17. Certificate of Death: Ebenezer Thacker, Filed 4 July 1914. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 783, File no. 40605, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 29 December 2010.)

18. Certificate of Death: Deliah Green, Filed 3 March 1924. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist 45600, File no. 8600, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org : 31 January 2009.)
 19. Certificate of Death: John M. Roberts, Filed 18 July 1914. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 783, File no. 40611, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 29 December 2010.)

20. FindAGrave.com, Carrs Run Cemetery, digital images ( http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 29 December 2010), photograph for Deliah Thacker Green (1853-1924), Pike County, Ohio.

21. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Franklin County, Columbus Ward 4, visit 322, Head of Household, Ebenezer Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com

22. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Madison County, Union Township, visit 190, Head of Household, John M. Roberts, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

23. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Madison County, London Ward 2, visit 446, Head of Household, Ebernezer (sic) Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

24. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Madison County, Union Township, visit 140, Head of Household, John M. Roberts, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

Edwill Thacker - In the Matter of Thacker vs. Hawk (1842)

If you have studied the Thacker’s at all, you will have come across the story of Edwill Thacker. In his book, “The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio,” Stephen Middleton described the events this way:


“A registrar in Gallia County denied Edwill Thacker a ballot because he was of mixed race heritage relying solely on anecdotal and circumstantial evidence. Thacker was visibly white and had lived as such in the town of Gallia for many years, where only a few individuals knew his true ancestry and no one would have automatically assumed that he was anything but white. The registrar knew it and refused Thacker a ballot. The common pleas judge sided with the registrar, charging the jury that if Thacker had any black blood he should be denied the vote.”1

Unfortunately, the depositions of the case, which may have proved quite useful in sorting out some of the lineage questions, were lost. Destroyed, misfiled, or in someone’s personal possession, the depositions were in fact missing prior to the filming of the court documents, so one avenue of research simply disappeared.

The case went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, Simon Nash for the plaintiff argued in part:

“As to the instructions of the court. I believe they are wrong. There are but three classes of persons - blacks or negroes, mullatoes, and whites, known to our laws. A black, or negro, is a full-blood African, or one nearer to that than a mulatto; a mulatto is one begotten between a white and a negro, or one nearer to that than to a white; and a white person embraces all which are neither black or mulattoes.


Our black law speaks only of blacks, or negroes, and mulattoes; these are prohibited from coming into the state, and from being employed, unless having given security. Persons neither blacks nor mulattoes can come into the state without restriction. The property of blacks and mulattoes is exempted from taxation for school purposes: none but white children our permitted to attend school A person neither a black or a mulatto, but having some negro blood, will then be taxed, and his children excluded from the school. The legislature never intended such injustice; they designed to permit the children of all to attend, whose property was subject to taxation to raise the school funds .” 2

To be labeled nonwhite was to lose not only the right to vote, but it meant the loss to one’s children of the right to go to school. It meant the loss of employment unless a security was given. To be labeled nonwhite meant a person was not legally allowed to come and live in the state of Ohio, unless a $500 dollar bond was posted and signed by two bondsman guaranteeing the individual’s “good conduct” It meant, in fact, you were not deemed a legal resident of the state. The registrar’s refusal to let Edwill vote, put all these rights into jeopardy.

The court ruled that the lower court’s ruling should be reversed because the judge’s original instructions were incorrect:  "the court did instruct the jury, that if the plaintiff had in him any negro blood whatever, he was not entitled to vote at said election." 2

It is unknown what effect this had on Edwill himself, his children or his extended family living in Gallia County.

However, for all intents, because Edwill was considered “more white” than black, he became legally, for that moment - white.



1 (Middleton, 2005)


2 (Stanton, 1873)



Bibliography:

Middleton, S. (2005). The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio. Athens: Ohio University Press.

Stanton, E. M., Reporter (1873). Report of Cases Aproved and Determined in the Supreme Court of Ohio in Bank, Volume IX. Cincinnati, Robert Clark & Co.

Quillin, Frank Uriah. The Color Line in Ohio: A History of Race Prejudice in a Typical Northern State, Ann Arbor, George Wahr, 1913.

Like a Gigantic Puzzle

Way back, last April, I was in touch with a Researcher who said he might be spending some time in Washington DC. Oh, be still my heart.


We chatted about the possibility of his going to the National Archives, and yes, that was a distinct possibility. I can think of only three things on the face of this earth that could get my heart pumping as hard and as fast as a runaway freight train. One of them would be a peek at the National Archives civil war files. (The taste of premier chocolate would be another, and the last would be… well, a lady has to have some secrets!)

I started to make a list of men whom I thought were “ours” based on information I compiled from Ancestry.com’s civil war databases. Then, because I thought it would be useful, I started adding units and companies. After that, I thought it might be good to know when they enlisted and when they mustered out. Additionally, because the compiled military files listed the birthplace of each soldier, I highlighted those whose birthdates (after adding their ages at time of enlistment) fell before the move to Ohio. (I was hoping to firm up the Louisa County connection.)

By this time, I was well on my way to having a very large, very detailed Excel spreadsheet (because my brain tends to think in spreadsheet format, probably a result of my having been a business major). By that time, sad to say, the opportunity of getting a second hand look at the National Archive’s files had come and gone. Big sigh…

However, from time to time, I would continue working on the database. I added spouses, pension filing dates, parents (or probable parents), and physical descriptions when available. It is an ongoing work. The thing about working with all this data in so much detail, it tends to give you a better grasp on what you know, what you think you know, and what you would like to know.

Though the holidays will keep me busy, I hope to find some time to write a few posts based on this spreadsheet, as well as my making reference to the map I included for my post about the Color Line, and the post about The Vinton County Group.

I believe that in order to find answers to my own ancestral heritage, I need to look beyond my own specific lineage to that of the entire group. How were they all related? Did they really come from Louisa County? Are there any records left that will give us a clue to their true heritage?

It’s a bit like working a gigantic puzzle - A puzzle that came without a picture of how it looks when finished - A puzzle where some of the pieces have been lost - A puzzle, with a little luck and much perseverance, I’d like very much to complete.

The Vinton County Group - Are we a "Triracial Isolate?"

It is said that Calvin Beale, a demographer for the USDA, was the first person to coin the term “triracial isolate,” in his article written for Eugenics Quarterly in 1957. In the article, entitled “American Triracial Isolates: Their Status and Pertinence to Genetic Research,” Beale called them, “a class more numerous than the Indians remaining in the East, more obscure than those in the West, less assured than the white man or the Negro who regards his link of Indian descent as a touch of the heroic or romantic. The reference is to population groups of presumed triracial descent. Such isolates, bequeathed of intermingled Indian, white, and Negro ancestry, are as old as the nation itself and include not less than 77,000 persons. They live today in more than 100 counties of at least 17 Eastern States with settlements ranging in size from less than 50 persons to more than 20,000.”


Beale was in a position to know. His job with the US Department of Agriculture required visiting the rural back roads and communities of this nation. It is said that of the 3140 counties that exist in the United States, Calvin Beale had been to 2500 of them.

Beale’s article included the largest and probably best known of these triracial groups - the Melungeons. Shepherd Gibson, who lived in Hancock County, Tennessee is one of the men who came to Newman’s Ridge and one of the earliest forefathers of the present day Melungeons. What is especially interesting about Shepherd, or Buck as he is called, is that it is believed he originally came from Louisa County, Virginia, and was part of the Gibson family that lived there. The Thackers, Dortons, and Nappers also came from the same area, some tracing their roots back to the Gibson family.

Jack Goins, who kindly replied to an email I sent to the MHS blog, once told me that the Melungeons didn’t become Melungeons until after they settled into what is now Hancock County in Tennessee. So while stories abound of a Native American component of our own clan’s heritage (and these exist among both white and African American descendants) our group does not fit under the Melungeon umbrella.

Because of this so called triracial heritage in my own family tree, I became an avid reader of any articles and books that touched even remotely on the subject of triracial isolates. I was very interested in reading Brewton Berry’s “Almost White.” My local library was able to get me a copy of this 1963 book. It many ways it was very informative, and in many other ways it didn’t answer my questions about my own family history.

A map, however, entitled, “Surviving Indian Groups in the Eastern United States” claimed my complete attention. Brewton Berry reported that there were roughly 200 groups of what he called, “racial orphans” located east of the Mississippi. He made a map of their locations. There in the state of Ohio was one dot sitting atop an area that looked in my own inexpert opinion, like that of Vinton County. Unfortunately, Berry did not name the areas that he had “dotted” in his map, so I couldn’t be sure. I flipped to the back of the book and began looking at his bibliographic sources.

I thought the most likely source was “Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States,” written by William Harlan Gilbert Jr. for “Smithsonian Report of 1948.” Incredibly, I found a copy of the article online, but unfortunately, there was nothing remotely related to my Thacker family.

I next focused on Edward T. Price. In 1953, he wrote an article for the Association of American Geographers Annals entitled, “A Geographical Analysis of White-Negro-Indian Racial Mixtures in the Eastern United States.” He only mentioned in passing that there were other smaller groups, and the map he used, only showed the location of the Darke County Group and the Carmel Indians.

Stumped, and feeling like maybe I had imagined the whole dot located on Vinton County thing, I looked at Calvin Beale’s article. I had previously read his 1972 Article, “An Overview of the Phenomenon of Mixed Racial Isolates in the Unites States.” In this article he mentions the Thacker vs Hawk case, stating, “In 1842, a member of a group in present day Vinton County, Ohio, that I have heard referred to only as “the half breeds,” sued the township trustees for refusing him the right to vote because he was partly of Negro ancestry. He lost his suit at the county court level but won a reversal in the state supreme court (Thacker vs. Hawk).”

No further mention of Vinton County is found in the article, but it proved that Beale was aware of their existence. Since the article was published in “American Anthropoligist” some nine years after Brewton Berry’s work, the article could not be the source for the little dot on Berry’s map. I then turned my attention to Beale’s 1957 article,” American Triracial Isolates: Their Status and Pertinence to Genetic Research.”


In the body of the article there was no mention of the Thackers or of Vinton County, Ohio. But as part of the article Beale included a table with columns labeled Area and Isolate, Population, Race Designation in Census Schedules. There under the state of Ohio is a group listed as Other Isolates – Vinton County, Population 190, listed as White and Negro in 1950 census.

It was official. The Thackers, Dortons and Nappers belonged to a triracial group, The Vinton County Group, that still existed as of 1950. William S. Politzer mentions our group in his piece, “The Physical Anthropology and Genetics of Marginal People of the Southeastern United States.” However, it appears that the brief mention comes directly from the Beale article with a nod toward Brewton Berry’s map.

Robert K. Thomas, an anthropologist, wrote a piece entitled “Cherokee Communities of the South” and also included the Vinton County Group. However, it is unclear whether he was talking about our ancestors or if he had us confused with another group. He mentioned that one of the last names was Goings, which in point of fact, there was never a Goings listed in Vinton County census records, at least through the 1930 census.

In the book, “North from the Mountains: A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement Highland County, Ohio,” authors John S. Kessler and Donald B. Ball again mention the Vinton County Group.

“Known to have been present in Vinton County, (south-central) Ohio, as early as the 1840s, they were reported as still residing there in 1950. Within the area, they are generally regarded as white. The 1950 census reflected a total of 190 individuals classified as both white and Negro. Family surnames are not reported and no formal studies of this group are known.”

Essentially, it is that last sentence, that influences the writing of this blog. It’s time for us to shine a spotlight on these ancestors of ours. If you descend from this group, or have an interest in them, please feel free to send me a link, a post or any information you think relevant to the study of the Thackers, Dortons, Nappers and the allied families of this group. Perhaps our combined knowledge will help us solve the puzzle of who they were and how they came to be.



Note: If you are interested in reading more about triracial isoloates, Melungeons, or the subject of Mixed race, let me recommend the following sites:

1. Melungeon Studies – “a blog dedicated to the Melungeons and their descendents and to the world in which they have lived.” 

2. Lumbee Indians and Goins Family Blog

3. Historical Melungeons, Native Americans, Appalachians Blog

4. Melungeon Heritage Associations - they have many of the articles I have touched on in this post. Awsome site!

5. Mixed Race Studies – a newer website that pulls together various disciplines and aspects of multiracial life. Lots of interesting material with a search feature to help you find the information you seek.


References:


Beale, Calvin L. “American Triracial Isolates,” Eugenics Quarterly, Vol. 4. No. 4. December 1957, pp. 187-196, Accessed online May 14, 2009, Melungeon Heritage Association, www.melungeon.org


Beale, Calvin L. “An Overview of the Phenomenon of Mixed Racial Isolates in the United States, ”American Anthropologist,” Vol. 74 (1972) pp 704-710, Accessed online, 7/24/2008, Melungeon Heritage Association, www.melungeon.org


Berry, Brewton, Almost White, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963.


Gilbert, William Harlen, Jr., “Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States, Smithsonian Report, for 1948, pp.407-438. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1949. Accessed online 6/0/2008, Janet Crain’s Gallery, http://picasaweb.google.com/craingen/Surviving_Indian_Groups#


Kessler, John S., Ball Donald B., North from the Mountains: A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement of Highland County, Macon: Mercer University Press, 2001.


Pollitzer, William S., “The Physical Anthropology and Genetics of the Marginal People of the Southeastern United States,” American Anthropologist, Volume 74, No. 3, June 1972, pp. 719 -734. Accessed online 12/6/2010, Wiley Online Library, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/


Price Edward T., “A Geographical Analysis of White-Negro-Indian Racial Mixtures in the Eastern United States,” Association of American Geographers Annals, Vol. 43, June 1953, pp 138-155. Accessed online 7/24/2008, Melungeon Heritage Association, http://www.melungeon.org/

Thomas, Robert K., "Cherokee Communities of the South," unplublished paper, 1978. Accesssed online 1/6/2009, Selected Works of Robert K. Thomas, http://works.bepress.com/robert_thomas/

Obituary of Calvin Beale, New York Times, September 3, 2008. Online edition.

The Color Line in Ohio

I am reading a very interesting book that I found online at Google Books. The book, “The Color Line in Ohio,” was written by Frank U. Quillen in 1912 and published in 1913. Dr. Quillen, a Professor of Sociology and Economics of Knox College, originally wrote the book as part of his requirements for his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan.


The book contains two sections. The first section deals with the historical treatment of the Negro in Ohio and the second part deals with treatment of African Americans at the time the book was written.

To give you an idea of what the work encompasses, I’ve included the title of each chapter.

Part I

Chapter I – Feeling toward the Negro Shown in the Constitutional Convention, 1802

Chapter 2 – Legal Status of Negro, 1802- 1849

Chapter 3 - Repeal of the Black Laws, 1849

Chapter 4 – Social Position of Negro, 1802 -1849

Chapter 5 – Feeling toward the Negro as Expressed in the Constitutional Convention, 1850-1851

Chapter 6 – Legal Status, 1850- 1912

Chapter 7 – Social Status, 1850- 1912


Part II

Chapter 1 – Cincinnati

Chapter 2 – Dayton

Chapter 3 – Springfield

Chapter 4 – Columbus

Chapter 5 – Cleveland

Chapter 6 – Syracuse, A Negro-Hating Small Town



Why should you care? Because it’s part of our combined history, our heritage. Though some of us, descendants of that original Dorton, Napper, and Thacker clan, today consider ourselves white while others consider ourselves black, the truth is the race of our ancestors was defined not only by legal constraints, but also by the community at large. When the census taker came knocking, it was he who labeled our ancestors by race.



Below is a map taken from Dr. Quillen's book. The map is entitled, Negro Population of Ohio, 1850. Of the 107 individuals listed as Negro in Vinton County, 80 belong to our little group. For those of us who have never known the constraints associated with race, this book is a sobering read.

 
Reference:
Quillen, Frank U. The Color Line in Ohio: A History of Race Prejudice in A Typical Northern State, Ann Arbor, George Wahr, 1913 accessed at http://books.google.com/books, 11/30/2010.

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part VI *** Genealogy By the Numbers - Conclusions

In the pass week, I’ve looked at a number of different documents trying to find an answer to the question - Who was Mrs. Nimrod Thacker?

I started with the work of other researchers, and tested their conclusions with the available evidence.

Below are my own conclusions.

Month of Birth:
January
Supporting documentation
1900 census for Frances Thacker
Death Record of Frances Thacker

February (I reject)
(No supporting documentation)

Year of Birth
1822 or 1823 (Too Close to Call)

1822
(Supporting documentation)
1. Death Record of Frances Thacker
2. 1870 and 1900 census for Frances Thacker

1823
(Supporting documentation)
1. 1850, 1860 and 1880 census for Frances Thacker

1821 (which I reject)
(Supporting documentation)
1. Frances J. Thacker’s widow pension affidavit given in December 1893 which listed her age as 72.

State of Birth

Virginia
(Supporting documentation)
1. 1850 and 1860 census for Frances Thacker
(However, this doesn’t preclude West Virginia)
2. 1870, 1880, and 1900 census for Frances Thacker
3. 1880 census for Clarinda Marcum, David Thacker, Nicholas Thacker, Mary Francis Thacker, Catherine Thacker, Hiram Thacker, Louisa Garrett. (Census Question – Birthplace of Mother)
4. 1900 census for Martha Thacker, David Thacker, Sara Jane Thacker, Nicholas Thacker, Catherine Thacker and Hiram Thacker (Census Question – Birthplace of Mother.)
5. 1910 census for Clarinda Marcum, Sara Jane Thacker, Catherine Thacker and Hiram Thacker. (Census Question – Birthplace of Mother.)
6. 1920 census for David Thacker, Nicholas Thacker, Catherine Thacker and Hiram Thacker. (Census Question – Birthplace of Mother)
7. 1930 census for Nicholas Thacker and Catherine Thacker. (Census Question – Birthplace of Mother.)
8. Death Record of Frances J. Thacker
9. Death Record of David Thacker.

West Virginia hypothesis (which I reject)
(Supporting documentation)
1. 1910 Census record for David Thacker and Nicholas Thacker (who listed father, Nimrod Thacker’s place of birth as West Virginia also. We know that Nimrod himself listed his place of birth as Louisa County, Virginia.
2. Death record of Sarah Jane Thacker which listed mother’s place of birth as “Old Virginia.”

Spelling of Frances/Francis

Because Frances could neither read nor write, either spelling could be considered correct. However, most people use the “es” to indicate female and “is” to indicate male, so I am using the “es” spelling.

Full Maiden Name

First Name

Frances
(Supporting documentation)
1. Census records 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 for Frances Thacker.
2. Obituary of daughter Louisa Garrett.
3. Death Record for Frances J. Thacker
4. Death Record of children, Sarah Jane Thacker, David Thacker and Louisa Thacker. (Informants were, Hannah Thacker, Hiram Thacker and Charles Garrett)
5. Application for Administration for Frances J. Thacker for estate of Nimrod N. Thacker.
6. Widow’s pension file for Frances J. Thacker, widow of Nimrod N. Thacker
7. Marriage Record of Frances J. Thacker and Nimrod N. Thacker (This is the only primary source available for Frances’s maiden name.)

Mary (which I reject)
(Supporting documentation)
1. Death record of son, Nicholas Thacker (Informant was Frank Thacker)

Middle name or Initial

J
(Supporting documentation)
1. Census record of 1860 and 1900 for Frances Thacker
2. Death record of Frances J. Thacker
3. Application for Administration for Frances J. Thacker for estate of Nimrod N. Thacker.
4. Widow’s pension file for Frances J. Thacker, widow of Nimrod N. Thacker
5. Marriage Record of Frances J. Thacker and Nimrod N. Thacker

Frances (which I reject) – no supporting documentation

Mary (which I reject) – no supporting documentation

Maiden name

Thacker
(Supporting documentation)
1. Marriage record of Frances J. Thacker and Nimrod N. Thacker
2. Death record of son, David Thacker (informant son, Hiram N. Thacker), which gives mother’s name as Frances Thacker.
3. Death record of daughter, Louisa Ellen Garrett (informant grandson, Charles Garrett), which gives mother’s name as Frances Thacker.
4. Widow’s pension file for Frances J. Thacker, widow of Nimrod N. Thacker – affidavit of Ivory Thacker (also to lesser extent affidavits of Cassmir Hawk, Finley Hartley, and William Burk,) which claims Frances was not previously married.
5. Death Record of Grandson Frank Thacker (informant, great grandson, Lloyd Thacker) which gives Frank’s mother as Mary Groves (Grover?)

Grover (which I reject)
Supporting documentation
1. Death record of son, Nicholas Thacker (informant grandson, Frank Thacker,) which gives mother’s name as Mary Grover.


Of course, it is always possible that new documentation will become available that will not support these conclusions. Then, as we did this time, we would look at the evidence, analyze the source, analyze the information, and decide how this new information changes the previous conclusions.

In Genealogy, we have to be willing to look at the evidence before us with a clear and unbiased eye. No matter how much we may be tempted, we shouldn’t try pounding square pegs into round holes, making our evidence conform to a preconceived conclusion.

Not if we care about the truth. Not if we want to get the story right.

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part V **** Genealogy By the Numbers - Miscellaneous Records

When Nimrod Thacker died in 1893 he owned land. Whether a man has a will or not, land means there is something of value to be divided from his estate. Hiram Thacker made application of letters of appointment on behalf of his mother. It reads “The undersigned, whose Post Office address is Hawks, Ohio asks that the widow, Francis J. Thacker be appointed Administrator of the estate of said decedent.”

Notice once again that Frances is referred to as Francis J. not Mary Frances, or Frances Mary on this legal document. If she is really Mary Frances (or Frances Mary) wouldn’t she have been referred to as Mary Frances Thacker?

The next logical question is how did the marriage certificate read? Below is the copy of the marriage record found in Jackson County, Ohio.




As you can see on June 6, 1840 Nimrod N. Thacker and Frances Thacker applied for a marriage license and on July 23, 1840 Ellery Bascom certifies that he has wed Nimrod N. Thacker and Frances J. Thacker.

None of this is new information. However, notice once again no “Mary” appears on the document but she is clearly listed as Frances J. Thacker.

Several of us have speculated that Frances may have been previously married and that is why her last name appears as Thacker not Grover. If you believe that her year of birth was either 1822 or 1823 as the census and death records would indicate, then she would have been either 17 or 18 at the time of her marriage to Nimrod. It is still possible that she could have been married previously, but the time frame is certainly diminished.

When Frances applied for a widow’s pension after the death of her husband it required her to prove that she was indeed the widow of Nimrod Thacker. This necessitated several affidavits from people who could claim to have known both Frances and Nimrod.

Though Frances made an affidavit of her own (December 9, 1893 and stated her age as 72) it did not touch on the issues that we are trying to resolve, with the exceptions of stating her age and that instead of signing her name to the deposition, she put an “X” confirming that Frances could not write. However, there were three other depositions that were made that same year that are of interest.

On October 13, 1893 Cassmir Hawk gave a deposition in the matter of Frances J. Thacker, widow of Nimrod Thacker. Among the statements he made:

That she has been confined to her bed for five years past, and unable to perform any labor. Has not been married since her husbans (sic)death… Neither she or husban (sic) previously married … have known Numrad (sic) and wife for thirty years.

Clearly if Cassmir knew the Thackers for thirty years, he was not around to witness their wedding and he is merely going on hearsay. Still it is interesting to note that at the time of Nimrod’s death, it was thought that neither of them had been previously married.

Finley Hartley who also made his deposition on October 13, 1893 made similar remarks stating that Frances had been confined to a bed for five years and was unable to do work. That neither she nor Nimrod had married previously, and that he had known the couple for about “thirty years or more.”

The most interesting of the depositions given by William Burk and Ivory Thacker from oral statements. The written deposition is written as if both men gave the same statement, which reads:

Some 60 years ago Frances J. Thacker’s father came to this county when she was a young woman and settled near where I reside. Also Nimrod N. Thacker and by being intimately acquainted with both know that they were not previously married to (sic) their marriage to each other.

This affidavit was taken November 11, 1893 and the oral statements were made in the presence of O.F. Hawk who was the notary public. What’s interesting about this is that it clearly states that Frances was not married before her marriage to Nimrod and that she and her family came to the Wilkesville area sometime in the mid 1830’s.

So, what does all this research mean? Tomorrow we look at the conclusions based on our research.

References:

1. Application of Letters of Appointment, Vinton County Probate Court, Estate of Nimrod N Thacker, from the Private Files of Judy Oiler, emailed to Teresa Snyder 28 Sept 2008.

2. Jackson County, Ohio, Marriage Register, Probate Court, Volume 1, Page 116, Nimrod N. Thacker and Frances J. Thacker, 1840, Jackson County Probate Office, accessed and photographed by Teresa Snyder, 20 May 2008.

3. Frances J. Thacker, widow’s pension no. 582204, certificate no. 404166, service of Nimrod N. Thacker (Pvt., Co. D, 194th Ohio Inf., Civil War), Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1863-1934, Civil War and Later pension files, Dept of Veteran Affairs National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part IV *** Genealogy By the Numbers - Death Records

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post on my Desktop Genealogist Unplugged Blog entitled, “Death Certificates – Sources of Primary & Secondary Information.” I’d refer you to it, but that sounds a little too much like homework. Instead, I’ll summarize what I’m sure you’ll agree was undoubtedly a brilliant post. (Okay, you can’t kill a girl for fantasizing.)

The gist of the post was that while a Death Certificate is a primary source of information for some of the details found on a typical death record, it is only a secondary source for other items. It is a secondary source when (and how often do I get chance to quote myself?) “the information given was many months, years or decades after the event. So a death certificate is a secondary source for the following:

1. Date of Birth
2. Age
3. Place of Birth
4. Father's name
5. Father's place of birth
6. Mother's name
7. Mother's place of birth

Secondary information is only as reliable as the person giving the information.

Let me repeat that last sentence. Secondary information is only as reliable as the person giving the information. This means it is important to look at who the informant is on a death certificate, because we are taking their word that the above seven pieces of information are accurate - more about that in a moment.

Prior to December 20, 1908 death records in Ohio were kept at the local level. The information was recorded in ledger like books which were located at the county probate office. Rarely did they include the name of the individual’s father or mother.

Since Frances died March 27, 1901 her death was recorded in one of these ledgers.

Frances Death Record Page 1
Frances Death Record Page 2 (See X)

In summary, this is what the ledger entry tells us: Francis J. Thacker, a white widow, died of consumption on March 27, 1901 at the age of 79 years, 2 months and 12 days. She was born in Virginia and died in Hawks, Ohio, where she was a resident. Her occupation was listed as housekeeper. The death was reported by C. Hartley. The age listed would indicate a birthday of January 15, 1822.

On December 20, 1908 a law went into effect that required both births and deaths to be recorded at the state level. This was the birth of the present day death certificate.

The lovely folks at FamilySearch.org have put the images of Ohio Death Certificates dated December 20, 1908 through 1953 online. Not only have they made the images available for viewing but they have also created a searchable database that speeds the process up considerably and also allows for some creative searching. (FamilySearch - and their legion of volunteer indexers - take a well deserved bow.)

Thanks to their efforts, I was able to locate the death records for six of the twelve known children of Nimrod and Frances. Those six are Nicholas, David, Sarah Jane, Catherine, Hiram and Louisa. Algerine, Mary Frances, Ambrose and Hannah Nancy are all known to have died prior to 1900. There is nothing known of the deaths of the remaining two children, Martha and my own ggg grandmother Clarinda.

Below I’ve created a jpeg file of a spreadsheet which I’ve found to be handy way of comparing information on the death certificates.

State of Birth

Let’s ease on into the subject by first taking a look at where the informants thought that the mother of the deceased was born. Three said that the information was not known (or unknown) to them. The three that gave this information were Bertha McKenzie, the daughter of Hiram, Frank Thacker, the son of Nicholas, and Mrs. Elmer (Nina) Weese, daughter of Catherine. Charles Garrett, the son of Louisa, gave the birthplace of Frances as Ohio (which coincides with the information found in Louisa’s obituary.)

Hannah Thacker, Sara Jane’s daughter, said that Frances was born in “Old Virginia.” Why did she stipulate Old Virginia as opposed to Virginia? Hannah’s answer may have led to the speculation that Frances was born in the portion of Virginia that would later become West Virginia. This along with the responses the census taker listed for both Nicholas and David in the 1910 is probably the reason some researchers list West Virginia for Frances’s place of birth.

The one lone informant who listed Virginia as the place of birth was also the only informant who was a son to Frances, the rest of the informants being grandchildren. Hiram was the informant in the death of his brother David in 1924. Do we credit a child’s knowledge of their parent over a grandchild’s? Not necessarily, but the fact that Hiram’s information coincides with 4 of the 5 censuses where Frances was included and an additional 23 censuses when her children answered “Virginia,” to the question of where she was born, does give some credence to Hiram’s answers.

That becomes even more important when we look at the issue of name.

First Name

Below is the death certificate of Nicholas Thacker in which his son Frank acted as informant. He lists the mother of Nicholas as Mary Grover. Notice he does not mention or allude to in anyway that her name was Frances.


Last Name

Notice also, that not only is he the only individual to list her name as Mary, but also the only one to give the last name of Grover.

Hiram lists his mother’s name as Francis Thacker when he is the informant for the death record of his brother, David. Charles Garrett, the grandson of Frances, also lists his mother Louisa’s mother as Francis Thacker.

The questions is, of course, did Hiram and Charles mean that Frances’s maiden name is Thacker or are they admitting that they did not know the maiden name of Frances and so used her married name?

There is one last death certificate that we should take a look at, before we leave the subject, and that is the Death Certificate of Frank Thacker, the son of Nicholas. The informant was Frank’s son, Lloyd Thacker. Look closely at the name Lloyd gives as the mother of Frank – Mary Groves.

In 1871, Nicholas Thacker married Mary Murray. He and Mary had four children – Frank, Ambrose, George and Herman. It is unclear whether Mary died or if they divorced but in 1883 Nicholas married a second time to Mary Freeman. Is it possible that Mary Groves or Grover has more to do with Nicholas’s first wife and not his mother?

In part five, we will take a look at an application for administrative appointment, a marriage record and a pension file, to see what information they have to offer.


References:

1. “Death Certificates – Sources of Primary & Secondary Information,” Terry Snyder Weblog: Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, 31 Oct 2007. http://desktopgenealogistunplugged.blogspot.com/2008/03/death-certificates-sources-of-primary.html.w: 2010.

2. Sperry, Ken. Genealogical Research in Ohio, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.

3. Vinton County, Ohio, Death Record Register, Probate Court, Vinton County Probate Office, Francis J. Thacker, accessed and photographed by Teresa Snyder, 21 May 2008.

4. Certificate of Death: Sarah Jane Thacker, Filed 26 June 1917. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 5778, File no. 43333, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 23 Jan 2008.)

5. Certificate of Death: David Thacker, Filed 4 June 1924. State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 1311, File no. 37162, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 23 Jan 2008.)

6. Certificate of Death: Hiram N. Thacker, Filed 12 Oct 1939, State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 392, File no. 59506, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 19 July 2008.)

7. Certificate of Death: Nicholas Thacker, Filed 6 Jan 1941, State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 1311, File no. 7236, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 23 Jan 2008.)

8. Certificate of Death: Catherine Thacker, Filed 28 Nov 1945, State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 392, File no. 65706, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 24 Jan 2008.)

9. Certificate of Death: Louisa Ellen Garrett, Filed 11 Feb 1948, State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 1160, File no. 12473, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 23 Jan 2008.)

10. Certificate of Death: Franklin Thacker, Filed 8 Jan 1949, State of Ohio, Dept of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Reg. Dist. 1311, File no. 80400, digital images from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: 23 Jan 2008.)

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part III *** Genealogy By The Numbers - Obituaries

Okay, besides the obvious advantages of being able to look at online images on websites like the Library of Virginia, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, the Internet has made communication between family researchers a snap. Thirty years ago no one could have imagined how quickly information could be exchanged between two family researchers. Type up a short note, attach a file and “boom” you’ve shared a little family history. Ah bliss, thy name is Internet.

With the advent of search engines like Google, suddenly you can find snippets of information that your 4th cousin once removed has posted online. I bet some of you found this post by that very same process. (Welcome, oh 3rd cousin twice removed!)

In fact, by this very same method, I found obituaries for three of Frances Thacker’s children – Nicholas Thacker, Sara Jane Thacker and Catherine Thacker Thacker. I also have a copy of Louisa Thacker Garrett’s obituary. (I will post a transcribed copy below.)

You can find a transcription of Nicholas Thacker’s obituary by checking out Lynn Byler’s, “ANCESTORS OF JOSEPH OGIER JOHNSON AND CAROLINE RACHAEL KRONK,” on Ancestry.com.

She gives the date of the obituary as January 8, 1941 but unfortunately no newspaper is listed. There is no mention of his parents, only the fact that he has three children living, “Frank Thacker, of Wilkesville and Herman, address unknown and one daughter Willidy Williams, Los Vegas, Nevada.” Nicholas himself was living at the home of Hiram Marks near Wilkesville.

Lynn also has the obituary for Sara Jane Thacker, which appeared according to Lynn in the Republican Tribune, July 4, 1917. It gives her parents as Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Thacker. Interesting to those of researching her siblings but not germane to our current research quest, is the sentence that reads: She also leaves 2 sisters and 3 brothers to mourn their loss, Mrs. Henry Thacker, Chillicothe; Mrs. Charles Garrett of Wheelersburg; David Thacker of Hawk, Nicholas Thacker of Minerton; Hiram Thacker of Portland, Ind., besides a number of relatives and friends to grieve her departure.


Since her sister Martha disappeared after the 1900 census, and her sister Clarinda disappeared after the 1910 census, we can conclude that both of these individuals had died prior to 1917. Again, this is not helpful to this project, but interesting to note.


Penny Brown contributed a number of Thacker obituaries to the OHGen Web Ross County. One of these was for Frances’s daughter Catherine. The most important part of the obituary for our purposes is the sentence which states that she was “the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Thacker.” This obituary appeared in the Chillicothe Gazette on November 19, 1945.

Other obituaries that Penny contributed include one for Catherine’s husband Henry H. Thacker and a very sad obituary notice for their young son, Jesse Thacker, who drowned at the age of 17.

Finally, we have the obituary of Louisa Thacker Garrett which appeared in The Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio, Page 10, Column 2, February 5, 1948.

Mrs. Louisa T. Garrett

Mrs. Louisa Thacker Garrett, 86, of Highland Bend, died at 8:20 p.m., Wednesday at Portsmouth General Hospital. She was admitted there five days ago. She had been ill for two months.

Mrs. Garrett, the last of 13 children, was born August 14, 1861, in Vinton Co., a daughter of Nimrod and Frances Thacker. She was the widow of Charles M. Garrett who died in 1942. She was a member of the United Brethren Church.

Mrs. Garrett is survived by daughters, Mrs. Mary Hampton; 2004 Sunrise Avenue, Mrs. Lottie Tipton of Sciotoville; two sons, Charles Garrett of Highland Bend and N. N. Garrett of Columbus, 27 grandchildren and 48 great grandchildren. Four daughters preceded her in death.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Gill funeral home with Rev. M. S. Cunningham officiating. Intermet will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. The body will remain at the funeral home.

From the perspective of our investigation it is interesting to note how her parents are listed as Nimrod and Frances. Her obituary is the only one to call Nicholas, Nimrod, although it should be noted that Louisa named one of her sons, Nimrod, so that may be why the name stuck with whoever was responsible for the obituary.

Also it is interesting to see that Louisa’s obituary states that she was the last of 13 children. Thirteen is also the number that was listed for Frances in the 1900 census. Since I have only identified 12, this could be the source of some future investigation.

The truth is, however, the obituaries have done little to clarify or enhance our current investigation. Obituaries are notorious for being sketchy or containing inaccurate information. Unless the person who died left a copy for their own obituary, it is easy to see why this would be. Most of the time, the information included in the obituary is second hand. Often it is given at a time when an individual might be overwrought or emotional at the death of a loved one, not to mention overwhelmed by all the details that must be seen to at the time of someone’s death.

This is something we might want to consider when, tomorrow, we look at death records.


References:
1. “Obituary of Nicholas Thacker, 8 January 1941,” Ancestry Tree Database, “ANCESTORS OF JOSEPH OGIER JOHNSON AND CAROLINE RACHAEL KRONK,” (http://www.ancestry.com/: accessed September 25, 2010).

2. “Obituary of Sarah Jane Thacker, 4 July 1917,” Ancestry Tree Database, “ANCESTORS OF JOSEPH OGIER JOHNSON AND CAROLINE RACHAEL KRONK,” (http://www.ancestry.com/: accessed September 25, 2010).

3. “Obituary of Catherine Thacker, 19 November 19 1945,” Ross County Obituaries, contributed by Penny Brown, “Ross County OHGenWeb,” (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohross/: accessed September 25, 2010).

4. “Obituary of Mrs. Louisa T. Garrett,” Portsmouth Times, 5 February 1948, p 10, col. 2.

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part II ***** Genealogy by the Numbers - Census Records

Before we look at the census records, we should look at some limitations the family historian can encounter when using census records as a source of information.

1. The census is only a snapshot of the individual as of one particular date. From 1850 through 1900, that date was June 1 of the year the census was taken. If the individual married, gave birth, or died a month, a week or a day later that information would not (or perhaps it’s more accurate to say should not) be reflected in the census.

2. The federal census was only taken once every ten years. Family moves, the birth and death of a child, the switching of occupations along with a whole myriad of other changes would have been missed by the census.

3. The knowledge of the person answering the census taker’s questions. Sometimes there were language barriers that created inaccurate information. Sometimes an individual’s memory wasn’t particularly good. Sometimes people lied.

They lied to protect family secrets. They lied because they didn’t know the truth. They lied, because well, sometimes people just lie.

Occasionally (and it’s difficult to say how often this happened), after repeated attempts on the part of the census taker to interview the family, he would ask their neighbors for the information. Imagine your own neighbor answering questions about where your mother and father were born!

4. The information is only as good as the person recording it. The census taker’s job was an important one, and some were more diligent than others. They came to the job with their own prejudices, their own spelling flaws, even their own ability to write legibly! Add to that the fact that they had to be able to read and recopy their own notes accurately, and you can see there was a potential for problems.

(I’ve often wondered if you could compare the local copy with the one kept for the state and the one given to the federal government, how many would be completely identical.)


Okay, now that I’ve made you wonder if there is any value at all to looking at census records; let’s take a look at Mrs. Nimrod Thacker’s listings in the census.

Our subject (because I’m tired of writing Mrs. Nimrod Thacker and we haven’t decided as of yet how to refer to her) is listed in five census returns – the 1850, the 1860, the 1870, the 1880 and the 1900. Only a few fragments of the 1890 census survived the 1921 fire in the basement of Commerce Building in Washington DC and none of those fragments were for Vinton County.

Below is a jpeg copy of an excel spreadsheet I used to record the information of the five censuses.

A couple of extraneous items to note before we take a closer look at the information we are seeking.

Even though we know from military, pension, estate and marriage records that his legal name was Nimrod Thacker, you will note that in each census he is listed as Nicholas Thacker.

Though race wasn’t one of the issues that we are currently looking at, notice that Mrs. Thacker is listed as “mulatto” in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 census, while in 1900 she is listed as “white.”


The Spelling of Francis/Frances

With the exception of the 1850 census, where there was one column that read, “Person over 20 years of age who cannot read or write” and it was not checked, the rest of the census years seem to indicate that our subject was illiterate (as was her spouse.)

If she could not read or write, how could she know the correct spelling of her name? Therefore, on the question of how to spell the name Frances/Francis correctly, there is no correct spelling. However, since it is common in the United States for the “is” in Francis to refer to a male and the “es” in Frances to refer to a female, I’m changing my records to reflect the “es” spelling.


Name

Next, you will notice that that she is listed as either Frances (Francis) or Frances J. in all five census records. Not once is she referred to as “Mary” or “Frances Mary” or “Mary Frances.” However, I’ve already noted that Nimrod isn’t referred to as Nimrod even once in the census records, so this is not conclusive one way or another. It is something to keep in mind as we look at the other records. One thing is obvious, however, and that is in every day life she was referred to as Frances.

State of Birth

Where was Frances born? Well, if you look at the census, you would conclude that it has to be Virginia, not West Virginia. However, to be fair there was no West Virginia in 1850 and 1860, and it is certainly possible that if Frances was born in what was to become West Virginia, in her own mind she still felt she was a Virginian by birth.

According to a search of the 1870 census, only 7 individuals in the 1870 census of Vinton County said they were born in West Virginia; none of those were in the township of Wilkesville.

In 1880, only 77 individuals claimed West Virginia as their state of birth. Three of those lived in Wilkesville – Joseph J. Cline, Jacson Hayes, and Harriet Wetherholt.

125 people said they were born in West Virginia in the 1900 census of Vinton County. Of those, 43 lived in Wilkesville Township – none had the last name of Thacker.

Beginning in 1880, the census asked for the birthplace of the individual’s mother and father. It seemed prudent to take a look at where each of the children claimed their mother was born. All told, Frances’s children were found in an additional 31 census entries from 1880 until 1930.

Interestingly enough, in each of the 31 entries, whatever state was listed as the birthplace of Nimrod Thacker was also listed as the birthplace of Frances. Twice the state of birth was listed as unknown. In 1900, Clarinda Thacker Marcum’s listing gave her mother’s birthplace as unknown and this was also the case of the1930 listing for Louisa Thacker Garrett.

Four times, Frances’s birth state was listed as Ohio. Three of these belonged to Louise Thacker Garrett’s census listings for the years 1900, 1910 and 1920. Hiram N. Thacker listed his mother’s birthplace as Ohio in the 1930 census.

As for West Virginia, it was listed as the birthplace of Frances twice. Both times were in the 1910 census, once for son David Thacker and once for son Nicholas Thacker. The remaining 23 times the state of birth for Frances was given as Virginia.

It should be noted that in the 1910 census, sons Nicholas and David also listed their father’s place of birth as West Virginia. According to Nimrod’s own statement given on March 6, 1865 at the time of his military enlistment, his place of birth was Louisa County, Virginia.


Birth Month and Year

The only census to ask the question in which month of the year were you born was the 1900 census. The census taker listed the month of January as the month of Frances’s birth, making us lean toward the month of January as the correct month.

In the matter of year, that date is implied in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses. Since all five censuses were as of June 1st, that helps us pinpoint the year a little easier. According to the 1850, 1860 and 1880 census (when her age given was 27, 37 and 57 respectively) she would have been born in 1823. In the 1870 census her age was given as 48, making her born in 1822. In the 1900 census, when a month and year were asked for, she gave her age as 78 and the year of her birth as 1822.

When I say she gave her age and year of birth in the 1900 census that may not have been strictly true. In 1893, when she was applying for the Civil War widow’s pension, it was mentioned several times that she had been confined to her bed for about five years, so perhaps someone else answered the questions for her.

Her son Hiram Thacker and his family are listed next to Frances in the 1900 census, as well as William H. Thacker, son of Holeman Thacker and Roxanne Napper Thacker who is listed after Frances in the census. Perhaps it was actually one of these individuals who answered the census taker’s questions.

So what, if anything can we conclude from our look at the census records?

One, we can conclude that she went by the name Frances (and that according to custom the name should probably be spelled with an “es”). Two, she was probably born in Virginia or possibly West Virginia. Three, it looks like a “J” initial is part of her name and finally, she most likely was born in either 1822 or 1823.

In Part III, we’ll look at several obituaries to see if they can add anything to our research.

References:

1. Wikipedia contributors, "Francis," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis (accessed September 22, 2010.)

2. Wikipedia contributors, “1890 United States Census,” Wikipedia, The Free Enyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890_United_States_Census (accessed September 22, 2010.)

3. 1850 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 1024, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

4. 1860 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 728, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com

5. 1870 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 172, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

6. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 215, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

7. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 212, Head of Household, Enos Markum (sic), online digital image, Ancestry.com

8. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 143, Head of Household, David Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

9. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 213, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

10. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Washington Township, visit 78, Head of Household, Zebulon Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

11. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Harrison Township, visit 113, Head of Household Henry Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

12. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 218, Head of Household, Hiram Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

13. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 216, Head of Household, Charles Garret (sic), online digital image, Ancestry.com.

14. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 245, Head of Household, Frances J. Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

15. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 231, Head of Household, Clarinda Marcum, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

16. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 213, Head of Household, Zeb M. Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

17. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Vinton Township, visit 256, Head of Household, David Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

18. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Ross County, Chillicothe Ward 4, visit 283, Head of Household, Andrew H. DeCamp, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

19. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 229, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

20. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Ross County, Chillicothe Ward 6, visit 454, Head of Household, Henry Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

21. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 244, Head of Household, Hiram N. Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

22. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Wellston Ward 4, visit 356, Head of Household, Charles Garrett, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

23. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 136, Head of Household, Waid (sic) Marcum, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

24. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Vinton Township, visit 201, Head of Household, David Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

25. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Ross County, Chillicothe Ward 3, visit 335, Head of Household, William M. Hindman, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

26. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 151, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com

27. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Ross County, Chillicothe Ward 4, visit 51, Head of Household, Henery (sic) Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

28. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Indiana, Jay County, Portland Ward 4, visit 164, Head of Household, Hiram H. (sic) Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

29. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Scioto County, Porter Township, visit 186, Head of Household, Charles M. Garrett, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

30. 1920 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 135, Head of Household, Joseph Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

31. 1920 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 180, Head of Household, Nicholas Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

32. 1920 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Ross County, Chillicothe Ward 4, visit 117, Head of Household, Henry Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

33. 1920 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 51, Head of Household, H.N. Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

34. 1920 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Scioto County, Portsmouth Ward 4, visit 15, Head of Household, Enos Hampton, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

35. 1930 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Wellston Ward 4, visit 202, Head of Household, Nichols (sic) Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

36. 1930 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Wilkesville Township, visit 140, Head of Household, Hiram N. Thacker, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

37. 1930 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Scioto County, Portsmouth Ward 6, visit 464, Head of Household, Charles Garrett, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

38. Compiled service record, Nimrod N. Thacker, Pvt. Co. D, 194 Ohio Inf.; Carded Records, Volunteer Organization, Civil War; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

39. Frances J. Thacker, widow’s pension no. 582204, certificate no. 404166, service of Nimrod N. Thacker (Pvt., Co. D, 194th Ohio Inf., Civil War), Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1863-1934, Civil War and Later pension files, Dept of Veteran Affairs National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Nimrod Thacker Part I ****** Genealogy by the Numbers - Majority Rules

Because I am a bit of a statistics geek, and because a couple of Thacker family researchers and I have kicked around theories about the identity of Nimrod Thacker’s wife, I decided to take a look at what conclusions other researchers have come to in the identity of Mrs. T.

So on a recent perusal of Ancestry.com, I took a look and found Nimrod’s wife listed twenty times. I used Private Family Trees, Public Family Trees, One Family Trees and Ancestry Family Trees as the source of my information. Below is a break down how Mrs. Nimrod Thacker was listed.

Name of Mrs. Nimrod Nicholas Thacker

1 listed her as Frances ?

1 listed her as Mary Grover

1 listed her as Frances J. Thacker

2 listed her as Francis Thacker

2 listed her as Francis J. Thacker

3 listed her as Francis

4 listed her as Frances Mary Grover

6 listed her as Mary Frances Grover


Not only couldn’t the twenty researchers agree on her name, but they couldn’t agree on how to spell Frances (or is that Francis?).

Spelling of Frances/Francis

1 had no Frances/Francis listed in the name

7 spelled it Francis

12 spelled it Frances

Hmmm…. Not exactly an overwhelming consensus either way at the spelling of the name. Okay, what do the Researchers have to say about the first name of Mrs. Thacker?


First Name

7 give the first name as Mary

13 give the first name as Frances/Francis


What about the middle name?


Middle Name

3 give the initial “J”

4 say the middle name is Mary

6 say the middle name is Frances/Francis

7 of our researchers give no middle name or initial


Last Name

4 give no last name

5 give the last name as Thacker

11 give the last name as Grover


So, what about the year of birth?


Year of Birth

2 give the year of birth as 1822

4 give the year of birth as 1821

5 have no year of birth given

9 give year of birth as 1823


Month Born

3 give the birth month of February

5 give the birth month of January

12 give no month


State of Birth

2 give no state of birth

5 give West Virginia as the state of birth

12 give Virginia as the state of birth


If majority rules then Mrs. Nimrod Thacker was Frances no middle name or initial Grover, born in no month of the year 1823 in the State of Virginia. Case closed, right?

Well, no, not exactly. That’s not how genealogy works, or at least it shouldn’t. When there are clear discrepancies in the identity of an individual, we need to take a look at whatever actual documents exist, evaluate them and then come to our own conclusion. Or as Elizabeth Shown Mills said more elegantly in the Forward to her book, “Evidence Explained:”

At the root of everything we find in history is a source. The information we pull from a source will not likely be any better than the source itself. The conclusions we reach from it can be no better than the effort we have made to identify that source, to understand its nuances, and to interpret the evidence its information provides.

In the next several posts, we will examine census records, death records, obituaries, a marriage record, an application for appointment, a compiled military file, and a Civil War Pension file to see if we can clear up some of the confusion on the identity of Nimrod’s wife.


References:

1. Ancestry.com, “Family Trees,” databases, http://www.ancestry.com/: September 22, 2010.

2. Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007.

A Genealogy of the Broady, Harris, Napper, Thacker and Trent Families

“Driving a Ford Pinto and equipped with a thermos of water, some snacks, overnight bag, camera, tape recorder, paper and pencils; I began numerous trips into 14 counties in Ohio.” These are Madalene Jones Norris’s words describing her research for her maternal side of the family tree.

In 1985, she published her book, “A Genealogy of the Broady, Harris, Napper, Thacker and Trent Families.” Sourced and well documented, Ms. Norris’s book is valuable to those of us who are researching the Dorton, Napper and Thacker families.

She visited courthouses, libraries, health departments, newspaper offices, and cemeteries in Champaign, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Highland, Jackson, Madison, Miami, Montgomery, Pickaway, Pike, Ross,and Vinton Counties in Ohio. From January 3, 1981 through May 8, 1985, Mrs. Norris conducted 85 personal interviews. One of the most important of these was the one done on August 30, 1983 with Elizabeth Dorton of Chillicothe, Ohio. Lizzie recounted for Madalene the information given to her by her father, Beverly Dorton.

Beverly was the son of James Dorton and Virginia Napper. His grandparents were Malachi Dorton and Mahala Thacker.

Lizzie told Madalene that Mahala had seven girls and four boys. They included:

“My grandmother, Virginia Napper, who married James Dorton.
Patsy Napper
Ann Napper
Nancy Napper
Lucy Napper
Polly Napper
Peachie Napper
Wed Napper
Levi Napper
Pete Napper
Dick Napper

Though unable to document information for all 11 of the Napper siblings, Mrs. Norris has extensive information on most of them. As important, it gives researchers a framework for this family. Considering that this research was conducted pre Internet era, the depth of information is extraordinary.

The book has been filmed by the Family Search Library. The catalog lists the film as: FHL US/CAN Film 1597896 Item 1.

Note: Madalene Jones Norris is the great great granddaugher of Wetherfoot Napper and Mildred Jane Thacker. She is the researcher referred to in my Desktop Genealogist Unplugged post, Because the Boat Rocked.

How I am related to the Thacker Clan or Surprise! You Have In-Laws

My grandfather was adopted and his name changed when he was twelve years old, or so the story goes. I haven’t found proof of his adoption (but that can sometimes be a little tricky), so I can’t attest to the veracity of the entire story. However, what I do know is that sometime in the 1950’s two women showed up on my grandmother’s doorstep, looking for my grandfather.

Now understand, grandma and grandpa had not lived together at that point for close to two decades, so it doesn’t take much imagination to picture my grandmother, the soul of pragmatic dispositions, and her unfettered shock. God, I would have loved to seen her face.

The women turned out to be Grandpa’s sisters, Lucille Smathers Foit and Nellie Smathers Weaver. They had gone to the police station and asked about Grandfather, using, I would like to point out, Grandpa’s adopted name. Since Grandpa had “run away from home” sometime in the mid 1930’s and left Clyde Ohio forever, (and in point of fact had died of a burst appendix January 30, 1945) Lucille and Nellie’s quest had been doomed from the start.

The police chief of Clyde, Ohio, however, wishing to help, gave them the address for the only person in town with the correct last name - my grandmother. Grandmother, always a quick study and you’ve got to admit under the circumstances, a very gracious lady, made short work of depositing the two sisters at the home of her and grandpa’s only son, who was living at the time in Fremont, Ohio.

So, that is how my family came to find out that my grandfather’s original name was Walter Smathers. My parents, who were just as shocked as grandma, had a nice chat with the “new” relatives. Lucille and Nellie made a special fuss over their newly found nephew, and Daddy found out that when his father and the girls had been very young, their mother had died. Lucille, who was six, was fostered out to a family who apparently used her like a servant. Nellie was sent to live with her maternal grandfather and his second wife. Grandpa and his younger brother were taken by their father to Northern Ohio. The father, Elmore Smathers, promised the girls he would be back to get them but he never came. It was the last time the sisters had seen my grandfather. He was three.

It would have been too much to hope that somebody would have thought to ask how they knew to search in Clyde, Ohio or how sisters Lucille and Nellie knew which name to ask for at the police station. However, we now had access to the most important fact - Grandpa had been born in Athens County to Elmore Smathers and Lizzie Cope Smathers.

All of this is by way of telling you how I am related to the Thacker clan. Lizzie, or Elizabeth, was the daughter of George Cope and Francis Thacker Cope. Fanny, as Francis was called, was the daughter of Clarinda Thacker. Clarinda, who would later marry Enos Marcum, had two children out of wedlock before the marriage. The younger of the two, was Fanny.

Clarinda was the daughter of Nimrod Nicholas Thacker and Francis J. Thacker. It is believed that Nimrod was the son of David Thacker and Sally Lemay Thacker. (A court case naming Nicholas and David in 1858 as co-defendants and the fact that Sally Thacker was baptized at the home of Nicholas and Francis in 1868 point to this.)

Sally was the daughter of John Lemay and Annis Branham Lemay of Louisa County, Virginia.

Annis was the daughter of Benjamin Branham and Francis Gibson. This family is documented in Paul Heinegg's, Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia. Francis Gibson was the daughter of Gilbert Gibson of Louisa County, Va, and this family is also documented in the book.

So there you have it. How I tie into the Thacker family tree.

(I know, you want to know who David Thacker's parents were - well, me too. All I can tell you is that a deed record in Louisa County indicates that his mother was one Mary Dalton. This may or may not be Mary Branham, sister of Annis Branham, who married John Dalton. Most of the children in the deed are listed as Daltons. David and Robert are the only two listed as Thacker. Any speculation is welcomed on this point.)