For some reason, I had trouble pasting my post into this space, so I have used a do-around and inserted today's entry as a comment. Please excuse my ineptness, and check the comment to find what I really wanted to put in this space.
Alas, I have not yet unraveled the mystery of my g-grandfather, but I do believe that I have discovered his name and his wife's name. Henry D. Sherman and Mary Ellen Hawkins, and actually found their marriage record from Shelby Co., Tennessee, which is also where my g-father Samuel was born in 1861. So that feels like progress, even though Samuel's birth record is not available and Henry and Mary disappear after the 1860 census. Birthdates for their eldest daughter Ella (Ellen) matched up with the following information, so at least that part of the puzzle is in place.
Family lore mentioned a "Henry" who did not come back from the Civil War, and Samuel was said to have been orphaned at age six (1867). The 1870 census finds him and his older and younger sisters living first with an Adam Sherman (not listed in 1860 census as being part of Henry's family, but maybe an uncle?) just across the river in DeSoto Co. Mississippi, and then by the 1880 census, the older sister Ella has married, and Samuel and Lulu are living with her, still in Mississippi just across from Memphis, TN.
Then I lose g-father Samuel again until the 1900 census, but he has evidently been a busy man, having moved from the Tennessee/Mississippi area, emigrated to Texas, married Lou Hetta Davis in Fannin Co., TX, and moved again to Amarillo, Potter Co., TX, where we find them living with six of their ultimately ten children.
Now, the problem is that I am having a hard time finding Henry's predecessors were, even though his birthplace is listed as Alabama. I have some suspicions that a Jacob Sherman may have been my g-g-grandfather father, but I have not yet found that link.
If any of you have any suggestions, I would appreciate some. Thanks, again
One of my suppositions has been that Adam might be an uncle of SW; i.e., a brother of Henry, but I have not yet found Henry's parents, even though a local genealogist suggested that the line must have been in Georgia at some point, for the "Schley" name to be in the family roster. Seems there was a governor of GA who was named Schley--kind of a Huey Long type character. Some of these clues are really far out!
If Henry was ggfather, all I ever heard was that he went away to the war and "didn't come back." I always assumed that meant he was killed, but as I dig through the censuses, I find that a number of Southerners just didn't go home. I guess they figured their property and way of life was gone…now that would be a "sleeping dog" for SW, wouldn't it? "Orphaned" may be the euphemism for "abandonment"—but it happened to many. I wish I could find some death records for Mary and Henry. Those might tell us a lot.
Alas, I have not yet unraveled the mystery of my g-grandfather, but I do believe that I have discovered his name and his wife's name. Henry D. Sherman and Mary Ellen Hawkins, and actually found their marriage record from Shelby Co., Tennessee, which is also where my g-father Samuel was born in 1861. So that feels like progress, even though Samuel's birth record is not available and Henry and Mary disappear after the 1860 census. Birthdates for their eldest daughter Ella (Ellen) matched up with the following information, so at least that part of the puzzle is in place.
ReplyDeleteFamily lore mentioned a "Henry" who did not come back from the Civil War, and Samuel was said to have been orphaned at age six (1867). The 1870 census finds him and his older and younger sisters living first with an Adam Sherman (not listed in 1860 census as being part of Henry's family, but maybe an uncle?) just across the river in DeSoto Co. Mississippi, and then by the 1880 census, the older sister Ella has married, and Samuel and Lulu are living with her, still in Mississippi just across from Memphis, TN.
Then I lose g-father Samuel again until the 1900 census, but he has evidently been a busy man, having moved from the Tennessee/Mississippi area, emigrated to Texas, married Lou Hetta Davis in Fannin Co., TX, and moved again to Amarillo, Potter Co., TX, where we find them living with six of their ultimately ten children.
Now, the problem is that I am having a hard time finding Henry's predecessors were, even though his birthplace is listed as Alabama. I have some suspicions that a Jacob Sherman may have been my g-g-grandfather father, but I have not yet found that link.
If any of you have any suggestions, I would appreciate some. Thanks, again
One of my suppositions has been that Adam might be an uncle of SW; i.e., a brother of Henry, but I have not yet found Henry's parents, even though a local genealogist suggested that the line must have been in Georgia at some point, for the "Schley" name to be in the family roster. Seems there was a governor of GA who was named Schley--kind of a Huey Long type character. Some of these clues are really far out!
ReplyDeleteIf Henry was ggfather, all I ever heard was that he went away to the war and "didn't come back." I always assumed that meant he was killed, but as I dig through the censuses, I find that a number of Southerners just didn't go home. I guess they figured their property and way of life was gone…now that would be a "sleeping dog" for SW, wouldn't it? "Orphaned" may be the euphemism for "abandonment"—but it happened to many. I wish I could find some death records for Mary and Henry. Those might tell us a lot.