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Probate Records Often Tell a Different Story

A Lost Generation and Family Line

Early on in my research I simply accepted census records as accurate. I made the assumption that all "families" listed consisted of spouses and their children, unless the census designated a different relationship to the head of the household. Many years later, I discovered that those assumptions can cause you to misinterpret a census record and in consequence a whole family. In this instance a generation was lost and the search for a family line.

This is the Story of Abel Lewis

In the early days of my research I did what I think most of us do when we are "newbies." We assume that the census is correct and that the family listed is a father, mother and children. And generally that is correct. But I have learned that we should always check other sources to be sure we know what we are talking about.

You know the excitement of finding a new generation in the census. How you rush to add this new set of ancestors to your charts and your family tree. I did that.

I knew my 2gr-grandmother was Martha Jane Lewis, wife of Jeremiah Castleberry. My grandmother and her cousins knew their grandparents. My grandmother grew up in the house with them and she related those stories. She was almost 15 when Martha died. But she never talked about Martha's family. She had Lewis cousins. She showed us pictures.

One of my early research efforts was to look for Martha's parents. I knew that she was from Coosa Co, Alabama. She and Jeremiah married there, so it was the logical place to look for her parents, as most young women married in the county they lived in.

Sure enough, I found her in the 1850 census with her parents Abel and Elizabeth Lewis. The family looked like this:

Abel Lewis, 35
Daniel Lewis, 14
John Lewis, 12
Martha Lewis, 10
William Lewis, 7
Columbus Lewis, 5
Andrew Lewis, 2

So I jumped right over to the 1860 census and there was the family again. By this time, Daniel, John and Martha had all married and had families of their own. Daniel had 2 children, John had no children and Martha had 2 children. Daniel, John Martha and Abel were on two consecutive pages of the census, so I was sure this was the family I was looking for.

Abel and Elizabeth's family looked like this in 1860:

Abel Lewis, 45
Elizabeth, 45
William, 16
Columbus W., 14
Andrew C., 11
Mary, 9
Amanda, 7
Lovedy, 5﻿﻿
William Knight, 21

1860 US Federal Census, Coosa Co, AL, pg. 75.

I dutifully recorded the additional children: Mary, Amanda & Lovedy. That was in the 1980s. I was happy with my results and moved on to other ancestors.

When I began my internet searches, I found that all researchers of Abel Lewis had the same information I had, so I felt that I was correct in my records and continued on with ancestors who were more challenging.

And Then the Probate Records Came Into Play

In 2005, I decided that I should verify all my Castleberry & related lines information. I ordered microfilm from my local family history center. In 2006, my sister & I took a trip to Coosa Co, Alabama and looked at court records. Since I knew I had access to the microfilm through the family history center, we only looked at criminal court records since they hadn't been microfilmed [That's another story.]. When I returned, I continued to order and review film. There was a lot to look at since my ancestors lived in Coosa Co from the 1830s to 1901.

As I looked at probate records I found Abel Lewis's probate. There were 47 pages of records covering the period from 1863 to 1872. As I was reading the pages, I was shocked to discover that for over 25 years, I had been wrong about the members of Abel and Elizabeth's family. And so was everyone else. I felt as though I might be the only descendant who had actually read Abel's probate.

Twice in the probate records, it stated that Lovedy Lewis was the granddaughter of Abel Lewis and the daughter of his son Daniel.

Following are excerpts from my transcriptions.

Coosa Co Probate, Vol 9, pg. 721:

...according to Law; and the said J.F. Hurst, Esqr heretofore appointed Guardian ad Liten ...[for] Loveda Lewis ... GrandDaughter of said decedant [sic] & daughter ... of Daniel Lewis deceased____ minor heirs...

Coosa Co Probate, Vol 10, pg 165:

...and the following minors Laveda Lewis daughter of Daniel Lewis decd...

Abel Lewis Probate, Coosa Co, Probate, Vol. 9, pg. 721 & Vol 10, pg. 165
Rockford, Coosa Co, Alabama

So I checked the 1860 census records again and Daniel's family was listed as this:

Daniel Lewis, 22
Martha E, 27
Mary J, 3
Minerva, 1

So the questions became:

1.    How did I make this error?

2.    Why did Lovedy not live with her father?

3.    What happened to Daniel?

I'll start with question # 3. It's the easiest. Daniel was one of the 600,000 casualties of the Civil War. He died of pneumonia.

Question # 2 continues to be a mystery. What is most likely true is that Martha E. was not Lovedy's mother or Lovedy would have been living in Daniel's home. Not the only scenario, but the most likely. For a quick synopsis on this issue:

®  There is no record of another marriage for Daniel.

®  I haven't determined if there was a paternity suit against Daniel, if it is assumed that Lovedy was born out of wedlock.

®  I have no clues, as yet, who Lovedy's mother was.

Question # 1 is the most distressing for me. I can plead "I was a newbie," but that is a pitiful excuse, since I never questioned the relationship even after I knew that census records can be misinterpreted.

I followed the logic of "what is normal." I never questioned that a 40 year old woman was still having children. After all, if you look at the age pattern of the children in Abel's household they are all 2-3 years apart in age, following the "norm" of one child every 2-3 years. Add to that the "norm" that a woman could have children after 40, especially if she has been consistently bearing children up to that age. And all of these children lived in Abel's household. So therefore, they should all be his children, right? And there was the flaw in my thinking. Not taking into account that while everything looked normal and right, it might not be and therefore, I should verify the relationships through other documents.

What I Learned

1. I learned that I should only read the data that is recorded in the census. The data in the census only states the answers to the questions that were asked at the time and in 1850 and 1860 censuses relationship to the head of the household was not one of the questions.

2. I learned that if I only have census information, I should not assume the relationships of the individuals in the household.

3. I learned that I should always look for corroborating evidence for any document I find.

4. I learned to always view census information with some skepticism knowing that I need to verify the information.

5. I learned that with only census data, I should state in my records that the relationships are unverified. The only true fact is that they live in that household.

6. I learned that just because other researchers all have the same information doesn't make it the correct information. I should always proceed as if there was information yet to be discovered.

Genealogy Tutorial
Author of Genealogy Cheat Sheets

Share your stories of census records that might have led you astray in your research.

History Can Provide Your Answers



Randolph B. Campbell in his book Gone To Texas states:


The Online Handbook of Texas says this about GTT:



The First "GTT" Migration


The Second "GTT" Migration





Why Jeremiah and His Family Migrated



What I Learned






Tracking Your Ancestors

A Family Chronology

William Lynch Couch Family ca. 1899
My Couch family line meets every couple of years so family researchers can share what we have learned. We know that most of us are cousins because some of the men have completed a DNA profile and they fall into the same Couch DNA group. The rest of us can track our ancestry through the records to the same ancestors as these men. Our challenge is to find records to prove who our immigrant ancestor was.

We have all collected a lot of data and need to see how it all fits together. So I decided to create a chronology or timeline of all the data that we have and see if any ideas or clues are generated from that data.

I want to do this because over the years I have found that a chronology provides me with a complete picture of everything I know about a particular ancestor and his family. I include in my chronology the source of each fact that I have.

A Chronology is a Tracking Tool

Now you might ask how this is considered "tracking." Generally tracking means that you can follow your ancestor's migrations from one location to another. With the chronology, I can track their movements as they move from one location to another and I can track their activities within each community they lived in. Therefore using a chronology helps me track several things about an ancestor and his family.

First, it helps me keep my facts straight--what happened, when it happened, who was a part of the event and where I got my information. I can also use a comments section for details and notes I want to make about the event or data.

Second, it provides me with a quick reference of all the information I have collected on a particular ancestor and his or her family.

Third, it tells me what data I have that is substantiated by records and what data is from a secondary source and will need verification. It also tells me what data I have that I may never be able to prove and what data may be totally bogus.

Fourth, it tells me what data I have that may conflict with other data that I have. Since I have attached an abbreviated version of my source, I can compare the quality of the sources and then may be able to decide which source is more likely to be correct.

Fifth, it tells me what data I have yet to collect. I leave rows blank for the basic information such as birth, marriage, census years and death. It is easy for me to see what I haven't filled in yet and what source information I need to collect.

A Chronology as an Analytical Tool

A chronology can also be used as an analytical tool. When you organize your data on a person you can see the conflicts in information that you may not have noticed before. It can help you pinpoint the discrepancies or missing information in your research.

You can collect a set of data about a particular issue that is unresolved and organize it chronologically. By doing this you can tell what information is in conflict, what information may not be valid and what additional information you may need to collect.

Using a chronology I have been able to demonstrate that one of my ancestors had to have had 3 wives rather than the 2 known wives. A 15 year gap in the birth of the children provided evidence that the first known wife was actually wife # 2. While it is possible that there was some very unusual circumstance that could account for a 15 year gap in the birth of children by the same mother, the more likely scenario is that there was a first wife who was the mother of the first set of children. When she died the husband remarried and had another set of children.

Using a chronology I was able to organize my facts to help settle a family dispute. Researchers were in disagreement over the first wife of a common ancestor. I made a quick chronology of his grandfather's and his parents' marriages--both substantiated and speculative to determine where to look for his marriage record. I included the data about his marriage to both women. I included my sources and evaluated the data. With this quick chart I was able to determine where the marriage most likely occurred. I found an index and ordered a copy of the marriage bond from the county. It told me that if anyone had ever looked for or found the marriage record they did not indicate so in their sourcing information. By the way, since I didn't want a certified copy, it only cost me $1.64 to get the copy of the marriage bond from the county, $1 for the copy, and two 32¢ stamps--one to send the request and one for the SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope.)

I learned that a chronology helps me keep my data organized by providing a ready reference of everything I know about any particular ancestor.

I learned that I can add any information I have to the chronology. It doesn't matter if the source is questionable. I still have information available to me for evaluation and comparison to other information that I have found or will find without adding to my family tree.

I learned that using a chronology can help me analyze conflicting data.

I learned that a chronology can help me identify missing information about my ancestor and help me determine possible locations and types of records where that information might be found.

I learned that a chronology is an easy reference to show the migration of my ancestor from place to place.

I learned that a chronology provides me with a picture of what my ancestor's life was like by having all the events in their life arranged in the order in which they occurred. This gives me a feeling of knowing them.

Click here to learn more about developing and using a chronology.


Share your comments about this article or the ways in which you track your ancestors.

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Anna Katherine (Schleicher) Kaiser






®  A 2nd gr-grandfather filed for bankruptcy.

What I Learned



I learned that I should always have change for copies.





