Icie Caroline Brewer-Gillihan-Meester

My grandmother. What can I say? I loved her but she is a genealogical nightmare. She gave  out misinformation on vital records and, as the eldest daughter, was often the person asked for vital information. She reported information based on saving face and avoiding any "talk". She also gave out information she thought was true, or wanted to be true, without any proof.

Her parents were Icie Caroline Brewer and Henry Newton Gillihan. Icie's parents were Parthena Catherine Massey and Argyle Homer Brewer. Everyone in the family that knows anything about the family, or does any research, knows this. There is a marriage record for both couples and the couples appear on censuses together.

Three documents with misinformation immediately come to mind:

First - my grandmother's own delayed birth certificate. She was born in 1900, at home, and there was no certification required. In 1947 she had the need for a birth certificate and filed for a delayed certificate. Her mother signed it as well. They filled out, and signed, the birth certificate with her mother's current name (2nd husband - Meester) and not the name she had at the time my grandmother was born (first husband - Gillihan).

Second - my grandmother also supplied the information for her mother's death certificate in 1956. She states her other's name as Icie Meester Gillihan. Her parents were divorced and her mother remarried a man with the surname Meester. Her middle name was Caroline, not Meester. Because Henry & Icie found their way back to each other sometime before she died, my grandmother used Gillihan as Icie's surname when it was actually Meester. Modern family holds steady that Henry & Icie never remarried and I haven't been able to find a record either.

Third - on the same Icie Brewer death certificate my grandmother lists her father's name as John Brewer. Who the heck is John Brewer? My grandmother was only two years old when her grandfather died so she couldn't have remembered him by name. His name was Argyle Homer Brewer. Luckily she got her grandmother's given and maiden names correctly on the document.

Fourth - Icie C Brewer-Gillihan and Henry N Gillihan were divorced. My understanding is that Henry was a ladies man and got another woman pregnant outside of his marriage. Since I don't have divorce information for Icie and Henry I cannot prove that. Both remarried. When Icie remarried in 1923 she listed her name as Icie Brewer, it should have been Gillihan, and as a widow. She was divorced, not widowed.

• Apparently Icie and John Meester were not together very long (per family lore) but I've never been able to find a record of their divorce.
• Icie used the Meester surname despite not being with, or possibly divorcing, Mr. Meester.
• Family lore is that Henry Gillihan returned to Icie and nursed her through her illness, and ultimately, her death.
• The couple is buried together as Henry & Icie Gillihan although there is nothing to indicate they remarried.

Marriage Certificate for Henry Newton Gillihan & Icie Caroline Brewer

Headstone for Henry & Icie

Icie Brewer from Brewer family photo

 Marriage record for Icie Brewer-Gillihan & John Meester

Death certificate for Icie Meester

Delayed birth certificate for my grandmother

Genealogy Roadshow Update

I heard back! A couple of days ago I received an e-mail saying that I had not been chosen.

I was feeling badly about not posting more often but then it dawned on me that I created this as a genealogy blog but mostly to chronicle dead ends. How much activity does one expect on brick walls anyway? So now I feel better knowing that I will only be posting when there is something to say regarding my dead ends/brick walls.

Genealogy Roadshow

I've been watching a show on PBS called "Genealogy Roadshow" for two seasons now. At first it wasn't exactly "my cup of tea" because the stories are brief compared to other genealogy shows that I have watched; however, I'm won over because these are regular folks they are helping with family history research. What a gift to have professional genealogist work on your line.

While "Who Do You think You Are" and "Finding Your Roots" spend more time and travel to different locations in their searches, they only research the family history of celebrities. The shows are interesting and it's obvious that no expense is spared.

I'm impressed that the Genealogy Roadshow took a risk and created a show featuring regular folks like me. I hope that it pays off for them and that the shows continue.

This leads me to......guess who applied to the show? Me! Yup, I decided to give it a try with George Barnes. The only thing I've ever won is jury duty but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Afterall, what a gift it would be to have professional genealogist work on my line.

Back to George Barnes

So, I found something new that is promising enough that I included the information on my Ancestry.com page. The person who submitted it online is unreachable. Boo!

I've always known that my George Barnes died before the 1880 census because Rebecca is listed as a widow. But, they had a child in 1875 so the window narrows. This unknown researcher led me to the 1880 mortality schedule which listed a George W Barnes in Franklin Co Arkansas who died in November 1879 of typhoid fever. Since Rebecca was also on the Franklin Co Arkansas census in 1880, as a widow, I felt pretty good about it. UPDATE: Actually, she is in the town of Franklin but county of Izard when the 1880 census was taken. Franklin County is next to Sebastian County where "the other" George Barnes lived with his wife Anna and is often confused with our George.

The part of this record that leads me to even more questions is the year of birth - 1826. I always had his birth year as 1840 but that could be from when I believed his father was likely Dennis (there are still people who believe that but I'm thinking that George is the one in Sebastian Co who married an Ann).  Since his birthdate is not a primary record on his death certificate, it could be off.

So, if he was born in 1826 (in TN) and he and Rebecca started having children in 1864 (meaning they were likely married in 1863) then he would have been in his mid thirties when they married. Possible but unusual. More likely she would be a second wife.

Now I am wondering if there was a first wife. If so, where there children and what happened to them? I have spoken to two other researchers who are offspring from George and Rebecca's daughter Florence and they have never mentioned half siblings or another marriage of George. However, the man is such a mystery that I don't rule it out.

There seems to be a zillion George Barnes and including a middle initial of W only slightly helps to narrow things down.  I guess what I am saying is that I haven't gotten any closer to him but perhaps I am eliminating more folks who are not him.

You Maried The Same Woman Twice? Nope, Her Cousin.

Meet Thomas William Whittaker and Melissa Ann Whittington. Though not a brick wall (anymore) regarding this ancestral couple, at one time they caused much confusion and I don't have much beyond their generation that is reliable.

These are thought to be photos of them but the owners cannot guarantee:

 

writing on back says wife #2

OK, so I am clipping along doing research on Thomas. He is the son of Talamacus and an unknown/unsure mother. According to his head stone, Thomas was born 15 April 1843. Lawrence County Arkansas censuses 1850 though 1900 consistently list birthplace as Missouri and verify that his father has a difficult name to spell ;)

I find a marriage certificate in Randolph County Arkansas of Thomas Whittaker and Melissa A Whittington. You can see below that Randolph County is the county north of Lawrence County and Randolph is on the border with Missouri.

lol, it's a map of counties where you can, or cannot, sell alcohol

The certificate states they were married 8th day of June 1863, that Thomas Whitker is from Lawrence County Arkansas and is 21 years old, and that Mealisia Ann Whittington is from the Butler County Missouri and is 18 years old. The certificate lists her father, not by name, as doing something regarding her age (can't read it).

perhaps you can tell me what her father did (certify?)

 

They have children in 1866, 1867, 1869, 1871, 1873, 1875, 1876, and 1879.

On the 1870 census "Malissa" is listed as 24 born Tennessee. (there is a Thomas Whittington next door and Talamacus Whittaker two doors down). 1870 - 24 = born 1846.

 

On the 1880 census "Malessa" is 27 born Missouri. The oldest child is 14 meaning if this Melissa is her mother she was only 13 when she delivered her. We know from the marriage certificate that "Mealisia" was 18 when they were married. 1880 - 27 = born 1853

 

On the 1900 census "Mallissa A" is 48 and born in Missouri. They also state they have been married 20 years meaning they were married in 1880). 1900 - 48 = born1852

 

Thomas and his wife have more documented children in 1882, 1883, 1884, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1896.

 

Long story short - according to other researchers, there's a second marriage for Thomas to Malissa Ann Whittington in Butler County Missouri on 25 Jun 1879. I'm told the first Malissa died and he married her first cousin also named Malissa Ann Whittington.

 

I found this listing from Butler county Missouri Marriage Records Book C at http://www.usgwarchives.net but I don't have a copy.

        Whitacre, Thomas       Whittington, Malissa A.       6/25/1879   page 33.3

 

Lost Ancestors, Lost Blog

Yes, it has been a long time and I won't bore you with the details of why. Hopefully I will be able to post at least once a month although things change very slowly in the world of dead ends (or else they wouldn't be brick walls, right?)

So, I have a question for you all. Is anyone else having difficulty locating family in the 1870 census? I have several families where I have them in 1860 and 1880 but cannot find them in 1870. Is there something about that census that I need to know? It's like trying to find them on the 1890 census (genealogy joke).

I do have a quasi theory on this - perhaps they were "laying low" after the War Between The States. (Yes, I call it that because Civil War implies a war within one country. The Confederate states had seceded.) Many of my relations supported the side that did not prevail; actually, all of them that I have found were Confederate soldiers. (I thought I had a Yankee one time but it turned out to be same name, same year of birth, but different person.)

Another researcher of one of my lines said that his branch of the family had passed down a story that the family left Alabama because in that part of the state Confederate sympathizers were harassed and treated badly after the war. Basically, they were run off. This makes me wonder if my family may have been in transition and missed on the census, or perhaps did something to hide their identity during the years following the war.

Which leads me to another discussion - judgment. I don't judge my ancestors. I didn't live their life, in their time, and regardless of the amount of research I do into their lives, I really have no way to know what it was truly like to be them. It doesn't matter to me if they were married when their children were born, if they divorced, or which side of a war they were on. I'm sure many researcher has run into the same resistance I have when interviewing older family members who don't want to spill it because something was embarrassing (to them).

As a family history researcher I have set judgment aside. I keep an open mind to any possibility and let the facts stand as is.

It's A Miracle!

As I mentioned in previous post, I have been researching George Barnes for about 20 years with very little luck. Yesterday I found something! The interesting part of my find is how it came about.

I was on Find-A-Grave (if you haven't been there you should) and looking at a different relative fro the same area (Izard Co Arkansas)  when I noticed someone had left a memorial about having served in the confederate army out of Missouri. I knew he was a Confederate soldier, I have his parole papers, but I knew him as only serving out of Arkansas. So I went to the web site mentioned and found much more than I expected.

I verified my ancestor William Riley Gillihan did serve out of Missouri too and was listed as being from Izard Co Arkansas. Then I noticed a lot of these men were from Izard county so I decided to read all the names and THERE HE WAS - GEORGE W BARNES! I have so little on him so I was super excited and stayed up way past bed time researching him.

Immediately went to Fold3 and saw he was also captured and imprisoned. His name is so common I am not sure if he is one of the many George Barnes also listed as Union soldiers after his capture - some signed oaths of allegiance, some were killed, some traded sides. The regiment he was in had an interesting story and fought at the battle of Pea Ridge - a kinda famous Confederate battle site in Arkansas.