All posts by cattaplin

Unknown's avatar

About cattaplin

Researcher, writer, speaker

Working on the Descendants

Cemetery, Mitchell Research, Ohio, With Kids, Wood County, Ohio

I have been working to trace the descendants of Thomas Carroll and Angeline Mitchell, especially the descendants of Martha (Mitchell) and Harvey Long.

I just recently made a tour of 4 cemeteries in Wood County, Ohio and found several of the descendants. I took my helpers along.

Ethan and Ellie were eager to help look even in the heat. They earned 25¢ for looking and another 25¢ for finding the sought after tombstone. In the end they each earned $1.50!

Before I started, I used Google Maps and mapped out the cemeteries I wanted to visit along with who I was looking for in each:

View Cemetery Tour July 2011 in a larger map

Here are the stones we found:

William H. Long – Went by “Harvey” most of the time, Weaver Cemetery, Wood County, Ohio

Martha A. Long – Went by “Mattie”. Her maiden name is Mitchell, daughter of Thomas and Angeline. Weaver Cemetery, Wood County, Ohio

I also found their son “Willie W. Long” who I had previously only known to have “died in infancy” and his father’s obit also listed him as “William S.” not “W”.

Clara (Long) and Floyd Bullis – Clara was a daughter of Mattie and Harvey Long, Plain Cemetery, Wood County, Ohio

Carrie (Long) and Harry Rudd – Carrie was a daughter of Mattie and Harvey Long, Tontogany Cemetery, Wood County, Ohio

Martha (Long) and Jacob Hentges – Martha was a daughter of Mattie and Harvey Long, Saint Louis Cemetery, Wood County, Ohio.

That’s the 4 cemeteries and the 4 couples I was trying to locate. Check out the Google Map above to see what I did with it to help the research and keep track of my results. Click on the name of each cemetery and you will get a description of what I was looking for, a photo of the tombstone I found.

Angeline’s Maiden Name Confirmed!

Genealogy Program

I feel as though I have confirmed Angeline Mitchell’s maiden name as “Higdon/Higden.” I have been trying to identify the children of Thomas C. and Angeline Mitchell for some time, with not much to go on. I had previously found a website that has transcriptions or extractions of Audrain County marriage books with citations and have extracted some Mitchell brides who I am hoping are the daughters of T.C. and Angeline. However, looking for them in the census has turned up very little so far, at least in Missouri.

Lately, I have been using the Missouri State Archives‘ wonderful index and many images of death certificates. I have been searching that for what has seemed like days looking for these few married names to no avail. As a last ditch effort to uncover something, I decided to try searching for the informant on T. C. Mitchell’s death certificate. It was a name I had never heard of before, “Schwendker,” and thought maybe I could learn who this person was and how they knew Thomas.

Using the MO State Archives, I searched for “Schwendker” in the death certificate database for all counties in Missouri, and lo and behold, only 4 came up, in the county that T. C. was living in when he died. The informants name was “L. A. Schwendker” and there were two “L” names in the index. One of them, Lewis A., does not yet have an image you can download, so I picked the other, Laura. Well, Laura’s death certificate says she is the daughter of Thomas Mitchell and Angeline Higden!

I had long suspected that Higdon was Angeline’s maiden name but this has clenched it for me! I felt so proud of myself for using those genealogical “skills” I have been learning about for so long and had them pay off!

Prisoner of War Record Found

Genealogy Program

Civil War Prisoner of War Record [Ancestry.com link] for Thomas C. Mitchell located at Ancestry.com. This bit of information confirms that he indeed was a prisoner of war as he stated in his pension application and not a deserter as his Compiled Military Service Records state. He was a prisoner at Alton, Illinois. I have not been able to determine his length of stay from these records yet, however.

Joseph Higdon 1840 Census

Genealogy Program

I have located Joseph Higdon in the 1840 Census for Barren County, Kentucky [Ancestry Link]. Also on the same page are a Margaret Higdon with 3 females in the household, one of them being 70-80 years old and an Ishmael Higdon with what looks like a small family. Could be a brother to Joseph, I’ll have to check further.

Joseph Higdon/Higden

Asa Higdon, Barren County, Kentucky, Census Records, Henry County, Ohio, Higden, Joseph Higdon, Kentucky, Missouri

In the previous post about census findings for Thomas and Angeline Mitchell I listed the 1850 census. One page later in the 1850 census for Barren County, Kentucky is the household of Joseph Higdon/Higden. [Ancestry link]

On Angeline’s death certificate it listed her father as “Thomas Mitchell” (obviously not correct) and her mother as “Joe Higdon.” (Probably not her mother, but possibly her father.) I am going to begin looking at Joseph Higdon as a possibility for her father. [Angeline Mitchell death certficate, no. 8014, Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Jefferson City.]

Searching through Ancestry, I was able to locate Asa R./B. Higdon, one of Joseph’s sons, in the 1860 census in Springfield, Henry County, Missouri with possible wife Emeline M. (age 18), a child Jessee B. (age 1) and his sister Mary Higdon (age 32). [Ancestry link]

Census Findings for T. C. Mitchell Family

Audrain County, Missouri, Barren County, Kentucky, Census Records, Cooper County, Missouri, Missouri, Mitchell Research, Montgomery County, Missouri

The following are all of the censuses for Thomas C. Mitchell and family from 1850-1910.

Thomas Mitchell household, 1850 U.S. census, Barren County, Kentucky, population schedule, Division 1, page 374, dwelling 993, family 1018; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 191. [Ancestry Link]

Thos. C. Mitchell household, 1860 U.S. census, Cooper County, Missouri, population schedule, Saline township, Gooches Mills post office, page 58, dwelling 390, family 390; National Archives micropublication M653, roll 616. [Ancestry Link]

Thomas Mitchell household, 1870 U.S. census, Audrain County, Missouri, population schedule, township of Loutre, Martinsburg post office, page 510-B, dwelling 161, family 145; National Archives micropublication M593, roll 756. [Ancestry Link]

Thos. Mitchell household, 1880 U.S. census, Audrain County, Missouri, population schedule, township of Loutre, enumeration district [ED] 2, supervisor’s district [SD] 3, page 18B, dwelling 150, family 151; National Archives micropublication T9, roll 672. [Ancestry Link]

Thos. Mitchell household, 1900 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Missouri, population schedule, township of Upper Loutre, enumeration district [ED] 69, supervisor’s district [SD] 9, page 13B, dwelling 261, family 264; National Archives micropublication T623, roll 876. [Ancestry Link]

T. C. Mitchell household, 1910 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Missouri, population schedule, township of Upper Loutre, enumeration district [ED] 111, supervisor’s district [SD] 9, sheet 5A, page 150, dwelling 99, family 103; National Archives micropublication T624, roll 800. [Ancestry Link]

A different approach

Audrain County, Missouri, Missouri, Thomas E. Mitchell

I’ve been unsuccessful in locating any further information on Thomas Carroll Mitchell or Angeline. I’m going to try a different approach now and turn to looking into their children who are not my ancestor.

I’ve mostly studied their son Thomas E. Mitchell who stayed in Audrain County, Missouri for his entire life. He was easy to trace in the census. I’ve sent away for his death certificate and that of his his son Claud. I located his wife’s online at the Missouri State Archives website.

Here’s what I know about Thomas E. Mitchell. He was born about 1862 (census). He married Sallie N. Morris 26 Dec 1878 in Audrain County, Missouri (Book B, p. 352). The children that I know they had are: John M. (b. Apr 1880, 1880 Census, Audrain Co, MO), Mammie E. (b. abt 1886; 1900 Census, Audrain Co., MO), Claud O. (b. abt. 1889; 1900 Census, Audrain Co., MO), Emil B. (b. abt July 1899; 1900 Census, Audrain Co., MO). The 1900 census also says that Sallie was the mother of 4 children, all of whom were living at the 1900 census.

I’m hoping by studying the children of Thomas Carroll and Angeline Mitchell, I’ll gather more information and more clues on them and their parents.

Searching for father

Joseph Mitchell, Mitchell Research, Tennessee

Thomas Carroll Mitchell’s father, according to his death record, was Joseph Mitchell. Also according to his death record, Thomas was born in “Jonesburrow”, TN in 1826. So, in the 1830 census he should be 4 years old. I looked in TN and turned up a Joseph Mitchell with a boy under 5. This could be the family. I looked for other Joseph’s and none of the others (there were only 2 or 3 total) had a boy under 5. This document is located in my Ancestry.com shoebox.

This could be a possible father to Thomas. I’ve got to do some more checking and working by elimination since I can’t find anything else about him right now.

Thomas Carroll Mitchell – Known information

Angeline (Higdon) Mitchell, Barren County, Kentucky, Kentucky, Loutre Township, Audrain County, Missouri, Missouri, Mitchell Research, Montgomery County, Missouri

Thomas Carroll Mitchell was born in Jonesboro, TN 18 Sep 1826. [1870 census, obituary, death certificate]

He married Angeline (maiden name unknown but “Higden” is a possibility) sometime before 1850. [1850 census]

They had 12 children. [census research]

He died 29 Apr 1914 in Upper Loutre township, Montgomery County, MO. [death certificate, obituary]

My biggest aim right now is to locate their marriage record. I suspected that they were married in Barren County, KY around 1849 because they are in the 1850 census there, married and with no children. However, research into that county has turned up nothing.

IGHR Starts Tomorrow!

Genealogical Education, , , ,
SamfordTrees
One of the beautiful wooded areas on the campus of Samford University. Photo taken by the author.

Samford University in Birmin’ham, Alabama is a gorgeous campus teeming with beautiful architecture, wonderful magnolia trees and apparently snakes. It is in its 174th year as a private university. I have lived in Wyoming and Colorado since 1988 and having been in a dry climate for that long I had nearly forgotten about lush, green vegetation, rolling hills, rivers, lightning bugs and all other things that come along with just a little bit more precipitation.

I am here attending my first ever IGHR (Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research). Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of learning from Elizabeth Shown Mills for an entire week! I am excited (and truth be told, a little bit nervous) to be here. There are many rumors that the nightly homework can be quite involved!

Today was the welcome dinner where I got to meet and visit with some of my colleagues and fellow classmates. I especially enjoyed the time getting together with the ProGen Study Group, past and present. What an amazing group of people. The mentors and coordinators are truly interested in promoting genealogy as a profession and in giving each individual participant their attention when needed. Many of my fellow students I have never met in person, so have a chance to put a face with the name is really fun.

Since sleep might be scarce for the rest of the week, I think I will turn in early tonight!