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
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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!
My FGS Conference Plans
I recently decided to attend the FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) annual conference this year which is being held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of the Allen County Public Library, August 21-24, 2013. When I made my genealogy plans for the year, I hadn’t included FGS. I just had so many trips I wanted to take and I had to limit myself. However, several things lined up that allowed me to go. First of all, I have a travel companion that will help cut down expenses (you know who you are). Second, I have never been to the Allen County Public Library. Third, I really have a hard time resisting the chance to listen to wonderful speakers such as D. Joshua Taylor, John Colletta, Elizabeth Shown Mills, Tom Jones, Mark Lowe, Curt Witcher, George Morgan, and that’s just the beginning; there are dozens of great speakers on the schedule. Forth, did I mention the Allen County Public Library?
In addition to attending lectures that are sure to increase my knowledge and skills, I am planning on doing a bit of research at the Allen County Public Library. From their 16-minute Orientation Video I learned that the Genealogy Center in the ACPL has over 340,000 printed volumes including published family histories, county histories, directories and local records from across the United States and Canada as well as holdings for the British Isles, Ireland and Western Europe. Also, they have over 550,000 pieces of microfilm and microfiche. This video also walks you through each of their five genealogy rooms. ACPL is also the creator of PERSI (the Periodical Source Index) which indexes surnames and topics from periodicals.
I had some collateral ancestors in one of my brick walls that lived in Allen County. Carrill Long married Harry Rudd in Michigan. She was born in Missouri abt. 1892 and died in Fort Wayne, 12 July 1967. She is buried in Wood County, where the rest of her family lived. However, I don’t know a thing about her husband, Harry. I will be looking into Harry Rudd and why they moved to Fort Wayne. The couple are not buried together, she died before he did and I speculate that he remarried and is buried with his second wife. But I need to find the proof!
I am also very interested in learning about what other great treasures can be found at ACPL. Much of my ancestry is based in Wood County, Ohio, which is in the northwestern part of the state. Being that close to Allen County, I hope I might find other resources I had not discovered before. Family histories, county histories, periodicals, maps, microfilms, and more!
With all of the time I will be spending at the conference and then at the library, with their extended hours for conference attendees, I wonder if I will get any sleep! But who needs sleep with all of the great genealogy happening?
Attempting to be Organized
Being an “organized genealogist” is like trying to reach enlightenment. It seems like such an unattainable goal, like me climbing Mount Everest. (I’m lucky if I can climb the stairs sometimes!) However, there are many tips and tricks, blogs, books, magazines and people (they call them “professional organizers”) to help you get and stay organized.
A new Facebook community got me thinking about this topic. Susan Peterson started the community “The Organized Genealogist” which allows genealogists the chance to swap ideas, photos, ask/answer questions and get some great tips on organization geared directly at genealogists. People have been sharing their personal systems for organizing everything from their photos, to their files and research to their entire office. You should go and visit. It is a great group to be a part of.
Currently my office is crammed into our guest bedroom. I mean crammed. I have boxes of books stacked in the corner, bins of office supplies stacked up, two bookshelves over-flowing, a card table, a few piles on the floor, two small filing cabinets, a hutch, on top of the hutch… well you can see for yourself:
There is no way for anyone to use this room! When we have visitors, I have to “clean up” which means put everything into a pile on top of my desk while they are visiting. I’m not saying I mind having visitors, I am saying I mind not having a REAL office.
We have lived in this house for 10 years now, and for the entire time, my dear husband has been “finishing” the basement. Granted, he works a full time job to put food on the table and the roof over our head that houses said basement, however, this summer is the summer of completion! I can count the projects left to complete on one hand: finish the mudding/sanding in one section of the basement (the rest is done), prime that section, paint, carpet, floor/window trim. We did a lot of prep work over the last few weeks to get this ready to finish. We moved a lot of stuff upsta
irs (the upstairs is a series of piles right now), we stapled and taped plastic to various sections of the basement where we’d like to keep the dust to a minimum, we bought primer and paint, we have some cash set aside for carpet (I hope it’s enough) and we moved as much out of those two rooms as possible to give clear working space for sanding/painting and carpet.
There are basically two large sections to our basement, one will be family/TV/video-game play area and the other, larger section will be our offices. My husband and I will be getting two of those U-Shaped desks to put together, his and her offices. There will be plenty of room for shelves, I have two large filing cabinets already that were given to me (I love free!) and the basement has really nice large windows that let a surprising amount of light in.
So, this fall look for the “grand opening” of GenealogyPants, LLC home offices! I will keep you updated!
Genealogy Pants 