Video - First part of my road trip to St. Charles, MO for NGS Conference

Sort of related to genealogy. I attended the National Genealogical Society conference in St. Charles, Missouri last month. Rather than fly I decided to drive from Houston, TX and stay off the major highways.

Here is the first part where I visited Bremond, Texas where my paternal great great grandparents
(John Mabe Autrey  1828-unknown, Dianacy "Dicy" Wallace 1829-1925) may have lived between 1880-1900.

52 Ancestors-Week 9- Dianacy "Dicy" Wallace (1830-1925)

Dianacy “Dicy” Wallace I believe is my paternal great great grandmother.  While there is some circumstantial evidence that points at a relationship between her and my great grandmother Celia E. Autrey, so far it has not been satisfactorily proven.

Dicy was born about 1830 in Mississippi.  On 3 October 1851 she married John Mabe Autrey in Union Parish where they resided until some time between 1870 and 1880.  After that they lived in the neighboring Parish of Lincoln.

John Mabe died some time between 1880 and 1903.  According to her Widows Pension application, he died on the first day of September 1903.  However according to the 1900 census for Hardin County, Texas, Dicy was already a widow and living with the family of one of her children, J. A. Autrey.

Widows Pension Application

The 1910 census has Dicy living by herself in Range, Texas County, Oklahoma and as far as I can tell there are no immediate family members living in the vicinity around that time. 

In 1920 she is in Beech, Miller County, Arkansas living with her daughter, Mary F. Tubbs and her husband Francis.  For some reason her name is listed as Mary Walace (sic). Sometime between 1920 and her death on 17 Sep 1925 the Tubbs along with Dicy moved to Waco, McLennan County, Texas.

Here death certificate has as the cause of death ‘senility’.  She is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, Texas.

Dicy WALLACE Autrey late in life
Possibly a post-mortem picture?

     There are several questions I have about Dicy and her later life:

1.   When and where did they live when John Mabe died? 
       (That 1890 census would really be nice to have for this case.)

2.   According to an un-credited source, The Descendants of Cornelius Autry, Immigrant of Edgecombe 
      North Carolina : Neil Culbreth of Sampson County, North Carolina, and Allied Familes, the Autrey's lived in
      Robertson County, Texas and owned a store.  So far I have not found any evidence for this.

3.   After John Mabe died, why did she move so often?  
      Possibly, and these are just guesses, she was making extended visits to her children and their families, or she      
      was already suffereing the effects of senility and was being shuffled around by family members.

4.   Is the picture of Dicy above a post-mortem photo?  Based on the rigid pose I lean towards a possible yes.

5.   Why in the 1920 census is she listed as Mary Walace?  Perhaps she is the one who spoke to the census taker and if she
      was suffering from senility maybe she got confused.
  

Sources: 

[1] "Louisiana, Marriages, 1816-1906," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F4C2-Z5T : accessed 21 Apr 2013), John Autry and Dianacy Wallace, 03 Oct 1851.

[1] 1870 U. S. census, Union Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 42 (written), dwelling 319, family 319, John Autry; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 534.

[1] 1880 U. S. census, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, pop. sch, p. 59 (written), dwell 488, fam. 501, John Autrey.

[1] Vivian Mayo Bundy, The Descendants of Cornelius Autry, Immigrant of Edgecombe County, North Carolina : Neil Culbreth of Sampson County, North Carolina, and Allied Familes (Charlotte, N.C. : Herb Eaton Historical Publications, 1996), 33.

52 Ancestors-Week #7-John Mabe Autrey

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The object is to write something about 1 ancestor each week.  More information can be  found at her blog No Story Too Small.

Here are the basic facts I have about my probable but so far no conclusively proven paternal great great grandfather John Mabe Autrey:

He was born in Selma, Alabama 12 Aug 1828 to Absalom and Elizabeth H. Norris.(1) 

In 1850 John is in living in Absalom's household in Union Parish Louisiana. (2)

On the 3 October 1851 John and Dianacy Wallace were married in Union Parish, Louisiana.(3)

1860-1870 John and Dianacy lived in Union Parish and had about 10 children during this period.(4)

In 1880 the Autrey's are living in the neighboring parish of Lincoln, Louisiana. (5)

By the 1900 census, Dianacy is living in Hardin, Texas with one of her son's family and is listed as a widow. (6)

In 1911, Dianacy filled out a widows pension  application and stated that John had died in 1903.(7)

John served the Confederate army during the Civil War.  He enlisted on 11 May 1862 in Monroe, Louisiana and was discharched on 8 June 1865. (8)

After 1880, John Mabe seems to have disappeared completley.  No death, probate, property or tax record has been located in Louisiana or Texas.   
My next step is to visit Hardin,  Texas and see if I can locate anything. 

I have also seen unsourced references to them living in Robertson County, Texas and owning a store.  So far, nothing I've checked verifies this so it looks like I'll be taking a couple of road trips in the not too distant future. 

Sources:

(1) Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Births [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. (2)1850 U. S. census, Union Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 791 (written), dwelling 706, family 706, Absalom Autrey; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M432 roll 241. (3)"Louisiana, Marriages, 1816-1906," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F4C2-Z5T : accessed 21 Apr 2013), John Autry and Dianacy Wallace, 03 Oct 1851. [4] 1860 U. S. census, Union Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 25 (written), dwelling 154, family 154, Jno Autry; digital, image, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication, M653, roll 426.Ancestry.com. Arkansas, Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. [4] 1870 U. S. census, Union Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 42 (written), dwelling 319, family 319, John Autry; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 534. [5] 1880 U. S. census, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 59 (written), dwelling 488, family 501, J. H. Sample; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 456. [6] 1900 U. S. census, Liberty County, Texas, pop. sch., p. 237 A (stamped), dwell. 252, fam. 252, Dianacy Autrey. digital image, Ancestry.com (http:www.ancestry.com: accessed 11 April 2013); citing National Archives microfilm publication T623.

[7]Ancestry.com. Arkansas, Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

[8]National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online <http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/>, acquired 2007.

Goals for April

1.  Finish my biography of my great grandfather Dennis McFadden for the final NGS-HSC assignment.      I have most of the information I need, however including only relevant information and leaving out extraneous filler is proving to be difficult.

2.  Devote sufficient time to this months ProGen assignment-A proof argument for my great grandmother Sealy (Celia) AUTREY Sample.  Unfortunately on some of the assignments I didn't spend as much time as I should have and felt that I rushed the assignment.  I still learned a lot but don't think I did as well as I could have.

3.  Continue organizing my files and notes and entering my information into the Reunion software.

4.  I'm not able to attend any of the national conferences this year so I need to look for more local events.  First I'll sign up for the Angelina College Genealogy Conference in Lufkin, Texas.

5.  Be more consistent on posting here and start citing any sources used according to Evidence Explained.

6.  Start planning for genealogy research trips.  My first one will most likely be to Robertson County, Texas to look for Sealy's mother Dianacy "Dicy" Autrey who may have lived there and operated a store with her husband John Mabe.

7.  Decide on whether to get an iPad or iPad mini.  The Reunion app would be helpful especially at conferences and short genealogy trips.

Possible photo of great great grandmother

I came across a site that has this photo attached to the record for Dianacy "Dicy" WALLACE Autrey (1829-1925).  Dicy, I believe is the mother of Sealy "Celia" AUTREY Sample (1860-1907) but so far have been unable to verify their linkage, as described in previous posts. 

There is also a smaller head shot of this image on this site.  I did try to contact someone at the site but so far have not received a reply.  I would like more information on this picture such as when it was taken, who has the original, if it still exists and if there are others of her and her family. 

Playing with the image, adjusting tint, darkness etc. it does appear she is standing in front of a brick wall.  At the bottom by her left leg there is a round object but so far I have no clue what it could be. 
Finally, there is something about the way she is posed that makes me think this could be a post mortem photograph even though 1925 seems a little late since the practice had fallen off during the 20th century.

Another mystery to work on that hopefully does have an answer out there somewhere.