The Name's Wrong, The Identity's Right: Overcoming Record Errors

Yesterday, I received a notice from FamilySearch that they might have found my great-grandmother in a record.

The record on which my Great-grandmother Fannie Hale Acuff was listed was the 2nd marriage of her daughter Oven Acuff to Owen Sharp.  I'd had the date of her marriage but never entered it. She didn't have children with Owen so that was not a priority for me.  Her name on their marriage record is wrong on two counts. She is listed as Lovena Hammonds.  She should have been listed as Ovena Damrel.  She had been married to Ben Damrel who had died about four years prior. At Ancestry, the record was buried in the hints for Ovena where it was indexed as it was written on the record and probably was only picked up as a hint because of the mention of her parents.

I'm used to names being indexed wrong but this was a case of it being wrong(on two counts) on the record.  I submitted a correction on Ancestry and the record is attached correctly to Ovena at FamilySearch.  I knew she was likely born in either White or Van Buren Co TN because her family lived there until just before the 1920 census when they moved to Madison Co AL for work in the cotton mills.  If I can believe this record gives her place of birth as Doyle TN which is just over the Van Buren County line in White County. 

Source:  
"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-Z7LC-P : accessed 16 September 2024), Marriage Record Entry for Owen Sharp and Ovena Damrel(listed incorrectly as Lovena Dammonds), 24 Aug 1936.

More Records of the Johnson Co IL Hights

Robert Doak Hight--Johnson Co IL Deeds at FamilySearch

Wm R Whiteside & wife Rachel To Robert D Hight 8 Oct 1845

Robert D Hight Quit Claims to Pleasant Grissom 4th Oct 1849

John J Jones to R D Hight 27 May 1859

Joseph and Mary McCorkle to Robert Doak Hight 13 Aug 1859

Isaac Worley and Wife Nancy to R D Hight 28 Oct 1859

Landowners Map of the Hights in Johnson Co. Illinois 
Generated via HistoryGeo

These Hights were from Maury & Bedford Counties of Tennessee.

Robert D Hight was the son of Sion H Hight

Sion H Hight to Rachel Rieter
18 acres 76 poles x 38 poles
Christmas Creek in Rutherford Co TN
15 Dec 1819 [This is the same land description of the 15 acres in Rutherford Co TN(76p x 38p) that was on record to Sion on 9 Oct 1818 and Recorded 24 May 1819 which was a part of a larger grant from NC based on the military service of Robert Whitlock.]

Sion Hight purchased 8 Geese at the Estate Sale of Archibald Hight Maury Co TN 1822

Cook & Putman descendants share atDNA with Sion Hight's descendants.  The largest amounts seem to be with the descendants of his grandson James Franklin Hight's descendants.

Smith, George Washington. 1912. A History of Southern Illinois Vol. 2, Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Company, p 758, James Franklin Hight Biography; digital image  HathiTrust (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951001959853m?urlappend=%3Bseq=234%3Bownerid=114607231-268 : accessed 18 August 2024)

Two Land Records--Wm Harrison--Alexander Creek Bedford Co. TN

These two plats of Wm Harrison's land may be the ones where he and family are living in the 1830 Census of Bedford County Tennessee.  It mentions a neighboring entry for Elijah West.  There was a Jefferson West living near Wm Harrison and family in that census(1830)

Wm Harrison 5 acres No 5126
Scale 20 poles per inch
State of Tennessee Second district by virtue of Entry No 6989
dated October 21st 1814 founded on Certificate No 1051 for
93 acres issued to Mark Mitchell by the register of West
Tennessee on the 10th June 1812 I have surveyed for William
Harrison a tract of land containing five acres situate
in Bedford County on the waters of Alexander Creek of
Duck River Beginning at a dogwood the southeast corner of a fifteen acre
Entry in the name of James Smith Running from thence north thirty poles
to the south west corner of one hundred acre entry in the name of Elijah West
to an Elm and post oak running from thence east tweeny six poles and
seven tenths of a pole to a locust and hackberry thence south thirty
poles to an Elm and hickory thence west twenty six poles and seven 

tenths to the beginning surveyed the ninth day of December 1814 by

William Harrison
John Harrison S.C.C.                            Joseph Neal D. L.
Transmited?   Augt 24th 1818 by Wm Harrison

Wm Harrison 15 acres No. 5127
Scale 40 Poles per Inch
State of Tennessee Second district by virtue of Entry No 6988
dated October 21st 1814 founded on Certificate No 1051 for 93
acres issued to Mark Mitchell by the Register of West Tennessee
on the 10th June 1812 I have surveyed for William Harrison
assignee of John B Hogg fifteen acres of land situate in Bedford
County on the waters of Alexanders Creek of Duck River Beginning at Hickory
the North West Coverner of a thirty acres entry made in the name of John
Cockrell running from thence thirty four and one half poles to two elms
and a cedar thence south sixty nine poles to two cedars and an Elm
Thence east thirty four and one half poles to two Elms and a dogwood in the
west boundary line of P. Cockrill thence North Sixty nine poles to the
Beginning surveyed the ninth day of December 1814 by
William Harrison
John Harrison S.C.C.                          Joseph Neal D. L.
Transmited? Augt 24th 1818 by Wm Harrison

Source 

Ancestry, Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Registers, 1778-1927

 (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4323:3658 : accessed 12 September 2024)

That collection contains the images which are the TN Land Books digitized by TN State Library and Archives.  Those records are part of Record Group 50

Series 3, Book 30, Plats And Surveys 
2nd Surveyor's District 1814-1815
No. 4374 To 5533

p. 346 & 347

Plat No 5125 & No 5126 of William Harrison lands On Alexander Creek, Bedford Co. TN,  

W B Jakes To E.P. Leach--Feb 1925 Bedford Co. TN

Bedford Co TN Trust Deed Book 32 p 527
FamilySearch, Digital image IGN 008568252 Image 621 of 655
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QY-X9CT-7

Accessed 26 August 2024

W B Jakes To E.P. Leach

Property used to secure the note: 
1 bay horse 8 yrs old 15 1/2 hands high and worth $200
1 light bay horse 7 yrs old 15 hands high worth $200
1 McMurray Rubber Tire Sulky worth $100
1 Joy Cart and harness worth $30

Said Property is located at my place of residence on the old Sherrin farm in the 7th district of Bedford County Tenn. 

Stipulation: 

The transfer or removal of said property from this county makes this mortgage immediately due.

This trust is made to secure said E.P. Leach for one note of this date for $125 and due Dec. 15--1925. and signed by W B Jakes, James Jakes, and John L Jakes.  Now if I pay said sum or sums as they mature, then this deed is to be null and void, but if I fail to pay said sum or sums above mentioned at maturity, then the said E. P. Leach may take immediate possession of said above described property, and is hereby empowered to sell the same either privately or publicly and pay the expenses of the deed first; second, to pay said note above described, and a reasonable attorney's fee if placed in the hands of attorney for collection, the balance to me or my order.

This 4 day of Feb 1925

My thoughts:  

I discovered this Trust Deed using the Full-Text Search at FamilySearch.org.  The summary and the transcription offered up in the side panel were riddled with errors so I didn't include it in this post. I am glad to have found this.  I plan to look at that period in Will's life and determine what was happening. 

I love seeing what my Great Uncle Will(W.B. Jakes) owned and it's an added bonus that in the process of giving the location of the property used to secure the note, it tells where he lived.

John L Jakes who signs is Will's brother, and James Jakes is their father

E P Leach was a merchant and carriagemaker who lived in Rutherford Co TN.  I believe this is why the heading says Rutherford Co TN immediately before this deed in the book.  To me, that would mean the deal was made in Rutherford but the property that secured the note was in Bedford Co TN(Will's county of residence.  Could this also be recorded in the Rutherford Co TN Deed books...I'll have to check that out.

McMurray Sulky Co.--From the Detroit Public Library Digital Collection

Don't Neglect Researching the More Recent Past

I obtained a digital copy of my Dad's 1st cousin's will by calling the county clerk's office two years ago. At the time I didn't have a working printer so I had not printed a copy out to put in my Cooke Jakes Archives Binder. I took care of that today. Cousin Hazel had no children of her own so the will was pretty straightforward. She was the only child of my paternal grandmother's brother John Jakes.  Great Uncle John had been a barber in Murfreesboro, TN. He passed away in 1937 when my Dad was really young thus Dad didn't have many memories to pass on concerning his Uncle John or his cousin Hazel who was 10 years his senior. People fall out of touch when there are deaths in the family and such was the case with my grandmother Pearl Jakes Cooke and her deceased brother's daughter Hazel.

I knew that she had married into the Jetton family but pretty much nothing else. When I was writing the article about my great-grandparents James Jakes and Annie Frizzell and their descendants, I found out more about her life. I wish I'd had the Full-text search that is offered in the FamilySearch Labs on FamilySearch.org at the time I was writing that piece.  It's probably just as well though as I am uncovering oodles of info and that would have been too much for the paper article which had already pushed the limit for inclusion in the quarterly.

The important point I want to make is that we shouldn't overlook researching our more recent relatives, such as parents, grandparents, their 1st cousins, and 1st cousins once removed. This is particularly important if you are using DNA research and want to identify matches on your DNA list. While there are privacy laws, there are still many public records that can be accessed through requests or by searching newspapers and directories. Be sure to explore the Full-text Search for those more recent ancestors and cousins.  It may give you ideas for additional places to search for information.

Bounty Land Warrant # 37922--Nancy Culverhouse

The Land Entry Case File 
Warrant # 37922 by Act of Sept 1850  to Nancy Culverhouse widow on service
of John Height Pvt in Capt Paces Co 2nd Reg Tenn Vols
War of 1812 

Nancy Culverhouse Assigned to Wm G Hight

Wm G Hight Assigned to Jacob Idleman

Jacob Idleman entered the claim at the 

Vandalia Ills office on 80 acres in Fayette Co. Illinois

Record Group 49

Records of Bureau of Land Management

National Archives, Washington, DC.

Document Retrieval by Gopher Records

37922
Act of Sept 1850

Nancy Culverhouse widow
of John Height Pvt Capt Paris Co 2nd Reg Tenn Vols
War of 1812

Jacob Idleman Asg
Vandalia Ills 80 acres

5th May 1853
Reg 7 Aug /55

11 April 1852

For value received I Nancy Culverhouse to whom the within
warrant No 45.922 was issued do hereby sell and assignee unto William
G Hight of Bedford County Tennessee and to his heirs and
assigns forever the said warrant and authorizes him to locate the same
and receive a patent therefor. Witness my hand and seal this 4th
day of June 1852
Nancy Culverhouse(her mark and seal)
Attest
C S Dudley
R B Rucker

4th June 1852 Justice of Peace James Foster
7th June 1852 John H Oneal Clerk of Bedford Co TN
verifies the return by the JP and applies the seal

17th June 1852 Wm G Hight sells & assigns to Jacob Idleman
of Fayette Co IL

Attest
Ro G Smiley
D F Wilkin

17th June 1852 in Davidson Co TN by Justice of Peace Robert W Greene
F R Cheatham certifies and seals the assignment also on 17th June 1852