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.

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousins--1950 US Federal Census

In a blog post I made in April, I listed the citations of the 1950 census entries for Dad, his siblings and a number of his paternal 1st cousins. I am doing the same of his maternal 1st cousins for this post.  A link to the Enumeration Districts is also included after each citation.  I didn't hyperlink the web addresses so you will need to copy and paste the url into your browser. This will be a great help to me when I read thru the districts again. When no one was at home a revisit was required and those revisits are listed at the end of each enumeration district.  The sheet #s for the revisit sections start with 71 to set them apart from the initial walk thru.  See this informative post at HistoryHub.

Aunt Lula's Children

Dad's maternal 1st cousin James Morton Gibson & family
Morton & Martha Gibson with sons Granville & Darrell
1950 US Federal Census, Davidson Co. TN, Nashville, Enumeration District 99-271, sheet 77, Serial/Household #144, Lines 5-8( James M Gibson Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 99-271 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Nashville%2C%20Davidson&ed=99-271&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Telitha Aline Gibson Stevens  w/ her husband Andrew & Daughter Patricia.

1950 US Federal Census, Davidson Co. TN, Nashville, Enumeration District 99-278, Serial/Household #211, sheet 17, Lines 26-28( Andrew D Stevens Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census  (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 99-278 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Nashville%2C%20Davidson&ed=99-278&state=TN

Aunt Cora's Children

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Lillian Irene Gibson Wagster & Family
1950 US Federal Census, Butler Co. OH, Ross Township(West of Route 127), Enumeration District 9-114, sheet 73, Serial/Household #201, Lines 25-28( Huston I Wagster Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 9-114 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Butler&ed=9-114&state=OH

Dad's maternal 1st cousin Thomas Lytle Gibson and Family
1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Civil Dist. 24, Enumeration District 2-39, sheet 8, Serial/Household #60, Lines 20-21( Tom L Gibson Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 2-39:  https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-39&state=TN

Dad's maternal 1st Cousin Verna Gibson Wagster & her husband

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-10, sheet 13, Serial/Household #128, Lines 27-28( Paul Wagster Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 2-10 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-10&state=TN

Dad's maternal 1st cousin Bertha Eunice Gibson Stokes Osteen and Family

1950 US Federal Census, Butler Co. OH, Hamilton, Enumeration District 96-21, sheet 19, Serial/Household #227, Lines 25-27( John R O'Steen Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to Dist 96-21: https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?state=OH&county=Hamilton&Butler&ed=96-21&scheduleId=4612534

Dad's maternal 1st cousin  Preston C Gibson and Family

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Tourist Court, Enumeration District 2-4, sheet 77, Serial/Household #174, Lines 8-12( Preston Gibson & Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 2-4 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-4&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st cousin. Leone Gibson Uselton & 1st Husband

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-11, sheet 6, 210 Jefferson, Serial/Household #66, Lines 17-18(Fred Uselton & Leone); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 2-11 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-11&state=TN

Aunt Kitty's Children

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Mary Magdalene Bell Dye & Family
1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-10, sheet 13, Serial/Household #125, Lines 16-21(Bernum B Dye Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 2-10 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-10&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Zada Florene Bell McGregor & Family

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-10, sheet 26, Serial/Household #255, Lines 27-30(Florene Bell McGregor & Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 2-10 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-10&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st cousin Lawrence Melvin Bell & Family

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Civil Dist 7, Enumeration District 2-16, sheet 5, Serial/Household #49, Lines 6-8( Lawrence M Bell & Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 2-16 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-16&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st cousin Patra Bell

1950 US Federal Census, Davidson Co. TN, Nashville, Enumeration District 99-265, sheet 6, Serial/Household #60, Line 17(Living in Clarence Huffman Household but arrow drawn to Household of Lillie B Adams HH 59); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 99-265 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Nashville%2C%20Davidson&ed=99-265&scheduleId=5649164&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st cousin. Tom Bell Jr & Family

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-10, sheet 22, 703 Elliott, Serial/Household #216, Lines 26-30(Tom Bell Jr. & Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 2-10 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-10&state=TN

Dad's Maternal 1st cousins, Pearl, J.B., and Olive Bell living in the household of their parents

1950 US Federal Census, Bedford Co. TN, Shelbyville, Enumeration District 2-10, sheet 14, 530 Oak,  Serial/Household #130, Lines 5-9(Tom Bell (Sr) &  Family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 2-10 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Bedford&ed=2-10&state=TN

Uncle John's daughter

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Hazel P Jakes Jetton & Family

1950 US Federal Census, Rutherford Co TN, Murfreesboro, Enumeration District 75-25, Serial/Household # 89, sheet 76, Lines 9-11(John M Jetton Family); U.S. National Archives,  1950 Census  (https://1950census.archives.gov/search).

Link to District 75-25 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?state=TN&county=Rutherford&ed=75-25&scheduleId=5664180

Uncle Will's Children
Dad's Maternal Uncle Will B Jakes Sr. & Family

1950 U.S. census, Davidson Co., TN, Old Hickory Civil Dist 4, ED 19-19, sheet 10, 311 30th Street, Serial/Household #111, line 29-30 & sheet 11, lines 1-2 (Wm B Jakes Sr. Family);  U.S. National Archives,  1950 Census  ((https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

Link to District 19-19 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?state=TN&county=Davidson&ed=19-19

Dad's Maternal 1st Cousin Lula Pauline "Polly" Jakes Sams & Husband
1950 US Federal Census, Bay Co. FL, Parker, Enumeration District 3-38, sheet 22, Serial/Household #202, Lines 1-2(Tom B Sams & wife); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).
Link to District 3-38 https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?state=FL&county=Bay&ed=3-38