Ancestors and Alcohol

The Daily Republican Banner  Sat. Oct  13, 1838 pg 1

An Advertisement from 1838 Nashville TN newspaper about wine and brandy available for sale was not that uncommon.  The earlier newspapers seem to have many advertisements where folks are either looking to purchase or to sell items used to make liquor. My Ogilvies were especially found of distilleries.  Stills and other items or ingredients used in the production of liquor were a common part of their estates.  Even shares in upcoming production of whiskey was mentioned in my 5th Great Grandfather, William Ogilvie's will(April Session 1813 Williamson Co. TN)

Nashville Whig --Wed. April 7 1813 advertisement states:
Stills
A Hynes & Co.
Are now manufacturing, and will
constantly have on hand, a number of the
best kind of Copper Stills.
Nashville, March 24, 1813

From the 1826 Madison Co TN probate records of Charles S. Barthe, I found the contents of a mercantile store listed--much of which is liquor.  As I first read though the inventory list I had wondered if it might have been a tavern due to the amount of drinks and glasses. Further along in the inventory listing there are large amounts of grains, household goods, fabrics, and medicines as well as work tools.  Perhaps the large stock of alcohol was due to it being used as more than just a good drink? It was a pain medicine, tonic, cough syrup and in some cases a disinfectant.

Horace Odell Holder-- July 1946-- son of Mrs. W. L. Leathers

I found this article which mentions Rockvale, TN while researching another story but thought this was worth mentioning.  Was Horace Odell Holder any relation to me?  I thought I'd check since I have many family lines in that area. As it happens, we share a 4th Great Grandparent, Mark Lambert Jackson.  He descends thru Mark's first wife Drucilla Rainey, while my connection is thru that of his 2nd wife Leannah Basey Webb. That makes us 1/2 5th Cousins.

Horace Odell Holder was the son of  Horace Lee Holder and Minnie Odell Hendrix Holder(who remarried to Walter Lee Leathers after Horace Lee Holders death in 1931)

Kingsport News,  04 Jul 1946, Thu,  Page 6 (available at www.newspapers.com )

I found an entry in a Virginia Directory for a Horace O Holder and wife but I am not sure if this is the same person or not.  This Horace O Holder is listed as USN.  The couple were divorced in the same year the directory covers and had only married the year before in Savannah Georgia according to Divorce Papers also available at Ancestry.com.  This will take further research to determine if this is the same Horace O Holder as the one from Rockvale.

1952 Newport News Virginia Directory (available at  www.ancestry.com )

Williamson Co TN Probate packets

I've been working with probate files a lot lately.  I have many ancestors who were living in Williamson Co TN in the early 1800s.  There is a database at Ancestry which is called  Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965. While it does showcase the divorce records, the Williamson County TN section of this database is where I have been finding probate packets.  Probate packets are files which contain all the information used in wrapping up a person's estate after their death.

Items you might find in a probate packet:

• The original will(if one existed) 
• Inventory of the Deceased's estate
• Records of the Estate Sale(items, price, and buyer) 
• Additional court records if there are minor heirs or if a will is contested etc.
• Allotment records for the widow and minor heirs
• Records of Bond posted
• Affidavits on a number of subjects.
• Subpoenas of witnesses
• Records of death of the widow
• Land Records/Deed Plots

(these are just some I have found..your results may vary)

In addition to Williamson County, the database contains the following TN counties: Anderson, Carroll, Cheatham, Dickson, Franklin, Haywood, Henderson, Obion, and Tipton.

The record types covered are searchable and browsable and in some cases listed alphabetically:

ANDERSON 

Divorce Court Minutes 1947-1949 

Divorce Court Minutes 1949-1951 

CARROLL

Divorce Court Files 1826-1900 (listed by Surname A-Z)

CHEATHAM

Divorce Records 1919-1950, A-Z 

Marriage Bonds/Licenses 1904-1910 

DICKSON

Death Records 1930-1939 

Divorce Records 1849-1932, A-Wr 

Original Wills 1800-1899 

FRANKLIN

Divorce Records 1860-1900, A-W 

Divorce Records 1900-1910, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1900-1930, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1910-1919, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1920-1929, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1930-1939, A-Z 

HAYWOOD

Divorce Court Docket 1941-1965 

Divorce Files 1860-1936 

Divorce Index 1860-1936 

Divorce, Probate and Other Files 1808-1885 

HENDERSON

Chancery Court Records 1870-1915 

Divorce Index 1896-1950 

Divorce Records 1896-1950 

Other Court Records 1800-1918 

OBION

Divorce Records 1930-1939, Ve-Yo 

Divorce Records 1940-1950, A-Wy 

TIPTON

Divorce Index 1911-1950 

Divorce Records 1911-1950, A-Z

Wills 1829-1950 

WILLIAMSON

Divorce Files 1900-1950, A-Z

Divorce, Probate and Other Records 1800-1899, A-Z 

Misc Records (Liquor Licenses thru Slave Records) 

The Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 is a part of the Wills & Probates, Estates & Guardian Records Collection at Ancestry.com.  If you save the files to your tree please be sure they are listed as probate and not divorce facts.  Several years ago when I added a probate file for my Putmans from this database it would list the event as a divorce rather than a probate.  This is fixable but not without some work manually editing sorce.  This is likely something which could occur in mixed records sets and may be propagated if people aren't paying attention while they are adding the documents. Consult the database at Ancestry.com(if you aren't subscribed you may be able to view while at your local library.)  Many of these files are also available at FamilySearch.org.  Check the catalog there under Tennessee and the county in which you are interested.

AncestryDNA match category spread for my family's tests.

Mom's AncestryDNA matches include
2 children
1 granddaughter

2nd Cousin AncestryDNA category
(which includes some projected 1st-2nd cousins & 2nd-3rd cousins)
11 cousins--3 of which have uploaded to GEDmatch.com
AncestryDNA estimated shared cMs ranges from 623 cMs over 21 segments --235 cM over 9 segments
All are Paternal cousins except one--a known maternal 1C1R of the Acuff/Hale variety

3rd Cousin AncestryDNA category
39 cousins--6 of which have uploaded to GEDmatch.com
AncestryDNA estimated shared cMs ranges from 188 cMs over 9 segments-- 91 cMs over 5 segments

Subtracting those 50 matches and the 3 immediate family from her total shown 4th Cousins or closer match total and she has 2,266 4th cousins.  For the record all of Mom's 3rd cousins or closer have been asked if they would consider uploading their results to GEDmatch.  Looking at Mom's matches made me curious how the numbers compared to my results as well as those of my daughter, and my sister.

Mom is very fortunate to have many of  her closer cousins who have tested.  I wish more of the closer cousins would upload to GEDmatch.  It certainly would make sorting the matches easier.  In the end though it is their choice and more times than not, it is just not a priority for them.

Looking at the Head of Households for 1820 Elbert Co Georgia --Capt Oliver's Dist

Wanted to read through the Census for the area where my Upshaw/Patton lines had lived.  They would have been gone from the area for likely at least 15 yrs by the time this census was taken.  I see a lot of Cooks and also some familiar names like William King and Leroy Upshaw.  The Upshaw may be a cousin as the age was too young to be my direct Leroy Upshaw.  I'm sure there are errors in this listing as it is my attempt at reading the handwriting from the scanned images.  That said, the writing is worlds better than some I've tried to decipher.

PAGE 1
John Y Allgood
William Nolan
Issachar Cook
John F Cook
Thomas Bell Sr
David Matten?
James Morrison
John Nunley
Peter Allgood
James Bell
Thomas Elliott
Abraham Cook
John Cook
Joshua Cook
Smith Cook
Thomas Cook
Samuel Cook
Thomas Thurlkill
Isaac Mobley
Aaron Brown
Mary Cook
Nathaniel Cook
William Stone
John B Cook
Nicholas Goode
Thomas Childers
David Hudson Jr
Becker Hudson
William Allgood Jr
Mchenry Irons
George Cook
Saml Snellings
William Allgood Sr
Patrick Jack

PAGE  2
James Ragan
Edmond Lowrey
Parish Smith
Thomas Oliver
William King
Leroy Upshaw
Valentine Smith
Jesse Hendrick Sr
William Woods
William S Burch
Thomas Forstson
D??er Jeter
Walker Richardson
Thomas Laninham
Ralph Blackwell
Lewis Wilhight
John Winfield
Peter David
Gideon Hamm
Leonard Smith
William Hendrick
James A Depriest
William Burns


These are listed after the totals on the 2nd pg. (no explanation is offered by the census taker as to why they are listed separately)
Dyonesus Oliver
Isaac O Edwards
David Hudson Sr
William B Key
Andrew Woodley
Chole T Kee
George Perrin
William C Davis

A letter for Ellis P Cook--Nashville--April 1841

Searching Newspapers.com for Cooks in the middle Tennessee area I found a List of Letters Advertisement.

The Tennessean Nashville, Tennessee United States of America
Tuesday, April 20, 1841 pg 4  (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12369797/)

List of Letters
Remaining in the Post Office at Nashville on the 15th day of April.
Persons applying for the letter to the following list, will please say "ADVERTISED"

Among those listed was
Cook, Ellis P


Not in my line that I know of but I was curious as to why he hadn't gotten the letter.

1839 Oct Robertson Co TN married to Louisa Y? Strother₁
1840 Davidson Co., TN₂
1850 Newton Co., MO₃ (Kitty Cortney b. in TN living in household)
1860 Newton Co., MO₄ (Louisa no longer in household youngest child age 7)
1870 Newton Co., MO₅ (Kitty still living in household
1870 Dec Newton Co., MO₆ married Catherine  "Kitty" Cortney
1880 Carroll Co., AR ₇

Looking at a timeline of events from records I found it appears he had moved from the Nashville area to Newton Co MO where he remained until sometime between 1870 and 1880 when he moved to Carroll Co., Arkansas.  After the death of his first wife it appears he married Kitty who had been living in his household since 1850.  Was Kitty kin to his first wife who was also born in TN.  Did he ever receive the letter?  Rabbit holes for another day.

The following sources were consulted as I fell down the rabbit hole.


1.  Tennessee, State Marriages, 1780-2002 for Ellis P Cook  --Robertson Dec 1878 - Nov 1886: Marriages 5-8
Ancestry.com. Tennessee, State Marriages, 1780-2002   Oct 16 1839 (it was indexed as 1840 and in the 1878-1886 book [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
Original data: Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.

2.  Year: 1840; Census Place: Davidson, Tennessee; Roll: 520; Page: 285; Family History Library Film: 0024543
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census, Tennessee, Davidson Co. City of Nashville Ward 4  Image 41 of 257 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 

3.  Year: 1850; Census Place: Van Buren, Newton, Missouri; Roll: M432_408; Page: 342A; Image: 246
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census Missouri, Newton Co.  Van Buren Twp. Images 12 & 13 of 14[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. 

4.  Year: 1860; Census Place: Van Buren, Newton, Missouri; Roll: M653_636; Page: 983; Family History Library Film: 803636
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census Missouri Newton Co. Van Buren Twp. Images 9 of 25. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. 

5.  Year: 1870; Census Place: Van Buren, Newton, Missouri; Roll: M593_795; Page: 487B; Image: 386627; Family History Library Film: 552294
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census Missouri Newton Co. Van Buren Twp. Newtonia P.O. Images 12 of 33[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

6.  Ancestry.com. Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.
Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.

7.  Year: 1880; Census Place: Eureka Springs, Carroll, Arkansas; Roll: 39; Family History Film: 1254039; Page: 159C; Enumeration District: 025; Image 15 of 57
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census Arkansas, Carroll Co., Eureka Springs Image 15 of 57  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.