Mary C. "Mollie" Briggs

The next few posts I'm going to go through some of the children of Jacob and Tina Briggs.

It appears Jacob may have had an oldest son named Richard P. (born 1860 in Mississippi), but I have no other information about him at this time and I don't know of anyone else who does either.

Next in line was Jacob and Leanna's daughter Mary C. "Mollie" who was born 10 Jan 1870 in Mississippi. Mollie married Thomas Andrew Wilson on 29 May 1886 in Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma. Mollie was Thomas's third wife (but not his last). Mollie and Thomas had 5 (possibly 6) known children: Katie(?), Effie Edna, Eunice Claudie, Ida May/Mae, Thomas Lee (died in infancy), and Dewey/Duey Fontain.

Left to right
Eunice Claudie Wilson
Thomas Wilson holding Ida May Wilson
Mary C. "Molly" Briggs holding Dewey F. Wilson
Effie Wilson

Above is a picture of the family I found on the OK Gen Web site.  The identification is also from that site.

Effie Edna was born 3 May 1887 in Indian Territory, OK.

Eunice Claudie was born 3 Jun 1889 in Butler (Indian Territory), OK.

Ida May/Mae was born 6 Mar 1893 also in Butler.

Dewey/Duey Fontain was born in December 1897 in Dunbar (Indian Territory), OK.

Cousin Cathy told me a family story that was related to her that Mollie was pregnant at the time of her death. She tragically fell out of a window which killed her and the baby.  This was on 1 Jan 1901 in Pushmataha County, OK.

Introducing the Briggs Family

Thanks to New Cousin Cathy, I now know about a whole new branch on the family tree.

As my grandma suspected, Myrtle's death certificate was incorrect listing her father as Doug Briggs.  Doug was her brother.  William Douglas Briggs to be more specific.  Myrtle's father's name was Jacob Pinkney Briggs.  He was born sometime around 1835 possibly in Tennessee. He lived in Yazoo County, Mississippi and Oklahoma where he was a Methodist preacher.  And he died presumably around 1890 in Oklahoma.  I have not been able to confirm a date or place yet, but that's where his information seems to leave off.

Myrtle's mother was not Jacob's first wife, so Myrtle had some half-siblings.  Jacob's first wife was Leannah Dyer, and they had four children together. Leannah is presumed to have died around 1875.

Myrtle's mother has been a bit more difficult to track down.  Even her name is complicated. I have seen her listed on documents or referenced by family members as Tina, Tinia, Tinnie, Tunie, and Tiny.  One of her grandchildren thought her maiden name was Hartley but there has, to my knowledge, never been anything else to confirm that.

She was born according to one census in October of 1860.  She has been listed as being born in both Louisiana and Mississippi.  It is also not know when she died.  Presumably sometime after 5 Jun 1900 which is the last time she shows up on a census in Hunt County, Texas with her second husband Jess W. Abrams.

Ironically I know the date of Jacob's marriage to Leannah Dyer and the date of Tina's marriage to Jess Abrams, but I cannot find marriage records for Jacob and Tina's marriage.  Probably sometime between 1875 and 1879 based on when children were born.

Speaking of children, here are Jacob and Tina's children:

Jacob and Leanna:
Richard P. born 1860
Mary C. "Mollie" born 1870
Jacob M. born 1873
Cully C. born 1875

Jacob and Tina:
LaHanna "Annie" born 1879
William Douglas born 1882
Myrtle Victoria born 1886
Jesse Jewel born 1889

Tina and Jess:
J.C. Abrams born 1898

Discovering the Briggs Family

I decided to dig a little into my grandpa's mom's family a couple of months ago.  I honestly didn't expect to get very far because her family always seemed to be a bit of a mystery.  My mom barely remembers her.  My grandpa only spoke vaguely about her when he was alive.  My grandma loved her but doesn't seem to know (or remember) much about her family.

Her name was Myrtle Victoria Briggs-Carroll.  I also know she was married previously to a man with the last name Crawford because my grandfather had half-siblings with that last name.  I know that she was born 26 Jan 1886, although where seems to be up for debate.

About the only other thing I had to go on was a vague memory of my grandpa talking about visiting his Briggs family in Moyers, Oklahoma as a young man.  And on Myrtle's death certificate her father's name is listed as Doug Briggs.

When I showed my grandma the death certificate she thought I probably shouldn't put much stock in the father's name because it was supplied by Myrtle's husband (my grandpa's dad Earl) and not only was he never really that interested in Myrtle's family, he was also very old when he gave them that information.

I went digging through some of my grandparent's old pictures and found this!

Front

Back

As you can see, it says that it's a picture of "Uncle Doug Briggs - Mom's Brother." That's my grandpa's handwriting. And it says it was taken in Moyers, OK.  I'm not sure when he wrote this on the back but it may have been many years later as he got Doug's wife's name wrong, but it was something to go on.

I found out that Moyers is in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, so I started looking around on the internet to see what I could find out about it.  I came across this website:

Oklahoma GenWeb

As I began scrolling down, I noticed a few people named Briggs.  But I thought what are the chances it's my Briggs.  Sure there's a guy named William Douglas Briggs, but as I've discovered that's not the most unusual name in the world.

I took a chance and emailed the lady who submitted the pictures and, unbelievably, she is a distant cousin.  Those ARE my Briggs!!

New Cousin Cathy's grandma was the sister to my great-grandma Myrtle.  I knew Myrtle had a brother, but I didn't know about a sister.  Turns out Cathy has been researching "our Briggs" for many years and had tons of information on them!  She has been a treasure trove of information.  Plus it's fun to have someone to share your excitement with.

So, needless to say, I've been overwhelmed the past couple of months with sorting through all the information she's given me. Not to mention trying to fill in a few blanks here and there myself since new information comes online on almost a daily basis.

I'll try to begin posting what I'm finding out about my great-grandma Myrtle Victoria Briggs-Crawford-Carroll's family.

Find-A-Grave Confusion

So Find-A-Grave sent me on a wild goose chase for a couple of months.

When I first started researching my Pitner/Carroll line, I found Sarah E. Pitner Carroll on findagrave.com listing her mother as Aseneth Williams Pitner and her father as James Pitner.  Great, that's my Sarah.

Except nothing else fit.  My Sarah didn't die in Georgia. She died here in Missouri.  And she remarried so her last name was McAllister. And on and on with the discrepancies.  I started to think maybe Find-A-Grave had made a mistake.  It seemed unlikely though because normally their information is pretty reliable.

Long story short, this was Sarah E. Wright who married a James M. Carroll.  Her parents were Spencer and Mary Wright.  I clicked on the Edit tab and suggested the correction. About two days later I got an email informing me that they accepted my correction.

The only problem is they still have her maiden name listed as Pitner.  But, hey, you can't have everything.

So here is the corrected Sarah E. Wright Carroll's Find-A-Grave

Here is my Sarah Ann Pitner Carroll McAllister's Find-A-Grave

Here is my Sarah's mother Asenath Williams Pitner's Find-A-Grave

And here is her father James Pitner's Find-A-Grave

Moral of the story... just because something is generally always right, doesn't mean it's always always right.

James M. Carroll

Made a serious break through over the weekend!

I knew that my 3x great-grandparents' names were Sarah Ann Pitner and James M. Carroll based on, well... long story, but I was about as certain as you can get in genealogy.  I had found marriage records, death certificates, census records, etc. proving it. And I found that Sarah had remarried in 1868 to William McAllister and moved to Greene County, Missouri with him and the 2 kids she had with James.  But I couldn't prove what happened to James.  Of course, death was more likely than divorce, but when? where? how?

I found out Sarah's dad, James Pitner, was in the Civil War.  So I was checking out his documents on Fold3 when I noticed this little gem...

Of course, I was excited but wanted to thoroughly check it out before jumping for joy.  I went to look through the rolls for Company D of the 52nd Georgia Infantry of the Confederate States of America, and... bam!  Found him!

There are several pages for him on Fold3.  And my main problem for finding information on him (and knowing it's him) is that there were a few different James M. Carroll's running around Georgia at that time.  I'll post the three pages from his file that clinched it that I found my 3x great-grandfather.

So now that I knew I had the right guy... what happened to him?

He died 6th of June 1862 in Big Creek Gap, Tennessee of fever.

Why was he in Big Creek Gap? 

Big Creek Gap is one of the few natural openings through the Cumberland Mountains in the region. During the Civil War, this corridor was much narrower and steeper, and even lightly loaded wagons found travel extremely hazardous. Cumberland Gap, one the main migration route from the eastern states to the west and a strategic gateway during the Civil War, is about thirty miles northeast of here. 

Early in the conflict, Confederate military engineers ringed Cumberland Gap with defensive works and considered the pass impregnable from the north and east. East Tennessee citizens who supported the Union alerted Federal commanders to the possibility of flanking the fortifications via Big Creep Gap. After a rigorous march, a detachment of Union soldiers, including a company of Campbell County men under Capt. Joseph A. Cooper, first penetrated the narrow passage here in March 1862 and routed the Confederate cavalry posted nearby. A more substantial offensive effort under U.S. Gen. George W. Morgan occurred in June, producing a bloodless Confederate withdrawal from Cumberland Gap. Subsequently, control of the Gap changed hands several times. 

Found @ Historic Markers across Tennessee

Minutes of Wilson Co. Court (1809-1819) RE: Wm & Eliz. Gates

WILSON COUNTY MINUTES OF COUNTY COURT VOL. 2 (or B)1809-1819 
What follows is a listing of plantiffs and defendants listed in Wilson County Court Minutes. 
Plantiffs Samuel W. Sherrell vs Defendants Hulda Sherrill & others 
SOME WILSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE CHANCERY COURT LOOSE RECORDS This is number FIVE of SEVEN files. 
5342 - 1865 Sept. 5 - Petition to sell land. William C. RICE of Wilson Co., TN against the unknown heirs at law of Elizabeth GATES, non resident of state. Orators father Benjamin RICE, died about 2 years ago, intestate in this county. He owned a small tract of 100a in Civil District 23 bound by Samuel SHERRELL, by the farm which Newton SHERRELL now lives, Lara HARALSON, on which dec'd. lived at time of his death. He left no widow surviving him and his only heirs at law your orator, his son, and two children whose names and ages are unknown to your orator, the children of a dau. of the intestate whose name is Elizabeth, but who married (blank) GATES several years ago and moved with him to MO and there died leaving two or more minor children. 
1865 Dec. 4 - Deposition of J.F. HOOKER says he heard Benj. RICE say that he had furnished Wm. GATES with a land warrant for 120a.... - Depositions of George SANDERS, V.C. HARALSON, and W.S. WOODRUM. 
1866 June 6 - Plat description of land ... near Gladesville upon the Sinking Prong of Pond Lick Creek, a branch of Stone's River.... Lara HARALSON'S line ... dower of Mrs. Agnes SHERRILL, dec'd. ... heirs of Asbel SHERRILL, dec'd. ... Houston THORNTON'S line ... 100a and 20 poles... G.B. MCPEAK and J.H. RICE, chain carriers. - Decree - Ben RICE died Sept. 1863.... 

Source

In case you didn't know, "intestate" means dying without a will.

What's very interesting about the statements William Rice made to the court is that he makes it seem like he doesn't know the names of his sister, Elizabeth's children and doesn't even know how many kids she had.  However, I have seen some letters between William Gates (Elizabeth's husband and the father of her children) and the Rices referencing the children.  I assume they are arguing over this very issue because in an 1860 letter, Gates tells Benjamin Rice that Elizabeth's children have "as much right to part as bill has to all" and he says that Elizabeth “has wated on you and her mother for weeks and months when bill would not so much as speak to his mother”.

My Gates Line

This is my proverbial Brick Wall.  This is as far back as I can go with my grandmother's father's family.  I can take pretty much all my other lines back to at least the Revolutionary War.  But the Gates line stops 5 generations back, and it frustrates me to no end.

*I put my direct ancestors in bold.  I listed the Gates family member first and then who they married (if known).  I have not used some names for privacy.

William (?) - m - Unknown 

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Thomas - m - Amanda Sullivan

Lucinda

Catherine - m - William Rice

Polly Ann - m - Henry Wilson

William Filmore - m - (1) Elizabeth Rice (2) Christina Climer

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(1) Lucinda Evaline - m - William Hendricks

Elizabeth Frances

Nancy Josephine - m - Lafayette Hurst

(2) William Thomas Filmore - m - Mary Louisa Justice

John Bell - m - Mary Alice McMillan

Christina Catherine - m - William Killingsworth

Paralee Constantine - m - John Samuel Killingsworth

James Grant - m - Alice Hurst

Elizabeth Frances II - m - John Samuel Killingsworth

Charles Horatio - Alta Lackey

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Clara Belle - m - Hugo Williams

Clarence Emeral - m - (1) Grace Melton (2) Irene Woods

John William - m - Donnie Marie Hagerman

Alie May

Earl Harvey - m - (1) Lola Campbell (2) Agatha Prock

Eva Irene - m - James Vaughn

Harold

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William Elvage - m - Eula Mae Underhill

Pauline Beatrice - m - Wallace Wise

Wilma Mourine - m - Ben Carroll

Ralph John - m - (1) Jessie Prine (2) Jean McAtt (3) Judith Wittmaier

Delores Louise - m - James Robinson

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My Aunt

My Mom

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Me