It is amazing what can be discovered when you closely analyze and scrutinize your previous research. Sometimes it’s the fact that new records have become available that weren’t available before, and sometimes it’s that your skills are better than they were before. I am quite happy to be my own biggest guinea pig and continue to prove this mantra be true.
I periodically review my research, and in this case was reviewing Phillip Holt. Phillip was the brother of my 3rd great-grandfather John W. Holt in Hardin County, TN. Earlier in my research, I’d located Phillip and wife Louisa living in neighboring McNairy County, TN in 1880, but never found them again and considered that they had possibly died. Phillip had married a woman named Louisa who had been enslaved on a neighboring farm; her maiden name was McClain. You can see her mother Lucinda living with the couple and their kids in the census below:
1880 Phillip Holt
That dreaded 20-year gap between 1880 and 1900 is a notorious black hole where ancestors can easily be lost. That’s enough time for kids to be born and out of the house and you’d never know they existed at all. As always, we’ve got to be in the business of assessing correct identities, and not just matching names.
Now, years ago I had found this 1900 census record in yet another TN county, Madison:
1900 Phillip Holt
I had quickly dismissed this as not being the right man for two reasons: the wife was Lula instead of Louisa (which really shouldn’t have thrown me off) but more importantly, the mother-in-law listed was Emma Rodgers, which led me to believe this woman’s maiden name was Rodgers.
It’s good that I decided to look at this more closely. I will say that the fact that TN Death certificates are now online (through 1959) is what ultimately solved the puzzle: I was able to find a death certificate for this “Lula” Holt in 1931, and it confirmed that her mother’s name was indeed Lucinda McClain.
Lula Holt Death Cert
My analysis before was too quick to assume that the information I was viewing on the 1900 census was correct; turns out it was not. Who knows what caused the error, but the fact remains that Emma Rodgers was simply not Phillip Holt’s mother-in-law.
I’m really excited that Phillip has “come back from the dead.” I was able to isolate his timeframe of death, and track a few more of his children through 1930. Also, Jackson, TN is a larger city than some of the other places in which the family lived and I’m hoping to eventually find more tidbits on him, or better yet, some descendants.
Emma Rodgers’ relationship is incorrect but I wonder if she is related to the family.
I am glad that Phillip Holt “came back from the dead” for you. I can totally relate to this post which reminds me I need to go back review some more of my previous research.
[...] Reclaiming Kin blog has a posted called “Phillip Holt is Not Dead After All.” This post is a reminder to all of us to go back and review our [...]
Hi Robyn,
This is so true. I encountered a similar situation with my great grandparents. They were living in Washington DC from during the 1890′s and early 1900′s. Then my great grandfather disappears and my great grandmother is listed in the census and the city directories as a widow. However, my great grandfather appears in the 1930 census in Caroline County, VA (where he was originally from) living with his brother and his brother’s family. He died around 1933 and I have the death certificate.
So the moral to this story is, you can’t assume a person’s spouse is deceased just becuase the person is listed as a widow/widower.