Ancestry Help?!?!?!?

Question

So I'm trying to research my G G G Grandmother and I found some documents, but they confuse me. She has her maiden name as Smith but my grandpa always told me that we had mays in our family line, but everyone else told me smith. I found records that show Smith but there's one document that's accurate which is this one https://flic.kr/p/rnjDT8 . Here's her marriage license to James https://flic.kr/p/r5L385 . Now here's the confusing part, there is a document that shows her in 1880 with one family https://flic.kr/p/qqk1rw and another document in 1880 https://flic.kr/p/rk2zef with another family. This is the weird part, I found a document that shows her maiden name Mays but she got married to a man with Smith as his last name https://flic.kr/p/r412ae . Then on top of all of that, the marriage certificate for both James Orange and Henry Smith are in the same place (Jackson, Monroe, Arkansas). I'm very confused to whether she got married twice and her maiden name was really mays or her maiden name Smith was her real maiden name.

Answer 1

It sounds like you know for sure that this is your Crecy on the 1910 census:



1910 Census - Jackson, Monroe County, Arkansas

James Orange - 35 - married 2 years - 2nd marriage - Ark-VA-LA

Crecy Orange - wife - 35 - md 2 years - 2nd mrg - mother of 6 kids, 4 now living - Ark-don't know-Ark

Lucinda Orange - dau - 15 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Milton Orange - son - 13 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Elnora Orange - dau - 11 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Nakomis Orange - son - 3 - Ark-Ark-Ark



So this census tells us that Crecy's marriage to James Orange (22 May 1908 in Monroe County, Ark) was her 2nd marriage. The marriage record you found on Ancestry is just the index, but FamilySearch has the image of the original document, which does indeed list her as Mrs. Creasey Smith: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12051-214674-6?cc=1417439



So now let's look for her in 1900, 8 years before she married James Orange. This looks like her:



1900 Census - Jackson, Monroe County, Arkansas

Henry Smith - born July 1874 - 26 - married 6 years - Ark-Ark-Ark

Corra Smith - wife - born Nov 1879 - 21 - married 6 years - mother of 3 kids - Ark-Ark-Ark

Lucinda Smith - dau - May 1895 - 5 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Milton Smith - son - July 1897 - 2 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Irene Smith - dau - Nov 1900 - 3 mos - Ark-Ark-Ark



Corra may have been her middle name, or perhaps the census taker thought Creasy sounded like Corra. But looking at the kids' names, that must certainly be her. Irene is probably the same person as Elnora, and the children took the last name Orange when their mother married James Orange.



Which brings us back to the marriage of Creasy Mays to Henry Smith on 31 Jan 1894 in Monroe County, Ark... the original image of which is also on FamilySearch. This one doesn't have a "Mrs." before her name, which usually means she was a "Miss": https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11839-157891-26?cc=1417439



So it looks like your grandpa was correct, that Creasy's maiden name was Mays. So she *should* be Creasy (or Corra?) Mays on the 1880 census. The Creasy Mays you found in Alabama is the right age and right name, but that Creasy was born in Alabama and your Creasy is always listed as being born in Ark. And the Creesey in Phillips County, Arkansas is a Creesey Smith. That *could* be her, if she was using a different surname (like her children did, changing from Smith to Orange). But there's not enough evidence to prove either one is for sure your Creasy.



Hang on, I'm going to look around some more...



Okay, so here's a marriage for Creasy Orange to Jessie Johnson on 11 Jan 1914 in Monroe County, Ark:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11599-157817-94?cc=1417439



And this looks like them on the 1920 census in Jackson, Monroe County, Ark:

Jessie Johnson - 51 - Ark-GA-NC

Cresie Johnson - wife - 48 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Jessie Johnson - dau - 15 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Addie Johnson - son - 12 - Ark-Ark-Ark

Nacumba Smith - step-daughter - 15 - Ark-Ark-Ark



Do you know when & where Creacy died? If so, you could order a copy of her death certificate, which should list her parents' names (if the person who supplied the info knew their names).



Also, Creasy may be a nickname for Lucretia.

Answer 2

When you talk about documents, those are ONLY the images of the real documents when online, not the transcription.

Census are secondary records, which are not as good as far as accurate information as primary records/documents.

When you look at the image of the document it tells you far more than the transcription does and states it was a second marriage for both of them.

Also don't be swayed/confused by documents that show same name, looking at the image and cross referencing all the information, not just a name to make sure you have the individual you are looking for and that you are not just name collecting as lots of people used the same names, sometimes they lived locally to each other and sometimes even married someone of the same first names, however where they were born, their age, what job they did and what they called their children can separate the right person from the wrong person.

Seems like you have done a lot of work already you just need to remember researching your ancestry is not a race and not about collecting, slow down check and double check, make sure you have copies of every single image of any real document so you can check again to make sure you have YOUR ancestor in your tree as one mistake and that means you are researching someone elses family and not your own and you do not want strangers in your family tree

Answer 3

Edit: @#$%^& Yahoo HID Ashley's answer, and I didn't click to see the hidden answers before I duplicated her efforts. She did it first and deserves the Best Answer. Here is my version:

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You've got what Sherlock Holmes would call a "three-pipe problem".



I found Crecey in 1900 with her first husband, except she is using "Corra". The handwriting is remarkably clear, despite being 115 years old and from Arkansas; "Corra" is what it says.



1900; Census Place: Jackson, Monroe, Arkansas; Roll: 68; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0069;



Henry Smith 25

Corra Smith 21

Lucinda Smith 5

Milton Smith 2

Irene Smith 2/12



Her children Lucinda and Milton fit with her 1910 entry:



James Orange 35

Crecy Orange 35

Lucinda Orange 15

Milton Orange 13

Elnora Orange 11

Nokomis Orange 3



Irene fits but is using Elnora in 1910. They are Mr. Orange's step children, but on the 1910 they are listed as son and daughters. Also in the 1910, both Crecey and James have "M2" in their marital status column, which means a second marriage.



It was pretty common for women to use their married name at the time when marrying a second (third, fourth) time, not their maiden name.



She is "Miss" Creasey Mays in the LDS marriage record to Henry Smith, although the "Mays" might look like "Mayo" to some people.



That leaves finding Cresey/Corra in 1880. The one named Smith born in 1875 in Phillips County is too old and too far away to fit neatly. That could be her; Arkansas didn't waste a lot of money educating black people in the late 1800's, and the fact she is born Mar 1879 on the 1900 and 1874/75 on the 1880 could be poor record-keeping. It could also be the wrong little girl.



Possibilities:



- The 1875 one in Phillips county is her.



- She is using a third name (I can't find a good match for either Crecey or Corra) There is an Ellen Mays who is the right age and color in Monroe County in 1880. Her mother is born in Mississippi, not Arkansas, though.



- She is mistakenly listed as a daughter, when she should be a step-daughter, and her surname is whatever her step-father's is.



If she had an obituary, and you can find it, and it lists either "survived by" or "preceded in death by" her siblings, you might be able to find her in 1880 by using them.



She was certainly the marrying kind; she married Jessie in Monroe on 11 Jan 1914. Here they are in 1920.



Jessie Johnson 51

Cresie Johnson 48

Jessie Johnson 15

Addie Johnson 12

Nocumbus Smith 15 step-dau (got it right this time)



She has her age as 31 (b. 1883) on the marriage record, which could be poor record keeping or could be her fudging because she didn't want to appear to be older than Jessie. 6 years later she is 48 (b. 1872), which is probably poor record keeping. It's a warning, though; don't use +/- 2 on the birth year, because it varies by a wide margin.



Best of luck!

Answer 4

You are mixing up families. They aren't the same person.