I'll start with my 4th great grandfather, Alford Wooliver. I'm not sure if his name was actually Alford or Alfred as it is spelled both ways 50% of the time on all his records. Alford was the father of Annie Wooliver and she is half of who the title is referring to. But for the backstory I'm going to start with her father.
Using the 1850 census as a starting point I know that 'Alfred Woliver' was born about 1804 in NC. He is living in District 6, Bates County, Missouri with his second wife, 26 year old Mary (Shivers), a 19 year old David Woliver also born in NC, a 17 year old Mary who was born in TN, a 13 year old James born in MO, a 12 year old John born in MO, my 3rd great grandmother Minerva Jane who was born in MO, an 8 year old Malvina born in MO, a 2 year old Frances born in MO and a one month old Sarilda also born in MO. This family is living right next door to 53 year old Thomas Shivers who was born in SC.
Before Mary Shivers, Alford Wooliver was married to Sinai Compton. They were married 17 May 1835 in Johnson County, MO.
If we assume all the people named above were indeed children of Alford's then we can assume that Sinai is not the mother of David Woliver (b. 1831 NC) or Mary Woliver (b. 1833 TN).
Since Sinai isn't listed with the family in 1850 and 8 May 1845 in Henry County, MO there is a marriage index for Mary S. Shivers and Alfred Wolaver, I will assume that Sinai died possibly from childbirth.
Again using the birthdates from the 1850 census and marriage dates I will say that Alford Woolever and Sinai Compton were the parents of James, John, Minerva and Malvina. And he and Mary Shivers were the parents of Frances and Sarilda.
By 1860 most of this family has moved and settled in Texas.
I'm not certain where the oldest two children, David and Mary are, but James is listed with his father, step-mother, and the following half-siblings in Burnet, Texas: Francis( from the previous census) and new additions Alford Jr, Malissa, Elvira and Susan. One month old baby Sarilda isn't listed. John isn't listed nor have I found him in any 1860 census record but in Jan 1860 at Liberty Hill he's shown as being enlisted with the Mounted Rangers and in 1862 he is shown as having enlisted to fight with the CSA at Burnet with the 21st Texas Cavalry. He later died 23 Dec 1863 at Lake Bluff, AR during the war. My ancestor Minerva is a newlywed living with her husband Killian Rich just a few houses down. Killian's parents were living right next to Alford and Mary. Malvina isn't listed in the 1860 census but there is a marriage record for her and John Thomas Scott out of Burnet, TX for 18 Feb 1860. Her full name is Nancy Malvina Woolover. (As you can see there are a million different ways to spell this surname!)
I can't find the Alford and Mary at all in 1870. James is also unaccounted for. John has passed away, Minerva and her husband Killian are also unaccounted for. Malvina is with her husband and the following children, Ricky, Margaret, Lucy and John, living in Colorado County, TX. Francis isn't listed in the census but she did marry a Thomas Benton Gentry on 24 April 1870 also in Colorado County, TX. Malissa, Elvira, and Susan will still be with their parents. By 1880 Alford Sr. has passed away according the census and Mary is living in Colorado County, Texas with Alford Jr, Elvira, Susan and a new child Annie who was born in 1862. I'm not certain of Alford Sr's death date but considering that Mary Wooliver is listed on the Tax rolls in 1879 I'm going to assume that Alford passed away before then.
Here is where the story begins.
When Annie showed up on the 1880 census I recently did a little digging on her line and she is now the topic of this post.
In Colorado County, Marriage Book F, page 360, There is an Annie E. Wooliver transcribed as marrying a J. F. Flournoy on February 13, 1884, they were married by J. S. Miles, minister of the gospel. I later find that J. F. should've been J. T for John Thomas Flournoy.
I never find Annie and her husband together in a census record. In 1900 she is living with her brother Alford Jr, her mother, Mary and the following children, Edward (14), Gertrude (11), Lee (8), and Ben (5). In Justice Precinct 2, Colorado County, Texas. She lists her marital status as "Widowed" so I naturally assumed John Thomas Flournoy had died. But he hasn't and this is how I discovered the facts.
When began researching the oldest child, Edward Flournoy, I discovered his full name to be Edward Gi bson Flournoy from his Find-A-Grave page. But then something peculiar shows up. There is an Edward G (14) and Thomas L Flournoy (7) living with their grandparents Mordicai and Martha Flournoy in Justice Precinct 3, Colorado County, Texas. I keep this on the back burner for later.
In 1910 he is listed as the head of the household in Justice Precinct 5, Colorado County TX, living with his brother Lee and a few cousins, William Walker (45), William McCullough (28) and Curly Williams (20).
In 1917-1918 he registers for the WWI draft. Lists his occupation as "idle" (I found that funny). Later goes on to say he isn't presently employed and lists his closest relative as Mrs A E Flournoy and his address as Port Arthur, Jefferson Texas.
I then found his death certificate. He is listed as the son of J T Flournoy and Anna Wooliver. Then I and began searching Newspapers.com. for the surname 'Flournoy' in TX before and up to his death date and found several articles that tell me a little about him.
In 1931 an article from The Colorado Citizen says that Ed Flournoy along with a Mr. and Mrs. Tom Flournoy and their son Mike visited in Refugio. They were accompanied by a Mr. and Mrs. Royce Flournoy.
In 1940 an article of little genealogical significance mentions Ed Flournoy as the recipient of appreciation from a Mr. Jenkins for helping park cars for the county-wide barbecue.
In 1941 Ed Flournoy is announced as a deputy under Sheriff Harvey Lee of Weimar, TX.
In 1942 Ed Flournoy is appointed as a bailiff for the district court.
Then in The Weimar Mercury, 20 April 1945 I find his obituary.
It tells me he was the oldest son of J T and Annie Flournoy, that he never married and then it lists who survived him.
Wait. A stepmother? If his mother was a widow how does he have a step-mother? I know he had a sister named Gertrude. And brothers Lee and Ben. Who are Jim, Royce and Mike? The latter two were mentioned in the 1931 article too. And if Mike was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Flournoy is Tom actually John Thomas Flournoy?
I go back and erase the death of John Thomas and add a spouse, first name Etta, and there in 1920, Rock Island, Colorado, Texas, I find a JT Flournoy married to an Etta living with his father, M G Flournoy. Children in the home are Jim (17), Dixie (14) Royce (13) and Hick (3). There's the Jim and Royce from the obituary.
And then after searching Flournoy and Hendron (Gertrude's married name) I find this article from 8 June 1967 in the Weimar Mercury.
Mordicai Gibson and Martha Jane Flournoy will be the grandparents in the 1900 census that Edward Gibson and Thomas Lee were listed in. I have no idea why they were listed twice in two separate homes other than when they're listed with their mother and uncle the enumeration date was 5 June and when they're listed with their grandparents the enumeration date was the 10 June. And Mordicai Gibson is the MG that John Thomas, his wife, and children are living with in 1920. Also in the article is Lee Flournoy, Ben Flournoy, Gertude Flournoy Herndon, T. J. "Jim" Flournoy and H.R. "Mike" Flournoy.
I continued to gather evidence and piece this family together separating full and half-siblings and then I decided to vent my frustration on the Ancestry Facebook Group about Annie being listed as a widow when her husband was still very much alive. Then came a response from a Janet Carlson (who is always full of helpful ancestry advice). She said "There is more than one type of a widow. Research the term "grass widow". I did, and here is what I found:
Word History: Grass widow is first recorded in 1528, and originally referred to an unmarried woman who has lived with one or more men, a discarded mistress, or a woman who has borne a child out of wedlock. The grass in grass widow seems to have originally made reference to the makeshift bed of grass or hay (as opposed to a real bed with a mattress and sheets) on which a woman might lie with her lover before he rises and abandons her—leaving her a widow, so to speak, in the grass. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, grass and the color green in general had sexual connotations, in allusion to the green stains left on clothing after rolling in the grass. (The lyrics of the 16th-century song Greensleeves, for example, give voice to the sufferings of an abandoned lover.) By the middle of the 19th century, however, grass widow had come to refer mainly to a wife whose husband is temporarily absent or one who is living apart from her husband. In colonial India, for example, it was used of British women who, during the hot season, went off to enjoy the cool of the hills while their husbands were stuck at their jobs in the heat of the plains. Although the reason for the change in meaning is not known with any certainty, people may have interpreted the grass in grass widow as equivalent to pasture, as in the expression out to pasture. Nowadays, the term grass widow can also refer to a wife who has separated from her husband and to a divorced woman.So Annie wasn't misrepresenting the truth. This was a common term. I love information like this!
While trying to piece together this puzzle and differentiate full siblings from half-siblings so I can place them with their correct mothers I did some more digging and I find the obituary of Thomas Lee Flournoy who mentions his brother 'Sheriff Jim'
This led me to search for "Sheriff Jim Flournoy" and this is what I found:
How about that! Now, 'Sheriff Jim' isn't related to me through blood, because his mother was Martha Etta Holbrook Flournoy. But this little nugget sure was an interesting find.
In closing, I hope you were able to keep up. And I hope you learned a few things. Like not to carve your assumptions in to stone and how helpful old newspaper articles can be.
Until next time,
Becky
And as always, be sure to check in with my sister-in-law's blog over at Days of Our Lives.
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