How Many Worley's Can There Be?

I've come across one of those ancestors; the one who you can't peg down when it comes to his beginning but a lot of assumptions can easily be made, and have been made, and some of those assumptions are just wrong--terribly terribly wrong, and you just want some facts, not assumptions.

In an attempt at understanding this ancestor a little better, I decided to blog about him, because I've found that blogging helps me to slow down and really look closely at all the information I have and sometimes things jump out that I haven't noticed before.

The ancestor I'm referring to is Worley D. Linville. Some have him as Worley Daniel Linville and others still as Worley Daniel Boone Linville. But all the records I have found only say Worley D. Linville.

The 1850 census is always a good starting point because it was the first census to name all the individuals in the household, as well as listing their ages and birth places.

In the 1850 Randolph County, Alabama, census we find Worley D Linville age 34 born in KY, Margaret C Linville age 19 born in GA, Elizabeth Linville age 67 born in NC and little Margaret E Linville age 1 born in AL.

From this census record I can glean that Worley's parents may be found somewhere in KY during the 1810-1820 census periods and that his mother is most likely the 67 year old Elizabeth Linville who is living with him. Margaret C is his wife Margaret Catherine Newell, her name later comes from her death certificate where her full name is given as Margret Catharine Linville and her parents names are William P. Newal and Pricilla Jones. I have yet to find a marriage record for Worley D and Margaret Catherine. The most likely reason is the fact that Randolph County had a destructive courthouse fire in 1897.

Continuing my search in Randolph County there is in the 1840 census a Worley Lindville listed as the head of household with the following living with him:

2 males age 20-29
2 males age 30-39
1 male aged 50-59 - too old to be my Worley D. Linville but maybe he was named after his father.
1 female age 10-14
1 female age 15-19
1 female age 20-29
1 female age 50-59 - IF this is Worley D's family most likely the Elizabeth from the 1850 census.

Often in my research I will use Google to search for my ancestors. There has been a lot of valuable 'feet on the ground' research done before so much was uploaded to the internet. And then that research has been shared later on. It may not be actual records but the research is definitely worth considering. When I did this I came across the following from USGENWEB:

Historical Records of Randolph County: Sep 16, 1846

Larmbird [Lambert] Linville administrator of the Estate of Worley Linville [SR] deceased, stated Worley died interstate and the land cannot be divided equally among his heirs and that Daniel and William Linville (both full age and reside in Kentucky) Elizabeth Jackson late Linville, Elender Cassels late Linville both full age residents of Georgia, Rebecca Phillips late Linville wife of Wilkins Phillips of full age and residing in Miss It is ordered that notice be issued to *Merriam Linville and Mark Cassels to appear in Court in October. Is the above mentioned Daniel my Worley D. Linville that some say is Worley Daniel Linville? If there was a courthouse fire in 1897 where did the above information come from? I've searched FamilySearch for probate/estate records for Randolph County and there are NONE, most likely because of the fire. Are the heirs listed all children?  Also of note, most online trees have the following two women listed as possibilities for Worley Sr.'s wife: 1) Rachel Pugh and 2) Elizabeth Jackson. 

From the above Estate I have concluded that Elizabeth Jackson is the married name of his daughter not his wife. She married William Jackson on 6 June 1841 in Carroll County, GA.  And the Worley Linville who married Rachel Pugh 23 March 1829 in Hardeman County, TN was alive and well in Tippah County, Mississippi for the 1850 census. Meaning there is another Worley Linville out there that is not my Worley Linville.  For the time being, my tree will have Worley Sr.'s wife listed as Elizabeth LNU  b. 1783 NC

Now going back to that 1840 Randolph Co. Census, keeping in mind that exact birthdates aren't very accurate using census records, and using it in conjunction with the Estate information I discovered this:

2 males age 20-29 - Worley D. & Lambert
2 males age 30-39 - William & ?
1 male aged 50-59 - Worley Sr.
1 female age 10-14 - Eleanor Ellender (married Mark Cassells brother Absalom)
1 female age 15-19 - Merriam (Martha)* (married to Mark Cassells)
1 female age 20-29 - Elizabeth (married William Jackson 1841) or Rebecca (married to W Phillips)
1 female age 50-59 - Elizabeth LNU


There is a William b 1809 KY living in Mercer Co. KY in 1850 (<-- William in such a common name I can't be certain this is indeed the William mentioned in the Estate), Lambert b. 1812 KY living in Randolph Co. AL in 1850, Rebecca Phillips b. 1813 KY married to William Wilkins Phillips living in Pontotoc Co. MS, Elizabeth Jackson b. 1814 KY married to William Jackson living in Heard Co., GA, Worley Daniel? Linville b. 1816 KY living in Randolph Co., AL and Eleanor Ellender Cassels b. 1823 KY married to Absalom Cassells living in Troup Co., GA.

All of the above children show the state of birth to be KY - this is what I have found for Worley Linville in census records in the state of KY. The names beside the age ranges are estimates and if any children are married but living in the household with Worley Sr they could be spouses of children.

1810, Rockcastle County, KY - Worldly Linville (Rockcastle County was formed in 1810)

3 males under 10 -
1 male age 26-44 - Worley Sr.
1 male 45+ - Worley's FIL?
1 female age 16-25 - Elizabeth LNU

*** In the 1810 census directly beneath Worldly Linville is the household of a William Linville and a William Linville Jr. - It would seem plausible and likely that Wm Sr. is Worley's father and Wm Jr. a brother. The census for William Sr. says he's 45+ in 1810.

1820, Rockcastle County, KY - Worley Linville

3 males under 10 - Worley D., Lambert, & ?
1 male age 10-15 - William ?
1 male age 26-44 - Worley Sr.
1 female age 26-45 - Elizabeth LNU

1830, Laurel County, KY - Wirley Linville

1 male age 10-14 - Worley D.
3 males age 20-29 - Lambert, William & ?
1 male age 50-59 - Worley Sr.
1 female under 5 - Ellender
2 female age 5-9 - Merriam & ?
1 female age 10-14 - Elizabeth
1 female age 15-19 - Rebecca
1 female age 50-59 - Elizabeth LNU

There is another record for Worley being in Laurel County KY other than the 1830 census.
In Deed Book G, pages 338-339, Laurel County, KY you can find the following:

"Know all men by these presents that I, Worley Linville, am held and firmly bound unto William Brown in the penal sum of two hundred dollars, well and truly to be paid as witnesses my hand, January the 14th, 1840.

"The bond is [unreadable two words] obligation is [unreadable word] as the said Worley Linville hath this day bargained and sold unto the said William Brown a certain tract or parcel of land lying and being on Rockcastle River on both sides, the beginning in Laurel County and state of Kentucky, containing fifty acres [unreadable word] by the name of the said Linville old river place for the consideration of one hundred dollars ninety four for being paid in have and the said Linville binds himself and his heirs to make the said Brown a special deed when the other six dollars is paid and binds himself for the purchase money back if the land is ever lost in testimony. I have hereunto set my hand and seal to wit this 14th day January 1840.

"Worley Linville

"I assign the within bond to John Decker, December the 5th 1841. Signed: Wm Brown, Attest: Thomas B. Nichols

"I assign the within bond to Thomas Brown, August the 27th day 1845. Signed: John H. Decker, Attest: William Reynolds

"The value received, I assign the within bond to Wm Brown, Aug 1st 1846. Signed: Thomas Brown

"For value received, I assign the within bond to Wm McQuary this 25 of Nov 1847. Signed: Wm Brown

"I assign the with bond to Wm Reynolds this 27 of January 1849. Signed: William McQuary

"I assign the with bond to David M. Minks and William A. Dire this 23rd day Oct 1850. Signed: William Reynolds

"For value received, I assign my interest of the within bond to Wm A. Dyer, Nov 23rd 1851. Signed: David M. Mink

"For value received, I assign the within bond to David M. Mink, January 1st 1858. Signed: John Roberts

"For value received, I assign the within bond to Andrew Decker, Feb 21st 1860. Signed: D.M. Mink, Attest: William McGraw

"This the 21st day of August 1868, I assign the within bond to James Smith of all my interest and [unreadable word] of me and my heirs with none back me or my heirs. Signed: A.M. Decker

"For value received, I assign the within bond to Isaac Mize this 26 day of August 1870. Signed: James Smith, Attest: James Cooper, Wm Lickliter

"State of Kentucky Laurel County, SS
"I, R.L. Ewell, clerk of the Laurel County Court do certify that the foregoing bond from Worley Linville to William Brown with the different assignments, last assignment of James Smith to Isaac Mize 26th Aug 1870, was produced to me in my office, signed for record. The same together with this certificate hat been duly admitted to records. Given under my hand this 8th day of June 1874, R.L. Ewell, clerk."

For now it is my opinion that Worley Daniel Linville is the son of Worley Linville Sr. and Elizabeth LNU and the grandson of the 1810 William Linville Sr. and wife unkown.

His siblings are William, Lambert, Rebecca Linville Phillips, Elizabeth Linville Jackson, Merriam Martha Linville Cassells and Eleanor Ellender Linville Cassells... possibly a brother or two who I have yet to discern and who weren't mentioned in the Estate or in this transcription of the Estate.
About 1848 Worley Daniel Linville married Margaret Catherine Newell. They had the following children who lived into adulthood:

Margaret Elizabeth b. 1849
Priscilla Frances b. 1852
Martha Jane b. 1854
Samantha Evaline b. 1857
Emma Josephine b. 1860
William Worley b. 1861
Isaac Marion b. 1865 - named after Margaret Newell's brother who died in the Civil War 9 June 1864
James Lafayette b. 1869

As stated before, in 1850 Worley Daniel with his wife, mother, and infant daughter Margaret, were found living in Randolph County, AL

In 1860 the family was still living in Randolph County, post office is listed as Rockdale. By this time Pricilla, Martha Jane, Samantha and Emma Josephine had been born. Also with this family is the 16 year old daughter of Worley's brother Lambert, Barbary E. Linville.

On 15 April 1864, Worley Daniel enlisted with the Confederacy and was elected First Lieutenant of Co. E of the 3rd Alabama  Reserves. Not much is known about his military career. His service records are only 2 pages long and I haven't been able to find any pension filed for him.

By 1870, Worley and his family, now with the three young boys; William, Isaac and James, are living about 50 miles North in Haralson County, GA. Their post office is listed as Tallapoosa. The year prior, in 1869 his daughter Priscilla Frances married Thomas Pope in this same county.

In November 1871 his oldest daughter Margaret Elizabeth married James F. Hughes in Haralson County.

In 1873, his daughter, Martha Jane, my ancestor married Jesse Josiah McClung in Haralson County, GA. They were married by JJ's maternal uncle Jesse G. Newman.

On 10 March of 1874, Worley Daniel Linville departed this life at the age of 57. He is said to be buried in Plunkett Cemetery, Collinsville, DeKalb County, Alabama.

Not long after his death, his daughters Samantha Evaline and Emma Josephine marry though I have yet to find marriage records. The 1900 census for these two sisters says they were married in 1874. Samantha E married Henry Washington Turner and Emma Josephine married her first cousin on  her maternal side, Isaac Johnson Harcrow. He was the son of W.L. "Lindsay" Harcrow and Lucinda T. Newell according to his Dearth Certificate.  Lucinda T. Newell was the sister of Margaret Catherine Newell.

In 1880 the widow Margaret is living with her three sons, William, Isaac and James in DeKalb County, AL not far from her married daughters Emma Harcrow and Priscilla Pope who are on the previous census page. Her married daughters Martha Jane McClung and Samantha Tanner are also living in DeKalb County very near one another but not as close to their mother and male siblings. Her oldest daughter Margaret Elizabeth Hughes is living in the neighboring county of Etowah.

In 1888, my ancestor, Martha Jane McClung dies at the young age of 33, possibly from childbirth.

The 1890 census is gone, but by 1900 most of this family has migrated to TX where in 1895 Margaret Elizabeth Hughes passed away at the age of 45. She is buried in Navarro County.
Pricilla and her family stayed in Alabama, where she died at the at of 77 in 1929.
It is said that Samantha died in 1902 in Wood County, TX - I can't find any record of her death. She would've only been 43. In 1900, Emma Josephine and her family are found living in Ellis Co and by 1910 they had moved to Haskell County where her mother Margaret Catherine is found living with Emma and Isaac's married daughter Laura Jackson. In 1919 the matriarch of this family passed away at the age of  88. Emma continued to live in Haskell until the age of 78. I was actually able to find her obituary from 1938 on Newspapers.com


William Worley became a prominent ranchman in the "Charlie Community". His first wife Fannie Owens died very young from fever in 1907. He remarried to a Louvenia Hellums. William Linville died in 1927 and was buried in Charlie, Clay County, TX at the age of 66.

Issaac spent most of his life in Palacios, Texas. He died there in 1949 at the age of 84.

James Lafayette passed away two years earlier in 1947 at the age of 77 in Haskell County, TX where he had lived for at least 40 years.

The thing I have learned about this family - whether it be the children of Worley Sr. or the children or Worley Daniel - many of them passed down that crazy name. Worley Sr.'s daughter Rebecca named a son Worley Phillips, my Worley named a son William Worley, Martha Cassels named a son Worley Absalom Cassels. Next generation - Worley Daniel's daughter Emma named her first born son Worley Harcrow,  Isaac Marion named a son John Worley and somewhere back in time there was that Worley Linville who married Rachel Pugh and settled in Tippah County Mississippi. Who was he named after and how is he tied into this family? Maybe that can be my next line of research.

Until next time,
Becky


Please be sure to check out my sister-in-law's post at Days of Our Lives  on her German immigrant ancestor and his final resting place.