How to Break a Brick Wall

 

Hello Farmgirl Sisters!

Hoping this finds everyone enjoying the spring season and getting ready for a great summer!

At the end of my last post, I said I would share a brick wall in my research with you. I wrote early in this blog that I had documented fourteen Revolutionary War patriot ancestors. Today, I’m going to tell you about what I hope will be number fifteen. This patriot ancestor is on my father’s side of the family, through his mother, my paternal grandmother. I have yet to prove a patriot ancestor in her lineage. I really want this one to be the first. But there have been a lot of challenges with this effort. I think I have finally been able to pull together enough information to present to the lineage society to make my case, but it’s not a sure thing. My analysis of the proofs are sort of like a very convoluted road map – it will get you where you need to go if you slow down, read very carefully and pay attention to the details.

Read along and see if you can follow my trail of evidence to genealogical success!

Let’s start at the beginning – as is often the case in genealogy, it’s common to have three or four generations of rock solid proof to connect one generation to the next. Then the evidence can thin out drastically, especially before 1850. It really depends on the regions being searched and how diligent people were at the time about recording information.

When filling out the application form for the lineage society, several key pieces of information are necessary for connecting generations. For the first three generations, birth certs, marriage certs and death certs are all that will be accepted. All states began recording officially these events at different times, but by the early twentieth century, it was being done across the country. Most people will have access to those official records either through current possession or by contacting the county clerk where the event was recorded and buying a copy.

Beginning with myself the lineage is as follows:

1. Me – of course I can prove my own existence. I’ll submit my birth cert and marriage cert as it proves my legal name now.

2. My Dad – birth cert, marriage cert, death cert

3. My paternal Grandmother, Mary – marriage cert and death cert. Death certificates contain a person’s date of birth and will serve as proof of that fact.Her death cert also contains the names of her parents. Mary was the daughter of:

4. Sidney Riley and Lena Keys. The underlined names going forward will show the generational connections. I have Sidney and Lena’s marriage certificate, Lena’s death certificate, Sidney’s dated obituary from his hometown and census records showing Sidney with his parents. Sidney was the son of:

5. Charles Riley and Sarah Grosvenor – This is where things start to get very thin. I have no death information at all for these two. I have a handwritten marriage license for them. And I do mean handwritten. 

 

No fill-in form was used at all. It’s just written on a sheet of paper. 11 August 1868. I have one census record from 1850 that places Sarah with her parents and only her initials were used. There is no birth certificate. Later census records state that Sarah was born in Louisiana ca. 1845. Sarah was the daughter of:

6. Sherman Grosvenor and Nancy Brice – Now it’s really slim pickings for evidence. There are two documents that place Sherman and Nancy together as a possible husband and wife. The first is that same 1850 census record mentioned above. The second is a death certificate of one of their son’s. John W.’s death cert lists his parents as Sherman and Nancy. I’ll come back to all that shortly. Moving on – Nancy was the daughter of:

7. Samuel Brice and Elizabeth Price – There is absolutely nothing that states outright that Gen 6 Nancy was the daughter of Gen 7 Samuel. This is a BIG problem. How to solve it? Keep reading and follow all the little details. The good thing is that for the lineage society, Samuel Brice and Elizabeth Price have already been proven. The only thing I must prove about them is that they were Nancy’s parents. Samuel Brice was the son of:

8. Samuel Brice (patriot ancestor) and Jennet (last name unk) Like Gen 7, this generation is also completely proven. The lineage society already holds evidence of Samuel’s life, service and who his children were.

The goal is to create an analysis of secondary evidence that will be used to prove that Gen 6 Nancy is the daughter of Gen 7 Samuel.

Below is a list of proofs I intend to present to the lineage society:

1850 US Census, Bienville Parish LA, pg illegible, adjacent page 499/250, line 13, dwelling/family no. 49;

 1860 US Census, Polk Co, TX, pgs 88, line 40, pg 89 lines 1-12, dwelling no. 592, family no. 619;

1860 US Census, Walker Co, TX pg 24, lines 5-12, dwelling no. 130, family no. 127;

1860 US Census, Walker Co, TX, pg 32, lines 6-11, dwelling no. 189, family no. 186 ;

1860 US Census Walker Co, TX, pg 32, lines 27-33, dwelling no. 192, family no. 189;

"Branches and Acorns" quarterly publication of Southwest Genealogical Society, Uvalde, TX Vol XI, No. 3, March 1996, pages 15-19, "A Brief History of John Coulter Brice and Hetty (Frame) Brice”;

1880 US Census Dimmit County, TX pg 12, line 28, no dwelling or family number;

Texas Death Certificate No. 536, John Grovenor, died 18 Jan 1935, Texas State Hospital San Antonio, TX;

NSDAR Member No. 772212, Add Vol 832

 

Now follows the explanation how the proofs, when examined carefully and in the order listed, can hold up the case that Gen 6 Nancy is the daughter of Gen 7 Sherman.

 

Sherman Grosvenor and Nancy Brice are enumerated with 4 children, listed by initials, on the 1850 US Census for Bienville Parish, LA. The children are J.W. age 11; S.L, age 5; J.W. age 3; L.A. age 0.

 

By 1860, Sherman and Nancy disappear from records. There is nothing further to indicate what happened to them. The presumption is that they died between 1853 and 1860.

1860 US Census records for Polk and Walker County, TX show the children of Sherman and Nancy in 4 different households.

1860 US Census, Polk Co, TX, pgs 88, line 40, pg 89 lines 1-12, dwelling no. 592, family no. 619 - Jasper W. Grosvenor, age 21, is listed in the John C. Mann household, job: overseer. This is consistent with the 1850 census information regarding J.W. Grosvenor, age 11. Also in the Mann household is Alva Grosvenor, age 8.

1860 US Census, Walker Co, TX pg 24, lines 5-12, dwelling no. 130, family no. 127 shows Sarah Grosvenor, age 15, living with the John Moss family. Her age and place of birth are consistent with the 1850 census information.

1860 US Census, Walker Co, TX, pg 32, lines 6-11, dwelling no. 189, family no. 186 shows John Grosvenor, age 12, living with the family of John C. Brice. His age and place of birth are consistent with the 1850 census information.

1860 US Census Walker Co, TX, pg 32, lines 27-33, dwelling no. 192, family no. 189 shows Laura A. Grosvenor, age 10, living with the family of Guilford West. Her age and place of birth are consistent with the 1850 census information.

"Branches and Acorns" quarterly publication of Southwest Genealogical Society, Uvalde, TX Vol XI, No. 3, March 1996, pages 15-19, "A Brief History of John Coulter Brice and Hetty (Frame) Brice" recounts the story of John Coulter Brice and his family from Walker County, TX to Real Co, TX. Much of the information is quoted from children, grandchildren and a son-in-law. The article states that John Coulter Brice is enumerated on the 1860 US Census for Walker Co, Texas with his wife, children and a nephew, John Grovenor(sic). That John Grovenor is living with John Coulter Brice in 1860 is confirmed on that census record.

Examinations of subsequent census records find John Grosvenor listed only one time. In 1880, he was in Dimmit Co, TX.

1880 US Census Dimmit County, TX pg 12, line 28, no dwelling or family number,

Texas Death Certificate No. 536, John Grovenor(sic), died 18 Jan 1935, Texas State Hospital San Antonio, TX. The informant for this death certificate was listed as "Records of San Antonio State Hospital". Parents for John Grovenor were recorded as Sherman Grosvenor and Nancy Brice. His age at death is consistent with the 1850 census.

 NSDAR Member No. 772212 lists patriot Samuel Brice/A014230 as father of Samuel Brice, grandfather of John Coulter Brice.

 

Conclusion: It is reasonable to conclude that Gen 6 Nancy Brice is the daughter of Gen 7 Samuel Brice. The evidence indicates that John Coulter Brice, already confirmed in DAR member records as a son of Gen 7 Samuel Brice, was her brother and raised her son, John W. Grosvenor.

 

Are you thoroughly confused at this point, or could you follow the trail of evidence along to the conclusion? Such twisting paths to prove a generational connection are very common in the absence of direct evidence. The lineage society would prefer a more direct route, but will consider such an analysis of secondary evidence.

 

I will have the entire application ready to send soon. Wish me luck!

 

I’ll look at some other brick walls in my next post.

Stacy Sundgren, Farmgirl Sister No. 7112