The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part III - 1870 Census (X2) vs. 1880 census

Previous post in this series are Everett Brick Wall Part I and Everett Brick Wall Part II. 

The next step in the journey of finding and confirming my Everett ancestors was to find documentation / evidence prior to the 1880 census to indicate that the Frank Hargit and Peter Hargit enumerated in the household of John and Vicy Ann Hargit in 1880 were actually Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett and Great Grandpa Peter Everett.

So, I turned to the 1870 census. For whatever reason, I initially was unable to find my ancestors listed on the 1870 census via Ancestry.com, so I turned to FamilySearch.org. Of late, I’ve obtained many more leads and information using Family Search than I have from Ancestry and depending on the information I’m seeking I prefer it to Ancestry. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Family Search is free.

Okay, back to my findings. The 1870 census as listed on Family Search provides the following enumeration:

Everette, Frank, living in Williamston Township, Martin, NC, Age 72, Male, Black, Farm Hand (Dwelling 530, Family 545)

·        Venus, Age 70, Female, Black, Keeping House

·        Frank Jr., Age 23, Male, Black, Farm Hand

·        Mariah, Age 20, Female, Black, Keeps House

·        Nicy A, Age 25, Female, Black, Farm Hand

·        Frank, Age 12, Male, Black, Farm Hand

·        Peter, Age 4, Male, Black

·        Lurenee, Age 2, Female, Black

·        Wiley, Age 1, Male, Black

Frank Jr. and everyone that follows him are listed as Family 546. This enumeration was performed on 1 Sept. 1870.

Comparing Nicy Ann, Frank, and Peter Everette to Vicy Ann, Frank, and Peter Hargit / Hargett in the 1880 household of John Hargit / Hargett (refer to previous post) provides strong circumstantial evidence that these are the same persons.

The discovery of my great grandfather, 2^nd great grandmother and great grand uncle on the 1870 census lead to what appears to be the peeling back of another layer of my family. Based on the ages of the household members, 3 generations of Frank Everetts, etc., it appears that Frank and Venus Everett(e) are my 3^rd great grandparents and Frank Everett, Jr. is more than likely their son and Grandma Vicy Ann’s brother.

I would later find Frank Everett, Jr. death certificate on Ancestry, which indicates his parents as Frank and Venus Everett. I’m still hoping for similar evidence for grandma Vicy Ann.

I’m sure you are wondering about the X2 for the 1870 census. Well after finding that initial grouping on Family Search, I eventually found a second 1870 census listing for my Everett ancestors.

The second listing is actually the first as far as chronological order. It was done on 26 Aug, 1870.  This enumeration is as follows

Everette, Frank Jr. living in Williamston Township, Martin, NC, Age 22, Male, Black, Farm Hand (Dwelling 350, Family 364)

·        Mariah, Age 19, Female, Black, Keeps House

·        Wiley, Age 1, Male, Black

·        Frank, Sr., Age 77, Male, Black, Farm Hand

·        Venus, Age 53, Female, Black, Farm Hand

·        Vessy, Age 28, Female, Black, Farm Hand

·        Frank, Age 10, Male, Black, At House

·        Peter, Age 4, Male, Black

·        Lorena, Age 2, Female, Black

Frank, Sr. and everyone that follows him are listed as Family 365.

The first thing I noticed between the two enumerations was the order of names was different and Venus’ age was drastically different, but otherwise, clearly this was the same 1870 family. My family was enumerated not once but twice.

By the way, back in the early 1990’s, during the early days of my research, I had written down the enumeration in which Frank Everette Jr. is listed first. I did something similar with the research on my maternal side but unlike my maternal side, I didn’t know much if anything about any of the collateral relatives on my paternal side. Therefore, there was no gut feeling when I recorded this family way back when but I think deep down, I must have known this had to be them.

Following my Everett / Hargett ancestors has been fun and exciting in getting back to the proverbial 1870 brick wall. I’ve discovered quite a few collateral line along the way, which I hope to pursue further but the time has come to stop procrastinating and attack that 1870 wall with al I’ve got and knock out a few brick or at least chip a few of them. I’m sure the journey from here on will be both exciting and frustrating. 

The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part II - Death Certificates and Census Records

This is the second in my ongoing series to explain how I got back to the 1870 Brick Wall on my Everett line, my paternal grandmother's, Iola Everett Jones, paternal line.

1880 Census


In my last post, I concluded with my great grandparents' marriage license / certificate, which indicated that my great grandfather's mother was Vicy Ann Hargett. Therefore, I decided to check the 1880 census for Martin County, NC and came across the following enumeration:

John Hargit living in Cross Roads Township, Martin, NC, Black, Male, Age 50, Farm Laborer

• Vicy, Black, Female, Age 30, Wife, Keeping House
• Frank, Black, Male, Age 20, Son, Farm Laborer
• Peter, Black, Male, Age 14, Son, Farm Laborer
• William, Black, Male, Age 8, Son
• Loronna, Black, Female, Age 6, Daughter
• Joel, Black, Male, Age 3, Son
• Harrett E, Black, Female, Age 1, Daughter

I felt I was on the right path when i came across this enumeration. However, I would need further evidence to prove that the Peter enumerated in the Harget household was my great-grandfather. As you will soon see this enumeration totally debunks the theory that you can always assume that the children are the husbands, although not necessarily the wives, unless otherwise indicated.

Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett's Death Certificate

Back in September of 2010, trying to find something to post for Tombstone Tuesday led me to discovering Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett's Death Certificate, which I came across by doing searches on grandma Vicy Ann Hargett. On Frank Everett's Death Certificate, Vicy Ann Hargett, is listed as the his mother.

Back to the 1880 Census

After finding Uncle Frank Everett's death certificate, I went back to the 1880 census. The Frank Hargit enumerated in the 1880 census in the household of John Hargit is the appropriate age to be Uncle Frank. I had initially assumed that Frank was John Hargit's child, Peter was my great grandfather, and the rest of the children were grandma Vicy Ann's and John Hargit's children together. But all indications are now pointing toward both Frank and Peter being Grandma Vicy Ann's children but not John Hargit's children, but I need further evidence to support my theory.

To Be Continued

The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part I

In 2010, one of my goals was to bring down the 1870 Brick Wall for my Ewell Ancestors, my paternal grandmother's maternal line. Try as I might, none of the paths I ventured down trying to find the last slave owner of my Ewell Ancestors panned out. So, this year, I've decided to change gears and explore my grandmother's paternal side. Hopefully, I will be more successful following my Everett line.

Before I actually delve into looking for that elusive last slave owner, I should talk about how I arrived at the 1870 impasse of my Everett ancestors. Over the past two years, I've divulged bits and pieces of the journey in researching my Everett Ancestors but don't think I've painted the complete picture. I will break the journey back to 1870 into several post so as not to be too long. Please note that some of this may be reiterations of previous posts.

Great Grandpa Peter Everett

Peter T. "PT" Everett is my great grandfather, Grandmomma Jones' father. I've previously written about Grandpa Peter's death certificate, which listed his parents as Henry Everett and Vica Ann Everett and stated that Grandpa Peter was born in Pitt County, NC.

John Ewell was the informant and is probably one of my grandmother's relatives on her mother's side. I've yet to purse the connection John Ewell may have to my grandmother but hope to one day determine what if any connection there is as I continue to try to track down other descendants.

The death certificate find steered me in the wrong direction initially as I looked in Pitt County, North Carolina for my great grandfather as well as my 2nd great grandparents and was not coming across any documentation to indicate that they were there. That being said, research in Pitt County may still prove to be beneficial since it neighbors Martin County, North Carolina, which is the ancestral home county.

Starting to Put the Pieces Together

In 2010, I requested and received a copy of my great grandparents' marriage license, which I thought I had requested in my early research days.

Their marriage certificate would prove to be launching pad for me finally following my Everett line back to 1870.

While the given names of Grandpa Peter's parents on his death certificate were correct, my great grandparent's marriage license indicate that my 2nd great grandfather's name was Henry Cherry and that my 2nd great grandmother's name was Vicy Ann Hargett and she was still living when my great grandparents married in 1887.

As noted in my previous post on the Hargett surname, this find confirmed the Hargett surname within our family that Aunt Martha had told me about. So, finally, documentation to support the oral history of my family. Further research would prove that the Hargett surname was not my great grandmother's maiden name.

To be continued

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The copy of Peter T. Everett's death certificate was obtained via Ancestry.com. The copy of the marriage certificate for my great grandparents was obtained from the Martin County, North Carolina Register of Deeds.

Surname Saturday - Everett

One of the joys that I experienced during 2010 on my paternal line was finally being able to confirm a 2nd great grandmother on my Everett line. In the process, I also unearthed, by all indications to date, my 3rd great grandparents.


Putting more of the pieces together on my Everett line began when I obtained a copy of my great grandparents’ marriage certificate. Without it, coming across my great grand uncle’s death certificate, and rereading a letter that my aunt had sent me years ago, I would have never arrived at a family I wrote down some 20 years was indeed my ancestors.

I still need to do a series on how I put the pieces together but for this Surname Saturday, I will just introduce more of my Everett line.

My Everett Lineage is as follows:

1. Me

2. Dad

3. Iola Luvenia Everett Jones, born abt May 1895 in the Crossroads section of Everetts, Martin County, NC; died 5 Apr 1969 in Shelby, Cleveland County, NC. Internment Evergreen Cemetery, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC

4. Peter T. Everett, born abt. 1863 in Martin County, NC, most likely the Cross Roads area; died 27 Jan 1931 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; possibly interred in Everetts Cemetery, Everetts, Martin, NC

5. Vicy Ann Everett, born abt. 1845 in North Carolina. Internment and date of death are unknown. The additional information leads me to belive that my 2nd great grandmother's first name is Vicy and not Vica has previously posted. Grandma Vicy Ann married John Hargett between 1870 and 1880 and had more children.

6. Frank Everett, born abt. 1798 in North Carolina. Date of Death – unknown. Internment – unknown.

Venus Everett, born abt. 1800 in North Carolina. Date of Death – unknown. Internment – unknown

Surname Saturday

Hargett

My Aunt Martha indicated in a letter to me, dated 2 July 1991, that we had cousins with the surname Hargett and that the then owners of the Hargett funeral home in Greensboro, NC were our distant cousins. Well, this is one of those so-and –so is our cousin type things that I’m beginning to possibly validate.


Based on information that I have to date, my Hargett Ancestry is as follows:

1. Mavis Jones

2. Earl Jones

3. Iola Everett, born May 1893 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; died 05 April 1969 in Shelby, Cleveland, NC; interred in Evergreen Cemetery, Winston-Salem, Forsyth, NC

4. Peter Everett, born abt. 1863 in Martin County, NC, most likely the Cross Roads area; died 27 Jan 1931 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; possibly interred in Everetts Cemetery, Everetts, Martin, NC.

5. Vica Ann Hargett, born abt. 1850 in North Carolina, possibly Pitt County; date of death and interment unknown

While I’ve been at this awhile, for whatever reason, it wasn’t until this year, that I requested a copy of my great grandparents’, Peter Everett and Edith Ewell, marriage license. On the marriage license granddaddy Peter’s parents are listed as Vica Ann Hargett, living, and what appears to be Henry Cherry (name difficult to make out), deceased.

There is a great deal more work to be done of this line, and sometime in the future I will begin more research on it but from my quick assessment of census records, I believe that

1. My 2nd great grandmother Vica Ann was an Everett when granpa Peter was born.
2. She later married John Hargett and had several more children.

Once again, this shows that you have to continually look back and go through your notes for missed items or from a different perspective. I think the reasons I had never requested my great-grandparents marriage license is that 1) when I initially begin my research, I had wrongly assumed that it was so far back in time that there wouldn’t be a record of my great grandparents marriage or 2) even though I keep somewhat decent records of my correspondence to various places, I might have thought I had already requested and was told there wasn't a record. Either way, I’m glad I realized that I had never asked as the find puts me back one more generation and more or less confirms the information on great granddad’s death certificate.