Sigh… apparently…
Consistency.
It’s a genealogist’s dream.
All the records about one person would all have the same name.
All the dates of one event would all be in the same year.
All of the places for that one event would all be in the same county.
Is that too much to ask?
Sigh… apparently… when it comes to The Legal Genealogist‘s rascal ancestors, it absolutely is.
Today, you see, might be the 189th birthday of my second great grandmother, Martha Louisa (Baker) Cottrell.
Or it might be tomorrow. Or it could have been yesterday. Or … sigh … maybe even last Thursday.
Her application for a federal pension based on her husband George W. Cottrell’s alleged Mexican War service clearly identifies her as Louisa Cottrell, and says she was 65 years old.1 The year of birth is clear: 1832. The month looks like May. The day could be the 8th. Or the 9th. Or the 7th. Or even the 6th. And — sigh — if she was born in May 1832, she wouldn’t have been 65 yet, but just 64.
I’m willing to go with May — that’s what’s recorded in the 1900 census — but of course that census puts her birth in 1833, not 1832.2
Now… this inconsistency of birthdate shouldn’t be anything of a surprise. So little about this woman is consistent in any way, shape or form.
She is, after all, the same person recorded as Margaret in the 1850 census of Pulaski County, Kentucky, in the household of her parents Martin and Elizabeth Baker.3 And as Dottie in the one census where the family can be found after her marriage to George Cottrell.4 And as Patsy in one of George’s own pension filings.5 At least — thank heavens — her name in recorded deeds is consistently given as Martha Louisa, or Martha L.6
And she’s the one where all of the evidence of her marriage is inconsistent. It could have been perhaps in 1854 in Johnson County, Texas.7 Or maybe 1853 in Parker County.8 Or maybe 1854 in Parker County.9 Or maybe anytime and anywhere before it was finally recorded in Johnson County in January 1855.10
And although she says in this pension application that she was born in Cherokee County, North Carolina, there are a few minor issues with that. We can start with the fact that her parents were enumerated in Burke County in 1830,11 and her father Martin was on a jury list for Yancey County — created from Burke County in 183312 — in 1834.13
Oh, and Cherokee County wasn’t created until 1839, and not from the counties where her family had lived.14
Still, I’m willing to go with North Carolina as her birthplace.
Except that her children’s census records put their mother’s place of birth in four other states — South Carolina,15 Kentucky,16 Texas,17 and Georgia18 — as well as North Carolina.
Consistency.
It would be nice.
I’m not sure, since I’ve never seen it with these folks, not even as to whether there’s a birthday today.
But I think it would be nice.
If only — sigh — it wasn’t apparently too much to ask…
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Too much to ask?,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 8 May 2021).
- Declaration of claimant, 21 Jan 1897, widow’s pension application no. 13773 (Rejected), for service of George W. Cottrell of Texas; Mexican War Pension Files; Records of the Bureau of Pensions and its Predecessors 1805-1935; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. The word “alleged” is used deliberately. As the Pension Bureau said repeatedly, there’s no evidence George ever served in the Mexican War. ↩
- 1900 U.S. census, Wichita County, Texas, Justice Precinct 6, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 127, p. 243(A) (stamped), dwelling/family 189, Louisa “Catrell”; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 May 2021); citing National Archive microfilm publication T623, roll 1679. ↩
- 1850 U.S. census, Pulaski County, Kentucky, population schedule, Division 2, p. 111 (stamped), dwelling/family 528, Margaret Baker in Martin Baker household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 May 2021); citing National Archive microfilm publication M432, roll 217. ↩
- 1880 U.S. census, Parker County, Texas, Justice Precinct 6, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 139, p. 458(B) (stamped), dwelling/family 10, Dottie L Cotrell; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 May 2021); citing National Archive microfilm publication T9, roll 1232. ↩
- Survivor’s Claim, 17 Feb 1890, Pension application no. 7890 (Rejected), for service of George W. Cotrell of Texas; Mexican War Pension Files; RG-15; NA-Washington, D.C. ↩
- See e.g. Parker County, Texas, Deed Book 5: 807, Cotrell to Guiles (10 Dec 1874, recorded 14 July 1879); Parker County Clerk, Weatherford. ↩
- Ibid., Survivor’s Claim, 23 March 1887. ↩
- Ibid., Survivor’s Brief, 17 February 1890. ↩
- Declaration of claimant, 21 Jan 1897, widow’s pension application no. 13773 (Rejected), for service of George W. Cottrell of Texas; Mexican War Pension Files; RG-15; NA-Washington, D.C. ↩
- See Weldon Hudson, Marriage Records of Johnson County, Tx. (Cleburne : Johnson Co. Historical Soc., 2002). ↩
- 1830 U.S. census, Burke County, North Carolina, p. 198 (stamped), line 3, Martain Baker household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 May 2021); citing National Archive microfilm publication M19, roll 118. ↩
- “An act to erect a new county by the name of Yancy,” eff. 13 Jan 1834, Chapter 83 in Laws of the State of North Carolina… 1833-1834 (Raleigh: Lawrence & Lemay, 1834), 145. ↩
- Minute Book, 1834-1844, Yancey County, North Carolina, Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Minutes of December Term 1834; call no. C.R.107.301.1; North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh. ↩
- “An Act to erect … a separate and distinct County, by the name of Cherokee,” 4 Jan 1839, Chapter 10 in Laws of the State of North Carolina… 1838-1839 (Raleigh: J. Gales & Son, 1839), 18. ↩
- 1900 U.S. census, Wichita Co,, TX, pop. sched., Iowa Park, ED 127, p. 238(A) (stamped), dwell./fam. 86, Martin G Catrell. ↩
- 1930 U.S. census, Hockley County, TX, population schedule, Levelland, enumeration district (ED) 110-5, p. 227B (stamped), dwelling 264, family 311, Mary Green; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 May 2021); imaged from NARA microfilm T626, roll 2357. ↩
- 1900 U.S. census, Wichita Co,, TX, pop. sched., Justice Precinct 6, ED 127, p. 243(A) (stamped), dwell./fam. 189, Mary Green. ↩
- 1880 U.S. census, Parker Co., TX, Justice Precinct 6, pop. sched., ED 139, p. 458(B) (stamped), dwell./fam. 9, (Sarah) Jane Henson. ↩
Yup, too much to ask. I have one of those, too. I think after a while the person did not remember when they were born, or married, etc. You would think they would remember where though. But then who informed the enumerator? Lots of misinformation in the past, that is for sure.
“rascal ancestors” that explains 99% of my family tree 🙂
Yours and mine both… you sure we’re not cousins? 🙂
Oh, my. If it were anyone, but you, I’d wonder if you had the same person. My sympathies.
As well, at least your surname is consistent. Just lost that for one of my female ancestors today. I only have a surname from the death record of two of her sons, as given by their wives, and they didn’t come close to each other. Was her pre-marriage surname McMillen or Gearhart? Or did her husband have two wives named Mary? Not a clue…
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.