The family tree, part 4.

Emily Caroline Ward (25 Dec 1836, Henry Co., Alabama – 30 Nov 1922, Levy Co., Florida)

Ahnentafel #89 · his father’s mother’s mother’s father’s father’s mother (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Emily Caroline Ward was born on 25 December 1836 in Henry County, Alabama, and died on 30 November 1922 in Levy County, Florida. She married John Wesley Truett on 2 November 1854 in Henry County, with her father's written consent, and was later named as an heir in her father's estate. In 1917, at the age of 80, she moved with the family to Hardeetown in Levy County, Florida, where she died at Chiefland and was buried in Hardeetown Methodist Cemetery. A photograph of her survives, captioned with her husband's and son's names.

Evidence

m. John Wesley Truett 2 Nov 1854, Henry Co., with her father’s written consent. ⭐ Named as an heir of her father’s estate, 6 Aug 2026 — Abijah Wiggins’s deposition of 11 Nov 1870 lists among the heirs of full age “the wife of JOHN TRUETT” [TRUETT-22], and the 1870 petition names her siblings outright [TRUETT-23]. Moved to Hardeetown, Levy County, Florida in 1917, aged 80. Died at Chiefland; buried Hardeetown Methodist Cemetery. Her photograph survives, captioned “John W, Caroline, and son George.”

Outstanding: The Florida death certificate would name her parents in her own family’s words.

Photographs (described)

Evidence images (described)

Clark Strong Tuttle (b. 28 Apr 1811 Jefferson Co. NY – 1870s)

Ahnentafel #96 · his mother’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Clark Strong Tuttle was born on 28 April 1811 in Jefferson County, New York, and died in the 1870s. He was a prosperous miller at Otter Creek Township in Vigo County, Indiana, owning real estate worth $9,500 in 1850 and $14,000 by 1860, and he served as a Vigo County commissioner beginning in October 1858. He married twice: his first wife, known from records only as "H. M.," was born in New Jersey and died between the autumn of 1850 and July 1851, when Clark married Nancy A. Harbert.

Evidence

A MILLER, and a well-off one — read from two census images 6 Aug 2026. Otter Creek Township, Vigo County: 1850, miller, $9,500 real estate; 1860, miller, $14,000 real estate and $9,215 personal, with three hired hands and a servant living in and every school-age child at school [TUTTLE-13, TUTTLE-14]. Vigo County commissioner from October 1858. ⚠⚠ HE MARRIED TWICE. His first wife, “H. M.” Tuttle, aged 37, born NEW JERSEY, is in the 1850 household with Hannah (9), Frank (2) and Aula (1); she died between the autumn of 1850 and 11 July 1851, when he married Nancy A. Harbert.

Outstanding: ⚠ Any note treating Hannah, Frank or Aula as Nancy’s children is wrong. Find “H. M.” — born New Jersey c.1813, dead 1850×1851, Vigo County. ⚠ The family is NOT in Vigo Co. in 1870 (three searches); Dennis C. Tuttle was born at PEORIA, ILLINOIS, so look there.

Evidence images (described)

Nancy A. Harbert / Herbert (b. about 1826–27 in Ohio)

Ahnentafel #97 · his mother’s father’s father’s father’s father’s mother (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Nancy A. Harbert, sometimes recorded as Herbert, was born about 1826-27 in Ohio. She became Clark Strong Tuttle's second wife, marrying him in Vigo County, Indiana, after his first wife's death in 1850 or 1851, and was the mother of his children Richard, Ed, Em, and Dennis. Her own parents have not yet been identified.

Evidence

⭐ The Harbert line opened 6 Aug 2026 — her first recorded fact of any kind. The 1860 census of Otter Creek Township gives her aged 33, born OHIO [TUTTLE-13]. The marriage is indexed in Indiana, Marriages 1811–2019 as Clark S. Tuttle × Nancy A. HERBERT, Vigo County, page 218 — no date, no image, a third name Harvey W. Allen. ⚠ She was Clark’s SECOND wife, but our line is on the right side of the break: Richard, born about 1858, is hers, as are Ed (1852), Em (1853) and Dennis (1856).

Outstanding: Her parents are unknown — an Ohio-born family. Candidates in Vigo County: Benjamin H. Harbert (m. 1855) and Daniel Harbert. ⚠ No Nancy Harbert/Herbert born Ohio c.1826–27 appears in the indexed 1850 census of Indiana (three query shapes).

Evidence images (described)

Francis “Frank” Fuerstenberger (b. 1826/27 in Bavaria – d. 1894)

Ahnentafel #98 · his mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother’s father (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established · Immigrant

Francis "Frank" Fuerstenberger was born in Bavaria in 1826 or 1827 and died in 1894. He immigrated to the United States and was recorded in the Terre Haute, Indiana census of 1870 and 1880. He married Sophia Snyder on 26 February 1852 in Clark County, Illinois, and together they had eight children, five of whose branches later appeared as heirs in a 1934 family probate case.

Evidence

The immigrant. 1870 Terre Haute census (indexed “Fersenburger”), 1880 (“Fuerstebuger”). m. Sophia Snyder 26 Feb 1852, Clark Co., Illinois. Eight children, five of whose branches reappear as heirs in the 1934 Andrews probate.

Outstanding: His German town, naturalisation and passenger list — all unworked. Probably buried at Highland Lawn with the Tuttles.

Sophia Snyder (b. 1828 Pennsylvania – 1889)

Ahnentafel #99 · his mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother’s mother (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Sophia Snyder was born in Pennsylvania in 1828 and died in 1889. She married Francis Fuerstenberger in Clark County, Illinois, in 1852, and the couple raised eight children together.

Evidence

Outstanding: A “Snyder Family: Clark, Illinois — Family Histories 1731–1938” manuscript surfaced in the same full-text search and likely covers her ancestry.

John Fletcher (b. Pennsylvania (1880) or Indiana (1900) — in conflict)

Ahnentafel #102 · his mother’s father’s father’s mother’s mother’s father (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

John Fletcher was probably born either in Pennsylvania or in Indiana — his daughter Mary Elizabeth's census records over the years disagree on which. He was named as her father on her 1934 Indiana death certificate, which is presently the only document connecting the two.

Evidence

ADDED at PROBABLE, 10 Aug 2026, adversary-confirmed [ALEX-04/07/-VERDICT]. Named as Mary Elizabeth Fletcher’s father on her 1934 Indiana death certificate (informant unidentified — the certificate IMAGE’s informant line is the named next check). One document names the pair; the birthplace conflict (PA vs IN, both Mary’s own census reports) is carried, not resolved.

Outstanding: the certificate image’s informant; a Fletcher × Wallace marriage ~1850–58; no Fletcher marriage exists in Vermillion’s own 1844–61 register (elsewhere-origin reading).

Sarah (Wallace) Fletcher (b. Indiana (both censuses))

Ahnentafel #103 · his mother’s father’s father’s mother’s mother’s mother (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Sarah Fletcher, born Wallace, was recorded as being born in Indiana. She was probably the wife of John Fletcher and the mother of Mary Elizabeth Fletcher, named alongside him on Mary Elizabeth's 1934 death certificate. A cluster of pioneer Wallace families in Vermillion County, Indiana, may be connected to her, though this remains an unproven lead.

Evidence

ADDED at PROBABLE, 10 Aug 2026 [ALEX-04/07/-VERDICT]. Same single certificate. The Vermillion “Wallace pioneer cluster” remains a surname-only lead — hers, not William Alexander’s (the earlier mix-up corrected in ALEX-07).

Elias Lamb (24 Sep 1814 NC – 31 Aug 1890, Vermillion Co., IN)

Ahnentafel #108 · his mother’s father’s mother’s mother’s father’s father (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Elias Lamb was born on 24 September 1814 in North Carolina and died on 31 August 1890 in Vermillion County, Indiana. According to an 1888 county history, he was the son of Joseph and Lydia Lamb, married Susannah Bish on 23 March 1837, and celebrated his golden wedding anniversary in 1887. He left the Society of Friends for the United Brethren church in 1841, and his son Erwin's own biographical sketch, printed in the same volume, confirms him as Erwin's father.

Evidence

⭐ ADDED at PROBABLE, 10 Aug 2026, adversary-confirmed (ok refused — the Elias→Erwin link lives in one publication) [KNOTT-13/-VERDICT]. The 1888 Vermillion mug-book, two entries: his own sketch (b. 24 Sep 1814; parents Joseph & Lydia; m. Susannah Bish 23 Mar 1837; golden wedding 1887) and the children list naming “Azel E., Irvin R.…” — with Erwin’s own sketch (“a son of Elias Lamb”) in the same volume. Left the Friends for the United Brethren by letter, 1841. Death: genealogytrails index, 31 Aug 1890.

Outstanding: the 1870 Wayne Co. household read (the ruled test); his estate file.

Susannah (Bish) Lamb (17 Nov 1818 Fairfield Co., OH – aft. 1888; m. 23 Mar 1837)

Ahnentafel #109 · his mother’s father’s mother’s mother’s father’s mother (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Susannah Lamb, born Bish, was born on 17 November 1818 in Fairfield County, Ohio, and was still living after 1888. According to the same 1888 county history that names her husband Elias, she was the daughter of John and Ann Elizabeth Bish, moved to Wayne County in 1836, married Elias Lamb on 23 March 1837, and had ten children. The couple's golden wedding anniversary in 1887 was, by that same account, attended by a large gathering of old settlers.

Evidence

ADDED at PROBABLE, 10 Aug 2026 [KNOTT-13/-VERDICT]. The 1888 sketch: daughter of John & Ann Elizabeth Bish, to Wayne Co. 1836; ten children; the 1887 golden wedding “with a large attendance of the old settlers.” Single source.

Outstanding: the 1837 marriage record; her death.

Milo Bailey (of Clay Twp., Wayne Co., Indiana; son of John Bailey, d. 1863 aged 72)

Ahnentafel #110 · his mother’s father’s mother’s mother’s mother’s father (6 generations back) · Hypothesis — a candidate, not tied in

Milo Bailey is believed to have lived in Clay Township, Wayne County, Indiana, as the son of John Bailey, who died in 1863 at the age of 72. He appears alongside the Lamb family in an 1872 local history, and two Lamb brothers are known to have married two Bailey women in the same year, 1859 or 1860 — a pattern that makes him a plausible candidate for the father of Melissa J. Bailey. No record has yet been found that names his daughters, so the connection remains unproven.

Evidence

ADDED at HYPOTHESIS, 10 Aug 2026 [KNOTT-13/-VERDICT]. The candidate father of Melissa J. Bailey: real and clustered (Young 1872: “Ithamar Lamb, Milo Bailey, and Lewis Strickler live on it”; “his son Milo resides [Clay, 1859]”), and two Lamb brothers married two Bailey women in one 1859–60 season — but NO record names his daughters. ⚠ TRAP: an unrelated Milo LAMB (Thomas Lamb’s NC family) sits in the same county — discriminate in every pull.

Outstanding: the 1850/1860 census household (Melissa in it = tied in; absent = candidacy dies); his own marriage (names node 111).

Melissa Bailey's mother (name not recorded)

Ahnentafel #111 · his mother’s father’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother (6 generations back) · Known unknown — the person existed; the name does not survive

The name of Melissa J. Bailey's mother has not survived in any record found so far. If Milo Bailey's candidacy as her father is ever confirmed, his own marriage record would be the most likely place to recover her mother's identity.

Evidence

KNOWN UNKNOWN [KNOTT-13-VERDICT]. Melissa’s mother existed; no record names her under any candidacy. Milo Bailey’s own marriage record is the recovery path if his candidacy holds.

Benjamin “Bennie” Roush (30 Aug 1816 – 5 Mar 1897)

Ahnentafel #120 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s father’s father (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Benjamin "Bennie" Roush was born on 30 August 1816 at Graham Station, Mason County, West Virginia, and died on 5 March 1897. He married Sophia Altman on 23 May 1839 in Orange Township, Meigs County, Ohio, and farmed there before later moving to Syracuse, Ohio, and then back to Wagner District in Mason County, West Virginia. He is buried at Broad Run Cemetery in Mason County, beneath a stone reading "FATHER & MOTHER."

Evidence

Born at Graham Station, Mason Co., West Virginia. m. Sophia Altman 23 May 1839, Orange Township, Meigs County, Ohio — read from the Justice of the Peace’s own return. Farmed in Sutton Township, Meigs Co. (1850, 1860), Syracuse (1870), and Wagner District, Mason Co., W.Va. (1880). Buried Broad Run Cemetery, Mason Co.: “FATHER & MOTHER / BENJAMIN ROUSH / BORN AUG. 30, 1816 / DIED MAR. 5, 1897.” [ROUSH-20, ROUSH-36, ROUSH-36b].

Outstanding: Nothing above him has been worked. Roush = anglicised RAUSCH; the printed Ohio-valley Roush genealogies should be tested against the tree-only “John Blackbird Roush.”

Photographs (described)

Evidence images (described)

Sophia Altman (1 Jun 1823 Ohio – 4 Jul 1898, Meigs Co., Ohio)

Ahnentafel #121 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s father’s mother (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Sophia Altman was born on 1 June 1823 in Ohio and died on 4 July 1898 in Meigs County, Ohio. She was only fifteen years and eleven months old when she married Benjamin Roush in May 1839. The couple raised six known children — Moses B., Sarah Elizabeth, Mary Lovina, Maria Ann, Serepta Ann, and Dillia — and Sophia is buried beside Benjamin at Broad Run Cemetery.

Evidence

Fifteen years and eleven months old at her marriage — nine days short of sixteen. Buried beside Benjamin at Broad Run: “SOPHIA, HIS WIFE / BORN JUNE 1, 1823 / DIED JULY 4, 1898.” Six children known: Moses B., Sarah Elizabeth Kauff, Mary Lovina Findley, Maria Ann Goodnite, Serepta Ann, Dillia McDaniel [ROUSH-36, ROUSH-36b].

Outstanding: ⚠ Because she was a minor, a parental consent naming her father was filed in Meigs County in May 1839 — but Meigs County has no licence, bond or consent series on film (vols 1–24 are returns only). It is a loose paper in the Probate Court, off-line [ROUSH-37].

Photographs (described)

Evidence images (described)

James Duckworth (b. about 1813/18 in Lancashire – d. between 1874 and 1880, Meigs Co., Ohio)

Ahnentafel #122 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s mother’s father (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established · Immigrant

James Duckworth was born about 1813 or 1818 in Lancashire, England, and died between 1874 and 1880 in Meigs County, Ohio. He worked as a collier — a coal miner — and married Ann Collins on 21 January 1839 at St Mary's Church in Bury, Lancashire, signing the register with a mark, as did his bride. He emigrated to the United States around 1850 or 1851, settling first in Pennsylvania and then in Meigs County, Ohio, where in 1874 a court inquest found him insane and committed him to the Lunatic Asylum of the State of Ohio at Athens.

Evidence

A COLLIER. “James Duckworth, of full age, Bachelor, Collier, of Wood Head Hill” — m. Ann Collins 21 January 1839 at St Mary, Bury, Lancashire, after banns, by J. F. Amos, curate; both signed with an ✗ mark; his father entered as GEORGE DUCKWORTH, HATTER [ROUSH-34]. Emigrated c. June 1850 × 1851; Pennsylvania, then Meigs County, Ohio. ⚠⚠ Meigs County Probate Journal p.288, inquest of 24 April 1874: “In the Matter of the Insanity of James Duckworth.” Found insane, of less than two years’ duration, legal settlement Sutton Township, entitled to the Lunatic Asylum of the State of Ohio at ATHENS; witnesses Wm Duckworth, Henry and August Bartels, David Thomas; medical witness Dr Isaac Irwin; Judge Stanbery [ROUSH-38].

Outstanding: ⭐ The Athens asylum admission and death registers, 1874–1880, would give his death and burial — and would close the story. There is no estate because a man sent to a state asylum leaves no will.

Evidence images (described)

Ann Collins (b. after 21 Jan 1818 in Lancashire – living after 1860)

Ahnentafel #123 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s mother’s mother (6 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established · Immigrant

Ann Collins was born after 21 January 1818 in Lancashire, England, and was still living after 1860. She was a minor of Freetown, in Bury, when she married James Duckworth in 1839, which is why her father's name was recorded in the marriage register at all; she, too, signed with a mark. Her maiden name was recovered from the 1924 Ohio death certificate of her eldest daughter, Mary Duckworth Treadwell, which named her mother as "Ann Collins, England."

Evidence

A MINOR at her marriage — which is why her father is named in the register at all. Of Freetown, Bury. Signed with an ✗ mark. Her maiden name was recovered on 6 Aug 2026 from the 1924 Ohio death certificate of her eldest daughter Mary (Duckworth) Treadwell, which reads “MOTHER: ANN COLLINS, England” [ROUSH-33, ROUSH-34].

Outstanding: Her baptism at Bury c.1818–21, father Adam Collins. ⚠ Bury is 9 miles north of Manchester — the “Manchester” of the Ohio death certificates is the region, not the parish.

Evidence images (described)

George Nease (10 Dec 1819 (or 21 Nov 1820) – 21 Nov 1899, Mason Co., WV)

Ahnentafel #124 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s father (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

George Nease was born on 10 December 1819, or possibly 21 November 1820, and died on 21 November 1899 in Mason County, West Virginia. He is believed to have married Nancy Roush on 15 December 1848, according to a 1928 family genealogy, and census records from 1850 and 1860 corroborate the marriage and the couple's growing family, including their son Lewis. No record apart from the genealogy has yet been found that directly states the father-son link to his own parents.

Evidence

⭐ ADDED at PROBABLE, 8 Aug 2026, adversary-confirmed [ROUSH-61/-VERDICT]. The 1928 Roush genealogy (img 416): Nancy Roush “married George Nease Dec. 15, 1848… To them… 2. Lewis Nease, b. Nov. 20, 1854” — and the record side corroborates: 1850 census (George 31, Nancy 18, infant Susan M.) [ROUSH-45]; 1860 census with “Lewis J. Neoce,” 6, in the household [ROUSH-47]; his 1899 death register matching the book to the day [ROUSH-43]. No document states the father-link outside the book — hence Probable.

Outstanding: the WV VRR marriage record 1848 (browser); the 1870 household; his parents — see nodes 248/249 (Samuel-vs-Emanuel conflict).

Evidence images (described)

Nancy (Roush) Nease (16 Feb 1832 – 21 Jul 1913; dau. of Anthony Roush × Elizabeth Rickard (book-only))

Ahnentafel #125 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s mother (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Nancy Roush Nease was born on 16 February 1832 and died on 21 July 1913. She is believed to have been the daughter of Anthony Roush and Elizabeth Rickard, and she married George Nease. She appears consistently across the 1850 census, as an eighteen-year-old wife, and again as the informant "Nancie Nease, wife" on George's own 1899 death record, though her parentage still rests on a single genealogical source.

Evidence

⭐ ADDED at PROBABLE, 8 Aug 2026, adversary-confirmed [ROUSH-61/-VERDICT]. The book’s Nancy Roush b. 16 Feb 1832 = the census wife (18 in 1850, b.~1832) = the informant “Nancie Nease, WIFE” on George’s 1899 death register [ROUSH-43/44]. Her maiden name ROUSH and parents (Anthony × Elizabeth Rickard) rest on the book alone — and open a possible SECOND patriot Roush line (Henry Sr. ?= DAR A098977) [ROUSH-61].

Outstanding: the unopened “Nancy (1913, ×2)” death-index entries [ROUSH-42] — the cheap decisive test; the Anthony Roush rung; Bertha married back into her grandmother’s family — narrative flagged.

Evidence images (described)

Martha Jane Love's father (name not recorded)

Ahnentafel #126 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s father (6 generations back) · Known unknown — the person existed; the name does not survive

The father of Martha Jane Love, who was born in Ohio on 30 January 1860, is not named in any record found so far. Her 1941 West Virginia death record names her mother but leaves the space for her father blank, and a search of an 1877 marriage license moved the likely search area to Athens County, Ohio, without yet finding him.

Evidence

KNOWN UNKNOWN. Martha Jane Love was born in Ohio, 30 January 1860. Her 1941 West Virginia death record names her mother and leaves the father blank.

Outstanding: an Ohio LOVE household with a daughter Martha Jane b. Jan 1860 — Meigs County is the obvious place to look, since that is where the Roushes and Duckworths were.

8 Aug 2026 [ROUSH-62]: the 1877 license moves the search to Athens Co., Ohio; no Love×McDonald marriage in the Athens or Meigs open-web indexes (read in full); the decisive 1860 Athens census household sits behind the FS login (queued).

Leah McDonald (b. Ohio)

Ahnentafel #127 · his mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother (6 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Leah McDonald was born in Ohio. She was named as the mother of Martha Jane Love on Martha Jane's West Virginia death record of 12 August 1941, an account given eighty-one years after the birth it describes, so the identification is treated as probable rather than certain. Martha Jane's own 1877 marriage license shows she was born in Athens County, Ohio, and a marriage there between a Ranslier Graham and a Leah McDonald in 1865 may represent Leah's later remarriage as a widow, though this is not yet confirmed.

Evidence

⭐ NEW GENERATION, entered 7 August 2026. Named as the mother of Martha Jane (Love) Nease on Martha’s West Virginia death record of 12 August 1941 (WV VRR Id 5290412), which also gives her birthplace as Ohio.

Graded Probable deliberately: the identification rests on one record, and it is an informant’s statement made eighty-one years after the birth it describes.

Outstanding: everything else — her given dates, her husband, her own parents. A McDonald–Love marriage in Ohio, c.1855, would confirm her at a stroke.

⭐ 8 Aug 2026 [ROUSH-62]: Martha Jane’s 1877 marriage license IMAGE read: she was born ATHENS County, Ohio (search county corrected from Meigs). Live lead: “GRAHAM, Ranslier × McDONALD, Leah, 4 Oct 1865, Athens Co.” — a widow’s remarriage would explain the 1941 record’s maiden-name usage. Browser: the 1870 Ranslier Graham household (a ~10-year-old Martha in it confirms or kills).

Archibald "Archy" Bell (b. about 1770–1775; d. before 22 October 1839, Sumter District, South Carolina)

Ahnentafel #128 · his father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father (7 generations back) · Hypothesis — a candidate, not tied in

Archibald Bell — “Archy” to the clerks who wrote down his name — was born about 1770 to 1775, and if the reconstruction holds he was a son of William Rasor Bell, a planter of Salem in Sumter District who died leaving nine sons and a widow named Mary.

He farmed on both banks of Lynches Creek, the water that divides Sumter District from Darlington. He bought land in Darlington in 1806 and sold a hundred and twenty-seven acres there in 1817, between Bay Branch and Newmans Swamp; he was witnessing deeds across the creek in Sumter as early as 1812. His wife Martha released her dower twice, in 1809 and 1817, before a justice named John Huggins — whose family would later marry into his.

Martha died, and he married Margaret, and had five more children with names that read like a roll-call of his neighbours: Benjamin Sumter, Ezekiel Dixon, Hugh McCallum, Columbus Campbell. He was sued in 1830 for a witness fee. He was still buying land from Robert Severance in 1836, at sixty. He died in the autumn of 1839, weak in body but of sound mind, leaving two hundred and seventy-five acres, a set of blacksmith’s tools, thirteen geese, and a boy named Limus whom he directed to be sold to pay his debts.

Whether the John Bell he named first among his older children is the John Bell who went to Alabama about 1830 is the question this family has not yet answered.

Evidence

⭐⭐ A candidate with a documented life and no document tying him to us. He is graded hypothesis deliberately — but for a narrower reason than this node used to give. ⭐ Archy Bell’s own will names a son JOHN BELL: “the remainder I will & bequeath to my beloved children to be equally divided between them, viz, John Bell, Celey Amoson, Harriett Bell, Martha Bell, William Wesley Bell, and Jane Bell” — verified in the signed original, the clerk’s certified copy and the recorded will book [BELL-430]. ⚠ What is NOT documented is that this son John is OUR John F. Bell of Barbour County, Alabama. The open question is an identification, not a relationship — and a “John Bell Senr” was witnessing deeds in Darlington in 1820, so uniqueness cannot be assumed. What follows is the case, which is now a strong one.

⭐ He left a will [BELL-147]. Made 4 October 1839 and filed at Sumter District on the 22nd, it leaves his wife Margaret the 275-acre plantation for her life or widowhood, then to five children — Benjamin Sumter, Margaret Louisa, Ezekiel Dixon, Hugh McCallum and Columbus Campbell Bell. An 1846 partition establishes that those five are the children of a second marriage. The residue he leaves to six more: ⭐ “John Bell, Celey Amoson, Harriet Bell, Martha Bell, William Wesley Bell, and Jane Bell.”

⭐ That earlier family is dated, and it is dated to the right decade. William Wesley Bell is in the 1850 Darlington census aged 30, born 1820 [BELL-160]. So the six were born roughly 1805×1820 — the window in which John Bell was born, 13 January 1807, and the window of Archibald’s marriage to Martha, who released dower in 1809 and 1817.

⭐⭐ And his household held a boy of exactly the right age, twice [BELL-159]. The 1820 Sumter schedule (page 115, indexed “Arel Bell”) tallies one male aged 10 and under 16 — John was thirteen. The 1830 schedule (page 66, indexed “Achable Bell”) tallies one male aged 20 and under 30 — John was twenty-three, and his family left for Alabama “about 1830.” Archibald himself is 45-and-upwards in 1820 and 50–60 in 1830. ⚠ But the bracket is not exclusive: of the seven Bell households on the 1830 Sumter schedule, the elder John Bell’s (p. 93) also holds an anonymous male 20–30 [BELL-166] — the census cannot choose between the two roofs.

⭐ The neighbours run for twenty-six years. Robert Severance is the household directly below him in 1820, sells him land in 1836, and his estate bounds Archibald’s farm in 1846. William Copeland is on the 1830 page and witnesses the will. The Amosons are on both pages, and a daughter married one of them.

Outstanding — and these are the reasons the grade has not moved [BELL-148, BELL-162]: ⛔ No instrument names John Bell as his son, and none places the will’s John Bell in Alabama. The estate packet was opened in August 2026 and contains no legatee receipts at all. ⛔ Two other Sumter Bell households in 1820 — Thomas Bell, on the line immediately above him, and John Bell — also held a boy of John’s age, and if those men are his brothers then the rivals are his nephews, sharing every neighbour and every migration route. ⛔ And the rival persists: in 1830 the elder John Bell’s household (the probable “John Bell Senr” of the 1839 bond) still holds a male 20–30, while Thomas Bell’s household has vanished from the schedule entirely, leaving his boy unlocated [BELL-166]. ⚠ The Darlington-vs-Sumter question has narrowed sharply: beyond the shared “Archy”/“Archibald” usage and the three surnames that cross the creek with him (Huggins, Chaney, Newman), the February 1839 resurvey of his own home plantation — the Sumter estate tract itself — is headed “South Carolina, DARLINGTON DISTRICT” by the deputy surveyor [BELL-170]. His home paperwork crossed the line; a single instrument equating the two men in words is still wanting. ⚠ The 1820 and 1830 tallies also leak by one boy, which is unexplained. ⭐ And the exclusion now runs one way [BELL-172]: no John Bell of the will’s generation is documentable in Sumter or Darlington District in 1840 or 1850 — the one right-age Sumter candidate resolves to James P. Bell by his own will — so the will’s John left the home districts, and ours is the only located right-age John with any documented tie to them.

⭐ 22 Aug 2026 [BELL-484]: the Darlington Archibald (wife Martha, 1809–1820) and the Sumter Archy (wife Margaret by 7 Oct 1829) are now one man stated in the record — “Archd Bell of the district of Sumpter” buying the Darlington tract on 4 May 1810, and “Archey Bell … Margaret Bell the wife of the within named Archibald Bell” on one 1829 deed. His Boykin land came “sold to said A. Bell by General Cantey” — a purchase, not a descent from William Rasor Bell. He witnessed for Jonathan Newman of Sumter District in 1805 and beside a John Bell Senr in 1820 — association, never kinship. Still no document ties him to W.R.B.’s son Archibald; the estate bundle (Sumter Box 10 Pkg 3) was opened the same week — nine leaves, no division, no receipts [BELL-485].

⭐ [BELL-485]: his own estate packet is found (Sumter Bundle 113 Pkg 15): the original signed will of 4 Oct 1839 names wife Margaret, five younger children (Benjamin Sumter, Margaret Louisa, Ezekiel Dixon [#238 — not “Nixon”], Hugh McCallum, Columbus Campbell) and six older (John, Celey Amoson, Harriett, Martha, William Wesley, Jane) — and no father or brother; the sale bill shows the family buying its household back; J. W. Stuckey was guardian ad litem for the three youngest in 1846–47. William Rasor Bell’s own bundle is nine leaves with no division or receipts, the Ordinary’s books of 1809–39 were never filmed, and Sumter equity 1795–1870 holds no Bell partition — so the document that would tie 128 to 256 is not online anywhere now searched.

⭐⚠ 24 Aug 2026 [BELL-502–503, #229]: Archy is now documented holding and mortgaging (1815, to Zachariah Cantey) the 345-acre Lynches Creek tract whose 1785 survey was laid out for William Rasor Bell — the first document putting him on node 256’s ground — but a seventh adversary pass [BELL-512] kept the link at hypothesis: W.R.B. never owned the tract (a locative recital, not a title — and the recital’s companion word is now settled as HARRISON at the ink, an inherited 1780s adjoiner call, not a plat call [BELL-517]), Archy was a serial open-market buyer, and land never conveyed keeps its dead owner’s name for decades.

⛔ 25 Aug 2026 — the online case is CLOSED at the structure, not the query [BELL-514, BELL-517, BELL-518, BELL-521, BELL-522]: the Kershaw conveyance indexes 1791–1824 hold no Bell of ours in either direction (and Book A only opens in 1791, so 1786×91 is unanswerable there); no suit in five volumes of Sumter judgments 1804–26 ever touched the estate — proven in a record class where the Ordinary demonstrably sued his own administrators; the administrator Charles Williams (“of Georgetown district,” Durant in-laws, a rule-41 defaulting guardian in 1821) is dense in Sumter’s equity record 1819–27 with zero Bell connection; and the fiduciary volumes that would carry the one settling line — a distributee entry naming Archibald — were never filmed by anybody: they are SCDAH’s unfilmed Returns Books L 43049 (1816–1916) and Journals L 43051, paper in Columbia. The decisive documents are now all offline and named; the grade holds where seven adversaries left it.

Evidence images (described)

Martha Bell (wife of Archibald Bell by October 1809; living February 1817, Darlington District, South Carolina)

Ahnentafel #129 · his father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s mother (7 generations back) · Hypothesis — a candidate, not tied in

Martha Bell appears twice, briefly. In October 1809, and again in February 1817, her husband Archibald sold land in Darlington District, South Carolina, and each time she came before a justice of the peace — the same man both times, John Huggins — who examined her privately and separately from her husband, as the law required, to be sure a wife was not signing away her dower under his eye. She declared she did it freely and voluntarily, without compulsion, dread or fear of any person whomsoever. In 1809 she made her mark.

That is all we have of her, and whether she was John Bell’s mother is a hypothesis resting on her husband’s.

Evidence

⭐ “Martha Bell, the wife of the above named Archibald Bell” appeared twice before a Darlington District justice of the peace — 17 October 1809 and 24 February 1817 — and, examined privately and separately from her husband as the law required of a married woman, released her dower in land he was selling. In 1809 she made her mark. ⭐ The 1809 record, found 13 Aug 2026 [BELL-150], moves her eight years earlier than this file had her, and closes the gap between her documented marriage and John Bell’s birth in January 1807 to under three years.

⚠ She is the weaker of these two nodes and must be judged separately from her husband [BELL-148, BELL-162]. For Martha to be John Bell’s mother, three things must all hold: that the Darlington Archibald and the Sumter Archy are one man; that Martha was the first of his wives; and that the earlier family in his will is hers.

Outstanding: ⛔ No source anywhere states that Martha was the mother of anybody. ⛔ Every document naming her is a Darlington instrument, while every document of the will and the estate is Sumter — so she depends entirely on a merge that is still undocumented. ⚠ His 1839 will names a wife Margaret, and “children by his second marriage” establishes at least two marriages, not exactly two; a Martha who was wife number two of three, and stepmother rather than mother to the older children, fits every record equally well. ⚠ The 1830 Sumter schedule shows the woman of that house aged 30–40, who would have been only nine to nineteen in 1809 — so she is probably Margaret, and Martha is probably already dead. Her maiden name and her dates are unknown.

⭐ [BELL-484]: Martha living 20 Sept 1820 (dower, Sumter); Margaret is Archibald’s wife by 7 Oct 1829 (dower, Sumter) — the change falls 1820×1829, not c.1830.

Evidence images (described)

Joseph Eakins (d. early 1805, New Hanover Co., NC)

Ahnentafel #144 · his father’s father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s father (7 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Joseph Eakins died in early 1805 in New Hanover County, North Carolina. In 1790 he bought 400 acres on Moores Creek, described in the deed as a "Gentleman," sold that land in 1793, and in 1796 received a 210-acre North Carolina state land grant signed by Governor Samuel Ashe. After his death, his widow's year's provision was allotted in March 1805 and his goods were sold at auction that April for $1,657.57. The Eakins family cemetery still stands on land he once owned, with burials dating from 1797 to the present day.

Evidence

Proven by his own estate file. In 1790 he bought 400 acres on MOORES CREEK as “Gentleman”; sold to Jacob Moore 1793; and in 1796 received a 210-acre North Carolina state land grant signed by Governor Samuel Ashe. His widow’s year’s provision was allotted March 1805 and his goods sold at auction that April for $1,657.57. The Eakins family cemetery still stands on that land, its oldest burial 1797 and its most recent 2019.

Outstanding: He reached New Hanover about 1788–90 from somewhere else — and that somewhere, not New Hanover, is where Gen 9 will be found. The tree’s Irish origin (Joseph Elijah Eakins & Isabella Wauchope) was tested and fails outright.

probably Elizabeth Pigford (widow of Joseph Eakins)

Ahnentafel #145 · his father’s father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother (7 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Elizabeth Pigford was probably the widow of Joseph Eakins, though the marriage itself has not been directly documented. Four members of the Pigford family administered Joseph's estate and helped raise his children, and a Pigford later sold the family adjoining land in 1834 — a strong pattern of connection. Her father is believed to have been William "Lost Billie" Pigford, whose 1801 will names a daughter, "my daughter Elizabeth Aiken."

Evidence

Four Pigfords administer the estate and raise the children, and a Pigford sells the family the adjoining land in 1834 — strong, but the marriage itself is not documented.

⭐ 10 Aug 2026 [BELL-50/-VERDICT]: her father found — William “Lost Billie” Pigford’s 1801 will names “my daughter Elizabeth Aiken” (nodes 290/291 added). Adversary held THIS node at Probable with the “probably” intact: the will names no husband’s given name and is a book transcription; the will-book image + a dower-release deed are the path to Documented.

Moore Stephens (b. c.1796 North Carolina; m. 3 Sept 1817 Orange Co., NC; of Sumter Co., Alabama 1850)

Ahnentafel #160 · his father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s father’s father (7 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Moore Stephens was born about 1796 in North Carolina and was still living in Sumter County, Alabama, in 1850, later moving on to Newton County, Mississippi. He married Rebecca Moize on 3 September 1817 in Orange County, North Carolina, and the two were still together, and still recorded as North Carolina-born, in both the 1850 and 1860 census. He was one of ten heirs at law of Mary Thorn's 1846 Greene County, Alabama estate, alongside nine named siblings — William, Lewis, Charles, and James Stephens, and sisters Nancy Barnett, Mary Barnett, Lucinda Ball, Elizabeth Beavers, and Esther Hitt.

After his sister Esther's death, he and Rebecca raised her two orphaned children alongside their own, naming a daughter Easter in her memory. The 1850 slave schedule for Sumter County records that Moore held one enslaved person, an unnamed Black girl about seven years old.

Evidence

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ FOUND IN THE 1850 CENSUS, 6 Aug 2026: Moore Stephens, 54, born NORTH CAROLINA — Sumter county, Alabama, household 1220, with REBECCA, 50, born North Carolina (alive at 50 — his 1817 bride), Benjamin W. 21, James M. 18, John F. 16, Mary A. R. 13, Charles L. 12, Easter C. 10, William K. 6, and Rebecca J. and Richard HITT, both 10 — his dead sister Esther Hitt’s orphans, the “Representatives of Esther Hitt” of the 1846 distribution, being raised in his house. He named a daughter Easter (Esther) for that sister [STEPHENS-15]. ⭐⭐ Sumter County explains the cost bill’s “Heirs of SUMTER CO., ALA.” — and explains why he alone of the brothers bought nothing at his mother’s sale: he did not live there. ⭐⭐ His marriage bond found 6 Aug 2026: Orange County, North Carolina, Marriage Bonds index p.379 — “Stephens, Moore ✗ | Rebecca MOIZE | 3 Sept. 1817 | bondsman CHARLES ✗ STEPHENS, witness Joseph A. Woods”. Both men signed with a mark [STEPHENS-05]. ⭐⭐⭐ And his whole family found the same night: Greene County, Alabama, Orphans’ Court, 12 October 1846 — he is one of TEN heirs at law of MARY THORN, deceased, taking a distributive share of $107.50, receipted at $95 [STEPHENS-06]. His nine siblings are named: William, Lewis, Charles and James Stephens; Nancy Barnett, Mary Barnett, Lucinda Ball, Elizabeth Beavers and Esther Hitt. ⭐ Charles Stephens is his BROTHER, not his father — co-heirs in equal shares are siblings, and the “Gen 9 candidate” label on Charles is withdrawn.

Outstanding: ⭐ The migration is now dated: Orange Co., N.C. (Sept 1817) → Greene Co., Alabama (Aug 1824), window 1819×1824 — and corroborated 6 Aug 2026: his brother James is recorded in the 1850 census as born NORTH CAROLINA, c.1801 [STEPHENS-14]. ⚠⚠⚠ The estate he inherited from was two-thirds a human being. Mary Thorn’s sale of 29 Apr 1844 realised $1,075.86, of which $700 was the price of the woman JANE, bought by his brother James [STEPHENS-13]. Moore’s share was $107.39; about $70 of it was Jane. ⛔ Moore himself does not appear in the 1850 slave schedule index — held open, since he has not been found in the 1850 population census either. ⚠⚠⚠ VERIFIED FROM THE IMAGE, same night [STEPHENS-17]: Sumter Co. 1850 slave schedule, right-hand half, line 31 — “MOORE STEPHENS” in a clear hand (the index’s “Moon” is a transcription error). He held ONE enslaved person: a Black FEMALE, age indexed 7 (the age cell alone is faint). Born c.1843; about twenty-two at emancipation; not named, because the schedule was designed not to name her. ⭐ She is the likeliest person in this family to be findable BY NAME in the 1870 census of Sumter County. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1860 FOUND [STEPHENS-18]: MOORE STEVENS, 66, born North Carolina — NEWTON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, p.117, with Rebeca 55, Mary 23, Emeline 21, Luis 18, Rebeca 18, William 15. He left Sumter Co., Alabama for Mississippi in the 1850s — and node 80 already has HENRY H. STEPHENS in NEWTON CO. MS in 1860 too. Father and son moved together again (in 1850 they were six houses apart). ⭐⭐ It also frames the Mary Thorn cost bill’s “Heirs of Tishomingo County, Mississippi” — the westward pull on this family is now documented. ⚠ An FS tree calls him “1796–1860” — unsourced, NOT entered, but worth testing against a Newton Co. probate or the 1860 mortality schedule, which would give him a death date for the first time. ⚠ Two children (Luis 18, Rebeca 18, b. c.1842) are not in the 1850 household — unresolved; this family has taken in others’ children before.

Evidence images (described)

Rebecca Moize (b. c.1800 North Carolina; m. 3 Sept 1817 Orange Co., NC; living Sumter Co., Ala. 1850)

Ahnentafel #161 · his father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s father’s mother (7 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Rebecca Moize was born about 1800 to 1805 in North Carolina. She married Moore Stephens on 3 September 1817 in Orange County, North Carolina, at about seventeen years old, and was still recorded beside him, and still North Carolina-born, in both the 1850 census in Sumter County, Alabama, and the 1860 census in Newton County, Mississippi — forty-three years and two states after her wedding. The Moize family remained settled in Orange County for generations afterward, and her own parents have not yet been identified.

Evidence

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ALIVE AND FOUND, 6 Aug 2026: “Rebecca Stephens, 50, born North Carolina” in Moore Stephens’s household, Sumter county, Alabama, 1850 [STEPHENS-15]. Married at about seventeen and still his wife thirty-three years later, a state away. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ AND FOUND IN 1860 [STEPHENS-18]: “Rebeca Stevens, 55, born North Carolina,” Newton County, Mississippi, still beside Moore. Married in Orange Co., N.C. at about seventeen and still his wife forty-three years later, two states away. Her death is now after 1860, not merely after 1850. ⚠ The two censuses give her birth as c.1800 and c.1805 — census ages drift; recorded as b. c.1800–1805. Bride on the 1817 Orange County marriage bond [STEPHENS-05]. ⚠ The bond does NOT name her father — the bondsman carried the groom’s surname, not hers. ⭐ MOIZE is a settled Orange County surname: the family is still in Lebanon Township, Orange County in 1880, and Moize deaths registered at Durham into the 1950s still give “Orange County, N.C.” as birthplace.

Outstanding: Her parents are unnamed. Look for a Moize groom of the 1780s–1810s in the same Orange County bond index — he would be her father or brother. ⭐ Also: the Greene Co. cost bill shows “Chas. Stephens & wife” and three other Stephens wives relinquishing dower — if Moore is in the unread part of that list, the deeds name Rebecca.

Evidence images (described)

Daniel Jones (b. ~1806 North Carolina; d. by Dec 1869, Sumter Co., Alabama)

Ahnentafel #162 · his father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother’s father (7 generations back) · Probable — the IDENTIFICATION or the LINK rests on one source, or is in conflict

Daniel Jones was born about 1806 in North Carolina and died by December 1869 in Sumter County, Alabama. He is believed to have been the father of Sarah Ann Jones, based on the bonding of her sons Caswell, Calvin, and John as his "minor heirs" in December 1869 — an inheritance only possible through a lineal, and by then deceased, child. He lived two doors from the Stephens family in the 1850 census and repeatedly stood as co-surety with Moore Stephens in the 1850s, reflecting a close and long-standing connection between the two families.

Evidence

PROBABLE, adversary-confirmed 10 Aug 2026 [STEPHENS-33/-34/-35/-VERDICT]. Father of Sarah Ann Jones (81). The hard link: her sons Caswell, Calvin, John bonded 31 Dec 1869 as his “minor heirs” — per-stirpes inheritance possible only through a lineal predeceased link, their dead mother. Converging web: 1850 household 1216 (Daniel 44 NC · Susan 35 NC · Elizabeth 13 · James 12 · Margaret 10 · Mary 6) TWO DOORS from Henry’s 1214 [STEPHENS-35a]; repeat co-surety with Moore Stephens (160) 1853–54; adult surety by 1839; the lone adult Daniel Jones in 1850 Sumter; the NC POA sibling set (Daniel, Elijah, David, Sarah; brother Joel d. ~1843 Sumter). Sororate: daughter Elizabeth = Henry’s 1854 second wife (inference — age+name+two doors).

Outstanding: the decider — his own 1869 administration/distribution (Probate Records 1868–74 / Estate Case Files; “daughter Sarah, deceased” recital upgrades, different heirs falsify); Henry’s 1860 household (never pulled — Caswell’s maternity primary-check); the Elizabeth-identity document; post-1850/adjacent-county same-name residue.

Evidence images (described)

Susan Jones (b. ~1815 North Carolina; living 1850)

Ahnentafel #163 · his father’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother’s mother (7 generations back) · Hypothesis — a candidate, not tied in

Susan Jones, whose maiden name is not known, was born about 1815 in North Carolina and was living in 1850 as the wife of Daniel Jones. Whether she was the mother of Sarah Ann Jones, who was born around 1833 when Susan would have been only about eighteen, is not established, and Daniel may have had an earlier wife instead. She remains a candidate rather than a confirmed ancestor.

Evidence

HYPOTHESIS, adversary-graded 10 Aug 2026 [STEPHENS-35-VERDICT]. Daniel’s wife in the 1850 household (35, b. NC). Her maternity of Sarah Ann (b. ~1833) is UNPROVEN — she would have been ~18 at the birth; a prior wife is fully possible. Candidate only.

Outstanding: a marriage record Daniel × Susan (Sumter or NC); her fate after 1850 (the 1860 household); whether the 1838–40 “I Sarah Jones consent” deed [STEPHENS-33] is an elder kinswoman.

Evidence images (described)

Rev. William Hampton Truett (1806 Sumter, SC – 1870 Henry Co., AL)

Ahnentafel #176 · his father’s mother’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s father (7 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

The Reverend William Hampton Truett was born in 1806 in Sumter, South Carolina, and died in 1870 in Henry County, Alabama. As a preacher, he was part of the generation that carried the family out of the Carolina low country and onto the Alabama frontier. He married Alcey Wiggins on 10 October 1831 in Benton County, Alabama.

Evidence

A preacher — the generation that carried the family out of the Carolina low country and onto the Alabama frontier. m. Alcey Wiggins 10 Oct 1831, Benton Co., AL.

Outstanding: Only five sources on his profile.

Alcey Wiggins (1813–1880)

Ahnentafel #177 · his father’s mother’s mother’s father’s father’s father’s mother (7 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established

Alcey Wiggins was born in 1813 and died in 1880. In her final years she lived in the household of her son John Wesley Truett, appearing there, aged about 67, in the 1880 Clarke County, Alabama census — a single enumerator's page that ties three generations of the family together.

Evidence

Living in her son John Wesley’s household in the 1880 Clarke County census, aged about 67 — one enumerator’s page tying Gens 6, 7 and 8 together.