Sunday, October 31, 2010

Thomas Pinkney White

My 4th great-grandfather Thomas Pinkney White (Baldwin line) was born on 24 May 1801 in Virginia [1]. Nothing is known of his parentage or ancestry. Indeed, very little is even known of his life.

Thomas married Margaret "Peggy" Hill on 01 May 1823 [3]. Margaret was born on 05 Mar 1804 in Abbeville County, South Carolina to William, Sr. and Anne Hill [1, 4, 5]. The Bible owned by Anne Hill is an invaluable resource for early White and Hill genealogy.

Some time before 1835, the White family moved to Dallas County, Alabama [6]. Thomas died there on 30 Oct 1835 [2] and we see his estate in probate during that year [7, 8, 9]. Margaret is still seen in Dallas County in the 1840 United States census with her 2 young children and living next door to her brother John Hill [10].

By 1850, the White family had moved to Union Parish, Louisiana. We see Margaret living with her son John in the 1850 United States census [11]. She purchased 40+ acres from the U. S. government on 01 Sep 1850 [12].

After the Civil War with conditions in the area very poor, Margaret and John decide to move to Texas with John's father-in-law Dr. John Randolph Traylor, Sr. [13]. After arriving in the Houston area in the late 1860s, Margaret signed a will on 28 Aug 1869 in Harris County, Texas [14]. She may very well have been ill already as she died only 5 months later on 15 Jan 1870 [5]. Her cause of death is written on the 1870 United States census mortality schedule, but it is not readable [4]. The location of her grave is not known, but she is believed to have died in the Lynchburg or Morgan's Point, Texas area as this is where her family is located in the census taken shortly after her death [15]. Her estate was in probate in Harris County, Texas between 13 Apr and 25 Apr 1871 [14, 16] and in Union Parish, Louisiana on 05 Sep 1884 [17]. The latter probate was to settle lands left by the Whites when they left Louisiana.

Children of Thomas Pinkney White and Margaret "Peggy" Hill
1) George Washington White [1, 9] was born on 21 Feb 1824 [1]. He married Susan Fuller. He died before May 1847 in Union Parish Louisiana [18].
2) Ann Drewsila White [1] was born on 07 Mar 1827 [1]. She died before 1835 as she is not mentioned in the probate of her father.
3) Dr. John Allen White [9, 14] was born on 03 Dec 1829 in Washington, Wilkes, Georgia [19, 21]. He married Mary Louise Traylor on 14 Nov 1854 in Union Parish, Louisiana [20, 22]. He died on 03 Apr 1911 in Huntsville, Walker, Texas [19, 20]. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery (Section 2) in Huntsville.

References
[1] Anne Hill Family Bible. Page 678, Family Record, Births.
[2] Robert Hill Family Bible. Page 680.
[3] Anne Hill Family Bible. Page 677, Family Record, Marriages.
[4] 1870 United States Census Mortality Schedule. Harris County, Texas, Page ?.
[5] Anne Hill Family Bible. Page 680, Family Record, Deaths.
[6] Tubbs, Bill and Sue, Dallas County, Alabama Ancestral Homesteads, Jasper, Alabama, May 2001. Page 45 and 46.
[7] Probate Court Records of Dallas County, Alabama. Book C, Page (or Record) 349.
[8] Ibid. Book D, Page 260.
[9] England, Flora, Dallas County, Alabama Genealogical Records, Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Page 12.
[10] 1840 United States Census. Dallas County, Alabama, Page 85 B.
[11] 1850 United States Census. Union Parish, Louisiana, Page 361 A.
[12] United States Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office Records. Land patent for 40.37 acres to Margaret White, Union Parish Louisiana, 01 Sep 1850, No. 9967, Volume 19, Page 500. Receipt Certificate
[13] Personal correspondence. Letter from Dr. John Randolph Traylor, Sr. to John Hill, 13 Jul 1863. Page 1 Page 2
[14] Probate Court Records of Harris County, Texas. Probate for Margaret Hill, Volume U, Pages 3, 4, and 5.
[15] 1870 United States Census. Harris County, Texas, Page 488 A.
[16] Minutes of the Probate Court of Harris County, Texas. Probate for Margaret Hill, Volume G, Page 50.
[17] Probate Court Records of Union Parish, Louisiana. Book 7 (?), Pages 531-53?, plus copy of Harris County, Texas probate.
[18] Probate Court Records of Union Parish, Louisiana. Succession Records 1847-1851, Page 497.
[19] Walker County, Texas Cemeteries, Volume 3, Walker County Genealogy Society, Huntsville, TX, 2007. Page 51, Oakwood Cemetery - Section 2.
[20] Records of the Texas State Archives, Confederate Pensions. File #24300, Capt. John Allen White.
[21] Personal correspondence. Transcription of letter written by Dr. John Allen White. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
[22] Marriage Records of Union Parish, Louisiana. Book 2, Page 9. Application.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Guerin de Beaumont

While doing genealogy research years ago at the Genealogy Room at the Huntsville Public Library in Huntsville, Texas, I came across a booklet put together by Opal McAdams Samuel. (As I recall, Opal had lived in Madisonville, Texas.) The roughly 40 page booklet was titled "Guerin de Beaumont - Guerrant" and contained the results of Opal's research into her Guerrant ancestors.

I found this particularly helpful in learning about and locating primary Guerrant documentation and in tracing a good portion of the Guerrant family tree (Baldwin line) from Daniel and Marie Guerin downward. It contains transcripts of many very old letters from the 1920s through the 1940s concerning Guerrant family history. I think it is an excellent resource and should be more widely available to Guerrant family researchers. I photocopied the entire booklet and have provided links to the scanned pages below.

I am grateful to people like Opal who have taken the time to organize and publish the results of their genealogy research. It is so very helpful to others who follow in their footsteps. I would hope that she and her kin do not mind this booklet being made available on the internet.

Guerin de Beaumont - Guerrant by Opal McAdams Samuel
Page i - Title Page
Page ii - Author
Page iii - Memoriam
Page iv - References