Sophia A. Williams was a mystery for years, but I am very happy that I decided to go down the rabbit hole on this one.

Sophia A. Williams was born 10 August 1876, per the 1880 census record and her death certificate, but 1874 per the date on her gravestone.

Up until today, Sophia had only been found on the 1880 census of Roane County, Tennessee at home with her parents and siblings.

A link on one of the big websites finally came up, indicating that she died on 11 October 1962 at the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona and she was buried in Bisbee, Cochise, Arizona, which is literally just down the 10 freeway from Tucson.

No marriage record has been found for Sophia, nor has she been found in the 1900 census. However, by 1910, Samuel and Sophia O’Neal lived in Civil District 5, Hamilton County, Tennessee with their four children, Maude, Claud, Loly (daughter) and Bart.

By 1920, Sam, Sophia and children Maude, Claud, Wallie, Bart, Gussie and Maddy were living in Chattanooga, District 10, Hamilton, Tennessee.

There seems to have been some confusion about the 1910 child – Loly, daughter – and the 1920 child – Wallie, son – but later records support the existence of son Wallie, who was actually William B.

No death record or grave has been found for Samuel O’Neal. He was quite a bit older than Sophia, born c1854 in Tennessee and who died, probably in Chattanooga, between 1920-1930, when Sophia is enumerated as a widow in the 1930 census of District 2, Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Children:

1. Maude Mae, born 1897, Tennessee; died 1975, Bisbee, Cochise, Arizona; married (1) Grady Leroy Beck, 29 August 1915, Walker County, Georgia [Grady died in December 1938] (2) Jesse A. Massengill, 29 November 1949, Cochise County, Arizona. Jesse and Maude are enumerated as being married in the 1940 census of East Ridge, Hamilton, Tennessee, but their marriage record clearly states 1949.
2. Claud, born 27 March 1902, Tennessee; died 30 December 1932, Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee; married Unknown, before his death as his death certificate indicates that he was married
3. William B. (aka Wallie), born February 1904, Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee; died after 1950 when Sophia, sons Wallie and Meredith, both divorced, and Meredith’s two children were living in Dent, San Joaquin, California
4. Bart E., born c1910, Georgia; died between 1930-1940, probably Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee, where the family lived; married Myrtle M. Daffron, c1923
5. Gussie, born c1912, Tennessee; died after 1927 when she lived at 2116 Buckley St., Chattanooga with her mother and brother Wallie. No further record has been found for her.
6. Meredith Mattice (Mathias), born 31 July 1915, Tennessee; died 5 March 1983, Oakdale, Stanislaus, California; married (1) Ruby Hugh, 1935, Tennessee, divorced in Hillsborough County, Florida (2) Ruby Hill Ashe, 1952, Hillsborough County, Florida, divorced 1953 (3) Esther Ruth Harvey, February 1960, Polk County, Florida. Meredith enlisted in the Army on 22 March 1945 and was discharged n 1 December 1948. Although his residence was given as Hillsborough County, Florida, he enlisted at Fort Ord, California.

In 1940, Sophia shaved a few years off her age, saying she was born in 1881 when she lived in Varnell, Whitfield, Georgia with her 15 year old grandson, Claud O’Neal, son of her deceased son, Bart. We can now account for Sophie (Williams) O’Neal in the 1880 (Roane County, TN), 1910 (District 2, Hamilton County, TN), 1920 (Chattanooga, TN), 1930 (District 2, Hamilton County, TN), 1940 (Whitfield County, GA)and 1950 (Dent, San Joaquin, CA) censuses. So, how did she end up buried in Bisbee, Arizona in 1962?

If you look at her children, her eldest daughter, Maude, died in Bisbee in 1975. Even with knowing that piece of information, the details surrounding Sophia in Bisbee are a bit peculiar.

After speaking with the Public Works official in Bisbee, I learned that she shares a grave with Leo Alfred Lizott, who died in December 1964. He was born in 1899 and divorced. The only city directory I found for Bisbee was from 1959 and there was no listing for Alfred Lizott or Sophia O’Neal. Did someone in the family purchase 2 graves and then sell one, which was used for Leo? I have no idea.

Next, Sophia’s gravestone says MOTHER at the top of it. There is a gravestone right next to hers for Mary A. Beck, who died on 15 June 1963. The style and decoration of the stone matches Sophia’s exactly. Mary’s stone – less than one inch away from Sophia’s says DAUGHTER.

Yet, they aren’t mother and daughter. The answer seems to lie with Sophia’s daughter, Maude.

Maude married Grady Leroy Beck on 29 August 1915 in Walker County, Georgia. They had four children – Robert Earl, Clarence Wilson, Mary Alvern and Kenneth Laws Beck.

Their daughter is the Mary A. Beck buried next to Sophia. Their stones were probably ordered by Maude, who did die in Bisbee in 1975, but isn’t buried next to them. She was Sophia’s mother and Mary A. was Maude’s daughter.

That brings the mystery of what happened to Sophia Williams to a close.

Posts later this month will provide family sketches of the grandchildren of Matthias Williams and his two wives. There were quite a few of them, as he was the father of 16 children, but only seven of them are known to have married and had families.