The last of the Nation rabbit holes covers the search for what happened to Nancy Nations, born c1849 in Tennessee.
My theory at the moment is that the two Nancy Nations, both aged one year in 1850, are the same girl, the daughter of Henry Nation and a deceased wife, possibly with the maiden name of Cravens, enumerated twice – once in Fentress County, living with Henry and Mary (Riddle) Nation and again next door in Overton County, Tennessee living with Peter and Patsey (Martha) (Cravens) Livingston.
Nancy Nations has not bee found in the 1860 census, which might be the time period when the Livingstons left Tennessee for a new life in Missouri.
The Livingstons settled in Howell County, Missouri and are enumerated there in 1870. Nancy isn’t in the home because on 24 September 1868, she married Samuel Alexander Potter in Howell County.
By 1870, Samuel and Nancy, along with their one year old son, Madison, had left Missouri and settled in Cherokee County, Kansas.
The family also appears in the 1885 Kansas state census, living in Galena, Cherokee County.
By 1900, they were enumerated in Galena, but not in Kansas – Galena in Jasper County, Missouri!
In 1910, Samuel, Nancy and son Floyd were living in South Carbondale, Garfield, Colorado.
By 1920, they had moved once again, this time to Quapaw, Ottawa, Oklahoma, where Samuel and Nancy died.
Their last census entry in 1930 had one interesting item. Under the birthplace for Nancy’s parents, the census taker wrote in “Mixed blood Cherokee.”
In every other census, Nancy was enumerated as white, as was Samuel. Where they trying to obtain land and claiming Native American heritage or was this some kind of strange error that the census taker made, perhaps mistaking Cherokee County, Kansas for Cherokee ethnic background? Very odd, to say the least.
Samuel and Nancy were the parents of seven children:
- Madison Eldrado, born c1869, Missouri; died 2 May 1948, Quapaw, Ottawa, Oklahma, but buried in Galena, Cherokee, Kansas; married Caroline E. Crosby, c1890
- Cyrus, born 1871, Kansas; died 10 August 1938, Ottawa County, Oklahoma, but buried in Galena, Cherokee, Kansas; married Rosa L. King, c1891
- Oliver Monroe, born 31 January 1875/1878, Kansas; died 27 October 1950, Coquille, Coos, Oregon; married Winifred Elizabeth Stevens, 12 December 1897, Cherokee County, Kansas. He is the only family member not buried at home in Galena, Kansas.
- Elizabeth Jane, born 25 October 1877, Missouri; died 17 February 1959, Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas; married George Archie Sunderland, c1896
- Joseph Juneth, born 21 January 1880, Kansas; died 8 June 1932, Picher, Cherokee, Kansas; married Anna Cox, 23 September 1900, Cherokee County, Kansas
- Rosa Lee, born 26 June 1882/1884, Kansas; died 25 June 1973, Galena, Cherokee, Kansas; married (1) William L. Bender, c1899 (2) David Cutrell
- Floyd L., born October 1885, Kansas; died 1966, Carbondale, Garfield, Colorado; married Sarah Anzenberger, 24 November 1913, Garfield County, Colorado
Nancy gained a few years in age as time passed. When she did in 1933, her reported birth year was 1844. She died on 8 May 1933 in Quapaw, Ottawa, Oklahoma.
Samuel was born in June 1847 and predeceased Nancy, passing away on 16 June 1930, also in Quapaw.
Both Samuel and Nancy were buried back home in Galena, Cherokee, Kansas with other family members.
Unfortunately, Nancy died during the Great Depression and it seems no death certificate was filed for her. I would love to have been able to read the names of her parents! Yet another block wall in figuring out the extended Nation family.