Although this month’s 12 for ’26 is dedicated to Thompson research, every once in a while, a reader sends me a BSO I can’t ignore.

In this case, a New England reader who happens to be a distant cousin of mine a couple of times over is also a distant cousin of my husband’s through his Williams family out of Cumberland County, Virginia.

Here’s the short version of the Williams story. My husband is descended from Mathias Williams (c1712-1782) and wife Jane (MNU) of Cumberland County, Virginia. His line continues through their son, William. Their daughter Mary married Pleasant Mahon and settled in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where Pleasant died c1842.

Shepherd Mahon is a son of Pleasant and Polly, so would be the nephew of my husband’s William Williams. Because the relationship is quite distant to my husband, I’ve never gonig looking for Nancy Griggs’ family.

Shepherd Mahon married Nancy Griggs on 9 December 1832. A quick search for low hanging fruit (easy clues) indicate that no one has ever seriously gone looking for Nancy’s parents or shared any theories online.

Southern research is very different than New England research because almost all the records are found at the county level instead of town records.

I had already documented this Mahon family:

Shepherd Mahon was born 14 March 1807, likely in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and died 5 September 1843, Osage County, Missouri.

Nancy Griggs was born on 22 March 1805, probably also in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and outlived Shepherd by many years, dying on 17 August 1863, also in Osage County, Missouri. Their gravestones can be viewed online. Nancy married (2) Abraham Crider, 8 November 1845, Osage County, Missouri.

Children:

1. Sarah Ann Rebecca, born 7 October 1833, probably Pittsylvania County, Virginia; died 25 February 1918, Osage County, Missouri; married Martin Ridenhour, 2 November 1848, Osage County, Missouri. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom all but one lived to adulthood and married.
2. William A., born February 1835, probably Pittsylvania County, Virginia; died after 1900, probably Osage County, Missouri; married (1) Rebecca Elizabeth Reavis, 23 April 1855, Osage County, Missouri. They were the parents of three children before Rebecca died c1860. William married (2) Louisa Rogers, after 1864. Louisa died between 1880 and 1900, when William lived with his sister Mary and was enumerated as widowed. William and Rebecca were the parents of three daughters, Martha Minerva, Amanda Frances and Sarah Nancy. William was a Union Civil War veteran. He has a military gravestone, but no death date on it.
3. Mary, born 6 July 1838, probably Pittsylvania County, Virginia; died 25 February 1921, probably Osage County, Missouri as she is buried with her husband there; married Isaac Johnson, 5 June 1856, Osage County, Missouri. They were the parents of twelve children, ten of whom lived to adulthood and married.
4. Rutha Jane, born c1840; died 21 February 1921, possibly Osage County, Missouri, where she is buried; married (1) Alexander Fletcher McQueen, 28 February 1856, Osage County, Missouri (2) Henry Scott, 6 August 1871, Osage County, Missouri. Rutha had five children with Alexander and five more children with Henry.
5. George W. Mahon, born May 1844, probably Osage County, Missouri; died after 1910 and possibly of influenza and insanity at the state hospital on 22 February 1923, Fulton, Callaway, Missouri; married (1) Virginia Rachel Rogers, c1867 (The Maries County courthouse burned in 1868.) (2) Lucinda (Keeney) Goodman, 17 December 1885, Maries County, Missouri. George and Virginia were the parents of six children, while George and Lucinda were the parents of four children.

Rutha is a bit of an unusual name and apparently is not a nickname for Ruth, as this name seems to run in the family. That will be important in a bit.

How did I uncover possible parents for Nancy Griggs? First, I checked the 1830 census of Pittsylvania County. There were seven Griggs household, but only Martha (aged 50-59), James (aged 50-59) and Peter (aged 40-49) were old enough to be possible parents of Nancy.

However, Peter didn’t have a female at home of an age to be marrying in 32, but Martha and James both did.

A bit more digging uncovered Martha’s daughter, Louisa, who apparently never married and she was the one female at home in 1830 who could possibly have been Nancy.

That left James Griggs as the likely father. Printed sources state that he married “Ruth Goven” on 20 February 1795 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Looking at the Pittsylvania tax records, however, two entries of interest were found in 1795: Elizabeth GOVER and SON, John GOVER and Sarah GRIGGS.

The 1796 personal property tax record was even more interesting: Elizabeth GOVER + GRIGGS and Wright Griggs.

The Griggs and Gover families each deserve their own posts, which are coming up.