Category Archives: Douthit

Douthit, Jarvis

Abraham Douthit (1797-1863) Updated + Burton Family Name Clues: 12 for ’22

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So far this year, each my 12 for ’22 deep dives into long-ignored branches on my family tree has resulted in the discovery of interesting tidbits and new leads for further research.

My previous one-month dives have all related to people in my own family tree. Today, it’s time to look at my hubby’s tree.

Abraham Douthit, born 11 April 1797, probably in Rowan County, North Carolina, died on 17 February 1863 in Newton County, Missouri.

These dates are known from his gravestone, which still stands in the Van Buren town cemetery.

Abraham Douthit married Valinda Jarvis on 29 December 1816 in Rowan County, North Carolina.

Much less is known about Valinda, aside from her unusual given name, as she died sometime after the birth of her youngest known child, a son born 1836-1840, probably in Arkansas.

Valinda was the daughter of Zadock Jarvis, born c1750, possibly in Montgomery County, Maryland and who died after 1830, probably in Indiana. The names of her mother – both given and maiden names – are currently unknown, but I’ll be talking about my theory in this post.

Abraham and Valinda were the parents of nine children, although before my recent visit to this family, I only had knew of seven children.

Children:

1. Valinda, born c1817, probably Rowan County, North Carolina; died between 1840-1850, probably Washington County, Arkansas; married Daniel Alberty, 17 March 1834, Davidson County, North Carolina
2. Thomas, born 29 October 1819, North Carolina; died 7 January 1897, Washington County, Arkansas; married Sarah Alberty, c1841
3. Susannah, born 3 July 1821, Rowan County, North Carolina; died 19 October 1883, Newton County, Missouri; married (1) John S. Alberty, c1840 (2) Isaac Sturgell, 30 September 1867, Newton County, Missouri
4. Henry Burton, born 25 January 1823, North Carolina; died 12 November 1882, Newton County, Missouri; married Matilda A. Clark, c1848, probably Newton County, Missouri
5. Amos, born c1825, North Carolina; died before 19 September 1865, probably Newton County, Missouri; married Unknown, c1852
6. Elizabeth, born February 1827, North Carolina; died after 1900, possibly in Barry County, Missouri, where she lived with her daughter Lou Hartley’s family; married Jesse Adams, 27 May 1846, Newton County, Missouri
7. Andrew, born 29 March 1829, North Carolina; died 13 August 1916, Newton County, Missouri; married Mary Reynolds, 22 January 1852, Newton County, Missouri
8. Zadock, born 19 January 1831, Davidson County, North Carolina; died 4 January 1895, newton County, Missouri; married Thirza Mariah Hancock, 30 September 1866, Newton County, Missouri
9. Son, born 1836-1840; died before 1850

What new information have I learned about Abraham and his family?

Two books on the Douthit family were published in the early 1980s. I glanced through at least one of them at the Family History Library years ago and took notes. However, I was mostly interested in my husband’s direct line, which is through Abraham and Valinda’s daughter, Susannah, so I didn’t delve much into collateral lines.

Here are some of the new details I’ve been able to document:

I never really looked into how Abraham’s residence in Rowan County, North Carolina became Davidson County, North Carolina. Nor did I look into exactly when the Douthits and extended family left North Carolina and settled in Washington County, Arkansas before making the final move to Newton County, Missouri.

First, Davidson County, North Carolina was formed from Rowan County, North Carolina in 1822. There is no evidence that Abraham Douthit lived in what remained of Rowan County – he just lived in the portion that became Davidson.

A quick search of Davidson County land deeds turned up two transactions in which “Abram” Douthit sold his land. The first sale was dated 14 April 1828 to Ransom Ellis. The second one is dated 1 October 1834 to Mulican Lewis. However, both deeds were registered in 1835 – the first on 11 December and the second on 18 April.

That may well indicate that the Douthits left North Carolina, probably in the spring of 1835, and the new land owners wanted to make sure their deeds were filed with the county clerk.

The 1840 census of Washington County, Arkansas shows Abram Douthit in Vineyard Township. Valinda is not in the census, but there is a son, born 1836-1840. His name is unknown, as he is not found at home in 1850 and likely died young.

There are seven children at home, which supports the facts that daughter Valinda was already married and daughter Susannah married John Alberty, c1840. John is enumerated, also in Vineyard Township, with a female aged 15-20, which fits with Susannah’s birth year of 1821.

Further, the 1830 census in Davidson County, North Carolina confirms children in the home matching the ages of their first seven children. The wife’s birth year is 1791-1799. Given that Abraham was born in 1797, it is reasonable to believe that Valinda was born c1799.

Next, son Henry B. married Matilda, whose maiden name was unknown to me. In 1880, Henry is called Burton Douthit, which will become important in this sketch.

There is a marriage record for Henry’s and Matilda’s son, James, in Logan County, Oklahoma dated 14 May 1896. His parents’ names are recorded as H.B. Douthit and M.A. Clark.

Next, I previously had a death date of Amos Douthit in 1865, with no other details. Further digging found Amos, unmarried, living in Newton County, Missouri in 1850 with brother Henry’s family.

The 1860 census brought a surprise! Amos was living with John and Susannah Alberty, but with him was 7 year old Thomas Douthit. Amos apparently married c1852 to an unknown woman who seems to have died before 1860. Newton County, Missouri had a courthouse fire in 1862 and lost many records. Thomas, later called Thomas Burton Douthit, died by 31 March 1874, still a minor, when Henry Burton Douthit administered his estate.

While searching for Thomas Burton Douthit, a second Thomas Burton Douthit popped up – the two were first cousins and the younger Thomas Burton, born 1858, was the son of Andrew Alberty and Mary Reynolds.

Finding three members of Abraham Douthit’s family who bore the middle name of BURTON gave me pause.

Why was Henry Douthitt given the middle name of BURTON? None of his siblings have middle names and he was the fourth born child. There must be a reason why a middle child, out of the blue, is the only one of nine children to have a middle name.

Furthermore, not Henry, but Amos and Andrew, continued to use BURTON, naming their sons Thomas Burton Douthit.

There is one commonality here – Henry, Amos and Andrew were brothers. Could Henry have been named BURTON in honor of a grandparent and did Amos and Andrew continue the tradition by giving their sons the same middle name of BURTON?

Abraham Douthit was the son of Abraham Douthit and Catherine Stoehr and the Burton name doesn’t appear in those families.

Valinda Jarvis was the daughter of Zadock Jarvis and an unknown mother. Might Burton be her mother’s maiden name?

What is known about Zadock Jarvis? Some details are sketchy, but Zadock, born c1750, served in the Montgomery County, Maryland militia in 1776.  He is said to be the son of one James Jarvis, who died in the 1770s.

If Zadock’s wife was a Burton, are there any Burtons to be found in Rowan County, North Carolina or in Montgomery County, Maryland?

A quick check of the 1790 census of Rowan County showed only one Burton. That was Isaac Burton, who continued to appear in the Rowan County censuses through 1820. His birth year is uncertain, but he was probably born c1750.

Online information shows him to be the son of William Eller Burton; one of his siblings was Basil Burton, who fought in the American Revolution. Now for the big question – where did this Burton family live during the war??? MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND and they served in the same militia unit as Zadock Jarvis.

William Eller Burton left a will filed in Frederick County, Maryland, which named sons and one daughter, Drusilla. However, he died in 1762, long before Zadock Jarvis married.

Could Drusilla Burton have later become the wife of Zadock Jarvis? I think it’s a definite possibility. Zadock’s birth year of c1750 is just an estimate. He wasn’t born any later than that, but he easily could have been born in the 1740s, as was Drusilla.

Drusilla did inherit some land from her father, but Maryland records are locked on FamilySearch. This is definitely on my “to do” list when I get to a family history center in person. Perhaps she maintained ownership of the property until she married and, when sold, identified her by her married name.

I’ve seen unsourced comments that his wife was a Burch from Montgomery County, Maryland, but that sounds suspiciously like Burton, so more research is needed. Given that Burton was used in the Jarvis family, I’m more inclined to believe that her name was indeed Burton.

This clue of BURTON is the best I’ve found for the Jarvis family, ever. No one seems to have ever found any documents that give even the slightest hint of the name of Zadock Jarvis’s wife!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alberty, Douthit

John Alberty (1818-1861) & Susannah Douthit: Grandchildren & Beyond: Margaret Elnora & Stephen Richard Abram/s

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Believe it or not, We have come to the last of the children of John Alberty & Susannah Douthit who married and left descendants.

Margaret Elnora Alberty was born on 28 November 1860 and, being only nine months old when her father died, couldn’t have had memory of him at all. She married Stephen Richard Abram/s (surname appears both ways multiple times, but seems to have settled down to Abram by the end of their lives), about 1878, but I have yet to find a record of their marriage.

Stephen Richard Abram/s was born on 9 February 1858, Indiana and died on 19 April1938 in Jasper County, Missouri, the son of John and Sarah (Irwin) Abrams.

Stephen and Margaret spent most of their married life in Newton County (aside from a short stay in Carroll County, AR) through the time of the 1900 census, making a living at farming. Some time before 1910, the family moved to Sarcoxie, Jasper County, Missouri, where they died and were buried at the Sarcoxie Cemetery.

Margaret predeceased Stephen, passing away on 23 December 1926. Stephen married (2) Mary (Marshall) Jobe, a widow, on 18 October 1928. She was born 30 August 1861, Indiana and died on 30 March 1956. Mary was also in her senior years when they married; she and Stephen had no children together.

Stephen died of diabetes on 19 April 1938, Jasper County, Missouri.

Stephen and Margaret were the parents of twelve children, ten of whom lived to adulthood. Seven of those children have descendants today.

Children (All born Newton County, unless noted)

1. Lee Roy was born 25 July 1879; died 24 May 1942, Los Angeles, California. He married Martha Alice Yeoman, 30 January 1902, Jasper County, Missouri. Martha was born 13 March 1885 and died 10 January 1976. She married (2) William Carroll Medearis (her former brother-in-law. See Letha Jane, below) . Roy and Martha were the parents of five children: Ima Mae, Ada Drucilla, Cecil Lee, Richard Walter and George Leroy.
2. George Washington, born 13 February 1881; died 8 November 1883; buried Newton County, Missouri
3. Ocia Arilla was born 13 October 1882; died 26 May 1969 and married Richard Clay Boyd, c1918. He was born 8 August 1865 and died 21 November 1957 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri. They were the parents of two sons, Richard Abram and William Clay.
4. Cora Anna was born 29 April 1884 and died on 30 May 1956, Barry County, Missouri. She married James “Kirk” Douthit, 18 October 1905, Newton County, Missouri. Kirk was born 21 February 1884 in Newton County and died on 15 May 1964 in Barry County, Missouri. They were the parents of ten children: Albert James, Veda O., Beulah Beatrice, Franklin Richard, Opal Mae, Ruby Anna, Georgia Ruth, Marjorie Elizabeth, Violet Louise, and Mona Jean.
5. Letha Jane was born on 22 February 1886 and died 10 September 1943, Vernon County, Missouri. She married William Carroll Medearis, 19 December 1925, Jasper County, Missouri. He was born 25 September 1887, Indiana and died 30 August 1966, Vernon County, Missouri. They had no children.
6. William Richard was born on 12 March 1887 and died on 4 December 1916, Jasper County, Missouri, in a hunting accident. He married Estella Edwards, c1909. They had one daughter, Lillian, Nadine, born 1910, but who died of a fever on 7 July 1916, Jasper County, Missouri. She married (2) Andrew Brasher, 22 August 1918, Jasper County, Missouri. William and Estelle had no other known children, so he has no descendants today.
7. John Elmer was born on 15 September 1890, while the family was living in Carroll County, Arkansas. He is the only child at home in 1900 with an Arkansas birthplace. He died on 8 June 1963, Jasper County, Missouri. John married Eva Ann Stroup, 4 April 1917, Jasper County, Missouri. She was born 28 July 1892 and died on 5 July 1990, a few weeks short of her 98th birthday. They were the parents of three children: Bernice Elnora, Joyce Nadine and James Elmer.
8. Eliza Arminta was born on 17 March 1892 and died on 30 November l969 in Delaware County, Oklahoma. She married (1) Charles Ernest Palmer, 28 February 1912, Jasper County, Missouri. He was bon 3 December 1891 and died 5 December 1964, Shoshone County, Idaho. (2) Harry A. English, 4 March 1959, Jasper County, Missouri. Eliza and Charley were the parents of one son, Laverne.
9. Claude Andrew was born on 15 June 1895 and died 29 October 1973, Jasper County, Missouri. He married Hazel A. Hout, 20 October 1917, Jasper County, Missouri. She was born 17 March 1898 and died in October 1982. They were the parents of six children: Lloyd Ronald, Doris Marie, Elizabeth Lucile, Lorene Jane, Max Lee and Wilbert Jasper.
10. Hattie May was born in 1899 and died in 1959. She married Raymond Estel Riddle, 5 April 1924, Jasper County, Missouri. He was born 5 October 1900, Barry County, MIssouri and died 2 November 1964, Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, by 1935, they were divorced and Ray married (2) Anna Lucretia McClanahan, 21 December 1935, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hattie had no children.
11. Freda Opal was born 26 March 1903 and died 16 January 1987, Jasper County, Missouri. She married Ivan Paul Wilson, 17 October 1921, Newton County, Missouri.He was born 16 April 1903 and died 3 December 1976, Jasper County, Missouri. They were the parents of six children: Robert Richard, James Paul, Joan Velma, Opal Leah, Donald Ray and Wanda Kay.
12. Julia, born c1905; died between the 1910 and 1920 censuses.

After many “begats,” we have now covered all of the grandchildren of John and Susannah (Douthit) Alberty and they have many descendants today.

I would love to share more family information, photos and other documents with descendants, so if you are one of them, please get in touch. 🙂

Alberty, Douthit

John Alberty (1818-1861) & Susannah Douthit: Grandchildren & Beyond: Family of William Washington Alberty & Nancy Abrams

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Today’s Alberty sketch covers the family of William Washington Alberty and his wife, Nancy E. Abrams.

Wash Alberty, as he went by, was born in February 1856, in Newton County, Missouri, the son of John Alberty and Susannah Douthit. Wash was just old enough to have a bit of memory of his father, who died in 1861. Wash died between the 1920 U.S. census, when the family lived in Quapah, Ottawa, Oklahoma, and the 1925 Kansas state census, when widowed Nancy was living with son John W. Alberty in Crawford, Cherokee, Kansas. There is no gravestone found for Wash in either state.

W.W. Alberty married Nancy E. Abrams  about 1880, when they were enumerated in Newton County, Missouri. Wash was 24 and Nancy was 16 years old.

Nancy was born 7 October 1862 in Indiana (probably Franklin County), the daughter of William G. Abrams and Eveline George. She died 24 December 1937 and is buried in Columbus, Cherokee, Kansas.

Wash farmed for many years of his adult life, but in 1920, the last census in which he is found, he was working in the lead and zinc mine in Quapaw, Ottawa, Oklahoma.

I think this family struggled somewhat to survive, as siblings lived together off and on, even in adulthood.

Children:

1. Ada (Addie) Elizabeth was born in March 1882, Newton County, Missouri and died in 1954 in Lane County, Oregon. She married and had three children, a daughter Rebecca B., born c1906, a son, Cecil, born c1915 (died after 1940), both in Missouri and a second son, George Wesley, born 21 August 1923 (died 23 March 1988, San Francisco, CA) in Oklahoma. No marriage record has been found for her and it appears the children probably had different fathers.

There is a likely candidate to be Rebecca’s Greenlee father, as Addie kept the Greenlee surname for the rest of her life. In 1910, Elizabeth was living in Webb City, Jasper, Missouri in Ward 3. Also in Ward 3 was one John David Greenlee, living with his sister’s family just a couple of blocks away from Elizabeth. She reported that she was married, but was the sole adult head of household. David reported that he was widowed, a common happening when someone didn’t want to admit that a marriage had broken down. J. David Greenlee was born on 21 June 1880 and died in Webb City on 11 February 1913. His death certificate indicated that he was married when he died, not divorced or widowed, and from 1920 onward, Elizabeth reported she was a widow.

2. John Wesley, born 12 November 1885, Newton County, Missouri and died 17 February 1936, Cherokee County, Kansas. He married Mary Alberta Hadlow on 12 August 1907 in Lawrence County, Missouri. She was born on 27 March 1886 in Barry County, Missouri and died 10 April 1984. She is buried with John at Greenlawn Cemetery, Cherokee County, Kansas. They were the parents of three children – Grace Oneta, Wilma Lorraine and John Raymond.

3. Stella May was born 28 September 1888, Newton County, Missouri and died on 9 April 1936 in Picher, Ottawa, Oklahoma. she married (1) Charles E. Rimmer, 24 December 1906, Newton County, Missouri (2) Wesley Robinson, 13 February 1911, Carthage, Jasper, Missouri (3) Mr. Grayson (1920 census shows her as widow Stella Grayson)and (4) Charles Letcher Lafferty (19 February 1874-21 May 1944 and his gravestone calls him “The Rover.” Stella had one daughter, Georgia Gladys Rimmer.

4. George Arthur was born 21 May 1893 in either Newton or Jasper County, MIssouri and died on 8 July 1937 in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. He never married and lived with siblings in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

5. Nancy A. was born on 29 June 1896 in Newton County, Missouri and died in February 1986, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. She married Wolford Robitaille, 16 October 1930 in Ottawa County, Oklahoma as his second wife. He was a member of the Eastern Shawnee Ottawa tribe. He was born on 10 August 1894 and died in September 1975. They had one daughter, Oma Lee.

6. Lottie B. was born 23 October 1899, Newton County, Missouri and died on 7 July 1963, Benton County, Washington. She married Arthur Charles Eakman on 1 September 1928 in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. He was born in 1893 and died 13 May 1956 in Prosser, Benton, Washington. They had no children of their own, but adopted one son, Frank, born c1924 in Missouri.

There is one more Alberty family left to identify – that of Margaret Elnora, youngest child of John and Susannah (Douthit) Alberty of Newton County, Missouri.

We will take a look at her family tomorrow.