Some folks have family trees. Others describe their tree as a stump, or even a bush. Mine turned into a plate of spaghetti.
Over the past month, I’ve been busy with holidays, work, and other activities. Most of my spare time has been consumed with fixing the “problem child’s” in my family tree while researching material for the next book about Stephen Farmer.
Some of the earlier posts advised to go slowly or cut the family tree down, to be aware of user submitted data, and to be wary of leafy hints. One person in the genealogy of Stephen Farmer personified all of this advice and would live up to his nickname… Enos “Bear” Hensley.
Enos was born in 1868 to George W. Hensley (1841-1918) and Mary Emaline Hensley (1840-1910). On 12 April 1888, he first married Alice Fee, born 1872 to Abner C. Fee (1833-1914) and Lucy “Icy” Farmer (1834-1915). Alice is the great granddaughter of Stephen through William Farmer and Elizabeth Frost.
Family oral history is that Alice was declining in health and, wanting to ensure the welfare of her son William Henry Hensley, asked that Enos marry her sister, Louisiana Fee (1863-1944). Enos and Louisiana married on 17 March 1891.
This is where the tree turned into a complete mess. Enos is shown in the 1900, 1910, and 1930 United States Federal Census residing with Louisiana. Almost immediately, the 1900 census shows three children Fielding, Nettie, and Gilford… all of them born in April, February, and July 1894 respectively.
Were the birth dates entered incorrectly by the census taker? There’s obviously no way that Louisiana gave birth to all three children. If she was married in 1891, was one of them born to Alice?
Turning to other family trees wasn’t very helpful as it seems a lot of other family genealogists were having the same difficulty.
After a week of poring through census, death, marriage, Social Security, and birth records, along with several obituaries describing step siblings and a newspaper article offering additional clues, the mothers of Bear’s children have been identified.
Click here for a file explaining how the mothers were identified.
Along with Alice and Louisiana, Enos had children with Minerva Fee (1870-1897) and Sarah Jane Farmer (1875-?)… while still married to Louisiana. Minerva was the daughter of George W. Fee (1848-1931) and Margaret Lee Wilson (1853-1919).
Sarah is a great, great granddaughter of Stephen Farmer. Sarah was born to William F. Farmer (1853-1927) and Martha Fillmore Hall (1856-1920). William is the son of Stephen Farmer (1811-1908) and Jane Fee (1811-?); Stephen was the son of William Farmer and Elizabeth Frost. And as Stephen’s wife Jane Fee was the sister to Abner C. Fee, this also makes Sarah first cousins once removed to Alice and Louisiana. If your head hasn’t complete spun around with the multiple names and distant relationships, the graphic below helps explain it.
The next blog will be about my next problem child… Hiram Jones Fee.
Philip Farmer is the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a 500-page, 155-year biographical history of the Farmer family’s immigration from Ireland into Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Harlan County, Kentucky. Complete with bibliography and footnotes that supports the research. Check out LuLu’s current discounts which may save you money than purchasing through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, or other retailers.
“Very well written and researched…” Ms. L. King
“I love your work… Very interesting!” Ms. B. H. Baker
“Amazing research!” Ms. J. Shipley
“Wonderfully researched, well written… recommend it even if you’re not related to the Farmar’s…” Mr. D. Roark
“Excellent book! We highly recommend!” Ms. E. Wolf