Women in the Tree

As every genealogist knows, the women in our family trees can be particularly difficult to find and follow throughout their lives. Being a woman myself, a mother of three children and a student of the history of women, I am particularly drawn to finding methods of tracking the lost women in our families. By studying the women in our families throughout history, I believe that we give their life's work the consideration it deserves and respect for it's importance.

Beginning genealogists often don't understand how important it is to study all the peripheral parts of their family tree rather than focusing only on their direct line . Whenever you make a new generational discovery, you should always do at least a cursory check of all the siblings as you look for information about your ancestor. I would have saved a lot of time through the early years, if I had followed that rule consistently. Of course, it was also a much more difficult task in those pre-internet days. What used to take days of microfilm scrolling and searching, can now be accomplished in a matter of hours, at least after some practice and skill development, if you subscribe to online census images. Whenever I find a new family unit, I try to find every person included in that unit during every census year that is available. If you do that, you will often accumulate many clues that will aid you in your future research.

Let's begin with a known grandmother, Dora, wife of William F. Niemeyer, of Arkansas. We know her children were born in the 1910s and 20s, so she was probably born sometime in the 1880s or 90s. A census search immediately shows her in Clark Twp., Pope County, Arkansas in 1920 and 1930 with her husband William F. and a birth year of 1886 or 87. Rachel's mother Inos is found in the household, confirming that we have found the right family. In 1920 we find:

William F. Niemeyer, age 33, born Missouri, father born Germany, mother born Missouri, farmer
renting, able to read and write
Dora Niemeyer, age 33, born Arkansas, father in Arkansas, mother in Georgia, able to read and write,
laborer on the home farm
Anna M Niemeyer, age 10, born Arkansas, father in Missouri, mother in Arkansas, in school, can r and w
Inos V Niemeyer, age 3 and 6 months, born Arkansas, father in Missouri, mother in Arkansas
George C Derrick, age 52, boarder, born Georgia, both parents born Georgia, single,farmer, can r and w
Mrs. W A Bennett, age 64, mother-in-law, born Georgia, both parents born Georgia, widow, able to read
and write.

We've made a great start, and gotten a little lucky since Dora's mother is living with them in 1920. Unfortunately, she is listed by her husband's initials, instead of by her own name, but we have a lot of information to work with. In 1930 we find the family still in Clark Twp., Pope County, Arkansas, but Dora's mother and the boarder George C. Derrick are no longer with them, so they have either moved away or passed on. A quick search in the local area does not find them, so I will search for death records for them in the 1920s.

William Jr. Niemeyer age 45, born Missouri, both parents born Missouri, md. age 23, Laborer on the R.R.Section, not a veteran, rent for four dollars a month.
Dora Niemeyer, age 44, wife, md. age 23,born Arkansas, father Arkansas,mother Georgia
Annamae Niemeyer, age 20, daughter, born Arkansas, father Missouri, mother Arkansas
Inusverdell Niemeyer, age 13, daughter, born Arkansas, father Missouri, mother Arkansas
William B. Niemeyer, age 4 and 5/12, son born Arkansas, father Missouri, mother Arkansas

So now that we know Dora's mother's last name, perhaps we have Dora's maiden name. If her mother remarried after the loss of her husband, there will be another name to find, but that is still a good clue to follow. Let's see if we can find a Dora Bennett in Arkansas, about age 13, in 1900 . The first search using just Dora's name, age, and birth state brings nothing. Now I will try a last name, birth year search. A few come up in Pope County, but nothing matches our family. Still getting nothing. Let's look for a W A Bennett, born in Arkansas around 1866. Nothing. Let me widen to all Bennetts in Pope County. Okay, now we get the hit we're looking for, a William A Bennett with wife Terressa A. in London, Pope, Arkansas (District 171). I also make a note that in this search, a few other Bennett families live in Pope County that have connections to Tennessee, as William does, and I may want to look into that later. (Moses, Isaac, George H., and Maggie) .So I look at the page and lucky for us, there is Dora, written as Madora. Dora was a Bennett before she married William F. Niemeyer, all of the particulars, including location, years of birth and birth places are all fitting exactly correctly.

1900 US Federal Census, District 171, London, Pope, Arkansas

William A. Bennett, born Dec 1851, age 48, married 25 years, born Ark, father b. Tenn, mother b. Ark, farmer, owns free his farm and can read and write
Terress A. Bennett, wife,born Mar. 1855, age 45, married 25 years, mother of nine children, eight are living, born Georgia, parents born in Tennessee, can read and write
George N. Bennett, son, Jan. 1876, age 24, [all these children born Arkansas, father b. Ark, mother.b. Georgia], farmer, can read and write
Grundy A. Bennett, son, born Nov. 1886, age 19, at school 3 months, can r & w
Harvey Bennett, son, born Apr.1883, age 17, at school 3 months, can r & w
Madora Bennett, daughter, born Dec. 1885, age 14, at school 5 months, can r & w
Benjamin G. Bennett, son, born Nov. 1890, age 9
Maggie L. Bennett, daughter, born Apr. 1894, age 6
Martha C. Bennett, daughter, born Oct. 1896, age 3

William A. Bennett and Teressa A. Derrick

Price Cemetery, London, Pope, Arkansas

W.A. Bennett married T.A. Derrick 10 Feb 1875 in Yell, Arkansas

When I really get stuck on a family, I will study the families that live nearby looking for hints of connections. Oftentimes, family groups move together and, more often than not, people find their mates near their own residence. I note that on this census page, I see a lot of Tennessee birth information, indicating possible family, church membership, or migration connections that I might want to research further at a later time. I also see that two households away there lives an Isaac G. Bennett, born Mar. 1870 in Arkansas, father born Tennessee and mother born Arkansas and he is living with his sister Maggie [also note that William has a daughter Maggie], born Nov. 1868, birth info the same. I would definitely look for a family unit that includes a Maggie, an Isaac and a William in the 1870 and 1880 census'. This is a slight diversion off the trail but let's see what we find. A search for Isaac easily finds the family in Delaware, Yell, Arkansas in 1870, and all three of the children are there with the correct birth ages, and places. Family found! I love it when names are spelled "right".

1870 US Federal Census Delaware Yell Arkansas

George E. Bennett . age 41, 250 worth of PP, born Tennessee,
Nancy C. Bennett, age 37, keeping house, born Arkansas
William A. Bennett, age 18, works on farm, all children born Arkansas
Mary J. Bennett, age 17 at school
Easter F. Bennett, age 16, at school
Nancy H. Bennett, age 7
Robert E. Bennett, age 3
Magnolia Bennett, age 2
Isaac G. Bennett, age 4/12
[note the large age gap between Easter and Nancy...?possible second marriage or loss of children, investigate further]

1880 US Federal Census London, Pope, Arkansas

George A. Bennette, age 52, carpenter,rheumatism, born Tennessee, parent birth spots empty
Narcissa C. Bennette, age 46, wife, housekeeping, can't read or write, b. Ark, father b. KY, mother b. Tennessee
Robert M. Bennette, age 13, son, [all children at home, born Arkansas, father b.Tennessee mother b. Arkansas, attending school and unable to read and write]
Magnolia Bennette, age 11, daughter
Isaac G. Bennette, age 11, son

1860 US Federal Census Dardanelle, Yell, Arkansas

George Bennett, age 31, born Tennessee, carpenter
Caroline Bennett, age 26, born Arkansas
William Bennett, age 9, attended school, born Arkansas
Mary Jane Bennett, age 7, attended school, born Arkansas


Now we can proceed to look for a Dora Bennett in the marriage records and the census records, and figure out what brought them from Georgia and/or Tennessee. I also notice that George C. Derrick, the boarder, has the same parental birth places as Mrs. W.A. Bennett. I think we should check that out, although I would recommend a check of Mr. Derrick even if that were not the case, simply because he is boarding in their household. Any connections can prove to be relevant to future research. Let's look for him. I get a few hits for a George in 1880, two in Arkansas. The most likely candidate regarding birth years, location, and residence and identical middle initial C. is found in Magazine, Yell, Arkansas. But his parents, W.H. and Martha J., are listed as both born in Tennessee, not Georgia?? Let's try 1870 and 1900. In 1870, the entire same family is found in Hamilton County, Tennessee. They are still listed as both born in Tennessee, but all of the children, even the two year old George C., were born in Georgia (they must have returned to Tennessee recently), and we find a Terressa M., age 15, born in Georgia. I think that George was more than a boarder after all, he was Terressa's younger brother, found living with them in 1920 in Arkansas. Terressa was a Derrick as well. And the next question...who are these Parker children??

1870 Federal Census, District 6, Subdivision 13, Hamilton, Tennessee

William H. Derrick, age 50, farmer, born Tennessee
Martha J. Derrick, age 46, keeping house, Tennessee
Amanda E. Derrick, age 19, at home, Georgia
Eliza C. Derrick, age 17, at home, Georgia
Teressa M. Derrick, age 15, at home, Georgia
William J. Derrick, age 13, at home, Georgia
Leah L. Derrick, age 7, at home, Georgia
George C. Derrick, age 2 , at home, Georgia

and in the same household we find:

Patience P. Parker, age 10, at home, born Tennessee
John C. C. Parker, age 8, at home, Tennessee