Hard Times in Alabama

[Please note that all photos and documents can be enlarged by clicking on them.]

Go back one generation past Clarence Edd Thead. That brings you to his father, James Denton, and here's part of THAT story.

Columbus "Lum" Thead

James Denton was the only son of Columbus A. Thead, whose father was Alexander Thead; the family called Columbus "Lum." Lum had served in the Civil War and had spent time in an infamous prisoner-of-war camp. He evidently came home a broken young man. I refer you to my earlier post about the Theads in the Civil War. http://theadsnotthreads.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-civil-war-and-theads.html 

1860 Choctaw County AL

Lum married Martha A. Harvey.

1860 Choctaw County Alabama

James Denton was born in 1867, followed by Sarah ("Sallie") in March of 1870. But it wasn't long after that when Lum died. Keep in mind that his older brother George returned, but Joseph James didn't; he died and was buried at the war camp where he'd been held prisoner.

In 1870 Martha was living in a house with only her two toddlers. She lived next to George and his family, a couple of houses down from Alex, and (keep this in mind) close to the Zacarias Rodgers household.

1870 Choctaw County AL

She married J. H. Murphy sometime around 1872 or '73 and had at least two daughters--Louisa and Missa (perhaps Melissa?). Both James Denton and Sallie (Sarah C.) were listed under the "Murphy" name in the 1880 census for Choctaw County, Alabama, though they're shown as being 12 and 11 years old, respectively.

1880 Choctaw County AL, transcribed by AlGenWeb

I wish I'd taken a little more care when I started genealogical research on the Theads long ago. I tended to scribble down things people told me as they were talking--sometimes without attributing those things. So on the back of a family sheet I found these notes: "Zach Rodgers raised James D." and "Sally went to Hall." 

But I didn't write down who said it to me; it could've been someone from Silas, Alabama, where I talked with a number of Thead descendants; it could've been somebody else.

J.H. and Martha Murphy don't show up in Choctaw County again. The website I use for census records doesn't even show them in Alabama at all. It appears that they moved on, and Lum Thead's daughter Sallie and son Jim Denton stayed on near the Thead relatives--though not in their houses, perhaps--in Alabama until they were closer to being grown. What we today call "blended families" didn't always work so well in the not-too-distant past. Go back to the 1870 census, above, and recall that Zacarias Rodgers did live near Lum and Martha. 
  
Sarah (or Sallie) married Joseph F. McLaughlin and lived out her life in the area; she's buried in Black Creek Cemetery.

Sallie's death certificate. Note that father is named Lum Thead.

Notice that Sallie's and Joe's initials aren't correct.

Jim had moved to Daleville in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, by 1900. At that time he was married to Beulah Love, and they had four of their six children--John Wesley ("Johnny"), Mattie, Clarence, and Belva. Census rolls from 1900 through 1930 give varying ages for Beulah, but a general average indicates she was about 10 years younger than Jim Denton. In 1930 she said she'd been 15 when they married. A good many years ago Edwin Thead (Jim's grandson) gave me a birthdate of October 28, 1874, for his grandmother Beulah; the 1900 census has the year as 1877.

1900 Lauderdale County MS

I've written in my Alawine blog about things wrong with the 1900 census!

Beulah's father was John Shelton Love, and her mother, Mary. John Shelton's parents were William and Agnes Love, from South Carolina.

1880 Lauderdale County MS

1860 Lauderdale County MS

In my last post I alluded to "digging for diamonds" and remarked that most of the fun was in FINDING the diamond yourself, so I'll leave William and Agnes to someone else.

Here's a final chart to draw it all together, along with a snip from findagrave.com

In the very first piece I wrote for this blog, I touched on the origins of the surname "Thead." I've often suspected the family (and its branches) was mostly English and either Scottish or Irish. You might enjoy reading this page about the name "Love." https://www.houseofnames.com/love-family-crest  

[I don't imagine there's any way Janis Boyles Wilson and Tina Thead Rosenberg could know how much their earlier work finding graves and tombstones--and then posting the family stats associated with the graves--helped me get those lines straight. I am not a Thead by birth, and so I have to scratch my head when I work on the genealogy--or else I rely on you. Thanks, ladies.]

Ælfwine