I had a revelation last night while perusing the census records for the Summers family that may be a stretch, but in some ways it makes perfect sense (whether or not my idea is truth or not, I don’t know yet…more research will need to be done, but…).
So we already know that I have not been able to locate Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers on the 1870 census, even though she was supposedly born in March of 1870, presumably in Stewart County, Tennessee, and the census for that year in Stewart County wasn’t enumerated until August. And we already know that the woman everyone thinks is her mother, Amanda M Summers, shows up on the 1870 Stewart County census living with her parents sans Lizzie.
But what if that particular Amanda Summers is not Lizzie mother?
According to Lizzie’s death certificate James Franklin Summers and Amanda Summers are her parents. And according to the Proctor family James Anderson Proctor is her father. I’m not really sure why this idea has arisen, unless Lizzie, Leona or Leon told people that was the case. And I’m not saying that Leona and Leon aren’t, I’m saying that I don’t think JA Proctor is Lizzie’s father.
This post also touches base again that just because a death record or census record says something it doesn’t make it true.
Facts according to the census records:
1850 is the first year that the Federal Government required that all persons living in a household be accounted for by name on the census records (prior to 1850 certain states here and there listed each individual family member, but it wasn’t required and those are separate state census records, not federal).
In 1850 Pink and Emily are living in Stewart County, Tennessee with their children (born by the time that census was enumerated): Thomas (age 10 years), Rebecca (age 8 years), James (age 5 years), Green (Greenberry, age 2 years) and Francis (Mary?, age 2 months). (note: the Summers family lived next door to the Cathey family, as in Archibald Cathey and his parents. Archibald is the supposed father of William Glenn Cathey who is future husband of Lizzie).
In 1860 Pink and Emily are living in Stewart County, Tennessee with their children (born by the time that census was enumerated): Thomas (age 20 years), Rebecca (age 18 years), James (age 16 years), Green (Greenberry, age 12 years), Mary (Francis?, age 11 years), Amanda (age 9 years) and Louisa (age 7 years).
In 1870 Pink and Emily are living in Stewart County, Tennessee with their children that are still at home (presumably the others have moved out) and two children that I cannot say for certain are their children, since they should have been on the 1860 census with them if they are (but they weren’t): Greenberry (age 23 years), Amanda (age 18), Clementine (Louisa?, age 16 years) and the two that don’t fit in at all: Anderson (age 15 years) and Rufus (age 13 years). (note: who are the parents of Anderson and Rufus? The census for 1870 doesn’t give how each person is related to head of household, like the 1880 census does. I haven’t yet found them on another census, but I am still looking).
Ok, so now we get down to the 1880 census. Pink has by now passed (haven’t found him on the 1850-1885 Mortality Schedule yet, though). Emily is head of household living with her children: Greenberry (age 32 years) and Amanda (age 28 years). Both Greenberry and Amanda are still Single. Also in the household are the three children *thought* to be Amanda’s: Lizzie (age 10 years), Leona (age 6 years) and Infant (Leon, age 1 month). The three children are listed as Emily’s grandchildren. There is also a boarder listed by the name of Ritchard (age 19 years) that also has the last name Summers (unless the enumerated just didn’t feel like getting his actual last name).
After 1860 Thomas, Rebecca, James and Francis/Mary are no longer found (at least not easily, since I have not yet located them).
After 1870 Louisa (Clementine?) has married and can be found with her husband, last name McMillan. Anderson and Rufus are not found. Pink has passed (as Emily is listed as widowed in 1880).
After 1880 Emily and Amanda are not found. They have presumably passed, also. There is no census for 1890. I have not yet been able to find Leon on the 1900 census, though in 1902 he married Lassie Burton Bellar in Stewart County, Tennessee leading me to believe he probably lived with Greenberry and not James Anderson Proctor. Both Lizzie and Leona married on August 26, 1889 and can be found on the 1900 census with their husbands.
So I am going to present two common theories about Lizzie’s parents to the readers (one less common than the second):
Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and James Anderson Proctor, the man Amanda married in late 1880, are in fact Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers parents.
OR
Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and James Franklin Summers, brother to Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and husband of Tennessee Porter Outlaw, are Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers parents.
Now for a new theory:
What if neither of those theories is correct?
We don’t actually have any proof that Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, is the mother of any of the three possibly illegitimate children, Lizzie being the main person we are focusing on here. The only thing we know is that they are listed on the 1880 census as Emily’s grandchildren. James Anderson Proctor was not the person that signed the marriage bonds for Lizzie and Leona, rather it was Greenberry Summers, Amanda’s brother, that signed them. You would think that if JA Proctor were their father he would have signed the bonds. Remember, this was before he married Sarah Hamm and moved to Missouri. This doesn’t mean that Amanda had died by August of 1889, either. Because we have no proof. I have yet to see a document stating exactly where, when and how she died. Basically, there is no proof anywhere of Amanda M Summers even being their mother, nor them ever having lived with Amanda and JA Proctor after their marriage OR of JA Proctor ever having anything to do with them.
We have Lizzie’s death certificate that names her parents as James Franklin Summers and Amanda Summers. Let’s think about this: if we go back to the 1850 and 1860 census we see that Pink and Emily have a son named James. Granted, it doesn’t give us a middle name, or initial, but it is possible that he was named after his uncle. The Summers family tended to use the same given names over and over: Basil, Greenberry, Pinkney, James, Margaret, Clementine, Emily, etc. If James Summers (son of Pink and Emily) is the father of Lizzie then it is quite possible that he married someone by the name of Amanda, or someone who went by the name Amanda, and when it came time to fill out the death record no one knew what her maiden name had been (as a quick example of how a name can escape a census record: throughout Lizzie’s life she is known on different census records as Lizzie, Margaret, and Elizabeth).
Since I cannot find James Summers (as of yet) on any census record after 1860 is it possible that, if he were married to an Amanda and they had Lizzie, that perhaps they moved from one area where the census hadn’t yet been enumerated in 1870 to an area where it had already been enumerated for that year? And is it possible that they had two more children, Leona and Leon, and then both somehow passed before the 1880 census, whereas the children then show up on that census with their grandmother? It is always completely possible that if a scenario similar (or exactly) like that happened, then Amanda may have taken over the maternal role for the children until her marriage to JA Proctor, without actually being their mother.
I know, I know. That’s quite a stretch. But I fe
el as if it is completely plausible considering Lizzie cannot be found on the 1870 census whatsoever.
As for the census records and birth records being correct, I have already gone over the inconsistencies in other posts. But I will give you another grand example:
In 1830, when the census was enumerated on April 2, Amanda M Summers’ brother Greenberry is living with Lizzie and her second husband William “Bill” Green Smith in Hurricane Mills, Humphrey County, Tennessee. The census says he is 84 years old. When he died on November 25 of the same year the death record has his age as 86 years and no one knows who his parents are. The same 1930 census has Lizzie’s grandson, Raymond Daniel, living with them, but Raymond is also shown living in his parent’s household that same year.
So, let’s recap really quickly:
Are Lizzie’s parents Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and James Anderson Proctor?
Are Lizzie’s parents Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and James Franklin Summers, brother of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and husband of Tennessee Porter Outlaw?
Are Lizzie’s parents Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and a man from another Summers family with the name James Franklin Summers? (note: there was at least one other James Franklin Summers out there, but it seems as though he lived in East Tennessee or North Carolina…where Lizzie’s family had relocated from to Tennessee, anyway…I don’t know why I can’t find the webpage that describes where in Tennessee he moved).
Are Lizzie’s parents Amanda M Summers, daughter of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and a Mystery Man?
Are Lizzie’s parents James Summers, son of Basil Pinkney “Pink” Summers and Emily Jane Duffel, and a wife named Amanda, maiden name unknown?
Or none of the above?
A good question to ask, also, is: why were Lizzie and her daughter Katie so adamant that no one find out they were Native American? Tracing back through the families I am unable to find any Native American, with the exception of Tennessee Porter Outlaw who, if I understand correctly, was at some point listed in court records as “Cherokee Woman”. But if, by some chance, Lizzie is her daughter, then you’d think she would keep her considering that she had a total of 13 children, several born after Lizzie’s birth.
It’s all kind of sketchy, huh?
Thoughts? I welcome them! Documentation? I more than welcome it!
This is a real Head Scratcher for sure!!!!