Digging Up Your Family

Since I wrote the first post about Elizabeth Freeland (you can read it here), I have done more research and found out more about her.  I am not done (I will never be done, I don’t think), but here is what I have found since the first post. 

After Elizabeth was granted a divorce from Peter McQueen in 1839 she remarried.  I am awaiting the arrival of the actual record, but on August 29, 1840 Elizabeth married Claburn (Clayborn, Claiborne, Claiborn, Claborn) Perry in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.  And then things get crazy.

Ok, I need to backtrack for a second here.  Remember how Elizabeth had claimed that Peter kidnapped her two oldest daughters Louisa and Melissa?  And remember how she was left infirm, alone with her daughter Caroline to raise?  Ok, I remember that, too.  So by all accounts when Elizabeth married CP (that’s what we’ll call Claburn, since I’m not certain which spelling of his name is actually correct) she had one daughter with her.  Now, I don’t know if CP was married before or had previous children.  So I can only present to you what I have found.  Ok, onward.

Ok, so Elizabeth married CP in 1840 in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

In 1840 two CPs are found on the US Census in Mississippi.  One is in Lauderdale County, one is in Kemper County, which is just north of Lauderdale County.

1840 Lauderdale County CP is listed as Claibord Perry.  There are only two people living in the household:  one male 30-39 and one female 30-39.  This doesn’t match up with later records that say CP was born between 1814 and 1818, nor does it match up with Elizabeth having Caroline with her.

1840 Kemper County CP is listed as Claiborne Perry.  There are six people living in the household: one male 10-14, one male 20-29, two females 5-9, one female 10-14 and one female 30-39.  This fits better with ages for both CP and Elizabeth and the female 10-14 would be Caroline.  But what about the other three children, you ask?  Well, I am getting to that!

So by the process of elimination we can pretty much mark the CP from Lauderdale County off the list of possibilities.

In 1841 and 1845 CP is listed on the Mississippi State Census in Kemper County.  On both state census indexes he is listed as Claiborne Perry.

About 1842 Elizabeth gave birth to a son she named Claiborn (as it is spelled most often on Civil War records), more than likely in Mississippi, though the first census he appears on says he was born in Alabama.

In 1845 the family moved to Crittenden County, Arkansas.  Elizabeth gave birth to another son she named Nathaniel in the same year.  In March of 1846 Caroline married Edmund Richards in Crittenden County, Arkansas.

The 1850 census enumerated October 11, 1850 in Crittenden County, Arkansas lists the Perry family with an interesting addition.  The members of the household were:

Charles Perry (this is CP), age 36 years (est. birth 1814), farmer, born in Arkansas

Elizabeth Perry, age 37 years (her age is actually off by about 10 years), born in Alabama

Claiborne Perry, age 8 years, born in Alabama (like I already mentioned, I think he was born in Mississippi, unless Elizabeth was visiting family/friends in Alabama at his birth)

Nathaniel Perry, age 5 years, born in Arkansas

Mary McQueen, age 37 years (not sure who this is!), born in Louisiana

Who is this mysterious Mary McQueen?  And if you will remember from the post about Caroline there is another mystery Mary McQueen.  I will refresh your memory.  From the 1850 census enumerated October 26, 1850 in Crittenden County, Arkansas for the Richards family:

Edward Richards (Edmund), age 25 years, farmer, born in North Carolina

Catherina Richards (Caroline), age 22 years, born in Mississippi

George Richards, age 3 years, born in Mississippi (odd, but ok…I figured he would have been born in Arkansas)

Lucy Richards, age 2 years, born in Arkansas

Mary Edwards (still not a clue who this person is), age 14 years, born in Tennessee

Mary McQueen, age 18 years, born in Mississippi

So who are these Mary McQueens?  Is at least one of them one of the girls from the 1840 Kemper County, Mississippi census in the 5-9 category?  I bet she is!  But who is the other one?

The family is found once again in the 1860 census enumerated in Union Township, Hot Spring County, Arkansas.  With some considerable changes and a brand new person!

Clayborn Perry (CP), age 46 years, farmer, born in Alabama

Elisabeth Perry (Elizabeth, of course), age 56 years years (she got all of those years back!), housekeeper, born in Louisiana (no longer Alabama)

Sarah McQueen (who is this?  a daughter judging by her placement by age), age 25 years, born in Alabama

Claborn Perry (Claiborn), age 18, farmer, born in Mississippi (now not born in Alabama)

Nathan Perry (Nathaniel), age 14, born in Arkansas

So, this Sarah McQueen?  Could she be the other duaghter on the 1840 census in the 5-9 age range?  I BET SO!

There is still a question of the 37-year-old Mary McQueen on the 1850 census, though.

So anyway, by 1860 Elizabeth had already lost quite a bit.  She had her two oldest daughters kidnapped from her.  The youngest of those two, Melissa, died in 1851 in Mississippi.  I wonder if Elizabeth ever had the chance to see her again before she died?  Caroline died sometime between 1856, the year her youngest son Jerome was born, and 1860 when the census was enumerated.  Elizabeth’s oldest (known) son Claiborn joined the Confederate Army September 12 or 17, 1861.  He died in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the hospital on February 9, 1862.  I can’t find the cause of death.  On November 20, 1863 Elizabeth’s husband CP along with her youngest son Nathan (Nathaniel) joined the Union Army.  Also with them at enlistment for the Union was Caroline’s husband Edmund, who apparently returned from Eastland, Texas (where he had been living with the children on the 1860 census) and enrolled in Benton, Arkansas.  Though Elizabeth’s husband and son-in-law made it out of the war alive, her son Nathan did not.  Nathan died in the hospital January 15 or 16, 1865.  His cause of death was typhoid pneumonia.

I have not yet found any other records for Elizabeth and/or CP.  There are two cards dated July 8, 1885 listing her husband as dead.  I’m not sure what the cards are for, but it has application numbers for “invalid” and “widow”.  Maybe it’s an application for a widow’s pension?

Mysteries:

when, where and how did Elizabeth die?

who is the boy 10-14 years of age listed on the 1840 census?

who is the 37 year old Mary McQueen listed on the 1850 census with the Perry family?

when, where and how did Caroline die?

if Sarah McQueen on the 1860 census was Elizabeth’s daughter, then where was she on the 1850 census?

did Elizabeth ever get the chance to see her two oldest daughters after Peter took them?