Monday, July 17, 2017

Martha "Blind Granny" Mashburn: Identifying Siblings

One goal of my recent trip to Alabama was to identify the birth family of my great-great-grandmother, Martha Golden Mashburn, also known as "Blind Granny Mashburn." In 1910 she is living with her brother, Griffin Grainwater Golden.1 Although Martha died in 1914 and Griffin in 1923, no death certificate has been found for either of them.2  Their father died (or deserted) when the children were young, but court records in Saint Clair County and Talladega County have been searched, and no probate or guardianship records name the children.3 Re-examining census records helped me identify other siblings and new members of the FAN club.
Martha Golden "Blind Granny" Mashburn

 The earliest census record that can positively identify Griffin is the 1860 census of St. Clair County.4 He is 21 years old and enumerated as the head of house. With him is Eliza Golden, age 24, and William, age 17. Griffin married Peggy Alverson in 1862, so Eliza and William are likely his sister and brother.5 There are other Golden children living with Alverson and Warren families in the same neighborhood in 1850 and 1860:
  • In 1860, Robert Golden, age 18, is living with Elijah & Nancy (nee Golden) Alverson.6 This family lived two houses away from Griffin Golden.
  • In 1850, Nancy Golden, age 22, is living with John Alverson7. Included in the household is Newton Alverson, most likely John's son, who married Caroline Golden in 1854.8
  • In 1850, Jane Golden, age 18, is enumerated in the Zachariah Warren household, next door to John Alverson9

 Nancy Golden married Elijah Alverson in 1852, and by 1860 Robert is living with them.10 Within the next two years, Caroline (Eliza)Golden married Newton Alverson and Jane Golden married Marshall Savage.11 In the 1900 census, Martha Golden Mashburn is living with her nephew, William Alverson, the son of Jasper Newton & Caroline Elizabeth Alverson.12

 The older generations of the Alverson, Warren, and Savage families reported South Carolina as their place of birth. Nancy Golden was said to have been born there about 1828. The Golden children lived with and married into these families in the 1850's and 60's, suggesting strong ties before this time, perhaps back in South Carolina. From these records, I believe the following sibling group can be constructed:

  1. Nancy, b. 1828-29 in South Carolina (m. Elijah Alverson, 1852)
  2. Jane, b. 1832 in Alabama (m. Marshall Savage, 1854)
  3. Martha, b. 1834 in Alabama (m. Lawson Mashburn, 1852)
  4. Carolina (Eliza), b. 1835 in Alabama (m. Jasper Newton Alverson, 1854)
  5. Griffin, b. 1839 in Alabama (m. Peggy Alverson, 1863)
  6. Robert, b. 1842 in Alabama
  7. William, b. 1843 in Alabama

  1. 1910 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Riverside, Enumeration District [ED] 130, p. 8A (penned), dwelling 156, family 156, G. G. Galden; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 32.

    2.
  2. Griffin G. Golden and Martha J. Mashburn tombstones, Harkey’s Chapel cemetery, Wattsville, Alabama. Personally observed by Marceline Beem on July 5, 2017. Martha’s tombstone was erected several decades after her death. Her middle initial is incorrect, but no conflicting information with the death date on her tombstone has been found to date.

    3.
  3. “Alabama, Census of Confederate Soldiers, 1907, 1921,” entry for G. G. Golden (1921); digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed June 30, 2017); citing Alabama Department of Archives & History, Montgomery, Alabama, Census or Enumeration of Confederate Soldiers Residing in Alabama, 1921. Griffin reported he "was raised an orphan," indicating his father died when he was young.

    4.
  4. 1860 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Townships 16, 17 and 18, p. 22 (penned), dwelling 147, family 147, Griffin Golding; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.comb: accessed 30 June 2017); citing National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll 23.

  5. “St. Clair County Marriage Records, vol. I, II, and III, 1818-1894,” database with images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed June 30, 2017), images 953-954 of 977, entry for Griffin G. Golden and Peggy Alverson, 1862; citing Saint Clair County courthouse records.

  6. 1860 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Townships 16, 17 and 18, p. 22 (penned), dwelling 149, family 149, Elija Alverson; digital images,Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll 23. For the marriage record, see “St. Clair County marriage records, vol. I, II, and III, 1818-1894,” database with images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed June 30, 2017), image 676 of 977, entry for Elijah Alverson and Nancy Golden, 1852; citing Saint Clair County courthouse records.

    7.
  7. 1850 U.S census, Saint Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, District 40, p. 233 (penned), p. 116 (stamped), dwelling 202, family 202, John Alberson; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing National Archives microfilm publication M432, roll 14.

    8.
  8. “St. Clair County Marriage Records, vol. I, II, and III, 1818-1894,” database with images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed June 30, 2017), image 694 of 977, entry for Newton Alverson and Caroline Goldin, 1854; citing Saint Clair County courthouse records.

    9.
  9. 1850 U.S census, Saint Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, District 40, p. 233 (penned), p. 116 (stamped), dwelling 203, family 203, Zacariah Warren; digital images,Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing National Archives microfilm publication M432, roll 14.

    10.
  10. "St. Clair County Marriage Records," entry for Elijah Alverson and Nancy Golden.

    11.
  11. “St. Clair County Marriage Records," entry for Newton Alverson and Caroline Goldin; also image 681 of 977, entry for Marshall Savage and Narcissa Jane Golden, 1853.

    12.
  12. 1900 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Coal City, enumeration district (ED) 107, p. 9B  (penned), house 149, family 158, William Alverson; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing FHL microfilm 1,240,038. In 1900 other members of the household are Analiza, aged 38 and Margret, age 40, both identified as William’s sister. In 1880, William is enumerated with Nute and Carolin Alverson and identified as their son. In 1870, Margaret, Analiza and William are enumerated with Jasper and Elizabeth Alverson. The age of the mother is the same across the census years (24 in 1860, 24 in 1870, 34 in 1880), indicating Caroline and Elizabeth are the same person. 1880 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Broken Arrow and Cropwell, enumeration district (ED) 121, p. 24D  (penned), house 200, family 201, Nute Alverson; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 31. See also 1870 U.S census, St. Clair County, Alabama, population schedule, Broken Arrow, p. 12 (penned), dwelling 78, family 87, Jasper Alverson; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 June 2017); citing FHL microfilm 545,539.

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