Finding a Family for Elizabeth: Part 2, Nancy's Death Certificate

In my previous post, I examined the death certificate for Martha Jane Adkins Horton, daughter of William and Elizabeth Adkins. For years, the only sources I had that linked Elizabeth to the Disney clan were the death certificates of Martha and her sister Nancy. A partial transcript, the full image, and a few notes on Nancy's death certificate are the topic of today's post.¹

Transription:

Board of Health, City of Knoxville
County of Knox
State of Tennessee
Certificate of Death
Full Name of Decased: Nancy Horton
Place of Death; Street: Morella Ave
If in Suburbs, State Locality: Oakwood
...
Age: 52
Birthplace: Tenn
Name of Father: Wm Adkins
Birthplace o Father: Tenn
Maiden Name of Mother: Bettie J Disney
Birthplace of Mother: Tenn
...
Date of Death: Aug 9, 1907
...
Place of Burial or Removal: New Gray
...

Death certificate for Nancy Horton (1907)

Notes:

1. The death certificates confirmed that Martha and Nancy were sisters. Both reveal that their mother went by the nickname "Betsy" or "Bettie," which needs to be included in searches.
2. Marriage records for Martha and Nancy were located, but they gave only the names of the bride and groom, and the marriage date. No other relationships were given.^2,3

References

1. Knox, Tennessee, death certificate no. 731 (1907), Nancy Horton; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.  
2. Anderson County, Tennessee, Marriage Records Horton-Adkins, 1876, page 52; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 Apr 2016).
3. Anderson County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, Horton-Adkins, 1876, page 58; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 Apr 2016).

Finding a Family for Elizabeth: Part I, Martha Jane Adkins Horton

Background

My grandfather was from Knoxville, and his mother was born in nearby Anderson County. Early on in my genealogy journey, I could provide a paper trail establishing that William and Elizabeth Adkins were my 3rd-great-grandparents. But I soon learned that researching East Tennessee prior to 1850 can be an exercise in futility, especially for beginners who may be relying solely on census, probate, and vital record groups to establish identity. I was certainly guilty of that. Even as my research skills grew, every time I would re-visit the Adkins family, I would get frustrated with the lack of information outside of census records, and give up on them again.

Research Goal and Plan

Recently I decided to research this family again, this time with a specific goal in mind: Identify the parents of Elizabeth Adkins. I started by reviewing the documents I already had before establishing a research plan.

Martha Jane Adkins

One of the first documents I re-examined was the death certificate for Martha Jane Adkins Horton. It had been several years since I looked at it, and I wanted to reassure myself that I had placed Martha Jane - my direct ancestor -  in the correct Adkins family.

Martha Jane died in Knoxville on 26 May 1926, and a digital copy of her death certificate is now available at Ancestry.¹ A partial transcription and the full image follows:

1. Place of Death:
    County: Knox
    City: Knoxville
2. Full Name: Martha Jane Horton (Mrs.)
3. Sex: Female
4. Color or race: White
5. Widowed
6. Date of birth: March 24, 1853
7. Age: 73 years, 2 months, 1 day
8. Occupation: at home
9. Birthplace: Tennessee
10. Name of Father: William Atkins
11. Birthplace of father: Tennessee
12. Maiden name of mother: Betsy Jane Disney
13. Birthplace of mother: Tennessee
....
16. Death of death: May 26, 1926
....
19. Place of burial or removal: New Gray Cemetery
      Date of burial: May 28, 1926
...

Death certificate of Martha Jane Horton, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1926

Next up: Nancy Horton

References

1. Knox County, Tennessee, death certificate no. 808 (1926), Martha Jane Horton; digital image,  "Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Dec 2015).