Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Oh my goodness!

I have searched the census records for months looking for Martha Jane McCollum Rhea. She is the focus of my family search and the person whose story I want to tell. I couldn't find her in the 1890 or 1900 census. While I still haven't found her in 1890, I finally found her in 1900 and was shocked.

She remarried. That in itself isn't such a big deal as she had been a widow for a long time and still had children at home. Lillie was 15 when she married Amos Hammons. Since Lillie was born 2 months after John was murdered, she was alone for a long time.

What's shocking is she never used the Hammons name so the only place we find it is on the census. Amos had a son who was not listed on the census so I have more research to do. It appears Amos also moved back to Virginia where he was born. I only found this information last night so I can't draw any real conclusions but my guess is the marriage didn't last long.

Just when I thought I had pretty clear understanding more was revealed. Life is sometimes more complicated and what I thought I knew changed again.

Back to researching.

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