Only a Few Clues

I was recently inspired to work on the line of Josephus James “J.J.” “Joe” “Jode” Norman when I found a DNA match on Ancestry DNA who turned out to have a lot of information on Josephus Norman’s daughter Emma Elizabeth, for whom I previously had very little information.  As has been the case with many other Norman researchers investigating the family of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman, I relied heavily on Inez Cline’s “Norman Family History” for the general outlines of this family.  Apparently Inez Cline was not a member of this family, but became interested in it due to the numerous connections with other Garland County families such as the Powells, Westons, Kinseys, and Joneses.  Right after Josephus Norman is listed, there appears to be a page missing, so there is very little information on his family.

When I got to Josephus’ daughter Ola Norman, I had only her appearance on the 1900 US Federal Census for Precinct No. 3, Fannin County, Texas (accessed 4 Aug 2008 on Ancestry.com).  However, I also had a “Note to Self” indicating that I should look into Ola Norman m. John Kanard in Fannin County; daughter Hellen born there in 1933.  I believe this information was taken from the Texas Birth Index for “Hellen Kanard” on Ancestry.com (I had input Ola Norman’s name as the mother in the form for the Texas Birth Index to find out whether she had married or had any children).  As it turned out, Ola May Norman had married a John R. H. Kinnard in Bryan County, Oklahoma on 22 June 1932 (Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890 to 1995, on Family Search, accessed through Ancestry.com on 13 Mar 2017). 

Although I knew that a lot of Normans had gone to Oklahoma to get married, I wasn’t quite sure why they did so and whether or not Ola Norman had actually done so, so I wanted to dig a little deeper.  When I input the information for Hellen in my family tree on Ancestry.com, I was lucky to find another clue in addition to the Texas Birth Index clue:  the 1940 census for Justice Precinct No. 1, Fannin County, Texas, which contained the following information:

1940 US Federal Census, Justice Precinct 1, Fannin County, Texas, ED 74-6, p. 4B, 15-16 Apr 1940

Line 71 Stimpson Road 83 R $3 Yes

Winkler, J. L. Head M W 36 M No 9 TX Same place Yes Yes - - - - 56 hrs worked

                        Laborer Farm PW 25 wks worked $150 No 56

            Lillie Wife F W M No H-1 TX Same place No No No No 0 0 No

            Sid Father M W 68 Wd No 4 TN Same place No No No No U 0 $252 No

            Leonard M W 21 S No 7 TX Same place No No No No Other 0 No

Kinnard, Helen Cousin F W 7 S No 1 TX Same place

There Helen is listed as a cousin of J. L. Winkler.  As it turns out, Sid Winkler, the father of J.L., was the informant on mother Ola May Kinnard’s death certificate!  (Standard Certificate of Death of Ola May Kinnard, 37065, Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, accessed 14 Mar 2017 on Ancestry.com)  I suspect that the Winklers may have been maternal relations of John R. H. Kinnard, which would have made J.L. his cousin and Sid his uncle.  Unfortunately, John Kinnard does not appear in any other family trees.  A few trees erroneously have a Leonard B. Norman as Ola’s husband. 

I have no further information on Hellen Kinnard.  She may still be alive. 

So for this family I really only had three clues:  Hellen’s entry in the Texas Birth Index, the record of John R. H. Kinnard’s and Ola Norman’s marriage in Oklahoma, and the 1940 US Federal Census.