Transcription Tuesday: Continuation of Susan Caroline Sisson’s Pension Application

Below is the transcription of the rest of Susan Carolina Sisson’s Confederate Widow’s Application for a Pension. It has very little additional information, though it does indicate that she possesses no property (she may have passed it on to her children). It also indicates that she moved to Coffee County, Alabama in November 1922; perhaps that was the time that daughter Edna moved to Georgia with husband Reuben Mulkey. Susan also indicates that husband William T. Sisson’s initial application for a pension was rejected because he owned too much property at the time to qualify.

[Fourth page]

Post offices Elba, Alabama, R#4.

Years Came here to Coffee County in November, 1922.

Also state when you moved to Alabama Have been here all time.

When and where did your husband enlist in the service of the Confederate States or State of Alabama? Don’t know….Records in Pension office show this.

To what branch of the service did he belong? Pension records show this.

What was his rank? Pvt.

Give number of his Regiment Don’t remember. Letter of his Company ____

Name of his Colonel Don’t remember. Records in Pension office will show.

Name of his Captain …Don’t know this.

Was he wounded? _____ If so, in what battles? Records there show.

State whether he was ever captured no. Where None When___
Or imprisoned No Where None When

And when discharged from prison none.

Where and when did he quit the service of the Confederate States and under what circumstances? Honorably discharged at end of war.

Was he paroled? none. Have you his parole? none.

Was he ever on the pension roll of this State? Yes.

If so, give county in which he drew pension Talladega County, Alabama.

Did he ever draw a pension from any other State? none. If so, give name of State _____ and County _____ and years _____.

Was any application for pension in this State ever made by him and refused? was drooped [sic] on account of having too much property one time. If so, in what county was he then living and what year did this occur Talladega County.

County Don’t know. Year, reason He had too much property at that time.

Give below the schedule of your property:

Real Estate Value

None Acres in None County $ ____
Description of improvements None at all.

[Fifth page]

Household Furniture None.
Hogs None.
Horses and Mules None.
Cattle None.
Sheep None.
Goats None.
Watches and Clocks None.
Jewelry None.
Paintings None.
Libraries None.
Pianos and Organs None.
Shares of Bank Stock None
Shares of Stock in Companies or Corporations None.
Investments in Bonds None.
Mortgages None.
Money in Bank None.
Money elsewhere None.
Merchandise None.
Other property or Investments None.

Income

What is your yearly income from rents, interest or other investments? None.

The above statements are true and correct.

Signed this 9th day of April, 1923.

(Signed) Susan Caroline Sisson + her mark

State of Alabama,
Coffee County.

Personally appeared before me ___ a ____ in and for said County Coffee, whose name is signed to the foregoing statement and who is known to me, who being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says that the answers made to the foregoing questions are true and correct to the best of her knowledge and belief.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 9th day of April, 1923.

J. M. Stokes
J. of P.

[Sixth page]

Tax Assessor’s Certificate

D. C. Marley, Tax Assessor for Coffee County, hereby certify that the assessed value of property real and personal, as shown by assessment book of year 1923 assessed to Susan Caroline Sisson amounts to None.

Witness my hand this 9th day of April, 1923.

D. C. Marley
Tax Assessor Coffee County

[File card]

Order Number _____

Widows Blank for Reclassification under Section 11, as amended by acts of legislature approved October 5th, 1920

Application of
Susan Caroline Sisson

Widow of
Wm. T. Sisson

State of Alabama,
Coffee County

Filed in the office of the Probate, Judge this 11th day of April 1923.

Filed in office of Commission this ___ day of ____ 192_.
J. A. Carcely
Judge of Probate

Featured Family Friday: Jessie Daniel Sisson and Jennie Reece Denison

Jessie Daniel Sisson
b. 10 Sep 1869, Alabama
d. 12 Aug 1952, Wichita Falls, Wichita, Texas
& Jennie Reece Denison
b. 1 Sep 1881, Tennessee
d. 28 Jan 1921, Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas
m. 15 Apr 1896, Leonard, Fannin Co., Texas
|--Oral Tompson “Bill” Sisson
|----b. 19 Aug 1899, Texas
|----d. 4 Dec 1973, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|---& Virginia Lucille Barbee
|----b. 18 Aug 1912, Henderson Co., TX
|----d. 5 Sep 2001, Falls Church City, Virginia
|----m. 8 Jun 1930, Clovis, New Mexico
|--George Roy Sisson
|----b. 22 Nov 1902, Fannin Co., Texas
|----d. 3 Mar 1935, Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas
|---& Bessie Shockley
|--Lois Hassie Sisson
|----b. 17 Mar 1904, Fannin Co., Texas
|----d. 29 Nov 1980, Denver, CO
|---& Clyde Lester Falls
|----b. 25 Aug 1902, Stevenville, Texas
|----d. 13 Nov 1983, Denver, CO
|----m. 22 Sep 1923, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|--Cleavie Ella Sisson
|----b. 17 Sep 1906, Texas
|----d. 14 May 1981, Wilbarger, Texas
|---& Edmond Farrington Handley
|----b. 25 Sep 1908, Childress, Texas
|----d. 16 Mar 1991, Vernon, Wilbarger Co., Texas
|----m. 2 Apr 1928, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|--Valley P. Sisson
|----b. 19 Jun 1908, Texas
|----d. 20 Jan 1999, Portales, Roosevelt, New Mexico
|---& Bonnie Houston Shultz
|----b. 23 Mar 1906, Myra, Cook, Texas
|----d. 10 May 1980, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|----m. 4 Dec 1926, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|--Laudie Olean Sisson
|----b. 29 Jul 1910, Texas
|----d. 17 Jan 1984, Potter Co., TX
|---& James Charles King
|----b. 31 Mar 1909, Gasoline, Briscoe Co., Texas
|----d. 1 Jan 1994, Amarillo, Potter, Texas
|----m. 19 Aug 1928, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|--Jessie L. Sisson
|----b. 15 Apr 1912, Texas
|----d. 24 Jan 1942
|--Goldie V. Sisson*
|----b. 15 Jan 1915, Texas
|----d. 30 Oct 1970, Plainview, Hale, Texas
|---& William Hatley Jackson
|----b. 19 Apr 1912, Temple, Oklahoma
|----d. 1 Feb 1962, Lubbock Co., Texas
|----m. 2 Feb 1936, Floydada, Floyd, Texas
|--Goldie V. Sisson*
|----b. 15 Jan 1915, Texas
|----d. 30 Oct 1970, Plainview, Hale, Texas
|---& Jessie Hayward Pace
|----b. 16 Feb 1968, Glasscock, Texas
|--Bob Hasty Sisson
|----b. 1916, Texas
|--Jennie Mae Sisson
|----b. 25 Feb 1918, Floyd Co., Texas
|----d. 2 Jan 1993, Bakersfield, Kern, California
|---& Roy William Dorety
|----b. Dec 1918
|----d. 6 Dec 1976, Bakersfield, Kern, California
|----m. 12 Jan 1942, Yuma, Arizona


This is the family of my great-grandmother Sarah Jane Sisson’s half-brother, Jessie Daniel Sisson, and Jennie Reece Dennison. Jennie’s parents were Archie William Denison and Comfort L. Kelley. Her sister was Nolie King Denison, who married Thomas Franklin Norman, Sarah Jane Sisson’s and William Henry “Jack” Norman’s son (that is, sisters married an uncle and nephew). Jessie and Jennie Sisson, like Sarah and Jack Norman, moved from Alabama to Texas, whereas most of the other Sisson siblings remained in Alabama.

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.

Featured Family Friday: William T. Sisson and Susan Caroline Tant

William T. Sisson
b. ca 1826, Georgia
d. 12 Feb 1894, Talladega, Alabama
& Susan Caroline Tant
b. 12 Nov 1838, Alabama
d. bef 1920
m. 17 Oct 1875, Talladega, Alabama
|--Martha Edna Sisson
|----b. Jul 1876
|---& Reuben/Robert John Mulky
|----b. Jan 1872, Georgia
|----m. 6 May 1891, Calhoun Co., Alabama
|--Wiley Turner Sisson
|----b. 10 Aug 1876, Alabama
|----d. 22 Jan 1957
|---& Lula E. Macon
|----b. 8 Jul 1879, Alabama
|----d. 28 May 1950
|----m. ca 1899

This is the family of my great-great-grandfather William T. Sisson and his third (and final) wife, Susan Caroline Tant, who I believe was the daughter of John T. Tant, Jr. and Adeline Ogletree. William and Susan Caroline were married in Talladega, Alabama on 17 October 1875. I believe William was Susan Caroline Tant’s first and only husband; she would have been about 37 years old when they married. Her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application is the source of a good bit of the information I have on this family. She appears on the 1900 and 1910 censuses with her daughter Martha Edna Sisson and son-in-law Reuben Mulky. I cannot find her on the 1920 census, so I have given that as a possible latest date of death, but then again I cannot find Martha and Reuben Mulky on that census, either. There are a lot of dates of death missing for this family: Susan Caroline Tant, daughter Martha Edna Sisson Mulky, and son-in-law Reuben John Mulky.

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.

Featured Family Friday: Obediah Victor Sisson and Sarah Jane Carpenter

Obediah Victor Sisson
b. 18 Sep 1852, Alabama
d. 25 Feb 1913
& Sarah Jane Carpenter
b. 30 Jun 1844
d. 31 Dec 1927, Talladega, Alabama
m. 17 Sep 1874, Talladega, Alabama
|--Henry Turner Sisson
|----b. 6 Jan 1879, Alabama
|----d. 26 Dec 1945, Alabama
|--Annie Belle Sisson
|----b. May 1880, Alabama
|----d. bef 1930
|---& Wesley Edgar Clifton
|----b. 28 Oct 1879, Alabama
|----m. 25 Jun 1904, Eden, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|--James P. Sisson
|----b. 1 Feb 1882, Alabama
|----d. 13 May 1912, Talladega, Alabama
|--Lena Sisson*
|----b. Feb 1884, Alabama
|---& William S. Gilbert
|----b. Mar 1876, Georgia
|----d. bef 1910
|----m. 26 Aug 1897, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|--Lena Sisson*
|----b. Feb 1884, Alabama
|---& William Isaac Burgess
|----b. 17 May 1884, Alabama

This is the family of my great-grandmother Sarah Jane Sisson’s brother, Obediah Victor Sisson. I was happy when I found the man I knew as Obediah V. Sisson listed on the 1910 census as Victor O. Sisson. This provides some evidence in favor of the hypothesis that the father of Obediah’s mother, Jerusha Elizabeth Neely, was Victor Neely. Obediah’s father was William T. Sisson. Obediah’s sister Margaret married a man named John E. Carpenter, who was most likely a relative of Obediah’s wife Sarah Jane Carpenter.

I would like to find out the fates of Lena Sisson and her two husbands, William S. Gilbert (they divorced), and William Isaac Burgess.

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.

Featured Family Friday: William T. Sisson and Jerusha Elizabeth Neeley

William T. Sisson
b. ca 1826, Georgia
d. 12 Feb 1894, Talladega, Alabama
& Jerusha Elizabeth Neeley
d. bef 1858
m. 13 Jun 1851, Talladega, Alabama
|--Obediah Victor Sisson
|----b. 18 Sep 1852, Alabama
|----d. 25 Feb 1913
|---& Sarah Jane Carpenter
|----b. 30 Jun 1844
|----d. 31 Dec 1927, Talladega, Alabama
|----m. 17 Sep 1874, Talladega, Alabama
|--Sarah Jane Sisson
|----b. 14 Feb 1855, Alabama
|----d. 25 Apr 1937, Fannin County, Texas
|---& William Henry “Jack” Norman
|----b. 15 Mar 1858, Alabama
|----d. 19 Dec 1939, Leonard, Fannin County, Texas
|----m. 1879
|--Margaret L. Sisson
|----b. 1856, Alabama
|---& John E. Carpenter
|----b. 28 May 1859, Talladega, Alabama
|----d. 18 Jan 1884, Talladega, Alabama
|----m. 8 Jun 1880, Talladega, Alabama

William T. Sisson and Jerusha Elizabeth Neeley were the parents of my great-grandmother Sarah Jane Sisson. William was the son of Obadiah and Margaret Sisson; Elizabeth’s parents are unknown, but I suspect that she was the daughter of a man named Victor Neeley. Jerusha was the first of William Sisson’s three wives; I will cover the families of his second and third wives in later posts.

There are still quite a few gaps in my information on this family: Jerusha Neeley Sisson’s date of death, Margaret Sisson Carpenter’s date of death, and whether Margaret and John Carpenter had any children before he died in 1884 (since they married in 1880, none appear with them on the 1880 census). John and Sarah Jane Carpenter were most likely related; I would guess that Sara was John’s aunt.

I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.

My Number 21 - A New Obsession

Well, Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has a lot to account for, as far as I’m concerned. He’s gone off and got me started on a new obsession. Number 21. It started off as “innocent” Saturday Night Fun for him, but it’s turning into Sunday search, search, search for me. Well, OK, I’m actually having fun.

Number 21 on my ahnentafel list is Martha R.S.C. Monk, who was my great-great-grandmother and the first wife my great-great-grandfather Joseph Madison Carroll Norman. The other Norman researchers I am aware of refer to her as Rebecca, which could be correct based on her initials. Her name is given in the marriage records for Talladega County, Alabama:

Joseph M. C. Norman married Martha R.S.C. Monk on 4 December 1851 in Talladega, Alabama by John Hubbard, M.G.

The only other documentary evidence I have seen of her so far is on the 1860 census:

1860 US Federal Census, Northern division, Talladega, Alabama, 26 Jun 1860

Line 5 520 1

J. C. Norman 26 M Farmer $150 $230 AL
M. Norman 23 F AL
E. Norman 4 F AL [Cynthia Ann]
H. Norman 2 F [sic] [William Henry]
L. Norman 1 F AL [Leathy]

Joseph Madison Carroll Norman is reported to have had 26 or 27 children (I can account for 21) and three wives. Rebecca apparently died before 1870, possibly as early as 1862. Other researchers have attributed 7 children to her; I have Cyntha Ann, born 1856; William Henry “Jack”, my great-grandfather, born 15 March 1858; Leathy L. (may stand for Lucinda), born 1859; Josephus James “J.J.,” born 1 May 1861; and Thomas F., born 1862. The other two may have died in early childhood.

Rebecca’s parents may have been Silas Monk and Nancy Dunn. I have seen claims that that Rebecca Monk married an Ervin Roden, although I have also seen some doubts among those same researchers on that score.

So the history of Martha Rebecca Monk, my #21, seems to be pretty murky, with hard facts few and far between: one entry for a marriage and one scant census record. That doesn’t seem right. I am starting to feel that familiar itch to find our more about her. To be continued….

P.S. Randy asks whether we can recite all of our eight great-great grandmothers. Unfortunately, I cannot. That’s because another one of my obsessions, my great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee, is my great brick wall and I don’t know who her mother was.

Thankful Thursday: Moore Cousins to the Rescue

This week I am grateful that two of my distant Moore cousins, George Moore and Mary Newton, got in touch with me to get an update on Moore research. It confirmed their interest in my research (and reassured me that I don’t bore them when provide them with news on the latest items I’ve found) and encouraged me to really get going on my Descendants of Samuel Moore project.

George provided me with the transcript he has of the will of Bud Mathis Moore, brother of my great-great-grandfather William Spencer Moore. There were two items of particular interest, and they gave me the necessary clues to fill in information on the two daughters of Bud Mathis Moore on whom we have the least information, his two oldest children: Elizabeth Moore, his only child with Elizabeth Brashier, who died a couple of weeks after her daughter Elizabeth’s birth, and Sarah Ann Moore, his oldest child with Martha Brown Coulter.

Up to this point, almost all that was known about Elizabeth Moore were a couple of items from a brief history of the Family of Bud Mathis Moore written by James Furman Moore: her date of birth (1827) and the fact that she had married a James Bayne. I tried to find her and James starting with the 1850 census in Greenville, South Carolina (she did not appear with Bud and Martha and would have been old enough to have been married), but could not find them, even trying various spellings of the name Bayne. I tried to find Elizabeth from her first name and age, but I believe that turned up too many hits. My guess was that they had moved out of Greenville and possibly out of South Carolina. Bud Mathis Moore’s will mentioned daughter Elizabeth Bain and also gave “the land on which George Bain now lives” to one of Bud Mathis Moore’s sons. To look for a Bain family with these two names in Greenville I checked the Bain GenForum and found them; George Bain would have been James’ brother. The post also clued me in to the three censuses on which James and Elizabeth can be found; on the 1850 Greenville census their last name is given as Bains, and on the next two censuses they and their children are in Alabama. So from these three censuses I have something to start with.

George also pointed out that daughter Sarah Ann was not mentioned in Bud Mathis Moore’s will. This was curious. In all the censuses (1850 through 1910) that Sarah Ann appears, she is always living with family members. J. Furman Moore’s history indicates that she was married to a James Moon. Her name on her tombstone is Moon and on some censuses she is shown was Sarah Moon, widowed, and others she is Sarah Moore, single. My original assumption had been that Sarah had married James Moon early on and become a widow before the 1850 census, but the omission of her name from the will spurred me to look more closely at the census listings – Bud Mathis Moore died in 1856, and perhaps she was looked on as a single woman who would not be expected to be living on her own. My mistaken assumption, and the fact that the Moore and Moon names are often confused on the census, had kept me from carefully putting the census information together: from 1850 to 1880, she had been Sarah Moore, single, and from 1900 to 1910 she was Sarah Moon, widowed. She had married after 1880 and become a widow before 1900! Originally I had never thought of her marrying in middle age, but that could have explained her omission from the will. I looked for a James Moon on Findagrave that might fit the bill: born around the same time as Sarah, died after 1880 but before 1900, and possibly married before he married Sarah. Bingo – there was a James Moon born 1818, married a Mary Ashmore (who died right after the 1880 census was taken), and died in 1897. Of course, he’s still just a “candidate” for Sarah’s husband, but at least there is something to look into.

These two are the only children of Bud Mathis Moore for whom we had little information, so these developments have really given the research some momentum. So to my Moore cousins: thank you George and Mary!

(I hope that Thankful Thursday can be a (semi-)regular feature wherein I write about various advances in my research, but be forewarned, it's likely to be counterbalanced by some Moaning Mondays and Woeful Wednesdays.)

Civil War Record of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman

I am currently researching the family of my great-great grandfather Joseph Madison Carroll Norman of Talladega County, Alabama and Garland County, Arkansas. (At this point it is not in-depth research; I am rather trying to do basic research and organize and clarify what I have already learned about him, his three wives, and their children -- reportedly some 26 or 27 in all -- to be entered into my genealogy program.) Researching JMC Norman involves several challenges. The first is simply to sort out and identify as many of his children as possible, no small undertaking considering how many of them there were. This also means that he most likely has a large number of descendants, and a few of them have apparently already done some research on him. The second challenge is figuring out his Civil War record. A search on the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System using different forms of his name turns up four items: a Joseph M. C. Norman in Company H, 25th Alabama Infantry, a Joseph M. C. Norman in Company B, 3rd Alabama Infantry, a Joseph C. Norman in Company B, 28th Alabama Infantry, and a Jos. M. C. Norman at the Camp of Instruction, Talladega, Alabama. It is possible that the Joseph C. Norman is another man, but there is a record for a Joseph C. Norman being discharged at Oxford, Mississippi for disability on 4/1/1862 and that is consistent with what I know about JMC Norman. I have received a copy of his and his widow's applications for Confederate service pensions and the only unit named in those documents is the 25th Infantry (or at least in most parts; the first page of his application gives the regiment as the 21st). It may be that he cites only that unit because his medical condition (reported as rheumatism) dated to that time or, as has been the case for other ancestors who fought in the Civil War, assimilation of units into other units over the course of the war may account for some of the confusion. I will soon be signing up for Footnote.com to try to solve this mystery.