Timeline Portrait of Lizzie Smith: Stitching the Gaps Together

Lizzie with husband Hiram Brinlee, Jr. and sons Odell and Austin ca 1918 (courtesy of Edna S.)

Up until the time when Lizzie Smith Bonner married my great-grandfather Hiram Carroll Brinlee, Jr., every single bit of information about her – every single date – is a guess and an estimate.

It starts with her birth. If you go to the entry for her tombstone at Findagrave, you will see that the date given in the transcription section is April 4, 1860, whereas if you look at her tombstone, the year of her birth is given as 1856.

I don’t believe either one. The first date comes from her obituary and the second may have appeared in a family Bible. The age given on her marriage license and the age indicated on the earliest census on which I have been able to find her (1910) contradict these dates and indicate something closer to 1868 or 1869; the 1920 census age is consistent with this. And the birth of her youngest child Cecil Odell in 1908 makes those early dates a real stretch.

Lizzie’s age starts creeping up on her Application for a Confederate Widow’s Pension and continues through the 1930 census to her death in 1958. The Findagrave entry gives Knoxville as the place of Lizzie’s birth; I would love for that information to be accurate, so that I would at least have a starting point for my research, but I don’t know whether or not I can trust that piece of data, either.

As indicated by the note shown below, Lizzie was probably not trying to inflate her age for the pension application but had genuinely forgotten how old she was:


“leonard tex sep 10th, 1929
dear sir i will wright to yu in regard to my pension i have lost my corect age i am some where in 60 i am not 75 if you can help me any way i shure wood be glad i have no help a tall.
yore friend
susan E. Brinlee”

This uncertainty and confusion continues throughout her early life. You can see how often I have mulled this information over and run through the various permutations in two of my previous articles on Susan Elizabeth Smith “Lizzie” Bonner Brinlee: Lizzie Smith Timeline, which I will reproduce below for reference in this article, and Brickwall Workshops by the Fairfax Genealogical Society, which was a reproduction of the write-up I submitted to the brickwall workshop panel.

Based on a total of 24 Smith-tagged articles, you would think that I have covered Lizzie thoroughly enough; time to drop it for a while! But I will never feel I have done enough and I cannot drop it.

There are several bits of information about Lizzie that help keep this obsession alive. One is the date of her death: July 29, 1958. I was a little girl then. She was still alive when I was born – the only one of my great-grandparents who was – and yet she is the only brickwall great-grandparent.

The second piece of information that haunts me is this item, hidden among some online genealogies as a Post-It note submitted by a second cousin based on information she had heard from her grandmother (Cecil Odell Brinlee’s wife): Lizzie “was from Tennessee and had lived with a family that had taken her in to help work, where she washed dishes by standing on a bucket. Therefore, she had to have been fairly young.” This reveals an additional mystery for Lizzie: Why was she working out as a young child? Was she an orphan or a child of a very poor family?

The third item is merely a family rumor – that Lizzie was part Native American. It’s one item of family lore that I have always cherished and fervently hoped was true. But the genealogical myth-buster in me triumphed and after checking out the Dawes and Guion Miller Rolls with no success, I abandoned that avenue of research. However, at the Brick Wall Workshop sponsored by the Fairfax Genealogical Society that I attended, the first response I got was: What is she doing in Indian Territory in 1891? And especially with a name like Smith? Check those Rolls! So even though I had no success in finding her the first time around, there is a legitimate reason to suspect some Native American connection.

The timeline work for Lizzie has been particularly useful in following a possible lead on her first marriage (“to a Mr. Bonner” according to family researchers, probably based on her name as “Mrs. S. L. Bonner” on the marriage license with Hiram Brinlee). If she was born in 1868-69 and married at age 17 as indicated by the 1930 census, this would give a year of 1885-86 for her first marriage, and there is an 1886 Tennessee marriage record for a Lizzie Smith and a W. T. Banner (I have found no Banner families but did find Bonner families at the location given).

Some time between those years and Lizzie’s marriage to Hiram Brinlee, Mr. Bonner died. And Lizzie ended up in Indian Territory. Were the Bonners Sooners, or did her presence have something to do with Lizzie’s (possible) Native American background?

Between the first “known” date on the timeline, the date of Lizzie’s marriage to Hiram Brinlee, and her death in 1958, all the information falls into three categories: the births of her children, census information, and information provided on her pension application.

And between the birth of daughter Cordelia in 1895 and the birth of son Austin in 1904, there is a gaping hole right where the 1900 census should be. Oh, I have located where the family was, then – Britton Township in Oklahoma Territory – because Hiram, son Louis from his first marriage, and a hired hand are shown living there. But I can’t find Lizzie and the children anywhere else and I suspect they were actually living there, too. So my best hope for nice, juicy information on Lizzie’s month and year of birth is dashed. And one of the most tantalizing things is that, according to the 1910 census, Lizzie had had a total of seven children, of whom only four were living in 1910. Might one or two of those children have been alive in 1900 and have appeared on this census?

The gap in the early years, when Lizzie probably spent time working for another family, and the gap during which she probably gave birth to the children who died, haunt me the most. Why did her maiden name have to be Smith? Why didn’t she appear on the 1900 census? Why couldn’t someone have asked her more questions about her past when she was still alive? I am still trying to stitch those gaps together.


Lizzie with sons Odell, Austin, and Lawrence, sometime in the 1930s? (Courtesy of George B.)

Timeline

4 April 1868: Birth of Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith in Tennessee (state from US Federal Censuses 1910, 1920, 1930 and Susan E. Brinlee’s Widow’s Application for Confederate Pension, day and month by hearsay from family Bible, now believed to have been burned, and year based on age reported on marriage license of H. C. Brinlee and Mrs. S. L. Bonner).

1885/1886: According to the 1930 census, Lizzie first married at the age of 17; I would guess this happened in Tennessee. [According to Tennessee marriage records, a W. T. Banner married a Lizzie Smith in October 1886 in McMinn County, Tennessee.]

3 December 1891: Lizzie marries Hiram Carroll Brinlee, Jr., in White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma.

29 January 1893: Son Lawrence Carroll Brinlee born in String Town, Atoka, Oklahoma (Paul’s Valley is given as his place of birth on his WWI Draft Registration Card).

8 June 1895: Daughter Cordelia Lee “Cordie” Brinlee born in Oklahoma.

25 June 1900: Hiram appears on the 1900 US Federal Census for Britton Township, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Territory; Lizzie and the children may be living with him.

1902: The year Hiram and Lizzie may have moved from Oklahoma to Texas, as reported by Lizzie on her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application.

6 April 1904: Son Austin Franklin Brinlee born in Farmersville, Collin County, Texas.

23 September 1908: Son Cecil Odell Brinlee born in Collin County, Texas.

4 May 1910: Hiram and Lizzie appear on the US Federal Census for Justice Precinct 2, Hunt County, Texas.

22 August 1913: Hiram Brinlee files Confederate Soldier’s Application for a Pension in Grayson County, Texas.

30 January 1920: Hiram and Lizzie appear on the US Federal Census for Farris, Atoka Co., Oklahoma. Hiram had died on 20 January, but the census-taker must have been following the instructions, which indicated that “individuals alive on 1 January but deceased when the enumerator arrived were to be counted.”

27 July 1925: Lizzie files her Confederate Widow’s Pension application from Collin County, Texas.

10 Sep 1929: Lizzie writes a letter requesting assistance with her Pension application; the location is given as Leonard, Texas (Leonard is in Fannin County).

21 April 1930: Lizzie appears on the US Federal Census living with her son Austin in Fannin County, Texas.

9 April 1953: Lizzie’s son Lawrence Brinlee dies.

29 July 1958: Lizzie dies in Plano, Collin County, Texas. She apparently had lived for some years with her youngest son, Cecil Odell, who signed the application for her mortuary warrant and her death certificate. Her death certificate indicates her stay in Plano as “several years.”

Sources

- Marriage License of H. C. Brinlee and Mrs. S. L. Bonner, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, 1 December 1891. Photocopy.

- Certificate of Marriage of H. C. Brinlee and Mrs. S. L. Bonner, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, 3 December 1891. Photocopy.

- Widow’s Application for a Confederate Pension No. 41103 for Susan Elizabeth Brinlee, Collin County, State of Texas, 27 July 1925.

- World War I Draft Registration Card of Lawrence Carroll Brinlee. Registration Location: Fannin County, Texas. Roll 1953353. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

- Certificate of Death of Lawrence Carroll Brinlee, 11 April 1953, State of Texas, State File No. 24235. Digital image accessed via Family Search Record Search.

- Certificate of Death of Cordie Lee Clinton, 25 May 1961, State of Texas, State File No. 26177. Digital image accessed via Family Search Record Search.

- Certificate of Death of Austin Franklin Brinlee, 17 November 1976, State of Texas, State File No. 82039. Digital imaged accessed via Family Search Record Search.

- Application for Social Security Account Number of Cecil Odell Brinlee, 454-26-3341, 6 January 1940. Photocopy.

- Hiram C. Brinlee household, 1900 US Federal Census, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Territory, population schedule, Britton Township, dwelling 191, family 191, Roll T623_1340, Page 10B, Enumeration District 158. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

- Harm [Hiram] C. Brinlee household, 1910 US Federal Census, Hunt County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct Two, dwelling 283, family 288, Roll T624-1566, Page 19B, Enumeration District 119. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

- Hiram C. Brinlee household, 1920 US Federal Census, Atoka County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Farris Township, dwelling 295, family 297, Roll T625-1452, Page 15B, Enumeration District 7. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

- Austin F. Brinlee household, 1930 US Federal Census, Fannin County, Texas, population schedule, Precinct 3, dwelling 295, family 302, Roll 2331, Page 14B, Enumeration District 18. Accessed via Ancestry.com.



The above is submitted for the 91st Carnival of Genealogy, “A Tribute to Women!” March is women's history month and a great time to honor the women on our family trees. This is will be the 4th annual edition on this topic so we're going to change it up just a bit to keep it fresh... Write a biography about a woman on your family tree starting with a timeline of their life. Thank you to Jasia at Creative Gene for hosting and to footnoteMaven for the beautiful poster.

Brickwall Workshops by the Fairfax Genealogical Society

The Fairfax Genealogical Society will be doing a series of brickwall panels, starting with the September 2009 genealogy education class. Each Society member who wishes to take advantage of this opportunity is asked to submit a Brickwall Submission Form in which the brickwall problem is state as a simple question; this is followed by the basic details known and an outline of previous research done. Here is a copy of the form I have written up (using two previous blog posts on this subject):

Brickwall question: Who are the parents of Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith, wife of Hiram C. Brinlee, Jr.?

Name: Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith (maiden name from two of her four children’s death certificates).

Date of birth: 4 April, estimated year 1868 based on claimed age (23) on her 1 December 1891 marriage license with second husband Hiram Carroll Brinlee, Jr. and on 1910 census (41) and 1920 census (50). A family Bible is said to give 4 April 1856, but her last child was born in 1908. Older ages are also given on her death certificate (date of birth given as 4 April 1860 by her son Cecil Odell Brinlee), July 1958 obituary (98), and 1930 census (73). On her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application, dated 27 July 1925, she gives her age as 68, and this is consistent with the 73 on the 1930 census. However, there is a note written by Lizzie that is appended to the application (the date is September 10th, and the year as written could be 1929 or 1924) in which she writes: “i have lost my correct age i am somewhere in 60 i am not 75.”

Place of birth of Lizzie and her parents: All three censuses on which Lizzie is known to appear indicate that she was born in Tennessee; that state also appears on her death certificate and obituary, as well as on the death certificate of her son Lawrence. Knoxville County has been cited as the county in which she was born, but I do not know what the source for this is. The 1910 and 1920 censuses give North Carolina as the state of her parents’ birth; 1930 gives Tennessee.

Early life: A daughter-in-law said that Lizzie “was from Tennessee and had lived with a family that had taken her in to help work, where she washed dishes by standing on a bucket. Therefore, she had to have been fairly young.” This might indicate that she had been orphaned.

First marriage: Lizzie was said to have been married to a man named Bonner before she married Hiram Brinlee. The 1910 census indicates that she has been married more than once, and the 1930 census indicates that she was 17 at the time of her first marriage. Her name does appear to be “Bonner” on the marriage license (her name is given as Mrs. S. L. Bonner), although it looks as though “Brinlee” was entered first and “Bonner” was then written over it. If Lizzie was born in 1868 and got married at age 17, her marriage to Mr. Bonner would have taken place in around 1885-1886, possibly in Tennessee. Since Lizzie was in Oklahoma when she met Hiram Brinlee, she and Mr. Bonner may have come to Oklahoma for the land rush in 1889 and he may have died there.

Second marriage: Hiram Brinlee and Lizzie were married at White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory; Lizzie’s residence is also listed as White Bead Hill on 3 December 1891.

US Federal Census information: Lizzie does not appear with Hiram on the 1900 census (Britton Twp., Oklahoma Co., Oklahoma Territory). Hiram is shown only with his son from his previous marriage, Louis, and a hired hand. Perhaps Lizzie and the children were living elsewhere, but so far I have not been able to find them. 1910 (4 May) – Justice Precinct 2, Hunt Co., Texas. 1920 (30 Jan) – Farris Twp., Atoka Co., Oklahoma. 1930 – Justice Precinct 3, Fannin Co., Texas (living with son Austin). Another possible address is provided on an envelope addressed to Hiram Brinlee at Davis, I. T. (current Garvin and Murray Counties) from William Nelson, Clerk of the Court of the Indian Territory, Ardmore, Indian Territory (the date is not legible, but this information may help date it).

Children: According to the 1910 census, Lizzie had given birth to 7 children, of whom 4 were still living. Those four were all Hiram’s children, but it is not clear if any or all of the remaining three were Hiram’s or Mr. Bonner’s children. The dates and places of birth for the four surviving children are: Lawrence Carroll – 29 Jan 1893 (String Town, Atoka, Oklahoma or, as reported on his WWI Draft Registration Card, Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma), Cordelia Lee – 8 Jan 1895 (Oklahoma), Austin Franklin – 6 Apr 1904 (Farmersville, Collin Co., Texas), and Cecil Odell – 23 Sep 1908 (Collin Co., Texas).

Other items giving clues to location: 27 July 1925: Lizzie files her Confederate Widow’s Pension application from Collin County, Texas. 10 Sep 1929: Lizzie writes a letter requesting assistance with her Pension application; the location is given as Leonard, Texas (Leonard is in Fannin County). The year of Hiram and Lizzie’s move to Texas from Oklahoma may have been 1902, as reported by Lizzie on her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application.

Death: Lizzie Brinlee died on 29 July 1958 in Plano, Collin County, Texas (she was living with her youngest son Cecil Odell Brinlee at that time). Her death certificate indicates her stay in Plano as “several years.” She is buried in Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.

Sources checked:

Certificates of Death of Lizzie and children Lawrence, Austin, and Cordelia
Obituary of Mrs. H. C. Brinlee from the Plano Star-Courier
1900-1930 US Federal Censuses
Marriage license with second husband, Hiram C. Brinlee
Certificate of marriage with second husband, Hiram C. Brinlee
Confederate Widow’s Pension Application
Still need to check: Social Security applications of sons Austin and Cecil Brinlee and death certificate of Cecil Brinlee

I am excited at the prospect of getting some pointers on working on this brickwall with some of the experts in the Fairfax Genealogical Society. I'll post what I learn here.

Tearing-My-Hair-Out Tuesday: More Information on My Brick Wall

Just kidding, this is actually Madness Monday, only late.

I previously posted information on my biggest brick wall, Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith Bonner Brinlee, here. This brick wall fits quite well into the Madness Monday theme, however, so I’d like to add some information to that. (The information that I do have on her is so tantalizing and the information that I am missing is so aggravating, that it really does almost drive me to distraction.) This also fits the criteria for Blogging Prompt #12, "Use your blog to break down a brick wall" (late, of course).

Here is some basic information on the Hiram Carroll Brinlee Jr.-Susan Elizabeth Smith family group:

Hiram Carroll “Dink” Brinlee Jr.
b. Sep 1844, Red River County, Texas
d. 20 Jan 1920, Collin County, Texas
& Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith
b. 4 Apr 1868, Tennessee
d. 29 Jul 1958
m. 3 Dec 1891, White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, OK
|--Lawrence Carroll Brinlee
|----b. 29 Jan 1893, String Town, Atoka, OK
|----d. 9 Apr 1953, Bonham, Fannin, TX
|----& Sallie Frances Norman
|----b. 5 Sep 1892, Talladega Co., AL
|----d. 8 Dec 1984, Ivanhoe, Fannin County, Texas
|-----m. 6 May 1911, Greenville, Hunt Co., TX
|--Cordelia Lee “Cordie” Brinlee
|----b. 8 Jun 1895, Oklahoma
|----d. 23 May 1961, McKinney, Collin Co., Texas
|----& Kingsley Levington Clinton
|----b. 18 Feb 1894, Putnam Co., Tennessee
|----d. 2 Nov 1955, Anna, Collin, Texas
|----m. 1911
|--Austin Franklin Brinlee
|----b. 6 Apr 1904, Farmersville, Collin County, Texas
|----d. 17 Nov 1976, Allen, Collin County, Texas
|----& Mary Katherine Clinton
|----b. 3 Aug 1912, Fannin County, Texas
|----d. 25 Aug 1993, Allen, Collin County, Texas
|----m. 24 Jul 1928, Fannin County, Texas
|--Cecil Odell Brinlee
|----b. 23 Sep 1908, Collin County, Texas
|----d. 30 Oct 1994, Quitman, Wood, Texas
|----& Amy Lorene Kent
|---- b. 12 Dec 1913, Arkansas
|----d. 11 Apr 2000, McKinney, Collin Co., Texas

I have used the above information, the censuses, Lizzie’s Confederate Widow’s Pension application, and her death certificate to put together a sketchy timeline of where Lizzie was at various times in her life:

?1868 to 1889: Tennessee. This is pure speculation. However, since Lizzie and Hiram got married in Oklahoma and appear to have met there, I am guessing that Lizzie and her first husband, Mr. Bonner, might have come to Oklahoma in the big land rush in 1889. Because she stated on the 1930 that she first married at the age of 17, I am putting the year of that marriage at around 1885-86 and probably in Tennessee.

1889 to some time between 1900, when Hiram appears on the US Federal Census for Britton Township, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Territory (my guess is that Lizzie and the children were with him, but not reported to the census-taker) and 1904, when Austin is reported to have been born in Farmersville, Collin County, Texas: Oklahoma. The year of the move was most likely 1902, as reported by Lizzie on her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application. On Lizzie and Hiram’s marriage license, which is dated 1 December 1891, Lizzie’s residence is listed as White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, and Hiram’s residence is listed as Davis, Chickasaw Nation. Their certificate of marriage was certified by R. H. Grimstead, Minister of the Gospel, and dated 3 December 1891. My grandfather Lawrence Brinlee was reported to have been born in String Town, Atoka, Oklahoma on 29 January 1893; on his World War I Draft Registration card, he lists the location as Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma. My information on Cordelia’s place of birth does not include a specific location in Oklahoma.

6 April 1904: Austin born in Farmersville, Collin County, Texas

23 September 1908: Cecil Odell born in Collin County, Texas

4 May 1910: Hiram and Lizzie appear on the US Federal Census for Justice Precinct 2, Hunt County, Texas.

30 January 1920: Hiram and Lizzie appear on the US Federal Census for Farris, Atoka Co., Oklahoma. Hiram had died on 20 January, but the census-taker must have been following the instructions, which indicated that “individuals alive on 1 January but deceased when the enumerator arrived were to be counted.”

27 July 1925: Lizzie files her Confederate Widow’s Pension application from Collin County, Texas

10 Sep 1929: Lizzie writes a letter requesting assistance with her Pension application; the location is given as Leonard, Texas (Leonard is in Fannin County).

21 April 1930: Lizzie appears on the US Federal Census living with her son Austin in Fannin County, Texas.

29 July 1958: Lizzie dies in Plano, Collin County, Texas. She apparently had lived for some years with her youngest son, Cecil Odell, who signed the application for her mortuary warrant and her death certificate. Her death certificate indicates her stay in Plano as “several years.”

Much of this is guesswork and there are sure to be inaccuracies here; however, these would be the locations in Oklahoma and Texas where I would want to check local resources (courthouse records, newspaper archives, etc.). I have often wondered whether or not Lizzie had any siblings, and if she did, whether she was ever in contact with them. There are so many things I wonder about Lizzie.

My Brick Wall: Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee

(Warning: The following post is rather long. This is my “special” brick wall, so I am attempting to include as much information as possible, and I welcome any and all advice on how to break through this brick wall.)

All genealogy researchers have many brick walls, of course, in the sense that each family line hits a brick wall at some point, whether earlier or later, but the definition of this term, in the way it is generally used, appears to include an element of selection. That is, not every “dead end” ancestor inspires the researcher with the same strong desire to learn more about that person and find his or her family. The number of persons in a family tree who might be considered brick walls varies from researcher to researcher; among that group there is often one person in particular who has a special claim to the title of “brick wall.”

When I first got hooked on genealogy – meaning that I knew this was going to go beyond a few Internet searches based on idle curiosity – I set myself a very modest goal based on my appalling, near total ignorance of my family tree: I just wanted to know who all of my great-grandparents were. Within the space of a year, I had found all eight of them, and for seven out of the eight, I knew who their parents were, as well.

The eighth great-grandparent is my “special” brick wall: Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee. I will set forth what little information I am aware of, and none of this information can be taken as absolutely reliable. Among Brinlee researchers there are different theories and versions of the facts, so I can only cite what little evidence there is.

Name: It is generally believed that her maiden name was Susan Elizabeth Smith and that prior to her marriage to my great-grandfather Hiram Carroll Brinlee Jr. she had married a man named Bonner, who died young. She appears to have gone by the nickname “Lizzie.” I have found death certificates for three of her four known children: Lawrence Carroll Brinlee (my grandfather), Austin Franklin Brinlee, and Cordelia Brinlee Clinton. Austin’s death certificate indicates that her maiden name was Susan E. Smith, Cordelia’s says it was Lizzie Smith, and only my grandfather’s death certificate indicates a serious variation from these two: Elizabeth Baker. However, the informant on my grandfather’s death certificate was my grandmother, Sallie Norman Brinlee, and I believe her recall of Lizzie’s last name was less reliable because Lizzie lived with Austin’s and Odell’s families in later years; Baker may have been my grandmother’s attempt to recall the name Bonner.

The earliest document I know of on which Lizzie’s name and age appear is the Marriage License for her and Hiram Brinlee, and on that document her name is given as Mrs. S. L. Bonner. Another document with her name is her Confederate Widow’s Application for a Pension; there and in appended documents her name is given as Mrs. Susan Elizabeth Brinlee, Susan E. Lizzie Brinlee, and Mrs. S. L. Brinlee, and she herself signs one note “Susan E. Brinlee.”

Age: This is the area with the largest amount of conflicting information, and though most researchers agree on some time around 1868 for her date of birth, that agreement is not universal. The aforementioned marriage license, which was dated 1 Dec 1892, indicates that she was 23 years old at that time. According to a Post-It left on a WorldConnect genealogy for the Brinlees by a second cousin, Lizzie’s Bible lists her date of birth as April 4, 1856. If this is true, her age at her death on 7 September 1958 would have been 102. Perhaps the year was misread or was entered later in her life when she may have forgotten the actual year of her birth, but I believe various pieces of evidence indicate that 1856 is too early for Lizzie’s year of birth.

For one thing, Lizzie’s youngest known child, Cecil Odell Brinlee, was born in 1908. If Lizzie was born in 1856, she would have been 51 or 52 when Odell was born – possible, but not very likely. Unfortunately, Lizzie does not appear with Hiram on the 1900 census, which could have been a good corroborating source to use with the marriage license. Hiram is shown only with his son from his previous marriage, Louis, and a hired hand. Perhaps Lizzie and the children were living elsewhere, but so far I have not been able to find them and I suspect that Hiram simply spoke with the census taker outside the house and for whatever reason did not care to provide information on the rest of the family.

Lizzie first appears on the census in 1910 (dated 4 May 1910), where her age is given as 41, and the 1920 census (dated 30 Jan 1920) is consistent with this, giving her age as 50. By 1930 (21 Apr 1930), however, the advanced age of 73 is claimed for her. Information provided by her on her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application may shed a little bit of light on this. On that document, dated 27 July 1925, she gives her age as 68, and this is consistent with the 73 on the 1930 census. However, there is a note written by Lizzie that is appended to the application (the date is September 10th, and the year as written could be 1929 or 1924) in which she writes: “i have lost my correct age i am somewhere in 60 i am not 75.” So she may have been losing track of her actual age by this time. No disrespect intended (and her note does indicate that she is trying to be honest), but I have seen a few ancestors age on these applications (there was a minimum age requirement).

Lizzie’s death certificate gives her date of birth (provided by son C. O. Brinlee) as 4 April 1860 and the age cited in her obituary (Plano Star Courier, 31 July 1958) gives her age at death as 98. This is a bit more plausible than 1856, but I still think 1860 is at least a few years too early. I have a copy of a photograph that must have been taken sometime around 1916-1920, based on the appearance of her sons Austin and Odell, and from that photograph I do not think she could have been much over 50.

Place of birth of Lizzie and her parents: All three censuses on which Lizzie is known to appear indicate that she was born in Tennessee; that state also appears on her death certificate and obituary, as well as on the death certificate of her son Lawrence. Knoxville County has been cited as the county in which she was born, but I do not know what the source for this is. The 1910 and 1920 censuses give North Carolina as the state of her parents’ birth; 1930 gives Tennessee. It is still too early to make any assumptions based on this information.

Earlier life, possible avenues of research, and why Lizzie is the brick wall ancestor about whom I most want to know more: The reports of an earlier marriage appear to be true. The 1910 census indicates that she has been married more than once, and the 1930 census indicates that she was 17 at the time of her first marriage. I am not sure whether there are other sources for the name of her first husband, but her name does appear to be “Bonner” on the marriage license, although it looks as though “Brinlee” was entered first and “Bonner” was then written over it, so I cannot be quite sure. For some reason, in my computer folder for her and Hiram I have a separate document with a single cryptic sentence on it: “A Lizzie Smith married a W. T. Banner in McMinn County, Tennessee in 1886 – would this be the “Bonner” that we have been looking for?” If she was married at age 17 and was born in around 1868, 1886 would fit as a year of marriage. (Note to self – must put source of information on all notes!)

Some people believe that Lizzie had children with Mr. Bonner and some do not. According to the 1910 census, she had given birth to 7 children, of whom 4 were still living. Those four were my grandfather and his siblings, but it is not clear if any or all of the remaining three were Hiram’s or Mr. Bonner’s children. The years of birth for my grandfather and his siblings are 1893, 1895, 1904, and 1908. There is definitely a large enough gap for three more children from her marriage to Hiram. I am guessing that she married Mr. Bonner in Tennessee in around 1885-1886, that they came to Oklahoma for the land rush in 1889, and that he died some time shortly after that. Other scenarios are possible, but this would probably be the simplest explanation for a girl from Tennessee ending up a widow in Oklahoma. These time frames would also be sufficient for Lizzie to have had one or more children with Mr. Bonner.

Why am I so intrigued with Lizzie Brinlee? It is not just that she is the only one of my great-grandparents for whom I have been unable to find a family. There are a number of scraps of information on her that make a compelling story. She was the only great-grandparent who was still alive when I was born. My Uncle Bill remembers her cooking for him when he was a young man getting ready to join the Navy. There are stories that she was at least part Native American, though there is nothing in the single photograph I have of her that gives any strong indication of that. One particularly tantalizing piece of information was provided in the above-mentioned Post-It left by my second cousin Kathy, whose grandmother Amy Kent Brinlee had said that Lizzie “was from Tennessee and had lived with a family that had taken her in to help work, where she washed dishes by standing on a bucket. Therefore, she had to have been fairly young.” Was she orphaned, or was her family reduced to sending her out to work because they were extremely poor? I love the challenge of Lizzie – by all accounts she was very modest and said very little about herself. Her maiden name, Smith, makes the challenge of finding her family all the more difficult.

Where to go from here: While I have picked out a few Tennessee Smith families as possible candidates, that is not where I should really start looking. I can ask my Texas relatives for more information, but at this point it does not appear that there is a great deal more to find out there. I believe I should probably start in Oklahoma, where Hiram and Lizzie met and married. Hiram and Lizzie were married at White Bead Hill, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory; Lizzie’s residence is also listed as White Bead Hill. By 1900, they were living in Britton Township, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Territory.

At the top of this post is a picture of Lizzie, Austin, Odell and, seated, Hiram Brinlee. Can anyone tell me anything more about Lizzie?