Often the names we find for our ancestors don't match up perfectly with what we expect. Frequently I see first names and middle names interchanged. Ancestors use a first name and later use a middle name and then they go back to the first name and then they start using a nickname. Many never went to school and so they couldn't tell if a census taker or county clerk had spelled their name correctly.
Last month after examining some census records I decided to look for vital records for the Leggett and Mathis families. The records didn't show up on familysearch.org so I checked out the Collin County website and noticed a Genealogy tab. I was hoping to find a marriage record for Lennie Mathis and William Pinkney Leggett. A marriage record search returned the following results:
W. P. Liggett could certainly be William Pinkney Leggett but who is Lura Mathews. Could Lura be Lennie? For six dollars I ordered the record.
What should have taken a few days or less ended up taking almost a month but the marriage license showed up in yesterday's email mailbox.
Comparing the names on the images taken from the license to what we think should be there and I am certain that we have the correct license. The first set of names was written by the county clerk while the darker handwriting was by the Justice of the Peace. The clerk wrote what looks like W. P. Seggett but the S is just a fancy L. The Justice of the Peace wrote what looks like Liggett. I am sure this is William Pinkney Leggett.
The bride's name at first glance could be Lura but upon closer inspection it appears to be Lina. Did Lina morph over time into Linnie?
For some reason The name Mathis and Mathews have been interchanged more than once. The US Census shows Lennie's family as Mathews and Mathis. In the above search Lee Mathis and Lura Mathews are sisters.
I am convinced that the marriage license shown below is the license for my wife's great-grandparents, William Pinkney Leggett and Lennie Mathis.
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Lennie was married to WP Leggett, but to confuse matters even more, her sister Laura married WP's brother Tom.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. And the fact that they were sisters made it a little easier to trace the family back in time. Their mother lived with a couple that I suspect were James Mathis' parents before marriage.
DeleteWilliam Pinkney Leggett is my grandfather. George Grady Leggett is my father and Avna Larue ware Leggett is my mother's name. On my father's side we have a great great grandmother and g. g. grandfather that are full blood Cherokee Indian. Can you trace this blood line for me. Patricia Leggett Cordell
ReplyDeleteMy wife descended from William Pickney Leggett through James Alford Leggett. There have certainly been family stories about Cherokee ancestors. These stories have come down through numerous branches of the family. I spent some time, effort, and money trying to confirm these stories but I have not been able to verify either through a paper trail or DNA. I had a male Leggett descendant take the Y-DNA test and there was no hint of DNA from indigenous people. My wife took DNA tests from two different companies but no connection to Indigenous people. At this time I have put the attempt to verify these stories on the back burner.
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