A mystery about Nanna Nancy part 1

Nancy HANSFORD WILLIAMS - a mystery

1796–1860

BIRTH ABT. 1796 • Kentucky, DEATH APR 1860 • Montgomery, Missouri

My great times three grandmother...wife of Richard Frederick Williams...on my mother's family tree. (they were grandparents of my great grandmother Annie Williams Webb from yesterday's post.) Nanna Nancy Williams was one of 9 or 10 children born to Rev. Thomas Hansford and his wife, Margaret Beattie Hansford. Her parents moved from Virginia to Kentucky sometime between 1790-91, after their first son was born. She and all the rest of her siblings were born in Kentucky.

Her sister, Mary Polly Hansford married Robert Gilmore, who had an interesting story. (I'll shared their story yesterday)

There are some great stories about her father, Rev. Thomas Hansford. I thought I'd done his life as a post, but am unable to find it today.  He's a really interesting gggg grandfather!  It is on my list to do soon!

The first time her name was written in records is the Census of 1850.  While she was enumerated in 1840 with her husband, Richard F. Williams, it is the 1850 listing where we see children's names and ages as well. But here's the 1840 one first.

1840 Census has Richard Williams household of 12 individuals. One of his daughter's doesn't seem to be counted (Mary, age 17) and she might have been acting as servant in someone else's household.  I note the next door neighbor was named Mannen, and I think they may have shared households or their daughters might have helped out in the others. (Look at table at bottom to see my breakdown of children by ages and names.)

  

By 1850 the household is smaller, and next farm over belongs to their son, William T. Williams and his wife Dorcas (my GG grandparents.)  The Richard and Nancy Williams household gives ages and names for the first time on a census.  

So we see that Richard Williams is 58 while wife Nancy is 54. Daughter Cassandra is 23 and Roseanna is 15, John is 17 and Uphama is 12. Harriet Mannen (22) lives with them with her 1 year old daughter Margaret Mannen.  Since Harriet doesn't seem to have a husband, that is possibly the reason she is not living with her own family, and I don't have any answers for that possibility.

Asa Mannen's family is still listed nearby, and a Sarah Williams (35) lives with them and her son Alexander (13).  Richard and Nancy William's daughter Sarah would have been around 33 at that time, based on the 1840 census. But there had been no grandson Alexander on the 1840 listing as far as my count goes.

1840 Census Data:

with my guesses based on children's birth dates

Name

Richard Williams

Home in 1840 (City, County, State)

Prairie, Montgomery, Missouri

Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9

1 John D. b. 1833 (age 7)

Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14

1 -William T. b. 1824 (age 16?)

Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29

1 - Liberty b. 1817 (age 23)

Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49

1 Richard b.1792 (age 38)

Free White Persons - Females - Under 5

1 Euphema b. 1939

Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9

1 Rosanna b. 1835

Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14

2, Martha b. 1830, Margaret Cassandra (Cassie) b. 1828

Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19

2, Harriet Frances Hattie b.1827, Clara A. b. 1827

Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39

1 Sarah b. 1817 (age 23?) 

Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49

1 Nancy

Persons Employed in Agriculture

3 (Richard, Liberty, Wiliam)

Free White Persons - Under 20

8

Free White Persons - 20 thru 49

4

Total Free White Persons

12

Missing - Mary Jane b. 1823 (age 17) maybe she was being servant in another household?  And if Sarah had a son, Alexander, who shows in the 1860 census, he would have been 3.

I'll have the conundrum to share with you tomorrow...

The joys and perils of the written words in history

Several times lately I've come upon someone who wrote about my ancestors, but they made mistakes.  I know that because of data on cemetery markers combined with family Bibles and census records.  So my great grandmother Cyntha Cannon Rogers, wife of Micajah Clack Rogers, is listed in someone's book as being Micajah's mother instead of his wife. And that is copied by other descendants, making it so confusing.

I know I've copied mis-information before. It's somewhat irritating, and I feel guilty that I passed on lies.

I was looking at the very confusing ancestors on my mother's side, the Williams family members, who of course named their sons after uncles and grandfathers, and my branch moved from Kentucky to Missouri, and then some moved on to Texas, where eventually my mother was born, and then myself.

One of my ggg grandfathers fought in the War of 1812, named Richard Frederick Williams.  So someone recording what they thought was accurate, wrote of him as if he was named Frederick.  He had a son of that name. But the story in that book mistakenly gives his son's wife the name of the son's mother, (Nancy Hansford.) Then this author goes on to name the children of Frederick and whoever his wife might really be. At this point I don't know when Frederick the son married or died, so he's sitting on my tree unmarried without information about him. Sorry about that.

The title of this misleading record is A History of the Pioneer families of Missouri: With numerous sketches ... by William Smith Bryan. p. 298. On Google books. free as an e-book, published originally in 1876 (and the author admits he took 2 years to write it.)

If it's true, I've sure got some strange things happening on my tree. For one thing, Frederick Williams, son of Richard was born in 1816. And all those children listed below as his were actually his siblings (the way my tree describes them at least!) He could not very well have married (his mother) Nancy Hansford, who was born in 1896.

"WILLIAMS, Frederick, son of Richard Williams, of Pulaski co., Ky., married NANCY HANFORD, and settled in Montgomery co., Mo., in 1832. Their children were Liberty, Margaret, Mary, William, Harriet, Martha, Ross A., John, Euphema, and Clara A. Margaret married JAMES GRAY. Mary married JOHN CRUTCHER. Harriet married STEPHEN MANNING. Martha married SYLVESTER MILLSAP. Ross A. married CHRISTOPHER MILLSAP. Euphema married JOHN CRUTCHER, JR."

However, many a smart genealogist takes everything as "possible" fact that is written in history books.  Finding source records is all important.

And if the record had had a bit of punctuation changed, so that it said he was "son of Richard of Pulaski KY, and Nancy Hanford, who settled in Montgomery Co Mo." and then the children were the parents', not Frederick's.  Oh well.

I appreciate the way this information is worded...

Richard and Nancy and their six children arrived in 
Montgomery County, Missouri, in 1832, based on 
land records and birthplace of children listed in 
censuses. The 1840 Montgomery County census 
lists a Richard Williams, believed to be our 
Richard, with four males and eight females, 
living in Prairie township. Coming from Kentucky 
at the age of forty, he may have brought slaves, 
although I have not found that in a census. This 
area’s land was not conducive to large tobacco 
farms needing slave labor, but on the same 
census were Crutcher families-- Samuel, 
Samuel Jr, and John Crutcher, each with slaves. 
They all married into the Williams family. 
[See in the graphics section an interesting story 
on the Laughing Man, whose mother was a 
daughter of Richard and Nancy Williams. The 
story points out the tensions of their world, 
and the power of laughter]. +++

I'm still looking for the story of the Laughing Man. There are anecdotal stories in this ebook, which has a mere 538 pages. None of the stories I scanned were titled The Laughing Man.  So I'll keep looking. I'm up to page 38 so far. (There's no table of contents, of course.)

And as for the ancestry of the Richard F. Williams family, his own parents are listed as Frederick Andrew Williams (1764-1831) and Casandra Elizabeth "Casiah" Tate Williams (1765-1851). Unfortunately, as I looked closer I found these South Carolina Williams moved to Tennessee, and never to Kentucky at all. The can't be our Richard F.'s parents, as I mentioned yesterday.

The Williams tale

People who fought in early wars in the United States didn't always receive payment in dollars.  Often they received a land grant for their services.

So Richard Frederick Williams (1792-1860) apparently was a Private in Capt. William Wades company, 2nd Regiment, (Jennings') Kentucky volunteers.  He was also my great times 3 grandfather on my mother's side.

War of 1812 Service Records:

Name:	Richard Williams
Company:	2 RIGEMENT (JENNINGS') KENTUCKY VOLS.
Rank - Induction:	PRIVATE
Rank - Discharge:	PRIVATE
Roll Box:	228
Microfilm Publication:	M602

(From: U.S., War of 1812 Service Records, 1812-1815 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. 

Widow's pension request from Nancy Williams

Between 1830 when he was on the Pulaski County KY Census and 1833 when his son John D. was born, he and his family moved to Missouri. His own father died in 1831. Richard had been second to oldest in a family with 9 children.

Another cousin (on Ancestry, not sure of our relationship) posted this:

"Richard and Nancy and their six children arrived in

Montgomery County, Missouri, in 1832, based on 

land records and birthplace of children listed in 

censuses. The 1840 Montgomery County census 

lists a Richard Williams, believed to be our 

Richard, with four males and eight females, 

living in Prairie township."

Richard Frederick Williams received 4 different land grants there from the US government (all copied on Ancestry) on different dates. 

Richard Williams land grant 1835

Richard Williams land grant 1838

Richard Williams 1839 land grant

Richard Williams land grant 1851

Google map showing some of Richard Williams' land in Missouri.