Yes, I believe they must have. I had no idea just how challenging genealogy could be until I started working on the Withers family A YEAR AGO. They schooled me. Maria Trantham, my 3rd great grand aunt, married Elihu Withers in Henry County, Tennessee in 1838. Twelve years later, Elihu and Maria Weathers are still living there according to the 1850 census. They have five children at this point: John, Jesse, James, William and Wiley. Thinking I was off to a great start, I began looking for them in the 1860 census. Finding them should have been relatively easy given Elihu’s unusual first name. So, I looked and looked and looked and looked. And looked again. Hmm. Missing in 1860. Okay, let’s try the 1870 census. Same arduous process and in the end no such luck. 1880? Nope. I have no idea how many weeks I spent trying to find Elihu and Maria in the census records. The challenge is that “Withers” has many spelling variations.

I decided to shelve the Withers family for a few months and come back to them. After all, how could an entire family disappear?

A couple of months ago I finally came back to them. I concluded sadly that Elihu and Maria likely died after the 1850 census was taken and that I needed to stop focusing on them and start focusing on the children. Perhaps they were still living together in the 1860 census.

Sometimes I hate it when I am right. Twenty-one-year-old John Withers is the head of a household in the 1860 census. He and his wife, Angelina, are living in Massac County, Illinois along with John’s siblings Jesse, James and Wiley. Three new siblings who were born after 1850 are living there as well: Martha, Reuben and Joshua. The latter three children were born in Illinois unlike their older siblings who were born in Tennessee. As I suspected Elihu and Maria are absent and likely passed, leaving John to raise his younger siblings. His brother William is also missing.

Although I was both elated and saddened by the discovery, my progress was short-lived. In the 1870 census, not one of them is still living in Massac County. Or the surrounding counties. Or the surrounding states. The only sliver of information I was able to find after the 1860 census record was a marriage record for John Wethers and “Anjaline” Gates in 1858. Good night nurse!

Finding the Withers children in the 1870 census records will be like trying to find needleS in a haystack. A lot can happen in 10 years, thus leaving me to wonder whether these weathered Withers or Wethers or Weathers wandered again.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 3rd great grand aunt
Common ancestors: Maria Trantham’s (presumed) parents, Jesse and Sally (Holliday) Trantham, are my 4th great grandparents