Treasure Chest Thursday – Ebenezer Loveless Death Certificate[1]


E. Loveless Death Certificate, 1929, Rotan Co, Texas
The last known information about Ebenezer Loveless, the father of Lela Ann Loveless (my great grandmother & Mam-ma’s mother), he was living on a farm in Precinct 1 of Erath County, Texas in 1920 with his second wife named, Malissa.[2]  I began by searching the 1930 census for his children, thinking he could be enumerated with them.  No luck.  So my initial assumption was he died before the 1930 census.  I could not find Ebenezer in Erath county death records.  Where had he gone?  It was a mystery.

When the "Texas Deaths 1890-1976" database was put online at FamilySearch, I was in seventh heaven.  This database includes images of the death certificates.  Most of my mother’s family lived in Texas for a few generations so I was able to find a lot of records.  Finding Ebenezer in this state-wide database saved me a lot of time.  Do you know how many counties are in Texas?  254.  That is a lot of counties to check death records one-by-one!

This is what I find out when I found the death certificate for Ebenezer Loveless:  
  • He was living in the town of Rotan in Fisher County. 
  • He was still married. 
  • His birth date of February 8, 1851
  • He worked as a night watchman. 
  • He died of bronchopneumonia, due to flu and general debility.  He was 77 years old and this is a common cause of death for the elderly, especially in the winter. 
  • He is also buried in Belvieu Cemetery in Rotan.

Here is a list of what to research about Ebenezer next:
  • Search through land records to see when he sold the farm the 1920 census said he had.  This might give me an idea when he moved to Rotan.
  • Find an obituary for Ebenezer.
  • Find the cemetery record for Ebenezer at Belvieu cemetery in Rotan.
  • Find a death certificate for wife, Melissa.  On a quick search in the Texas Deaths 1890-1976 database, Melissa A. Loveless was not found.  She could have remarried.  She could have moved to live with one of her children from her first marriage.  Perhaps I have to research her children, too.
  • Research the history of Rotan to see what else can be researched.  A quick glance at the Texas State Historical Association at about Rotan, stated “The Rotan Gypsum Plant was founded in 1923. A series of gins was built in the town, including the Rotan Gin, built in 1925.”  Could Ebenezer have been working at one of the gypsum plants?

I do not know much about this ancestor.  He was born in Georgia, moved to Faulkner Co, Arkansas, and then finally to Texas.  I’ll continue the story when I have some of the above questions answered.


[1] "Texas Deaths 1890-1976." index and images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org): accessed 14 Jul 2008), entry for E. Loveless, 1929, Fisher Co, TX, death certificate no. 2972; citing Death Records, FHL microfilm 2,073,674; Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, Texas Department of Health, Austin, Texas
[2] 1920 U.S. census, Erath, Texas, population schedule, Prec 1, enumeration district (ED) 4, sheet 4a, p. 42 (stamped), dwelling 60, family 58, Ebbie Lovelace; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Aug 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1801.


Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

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