52 Ancestors – Week 3: Lydia Margaret ?? Polly (1828-1912)

Lydia is my fourth great-grandmother, the mother of Martha Jane Polly (1855-1932) who married George W. Lancaster (1839-1919).

She was also known as Liddy. I know Liddy’s birthdate of 24 Feb 1828 someplace in Kentucky and her death date of 27 Mar 1912 in Rockwall County, Texas. I know she married Nathan H.O. Polly sometime before 1850 where I first find her in a census record with two children (one born in Arkansas and the other in Texas).

But I don’t know her surname and I don’t know who her parents were.

So I need to first gather up what I do know and then make a research plan that I can try to work on while at the Family History Library later this month.

What I know about Lydia:
Let’s begin with her burial. She was buried in Rockwall Memorial Cemetery in Rockwall County, Texas.[1] There is also a photo of the tombstone posted to the Find-a-Grave memorial and the transcription is:

L.M.
POLLY
BORN
FEB 24, 1828
DIED
MAR 27, 1912
This trials ended
thy rest is won.
God  was thy
Ransom, thy
Guardian, thy
Guide

From this tombstone, I have a birth date of 24 Feb 1828 and a death date of 27 Mar 1912. The next step was to find the death certificate.

Death certificates are available in Texas for this time period, however one has not been found. I wrote to the Rockwall County Clerk in 2005 asking for a death record search and the reply was “no record found.” It is possible that she died in a different county from where she was buried, even though her home in the 1910 census indicated Rockwall County. However, the search in the three databases found on familysearch.org did not reveal any candidates close to Liddy.

I did find her in the following census records:
1910: 1st precinct of Rockwall County, Texas Liddy was listed as head of household, a widow age 82, with her daughter, Josephine Wilkerson and two grandsons.[2]  Stated she had 7 children, only 1 living.

1900: Dallas, Texas as wife of N.H.O. Polly, a minister.[3] This census indicates that they had been married 55 years. She was listed as Margaret, age 70, giving birth to 7 children, three of whom were living. She was born in Kentucky and her parents were born in Kentucky.

1880: Rockwall County, Texas as wife of Nathan Polly, farmer.[4]  Here she is listed as Rose. She was 51 years old, born in Kentucky, her father in Kentucky and mother in Tennessee. Four children, one daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren are living with them.

1870: Kaufman County, Texas as wife of NHO Polly, a Minister Gospel. [5] In this census she is listed as Lydda, age 39 and born in Kentucky. Five possible children were living with them.

1860: Montague County, Texas as wife of H.O. Polley.[6] She is listed as Lydia M., age 30, born in Kentucky. Six children lived with them.

1850: Dallas County, Texas with Baptist minister Nathan H.O. Polly and two children.[7]

First record I have found of Lydia: 1850 Dallas Co TX census

From these census records some theories can be made:
  • Lydia was born between 1828 and 1831 in Kentucky.
  • Lydia and Nathan were married about 1845 based on married 55 years in the 1900 census and the oldest child being born about 1847/48.  Were they married in Kentucky or Arkansas, where first child was born?

What I know about Nathan H.O. Polly:
Nathan H.O. Polly died 2 Nov 1902 and was buried in the Rockwall Memorial Cemetery.[8] Also from this record it was learned that he was born 27 Jan 1820.  All census records for him stated his birth was in Kentucky except the 1860 which said Maryland. He was a minister. The first place I have found Nathan Polly in Texas is in Dallas County (1850), then Montague County (1860), and Rockwall County (1870), Kaufman Co (1880), Dallas County (1900). Searching various land, court, and tax records in each of the above counties should be my strategy.

I have searched the database “Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1846-1910” on familysearch.org and found Nathan HO Polly in four years in Dallas County: 1851, 1853, 1854, 1855. This record set as of 17 Jan 2014, does not have Montague, Kaufman, or Rockwall county records in the index. However there are records one can browse.

So my search strategy will be to seek land, court, probate, and tax records for Dallas, Montagaue, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.  This will help place Nathan Polly in time and place and perhaps indicate where he came from. It could be difficult as he was a traveling preacher and did not put down deep roots.



[1] "Find A Grave," database and digital images, Find A Grave  (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 Sep 2011), Memorial# 30073856, Rockwall Memorial Park, Rockwall TX, Lydia Margaret "Liddy" Rose Polly.

2] Texas, Rockwall Co, 1910 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T624, roll 1586, Rockwall City, enumeration district (ED) 178, sheet 4b & 5a, dwelling 90, family 92, Liddy M. Polly, accessed 22 Dec 2010.

[3] Texas, Dallas, 1900 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T623, roll 1626, Prec 7, enumeration district (ED) 143, sheet sht 2a, p. 179 (stamped), dwelling 32, family 32, N.H.O. Polly, accessed 21 Dec 2010.

[4] Texas, Rockwall, 1880 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T9, roll 1324, District 30, enumeration district (ED) 30, p. 600 (stamped), dwelling 183, family 184, Nathan Polly, accessed 21 Dec 2010.

[5] Texas, Kaufman Co, 1870 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), M593, roll 1594, p. 31, dwelling 372, family 386, N.H.O. Polly, accessed 21 Dec 2010.

[6] Texas, Montague, 1860 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), M653, roll 1301, p. 76b (stamped), dwelling 721, family 743, H. O. Polley, accessed 21 Dec 2010.

[7] Texas, Dallas, 1850 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), M432, roll 910, p. 93 (stamped), dwelling 305, family 314, Nathan H. O. Polly, accessed 21 Dec 2010.

[8] "Find A Grave," database and digital images, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 Sep 2011), Memorial# 30074063, Rockwall Memorial Park, Rockwall TX, Dr. Nathaneil H. Osborne Polly.

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

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