52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020) – Week 22: Uncertain—What Was the Maiden Name of Rebecca Ro(d)gers?

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

For the theme of “uncertain,” I decided to find a female with no maiden name, or at least an uncertain maiden name. This blog post will review what I know about Rebecca, wife of David Ro(d)gers and mother of Eliza Ro(d)gers, who married Ebenezer Loveless in 1871. Through the process, I will be creating a plan for future research. I will start with what I know about her daughter, Eliza. I am also going to standardize the spelling of the surname to RODGERS for simplicity.

Chattooga County, Georgia

I first wrote about Eliza in this blog post. At the time I was trying to verify her parents’ names.

Eliza Rodgers was born May 1854 in South Carolina.[1] She first appeared in the 1860 population census in Chattooga County, Georgia, with her proposed parents, David and Rebecca Rodgers.[2] This census does not give relationship, so it is possible that not all of the children belong to both parents. Others in the household were:

Rodgers, David, 42, Farmer b. SC, $450 in personal property

               Rebecca, 40

               Mary AC, 18

               Mark A, 17

               Perry K, 15

               Goliver (Toliver?), 13

               Martha, 11

               Amanda, 9

               Eliza, 7

               Emma L., 3

               George, 1

Everyone in the household were listed as born in South Carolina. If this is true, then the family moved to Chattooga County, Georgia within the previous year, as the youngest, George, was only one year old. David has no real estate values listed, so likely he did not own land.

He does appear in the agricultural census for the same year, and no acreage or value is listed for him, confirming the lack of real estate.[3] He had the value of $50 in farming equipment. He also had one horse, one mule, two milch cows, eleven other cattle, forty swine, with a total value of $345. He produced during the previous year 150 bushels of wheat, one thousand bushels of Indian corn, three bales (400 pounds each) of cotton. He may have produced peas and beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, and butter, as others in the county did, but the back page is not part of the Ancestry collection.

In 1870, Rebecca Rogers was still living in Chattooga County with three apparent children:[4]

Rogers, Rebecca, 52, f, w, keeping house, 160/200, SC

             Amanda, 18, f, w, no occupation, SC,

             Elsy, 16, f, w, no occupation, SC

             George, 12, m, w, at school, Georgia

These three children match three of the four youngest children from the 1860 census. Missing is David, who has possibly died. Here George is shown as being born in Georgia, so it is possible they came a year or so earlier than 1858-59.  Rebecca also shows real estate value of $160.

Deed records were searched. There was no listing for David purchasing land, but Rebecca purchased a forty acre lot from the James T. Tucker estate on 18 April 1868 for $161, nearly the same value she indicated on the census.[5] She was also shown in the agricultural census, showing thirty acres improved and sixteen unimproved, at the value of $160. She also had $50 worth of farming equipment. The value of her livestock was $150 (one horse, one milch cow, three cattle, seven sheep, and ten swine. She grew Indian corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, butter, and wool.[6]

A search of the probate records in Chattooga County revealed no record for David. He did not appear in any military units from Chattooga County, as it was possible he died during the Civil War. He did not appear in any court records.

Their daughter, Eliza, married A. Ebenezer Loveless on 19 March 1871 in Chattooga County, Georgia.[7] The marriage license and return gave no other information except the groom and bride’s names and the officiant, W. T. Russell M.G.

Rebecca was also listed on the 1871 tax list in Chattooga County. She had two children between 6 and 18, 40 acres of land Section 4, District 13, no. 10. Her land value was $161. The value of other property was $80. T.K. Rodgers was listed below her. He had one poll, two children between 6 and 18, but no land was listed.[8]

Faulkner County, Arkansas

The Loveless family moved to Faulkner County, Arkansas a couple of years later. Both Ebenezer Loveless and Rebecca Rodgers were found in a tax record in Faulkner County in 1874. She was adjacent to E. Loveless, likely her son-in-law. She occupied the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 36 in Township 7 north, Range 13 west. Ebenezer was in the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 36.[9]

This was the only tax list, where the taxpayers were listed by land location. The following years, the tax list was arranged by county townships and then in alpha order. In 1874, there was also a tax list for personal property. In Hardin Township, “Rodgers, R hrs” was the listing, which the term “hrs” meaning heirs, suggests that she had died.[10] Note: a comment from a colleague, that he things it is not hrs but rather Mrs. This changes my thinking that she has died. Now I have to wonder what became of her.

In the next tax book for personal tax recording in the years 1874-75, Rebecca Rodgers was not listed, however TK Rodgers was listed.[11] 

I searched all of the indexes to each of the probate-related books in Faulkner County that are digitized on FamilySearch. I also checked the first few pages of the actual book until I reached well past the date of her death, just in case the clerk forgot to record the record in the index. I did not any reference to Rebecca Rodgers or to any guardianship for minor children.

I searched the deed books. There was no listing for Rebecca Rodgers purchasing land in Faulkner County, nor in Conway County. Faulkner County was formed from part of Conway and Pulaski counties in 1873, so the deed books for Faulkner County begin in 1873. I also searched the deed indexes for Conway County, and she was not found.

Eliza and Ebenezer Loveless continued to live in Faulkner County, raising nine children to adulthood. Eliza died 27 Aug 1907 and is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery.[12] There were no recording of deaths in Arkansas until 1914, so I don’t have a death certificate for her that might have named her parents.[13]

Online Trees Pointing to Parents of Eliza Rodgers

On Ancestry, Eliza Rodgers appears in several trees. On some trees, her mother was Rebecca Waddell. On other trees she was listed as Rebecca Rollins. So which is correct, if either?

For maiden name Rollins points to the Rebecca Rollins and David Rodgers marriage on 8 Nov 1855 in Halifax County, South Carolina.[14] If this were to be correct, then this would be David’s second marriage. According to the 1860 census, they had at least seven children born before this date. It is a possibility.

For the maiden name Waddell, most people have no sources and even link to the above marriage in Halifax County. They also show her death in 1879 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[15] This is likely the result of finding only records found online and then copying information from other trees.

At FamilySearch Family Tree, there is Eliza Eley Rodgers (GML5-2k4) who has parents as David Rodgers and Rebecca Rollins. The only source is the 1860 Chattooga County, Georgia census. Then there is Eliza Rogers (K6SC-YVB) with no parents.

On searching for David Rodgers born about 1818 in South Carolina and spouse Rebecca, there is one David Rodgers (GML5-565) married to Rebecca Rollins (GML5-J5Z). The only credible source for this man is the 1860 census in Chattooga County, Georgia. His death was claimed to be 1882 with no source.

Conclusion

As of this writing, there is no conclusion, just more questions. There are two main areas to do additional research.

• Follow through on all of David and Rebecca’s children, hoping one of them lived long enough to reveal Rebecca’s maiden name in a document.

• Broaden the search around the FAN club (friends, associates, & neighbors) of David and Rebecca in the 1860 census to see if the location in South Carolina can be found. Unfortunately, it is difficult to do research in South Carolina without knowing the location. There are no state-wide marriage indexes because recording marriages were not required. He wasn’t a land owner in Georgia, it is quite possible he wasn’t one in South Carolina either.

I am left with the uncertainty that Rebecca was a Waddell. I had gotten this surname from an online tree at Genealogy.com many, many years ago. Online trees point to David’s parents. Verifying that might discover Rebecca’s parents as well.

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[1] 1900 U.S. census, Faulkner Co, Arkansas, pop. Sched., East Fork Twp, ED 29, sht 12b, dwelling 201, family 204, A. Ebonezer Loveless, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA T623, roll 58.

[2] 1860 U.S. census, Chattooga Co, Georgia, Pop. Sched., Chattooga Valley Twp, p 565b (stamped), dwl 265, fam 265, David Rodgers, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA M653, roll 116.

[3] 1860 U.S. census, Chattooga Co, Georgia, agriculture schedule, not stated, line 13, D. Rodgers, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA T1137, roll 4.

[4] 1870 U.S. census, Chattooga Co, Georgia, Broom Town P.O., p 166 (penned), dwl 231, fam 231, Rebecca Rogers, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA M593, roll 142.

[5] Chattooga Co, Georgia, Deeds, Bk E, p 488, John Baker, Admr James T Tucker dec to Rebecca Rodgers, 18 Apr 1868, FHL film 337236.

[6] 1870 U.S. census, Chattooga Co, Georgia, agriculture schedule, 968 District, p 21, line 29, Rebecca Rodgers, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA T1137, roll 7.

[7] Chattooga County Marriages, Georgia's Virtual Vault, cdm.sos.state.ga.us, digital images, Georgia State Archives, Bk 1a, 1861-1880, p 156, Ebby Loveless & E.A. Rodgers, 1871.

[8] Georgia Tax Digests, Chattooga County, 1871, Georgia Military District no. 927, Rebecca Rodgers; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 May 2020), “Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” > Chattooga > 1871 > image 46-47.

[9] Faulkner County, Arkansas, County Clerk, Tax records, 1874, Township 7N, Range 13W, Sec 36; digital film, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008339756 : 30 May 2020); citing digital film 8339756, image 381.

[10] Faulkner County, Arkansas, County Clerk, Tax records, 1874, Personal Property, Hardin Township, R. Rodgers Hrs, digital film, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008339756 : accessed 30 May 2020), image 431.

[11] Faulkner County, Arkansas, County Clerk, Tax records, 1874-75, Personal Property, Hardin Township, TK Rodgers, digital film, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008339756 : accessed 30 May 2020)), image 482.

[12] Desmond Walls Allen, Pence Funeral Home Conway, Arkansas 1904-1926 Vol II (Rapid Rabbit Copy Co, Conway, AR), p 51, Eliza Loveless.

[13] “How to Find Arkansas Death Records,” FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/How_to_Find_Arkansas_Death_Records).

[14] One example, see “Maddock/Lewis Family” tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com), viewed 30 May 2020.

[15] One example, see “milda brasfield family” tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com), viewed 30 May 2020.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.