Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us this week to write about "taxes". Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the old saying about death and taxes. So, I did a little research and found:
Elijah Pitts was born about 1803 in South Carolina to Thomas and Nancy (Belton) Pitts. He was the 8th of 9 known children and lived in the Newberry/Laurens County area. He married Amy Pitts, possibly a distant cousin, about 1830 and they had 5 known children. Amy died after the 1860 census.
On April 21, 1866, Elijah entered into a Marriage Contract with Lucinda (Lewis) Johnson, a widow whose husband had died in the Civil War. This Contract protected Lucinda's rights to everything she owned at the time of her marriage. Lucinda had 3 or 4 children when she married Elijah. In the 1870 census, 3 Johnson children, George W Johnson, Susan Johnson and Etta Johnson, are living with them, although the census taker named them Pitts. Elijah and Lucinda also had 2 children of their own by this time, James and Robert Pitts. What is interesting is that Lucinda's mother, Elizabeth (Davenport) Lewis Pitts Reeder had a child named Ida O. Johnson living with her and her 3rd husband, Abner W. Reeder. Ida is the same age as Lucinda's youngest daughter, Etta. So, maybe they were twins? Well, this story is very twisted, and amazing, but I will leave many of the details for another time.
Sometime after 1870, Elijah and Lucinda, with James, Robert and at least one of the Johnson children, moved to Mississippi. They joined Elijah's oldest son, George Washington Pitts who had already moved there. In 1873, Maggie Pitts was born to Elijah and Lucinda and we believe she was born in Mississippi, but that is still to be proven.
Elijah's son, George W Pitts lived in Union County, Mississippi and we find him with his large family listed in the 1880 census. But, I have never found Elijah and Lucinda listed there. So, my dilemma was to try to figure out where they lived in Mississippi. The answer came in the TAX RECORDS! I was able to find G W Pitts and Elijah Pitts in the 1882 Union County tax record!
.
So, now I knew that they were living in the same county, I dug deeper. Finally, I was able to find Elijah, Lucinda, James, Robert and Maggie in the 1880 State Census! Then, I found the 3 Pitts children in an 1878 School Record in Union County.
The story of Elijah, Lucinda, James, Robert, Maggie and George Washington Pitts and the Johnson children continues, but again, that will have to wait for now. The morale to this story then is, Taxes aren't always bad!
'Til next time!
#52Ancestors
This is usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in a 1789 letter that “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” The source is: Quotes Uncovered: Death and Taxes - Freakonomics Freakonomics.But taxes led me to a discovery that confirmed a family story and shed some light on additional information about my Great-Great Grandparents, Elijah and Lucinda Lewis Johnson Pitts. This couple has intrigued and challenged me for much of the 33 years I have been researching my family's history. So, first, a little bit about this couple, then we'll talk about how the "Tax Records" helped me.
Elijah Pitts was born about 1803 in South Carolina to Thomas and Nancy (Belton) Pitts. He was the 8th of 9 known children and lived in the Newberry/Laurens County area. He married Amy Pitts, possibly a distant cousin, about 1830 and they had 5 known children. Amy died after the 1860 census.
On April 21, 1866, Elijah entered into a Marriage Contract with Lucinda (Lewis) Johnson, a widow whose husband had died in the Civil War. This Contract protected Lucinda's rights to everything she owned at the time of her marriage. Lucinda had 3 or 4 children when she married Elijah. In the 1870 census, 3 Johnson children, George W Johnson, Susan Johnson and Etta Johnson, are living with them, although the census taker named them Pitts. Elijah and Lucinda also had 2 children of their own by this time, James and Robert Pitts. What is interesting is that Lucinda's mother, Elizabeth (Davenport) Lewis Pitts Reeder had a child named Ida O. Johnson living with her and her 3rd husband, Abner W. Reeder. Ida is the same age as Lucinda's youngest daughter, Etta. So, maybe they were twins? Well, this story is very twisted, and amazing, but I will leave many of the details for another time.
Sometime after 1870, Elijah and Lucinda, with James, Robert and at least one of the Johnson children, moved to Mississippi. They joined Elijah's oldest son, George Washington Pitts who had already moved there. In 1873, Maggie Pitts was born to Elijah and Lucinda and we believe she was born in Mississippi, but that is still to be proven.
Elijah's son, George W Pitts lived in Union County, Mississippi and we find him with his large family listed in the 1880 census. But, I have never found Elijah and Lucinda listed there. So, my dilemma was to try to figure out where they lived in Mississippi. The answer came in the TAX RECORDS! I was able to find G W Pitts and Elijah Pitts in the 1882 Union County tax record!
.
So, now I knew that they were living in the same county, I dug deeper. Finally, I was able to find Elijah, Lucinda, James, Robert and Maggie in the 1880 State Census! Then, I found the 3 Pitts children in an 1878 School Record in Union County.
The story of Elijah, Lucinda, James, Robert, Maggie and George Washington Pitts and the Johnson children continues, but again, that will have to wait for now. The morale to this story then is, Taxes aren't always bad!
'Til next time!
#52Ancestors
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