The word that Amy gave us this week is "Challenge".
One of the greatest challenges I had as I started searching for family relationships was learning how a "cousin" of my mom's, who she called "Donzie", was related to her.
I finally figured it out, but it took a while! The above photo was one that my mother had of Donzie, a husband and her daughter. Another photo of these same people (and it may be the same day - since they are wearing the same clothes) is here.
In the above photo, my mother, Dorothy Nell Clark is the girl with the white collar seated in the middle. To her left is Mary Crystal. Donzie is standing right behind Mary and has on the same dress as in the first photo I posted.
Mother knew that Donzie and Mary were related through the Spurlock family, but no clue as to how. To make things more confusing, Donzie was also known as "Donzie Pitts". The Pitts name is one that is connected to the Clark side of my family!
So, my task was to find out HOW Donzie was related through the Spurlock family. And one of the first things I learned was that "Donzie" was NOT her real name - it was a nick name!
I have the 1958 Funeral Memorial book for my mother's mother, Agnes Spurlock Clark. I checked the names of persons who had signed in and found "Donzie Phillips and Mary Merry".
Looking through the Flower Cards, I found two interesting items; flowers from "Mrs. Ethel Phillips and Family" and also from "Mr. and Mrs Ovey Pitts".
Is this Pitts person related to Donzie? I didn't know at the time, but Mrs. Ethel Phillips was Donzie!
I also have the 1934 Funeral Memorial Book from George H. McMullen. George McMullen was the husband of Mary Magdlin (Aunt Mag) Spurlock, Agnes's older sister. So, there should be some Spurlocks there! Lo and behold, there is listed, "Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Phillips". Could this be Donzie? It turns out that it is NOT Donzie because she was still married to Arthur Crystal until after the 1940 census.
Now, this was about the same time as the photos I have, so maybe I'm making progress!
So, I checked for Death Certificates for an Ethel Phillips in the area. And I found one for "Mary Ethel Phillips" who was born September 1, 1897 and died October 5, 1970. Her parents were Tom Pitts and Susan Elizabeth Allen. And the Informant was "Mrs. J. V. Merry, daughter".
One of the greatest challenges I had as I started searching for family relationships was learning how a "cousin" of my mom's, who she called "Donzie", was related to her.
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| About 1935 - "Donzie Crystal, daughter Mary Crystal and Arthur Crystal" |
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| Back of above photo with names - See Dorothy Nell Clark, Donzie and Mary Crystal. |
Mother knew that Donzie and Mary were related through the Spurlock family, but no clue as to how. To make things more confusing, Donzie was also known as "Donzie Pitts". The Pitts name is one that is connected to the Clark side of my family!
So, my task was to find out HOW Donzie was related through the Spurlock family. And one of the first things I learned was that "Donzie" was NOT her real name - it was a nick name!
I have the 1958 Funeral Memorial book for my mother's mother, Agnes Spurlock Clark. I checked the names of persons who had signed in and found "Donzie Phillips and Mary Merry".
I also have the 1934 Funeral Memorial Book from George H. McMullen. George McMullen was the husband of Mary Magdlin (Aunt Mag) Spurlock, Agnes's older sister. So, there should be some Spurlocks there! Lo and behold, there is listed, "Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Phillips". Could this be Donzie? It turns out that it is NOT Donzie because she was still married to Arthur Crystal until after the 1940 census.
So, I checked for Death Certificates for an Ethel Phillips in the area. And I found one for "Mary Ethel Phillips" who was born September 1, 1897 and died October 5, 1970. Her parents were Tom Pitts and Susan Elizabeth Allen. And the Informant was "Mrs. J. V. Merry, daughter".
OK, but is this Donzie? The DC states that she is buried in Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington, Texas. OK, so I went to the cemetery and got a map and the listings of lot ownership and burials.
According to these records, Ovey Pitts bought a lot in 1956 and there is a Mary Pitts buried there. Look down a few (but actually they are right next to) the 4 lots purchased in 1951 by Exie B. Phillips and buried in those are: Ovey Pitts, Tom Pitts, Ethel Meda Phillips and Exie B. Phillips. Right next to these are 4 lots purchased the next week by Jesse V. Merry. Buried in these lots are: Donna McMullen, Mary L. Merry and Jesse V. Merry. OK, so who are all these people and are any of them "Donzie"? Oh, and by the way, ONLY ONE marker is on ANY of these graves - Mary and Ovey C. Pitts!
OK, so these records have birth and death dates, so I started looking for more Death Certificates, obits, Social Secutiry Death Indices, etc. So, I finally learned these facts:
- Mary Ethel Pitts Phillips (DC) is the mother of Mrs. J. V. Merry.
- Her father was Tom Pitts (DC)
- Her mother was Susan Elizabeth Allen (DC)
- Her first husband was Arthur C. Crystal (Mary's father)
- Her second husband was Exie B. Phillips - buried with her
- Her brother is Ovey C. Pitts - buried near her
- Ovey's wife is Mary Mildred White - buried with Ovey
- Donzie's daughter was Mary Louella Lois Crystal and she married Jesse Vernon Merry - buried together
- Mary's daughter was Donna Mae Merry who married Jack E. McMullen. She is also buried with her mother.
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| Believed to be Mary Crystal Merry |
YES!! I finally found Donzie's real name, husbands, daughter, birth and death dates and burial places for all of them. BUT, I STILL DO NOT KNOW HOW SHE IS Related to the Spurlock family!
OK, I continued digging, reaching out to other Spurlock researchers and finally found the answer! Remember, Tom Pitts (above)? Well, Tom was Donzie and Ovie's father (per DCs) and from the burial records it states that he was born in 1867 and died in 1953. SO, I looked for his DC and hit pay dirt!
The DC states that Tom's father was Jim Pitts and his mother was Kitty Spurlock! O C Pitts (Ovey the son) is the informant. And Jim and Kitty were from Woodberry (sic), Tennessee - the same place as John Wesley Spurlock! OK, now there is finally a Spurlock connection. But, who is Kitty?
I looked in the 1870 Cannon County, TN census records for a Tom or Thomas, age 3. And, again I was successful!
Here we see James and Emeline Pitts, ages 22 and 23, with children Julia A. E. age 6, Mary J. age 5, Thomas age 3 and Francis(f) age 1. So, Kitty's real name was Emeline. So, how is Emeline Spurlock related? By looking back to the 1850 census, I was able to find Emeline, age 4, in the home of Francis and Sarah Spurlock with her older brother, Monroe, age 11. So, Monroe Spurlock, my great, great grandfather and Emeline were brother and sister. That makes Dorothy Nell Clark and Donzie Pitts Crystal Phillips Second Cousins Once Removed! So, they REALLY were "cousins"!
This "Challenge" took several years to unravel and I had lots of help from other Spurlock researchers and records I was able to find. It was a difficult challenge, but well worth it to finally show my mom how she was related to one of her favorite "cousins"!
'Til Next Time!
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