We continue the genealogical research from the last time with two broken headstones left (https://familymattersgenealogy.com/?p=352). This was going to be a challenge. The third headstone, the broken headstone, only had the death date showing. This was a true mystery. However, I know enough about detective work with my extensive training through Law & Orders episodes to be a super sleuth! By inputting the death year and location on www.findagrave.com, I was able to narrow down 5 possible records. Fortunately, only one exact match coincided to the death date. Canelum David Canaday died 10 Sep 1879 – this date matched the broken tombstone. His family buried him in the Huggins Cemetery We know from Part 2 that:
Canelum was the son of Richard Canaday.
Richard Canaday was the father of Laura D. Canaday Huggins, the 2nd wife of Augustus Huggins.
Therefore, Canelum is the brother of Laura Canaday Huggins!
The Brother
Canelum Canaday was born 28 Oct 1849 to Richard and Harriet Burns Canaday in Carteret County, North Carolina. He appeared on the 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses living in the household with his parents and siblings. There is no military record for Canelum who died 10 Sep 1879 at the age of 30-years-old of consumption (tuberculosis) as recorded on the Federal Census Mortality Schedules 1850-1885. However, he was listed as a seaman who resided in Wilmington, NC at the time of his death. He filed his last will and testament in Onslow County where his parents and siblings lived. He left his estate to his mother Harriet who could share the inheritance with his siblings Henry, Catherine, David and Alexander.
Surprise Discovery
The fourth headstone broke below where the date would have been. I had absolutely no information to go by, therefore I went back to Findagrave.com. When I conducted a search of the Huggins Cemetery, I did not expect to find much…I was wrong! According to Findagrave.com, six people are interred in this little cemetery! Of course, it is possible that headstones were removed from either disrepair or vandalism. Of course, I returned to the site! I looked closely at the area – I did not see any indentations in the earth to suspect the removal of any headstones. This was an amazing discovery. So I had to dig deeper (no pun intended). The broken headstone could be one of three people:
Harriet Canaday, the wife of Richard Canaday, born 28 Feb 1827 – makes sense.
Laura Devane Canaday Huggins, the 2nd wife of Augustus Huggins, born 18 Sep 1851 – makes sense.
John Grice, an African American farmer, was born between 1883 and 1888. Now this does NOT make sense!
Who is John Grice???
Genealogical Research for the Unknown
Million dollar question of the day! Harriet and Laura buried in the Huggins Cemetery makes sense. But why John Grice? How was he connected to the Huggins/Canaday family? Time to do more genealogical research. It will be the final post in this series.
Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we? In the previous post, I was exploring Onslow County history (read https://familymattersgenealogy.com/?p=339 if you need to catch up). I found some random gravestones in a random place; since I love randomness, I had to research it. The second headstone I researched was a flat grave marker located next to Augustus Huggins. It belonged to Richard Canaday.
Richard Cornelius Canaday
His full name was Richard Cornelius Canaday according to his son Alexander’s South Carolina death certificate. Canaday was born 21 Oct 1822 in Carteret County, NC.
Richard was married to Harriet Burns, whose maiden name was confirmed on the death certificates of their sons Alexander and David. NC Historical Records Survey Cemetery Inscription cards recorded his burial at the Canaday Cemetery. However, the US Veterans’ Gravesites recorded him as being buried in the Huggins Cemetery. Well, we know which document is correct…Huggins Cemetery!
1840s through 1850s
According to the 1850 US Federal Census, Richard Canaday lived in Bogue Sound, Carteret County with real estate valued at $500. He worked as a Blacksmith and owned 3 slaves according to the 1850 US Federal Census – Slave Schedules. He lived with his wife Harriet and children:
Henry C. (born about 1845)
Margaret (born about 1847)
Canelum (born about 1849)
Nancy Canaday (born about 1791) lived in Richard’s household. It is most likely she was Richard’s mother. A review of the 1840 census revealed that there was a Cornelius Canaday who lived in Carteret County, NC with his family and children. Unfortunately, this census did not list the names of others living in the household. Reviewing North Carolina Marriage Bonds 1741-1868, there was a Cornelius Canaday that married a Nancy Read on 1 July 1827 in Carteret County. Well, if these were his parents, Richard Cornelius was born out of wedlock. This was a no-no back in the day!
1860s through 1870s
The 1860 US Federal Census moved Richard Canaday and his family to Swansboro in Onslow County (Nancy no longer lived in the household…RIP Nancy). He worked as an engineer with real estate valued at $500. There were two new additions to the family:
Laura (born about 1853)
Olivia (born about 1856)
He served as a Captain in the Confederate States Army, attached to the 21st NC Confederate Militia. After the war, he continued to live in Swansboro with his family according to the 1870 US Federal Census. He worked as a blacksmith with real estate valued at $1000 and personal property valued at $200. Their family kept expanding. Two more children were born into the family:
Catharine (born about 1862)
David (born about 1864)
By the 1880 US Federal Census, Richard moved to Jacksonville Township in Onslow County with his family and worked as a mechanic. Finally, the last child Alexander, was born about 1871. The enumerator noted that he was sick, suffering from the condition carbuncle. Carbuncle is a painful cluster of boils under the skin.
Connections
I couldn’t understand why Augustus Huggins and Richard Canaday were buried together on this little plot of land. What is the connection? Were they family? How were they family? Well, I found out the answers to my questions. The connection between Augustus Huggins and Richard Canaday was through marriage! Richard was Augustus’s father-in-law! Augustus was married to Laura Canaday and Richard was Laura’s father. A double obituary in The Daily Journal (New Bern, NC) had Richard who died 15 Mar 1888 presumably of old age and his daughter Laura Huggins died 17 Mar 1888 of pneumonia.
Two graves down, two more to go! Of course, this will be a post for another day.
Sidebar
You can learn a lot about the living through their death. Obituaries, funeral programs and cemeteries give great amounts of family information. Newspaper obituaries list immediate family members. Unfortunately, they are expensive; family members purposely keep them short. Funeral programs are less expensive; therefore, they are more lengthy than an obituary. This is an excellent source to tell the story of a person’s life. Ancestry has a collection of Virginia African American Funeral Programs which should be a treasure trove of information for Black Virginians (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61906/). Cemetery cards have great information that can be used for genealogy purposes. As a contributor for www.findagrave.com, there are many requests for pictures of headstones to confirm death dates and where people are buried.
I pride myself in being extremely random. I love to learn new things, especially about history. Since I am a transplant to this area, it’s good to know local history. Yeah, I know…kinda geekish but it’s my jam.
I was in downtown Jacksonville NC finishing up some professional headshots on a beautiful Saturday morning. As I started to drive off, I noticed confederate flags sticking out of the ground on a plot at the back corner of a parking lot. I decided to explore why the flags were there. I walked up some rotted wooden stairs and it surprised me to discover four gravestones – two Confederate Army soldiers and two broken headstones. Curiosity killed the cat which led me to do some research. I do this in my spare time to keep my genealogical researching skills sharp. I researched the names on the headstones.
Augustus Cicero Huggins
The first headstone belonged to Augustus Cicero Huggins. He was born in Callabusha, Yalobusha County, Mississippi in 1841 according to his Civil War Soldier Record. His father, Lewis Williams Huggins, Esq (1807-1845) was born in Onslow County, NC. His mother, Julia Anna Armstrong (1820-1850), was born in Florida. A 1845 article in The Constitutionalist newspaper listed his father was one of eight people that died as a result of a fire aboard the steamer Path Finder on the Mississippi River.
After, his father’s death, his mother ran the family farm. The real estate was valued at $2500 and her occupation was a planter, according to the 1850 US Federal Census. Augustus lived in the household of his mother, Julia Huggins and sister Pauline in Yalobusha, Mississippi. Mississippi Wills and Probate records revealed that Augustus and Pauline’s mother died intestate (without a will) in 1850. The children were appointed an estate administrator and a guardian (Hugh Torrance).
Mississippi to North Carolina
The 1860 US Federal Census listed Augustus and his sister Pauline living in the Half Moon district of Onslow County . He and his sister moved from Mississippi to their father’s hometown of Jacksonville, Onslow County. They lived in the household of Owen Huggins (born about 1803), a farmer who owned $70,000 in real estate and $100,000 in personal property. Augustus’s relationship to Owen Huggins is uncertain. However, Owen could possibly be their uncle and the reason that Augustus and Pauline returned to their father’s birthplace. Owen was a wealthy planter who owned slaves according to the 1850 and 1860 US Federal Censuses – Slave Schedules. Augustus and Pauline possessed $16,000 in personal property, presuming that this was their inheritance after their mother’s death.
Farmer of Onslow County
As a 20-years-old farmer, he enlisted as a Private in the 24th NC Infantry Company B of the Confederate States Army (C.S.A.) on 6 May 1861 in Onslow County. By 25 Jul 1863, he was promoted to Sergeant Major. On 17 Nov 1866, he married to Agnes Ward according to the North Carolina Marriage Bonds 1741-1868. I could not find what happened to Agnes Ward Huggins. She must have died shortly after the birth of their daughter Agnes Ward Huggins (born about 1868).
According to the 1870 US Federal Census for the town of Jacksonville, Post Office Onslow Courthouse, he lived with his 2nd wife Laura Devane Canaday Huggins (born about 1854), 2-year-old daughter Agnes, servant Margaret Aman (12-year-old white servant), Leonard Morton (21-year-old white farm laborer) and James Thompson (18-year-old white farm laborer). His occupation was Probate Judge; he owned $900 in real estate and $600 in personal property. There was something strange about his 2nd wife Laura. We will touch on this later.
Scandal??
According to the 1880 US Federal Census for the village of Jacksonville, Augustus was living with his 2nd wife Laura, daughter Agnes and daughter Eugenia (born about 1871) in Onslow County. His occupation was Clerk of the Superior Court. I located a marriage record of Augustus and Laura dated 10 Feb 1890 according to the North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. I was confused! According to the 1870 census, they were cohabitating with 2-year-old Agnes. Was it possible that Augustus and Laura lived in sin between 1870 to 1890? Was she the nanny that became the lover? This was uncommon for this era. Unfortunately, we will never know the truth.
Augustus C. Huggins died in 1896 in Onslow County and was buried in the Huggins Family Cemetery. But wait! I was at his grave in the middle of town! Is it possible that where he is currently buried was the family land of the Huggins Family? The plot thickens!
Hmm…this seems like a good blog post for another day.
If you’re ever in Onslow County, check out the Onslow County Museum! They specialize in local history. I loved volunteering there when I worked on my Masters. http://www.onslowcountync.gov/museum
My last post discussed making a list to prep for the 1950 census release which should be on everyone’s radar. If you are Generation X, your parents and their siblings are on this record as well as your grandparents and great grandparents and their siblings! So how will I prepare? Here’s my list:
Step 1 – Look at the 1940 census
Look at all my ancestors that were on the 1940 census that I want to follow into 1950. Make a list of their names and other important information. I am looking to compare their occupations, addresses and see who was living at the residence and their relationship to the head of household, their education, and their birthplaces.
Step 2 – Enumeration districts
Take my list in step one and look up the enumeration district for the 1940 census. The enumeration district is the area that a census taker was responsible for at the time they took the census. My assumption will be that my relatives stayed in the same place from 1940 to 1950. Because the 1950 census will not be searchable by the subject’s name, I will need to know my ancestors’ enumeration district in order to research them. Then I would go to https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html to find a map of the district for a specific census year.
Step 3 – Blank forms
Print out a few blank 1950 census forms from https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1950_population_questionnaire.pdf. Once I find my ancestors in an enumeration district, I’m going to write down their information on the form. I know that all the genealogy websites will move slower than molasses because everyone will be researching, therefore I will want to write down my info to compare offline. I will want to look for other relatives living close by, either in the same city or in the same county. I’m also going to look at their neighbors and other people that might be connected to my family.
Step 4 – Get ready!
Set an alarm for April 1st! You know, every genealogist all over the world will be up at 12:01am ready to research. A pot of coffee will be on tap because we will be pulling an all-nighter. Oh, and several of us will take that day off so we can spend HOURS trying to get the info we want for ourselves and our clients. We will most likely crash the internet! Be patient though, I guarantee we will probably be in bed by 10pm since we were up all night…so that might be your best time to research.
Preparing for the release of the 1950 census records
I’m excited for 1950 because of the census! Some people get excited when a new cell phone drops but genealogists get excited when new records become available! Imagine the family historians cutting a rug when the National Archives drops the 1950 census on April 1st? It will be similar to New Year’s Eve! This census is so important to genealogists for several reasons:
This is the census that most of our parents show up on for the first time.
We continue to follow the migration of our relatives from the South to the North and out to the West.
Alaska and Hawaii did not become states until 1959; however, they were included in census records as well as other U.S. territories.
Military personnel living on their installations and college students living at their college were enumerated at their respective locations.
What you need to know
Here are some things that you need to be aware of with this census:
Enumerators microfilmed only the front side of the 1950 census. Unfortunately, the originals were destroyed. Bah humbug!
There were several versions of the 1950 Census. The P1 (Basic Census form) was what the enumerators (census takers) used when they went door-to-door; however, there were 17 other forms that enumerators used. Wow!
The 1950 census had fewer lines (30 lines) compared to the 1940 census (40 lines). They included more room for enumerators to take notes or give explanations about information on the record.
Name searching will be available through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that will decipher the handwritten records. If you find a mistake in the transcription, submit a correction to help perfect the indexing.
The relationship status updated compared to the 1940 census. They removed “S” for single and added “N” for “never married.”
Enumerators asked additional questions based on previously answered questions or their position on the census.
Personally, I’m going to make a list to prep for the 1950 census release. How am I going to do that you ask? That’s a post for another day. Happy Searching!
