Evidence Analysis: Given Names vs Nick Names, Part 1

This is an on-going research project of data collecting and evidence evaluation of the Epps Rivers Brown family of Union County, Arkansas. In this article I’m attempting to identified the two daughters of Epps Rivers Brown that married James “Jim” Buckner and Absolom  “Al” Pratt Glass.

1850 Union Co. AR[1]	1860 Union Co. AR[2]	1870 Union Co. AR[3]	1880 Union Co. AR[4]
Epps R Brown  39	E R Brown            50	Epps R Brown    60	E. R. Brown         71
Dorinda Brown   29	Dorindo Brown                 40	Dorinda Brown 50	Dorinda Brown 60
Sarah Brown   7	Sallie Brown       16
N P Brown  5	Napoleon Brown  15
La Fayette Brown  3	Lafayette Brown  13	Lafayette Brown   22
Martha Brown  1	Martha Brown   10	Martha I Brown  19
	Nancy Brown     8	Nancy Brown     17	Ann Brown         27
	Lucy Brown         6	Lucy Brown         15	Lu Brown             25
	Mollie Brown     3	Mollie Brown     12	Mollie Brown     21
	Lizzie Brown       7/12	Lizzie Brown       9	Lizzie Brown       19
		Wayman Brown  7	Wayman Brown  17
	Sarah Brown      78	Sarah Brown      88
	Thos Brown        16
	Catharine Brown  11
Miles B Hendrick  24

This chart depicts the family composition of Epps Rivers Brown from 1850 through 1880. Epps Rivers Brown was born about 1810 in Georgia to John H. Brown and Sarah Rivers. Epps R. Married Dorinda Adair about 1842. Their firstborn –Sarah was born in 1843.

Based on the above Chart the family composition was.

Epps Rivers Brown, b. 1810 

Dorinda Adair Brown, Wife, b. 1820

Sarah Brown, daughter, b. 1843

Napoleon Bonaparte Brown, Son, b. 1845

Lafayette Brown, Son, b. 1847

Martha Brown, daughter, b. 1849

Nancy Ann Brown, daughter, b. 1852

Lucy (Lu) Brown, daughter, b. 1854

Mollie Brown, daughter, b. 1857

Lizzie Brown , daughter, b. 1859

Waymon Brown, Son, b. 1863

This is the family 6 daughter and 3 sons. The other 3 Browns in the household in 1860 is Sarah Brown, Mother of Epps Rivers Brown and grandmother to all the Brown Children listed. The two Children – Thomas & Catherine are the Children of John R. Brown (brother to Epps) and Elizabeth Pigford. Something tragic happen to John & Elizabeth between 1852-1860 in Anderson County, Texas and their six minor children were sent to live with the Pigford’s in Mississippi and the Rivers in Arkansas . One of the siblings Martha was of age to marry and married Andrew S. Bradley in 1854.  

Now back to Epps Rivers Brown family composition. I have spent quite some time on the family trying to determine the husband of the six (6) daughters in this family.  Based the the census & chart above we have:

Sarah Brown, b. 1843

Martha Brown, daughter, b. 1849

Nancy Ann Brown, daughter, b. 1852

Lucy (Lu) Brown, daughter, b. 1854

Mollie Brown, daughter, b. 1857

Lizzie Brown, daughter, b. 1859

Back in 1926-1929 a small booklet was compiled on the Rivers family by Minnie Sanders Rivers of Chesterfield, South Carolina.  The Epps Rivers family from that booklet is depicted here:

<43>    Epps Rivers Brown(1Wm, 4Fredk, 8Sarah) ; b. abt. 1810 in Ga.; d. abt. 1882, Union Co., Ark.;m. Dorinda Adair ; b._________; d.__________.

Epps was a lawyer, member of Miss. Legislature 1837, and Judge of County Court of Union Co., Ark., three terms, 1846-1852.                                                      Issue:

171.    Sally [Brown]; b. _________;d. abt. 1915; m. Wm. Ward. Sally had two daughters. One is married and is now (1926) a grandmother. The other cares for her Father.

172.    Napoleon Bonaparte "Nap"; b. abt. 1840; d. 1925; m. Missie [Martha Ann] Moody.

He served in C.S.A. War. He is reputed to have realized approximately a million dollars from the discovery of oil on his farm in Union Co., Ark., in 1920. They reared a fine family of five sons and two daughters. One daughter died just as she reached womanhood.

173.    Lafayette "Fayette"; b. abt. 1836-37, Lauderdale Co., Miss.; d. abt. 1915, Union Co., Ark.; m. Lizzie Warren

They had four sons and three daughters - one son and one daughter died in infancy. Lafayette served in the War Between the States. Residence at or near El Dorado, Ark.

174.    Dora; b.__________;d.__________; m. (1) Joel Goodwin; m. (2) Jim Buckner. Lived in Western Texas.

175.    Nannie; b.__________;d.__________; m. Al Glass of Kasse, Texas. Nannie has been a Widow for many years. She is now living (1926) with her only child - Brown Glass, b.____, Kasse, Texas.

176.    Lou [Brown]; b. [abt. 1854]; d. in early womanhood.

177.    Mollie [Brown]; b. [abt. 1857]; d. in early womanhood.

178.    Lizzie [Brown]; b. [abt. 1859]; d. in early womanhood.

179.    Weyman [Brown]; b. [abt. 1863] Union Co., Ark. His wife lived only a few years, leaving him with three small children. He lived in Texas and became a Benedict late in life.

In 1926, there were no computers or censuses available in Chesterfield, SC  and no library to view census images. Minnie acquired her data by writing letters to all of her kin including the Brown family that married into the Rivers family. About the same time a man by the name of Leon Madison Rivers was also gathering data on the Rivers and Brown family and Harry Alexander Davis was compiling data for a book on the Davis family that also married into the Rivers family. Both my 3^rd and 4^th great grandparents were Davis men that married Rivers girls. Harry Alexander Davis published his book in 1929. The research of Leon Madison Rivers is on file in the SC State Library, Columbia, South Carolina.

If we compare Minnie's lists of daughters to the list I compiled from the census it looks like this:

Sarah Brown, b. 1843

Martha Brown, daughter, b. 1849

Nancy Ann Brown, daughter, b. 1852

Lucy (Lu) Brown, daughter, b. 1854

Mollie Brown, daughter, b. 1857

Lizzie Brown, daughter, b. 1859

Sally [Brown]; b. _________;d.

Dora [Brown]; m. (1) Joel Goodwin; m. (2) Jim Buckner. Lived in Western Texas.

Nannie; b.__________;d.__________; m. Al Glass of Kasse, Texas. Nannie has been a Widow for many years. She is now living (1926) with her only child - Brown Glass, b.____, Kasse, Texas.

Lou [Brown]; b. [abt. 1854]; d. in early womanhood.

Mollie [Brown]; b. [abt. 1857]; d. in early womanhood.

Lizzie [Brown]; b. [abt. 1859]; d. in early womanhood.

If three of the six (6) girls died in infancy then we need only place husbands with three of the Daughters

Sarah

Martha

Nancy Ann

Or in Minnie’s list

Sally

Dora

Nannie

  

Two of these girls and their brother Weyman migrated to Texas. In Texas I located the death certificate for two daughter of Epps Rivers Brown & Dorinda Adair. The Names on these two death certificates do match the names recorded in the census.

We have Texas Death certificate #4376, Nolan County, Texas[5]

Donnie Buckner wife of J. M. BUCKNER

b. Sept 10, 1853 in Ark;  d. Jan 9, 1933

Parents: E. R. Rivers, b. Ga * Dorinda Adair, b. Miss

Died Nolan County Texas; Buried in Pyron TX

And  Texas Death Certificate #38380, Limestone County, Texas[6]

Edmonia Lynn Brown wife of A. P. GLASS

b. Dec 12, 1857 in Ark d. Aug 31, 1938

Parents: E. R. Rivers, b. Ga *  Adair, b. Miss

Died Limestone County Texas;

The 1926 booklet says that Dora married Jim Buckner and Nannie married Al Glass.

Instead we have Donnie married to Jim Buckner and Edmonia Lynn married to Al Glass and the other problem is there is no Dora Brown  in the census.

I know that Sarah married William Ward. I am having a real hard time jumping form Donnie & Edomina Lynn to Martha & Nancy Ann in the Census or to Dora and Nannie in Minnie’s Booklet.

CENSUS	Minnie’s Booklet	TX Death Certificates
Martha	Dora	Donnie Buckner
Nancy Ann	Nannie	Edmonia Lynn Glass

I hope I have explained this situation adequately. I would appreciate feedback on how to go about connecting the two girls on the death certificates to names shown on the census. No conclusive data has been collected thus far that will define which of the two daughters of Epps Rivers Brown were married to  Jim Buckner & Al Glass.

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[1] 1850 U. S. Census, Union County, Arkansas, population schedule, El Dorado, Union County, Arkansas, Page 226A, Line 31, Dwelling/Family 21/21, Household of Epps R. BROWN; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 24 July 2011); citing NARA publication Roll: M432_30.

[2] 1860 U. S. Census, Union County, Arkansas, population schedule, Dorado, Union County, Arkansas, Page 316B, Line 17, Family/Dwelling 703/651, Household of Epps R. BROWN; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 24 July 2011); citing NARA publication Roll: M653_51.

[3] 1870 U. S. Census, Union County, Arkansas, population schedule, Franklin, Union County, Arkansas, Page: 523B; Line 26, Dwelling/Family 107/108, Household of Epps R. Brown; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 24 July 2011); citing NARA publication Roll: M593_65.

[4] 1880 U. S. Census, Union County, Arkansas, population schedule, Franklin, Union County, Arkansas, enumeration district (ED) #270, Page 226C, Line 17, Dwelling 80, Family 84, Household of E. R. BROWN; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 24 July 2011); citing NARA publication Roll: T9-0058.

[5] State of Texas, death certificate no. 4376 (9 January 1933), Donnie Buckner; https:/www.familysearch.org.

[6] State of Texas, death certificate no. 38280 (31 August 1938), Edmonia Lynn Glass; https:/www.familysearch.org.