Paula and others,
Concerning your plea for anyone who has done the 1880 Nevada Co, AR census, I
noticed that Jerry McKelvey (Robery McKelvey is member of the
Chamblee/Chamlee site--any relation?), posted this:
<<I have a little information on the following Chamblees in Nevada Co. if you
are interested:
Dale Chamblee-age 2
Mrs. Martha A. Chamblee
Mrs. Jane Shambly
You may contact me at jmckelvy(a)cei.net>>
If I remember correctly Jerry McKelvey did alot of cemetery surveys for
Nevada Co Arkansas and graciously posted them on the internet (hopefully if
you have massively used them, you give proper credit in your notes).
Note: If you are searching the 1880 census, you must often BYPASS the soundex
for this census (soundex is the index using sound codes) because unless a
head of a household had a child under 10, they would not be included in the
index. Therefore, you must go DIRECTLY to the census and search the county
(hopefully you will know the township or neighborhood to slendarize the
search) line by line. This is extremely tedious, but you learn alot about the
neighborhood when you do it.
A little background, Paula obtained from someone e-mail regarding an
abstracted marriage record in a book (if I remember correctly). It reads as
such:
<<Nevada County Arkansas Marriages 1871-1901. According to the book the entry
for Sept.9,1886 says Chamlee, Jacob L. ,19,of Georgia Twp to Martha J.
Brantley,19, by A.J. Boles, JP Book C page 510 (Please issue a marriage
license to my son, Jacob L. Chamlee to marry-J.A. Chamlee by J.W. Chamlee)>>
Paula posed the question if J.A. Chamlee was the father of the Jacob
mentioned in this record.
I like this alot--Jacob was underage and had to have parental permission.
Always a nice thing to find. Still can't definitely say who the father is
until you put quite a few records together and look at the big picture and
until after you see the original for yourself.
A few thoughts on the subject (for what they are worth).......
1. Always send for the original records on film. Abstractors are wrong--alot.
An "A" can be taken for an "R" and an "H". Besides, the
original will
probably have more info on it anyway. Abstracted books are interesting clues,
but you need to interpret the original records yourself.
2. We are assuming that "Jacob L. Chamlee" will be listed as "Jacob"
in the
1880 census. What if he is listed by his middle name, as happens ALOT?
Therefore, consider ALL Chamlees in Nevada Co. Write them ALL down, and note
the neighbors as well.
3. Search for Martha Brantley's family in Nevada Co, too--they probably lived
quite close to the Chamlees.
4. No matter where you live you can search the census via a family history
center near you, a library, using ancestry.com's service, or buying the
census on CD. Many of us have dug into our pockets and used one of these ways.
5. Careful census study of Jacob and ALL his wives must be done, every little
detail is important. 1880, 1890 (burned, not available, 1900, 1910
Hope this helps some of you. I also hope that if you Nevada Co researchers
have done census studies you will put them on the list so everyone can
benefit. Also, if some of you have never looked at a census in your life,
jump in and have some fun.
Anyone help Paula?
-DS