Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

NOT climbing the wrong tree: William Turner Williams

William Turner Williams, 1858-1954

from the personal collection of Sandra Williams Bush,

obtained 2011 (Willis B. Williams collection)

William Turner Williams is my paternal great-grandfather. To learn about his life, I initially looked at U.S. census records -- records that are easily accessible though sites such as the National Archives, FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com.

As I worked backward from the 1940 census, which was the latest one available at the time, I saw a slight variation on how his name was recorded. In 1940, he was Turner Williams; in 1930 and 1920, he was W. T. Williams; in 1910, 1900, and 1870 he was Turner Williams. His county and state of residence was consistently listed as Jones County, Georgia in the 1870 census and then from 1900-1930 -- even when the specific town may have been different. The first county change was in 1940, when he, his wife, Mary Jane and other family members were living in Howard, Bibb County, Georgia. When the 1950 census was released, my great-grandfather was one of the first Ancestors I looked for -- he was listed as William T. Williams, widowed, living in Howard, Bibb County. Georgia with his married daughter, Daisy, and her husband, Steven Hudson.

1880 U. S. Census

Where is William Turner Williams? Who is he living with? What is he doing?

1870 U.S. Census

The 1870 census was the first census that formally enslaved persons were named with both first and last names.

The form did not ask for a person's relationship to the head of the household (such as "wife" or "son"). That column did not start until 1880. The head of the household was listed first, typically followed by the spouse, and then children in order of their age (oldest to youngest), followed by any boarders, lodgers, or servants. This instruction was given in the 1850 census and carried forward.

Of course, I analyzed every census record, but the 1870 gave me pause. Dwelling 868, Family 870 lists in order: Jackson Williams, 35; Lucy Williams. 30; William, 13; Thomas, 11; Jackson, 9; Oliver, 7; Peter, 3; Turner Williams, 13; and Hannah Clemens, 65.

Every family tree "hint" I get on Ancestry.com has Jackson Williams as Turner's father. I was not satisfied with that assumption. I had questions.

Why was Turner Williams, 13, listed after the age progression of the other children who were grouped together? Was Turner taken in as an orphan, a family member? I also noted that there was a William Williams who was also 13 years old. Why was William a farm laborer and Turner "at home"?

Yes, William Williams and William Turner Williams are two different people. I did a deep dive and fell down many rabbit holes.

1870; Census Place: Popes, Jones, Georgia; Roll: M593_160; Page: 240A; Image: 487; Family History Library Film: 545659

It is recommended that a person look at least five pages forward and five pages back when finding their family member on a census record. I went through several pages and found ten other families -- both Black and White -- with the Williams surname.

1870 U.S census (surname: Williams)

Inhabitants in Popes District, Jones County, Georgia (pp 86-117)

Post Office: Clinton, Jones County, Georgia

Page	Dwelling	Family	Head of household		Color	Family members
101	794	800	Idam Williams, 46	Farm laborer	B	F: 53, 80
102	801	807	Agnes Williams, 18	Farm laborer	B	F: 16,14,12; M: 9, 1
107	840	846	Benjamin Williams, 63	Farm laborer	B	F:21, 2 mos; M 4
109	855	861	Joseph Williams, 34	Farm laborer	B	F: 36, 14,13,12,3 M:15,11,7
110	858	864	Eli Williams, 22	Farm laborer	B	F: 20,3 M: 1
	859	865	John W Williams, 60	Farmer, Landowner	W	F: 48, 90 Servants F: 37,15 M:13
	860	866	John Williams, 19	Farm laborer	W	F: 20 Servant M: 13
			Charles Williams, 40	Farm laborer	B	F: 35,14,11,9 M: 2
	868	870	Jackson Williams	Farm laborer	M
111	859	865	Thomas Williams, 52	Farmer	W	Includes: Catherine Williams, 12, farm laborer Mary Williams, 19, servant
	861	867	Stephen Williams, 24	Farm laborer	B	M: 22,11

It is also recommended that when you find a Black person on the 1870 census, look at nearby White people (1) who have the same surname; (2) have money and/or property. The reason for this is that the White person may have been a possible enslaver. I saw the possibility to research two families headed by White men that had land and money -- John W. Williams, age 60 and Thomas Williams, age 52. In my research I found that the two men were brothers who inherited their land and enslaved from their father.

Census records are just the tip of family history and genealogy research. The records are easily accessible at various sites and most often the information is free to view. They should be used as a jumping off point -- analyze and question EVERYTHING. I really enjoy the thrill of the discoveries and piecing stories together to get a fuller picture.

In a previous blog entry on William Turner Williams and Mary Jane Williams, I wrote about how I contacted a Georgia funeral home for information. Fortunately, they responded with the record they had from 1954 when they handled his funeral. The record is one of two that I have which gives his father's name as John Williams. The other record is his death certificate from the Georgia Department of Public Health, #14510. The informant was Mrs. Rufus Hudson, aka Fannie, one of his daughters.

The result of my research of my great-grandfather, William Turner Williams is that his father was John W. Williams, Jr. who was an enslaver. This was further verified by dna results that connect me to descendants of John and his family.

While I did climb Jackson Williams' tree, I am still unclear on his relationship to my great-grandfather. I can surmise that William Turner was in his household because he certainly couldn't live with his biological father, John.

So, I join the chorus of other family researchers who plead with those searching for their roots, (1) DO THE RESEARCH, (2) DO NOT COPY information from the trees of others.

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Genealogy Disconnect (of sorts)

Anna Mae (Button) Davenport

Willis B. Williams with Richard Lee Davenport

Biologically Anna Mae (Button) Davenport and Richard Lee Davenport are my great aunt and great uncle. Emotionally they are my grandparents, and I have fond memories of them.

Back Story

Anna Mae Button Davenport, born about 1897 is one of the younger sisters of my biological grandmother, Florence Clay Button, born about 1889. All the sisters were born in Georgia to the parents of Henry Clay Button and Mary Lane. The other Button sisters include Ida Belle, born 1896; Bessie, born 1904, and Verna Elizabeth, born 1909.

My grandmother, Florence had seven children that included my father, Willis B. Williams. She passed away on August 28, 1941, in Detroit Michigan just two days before my father's 12th birthday. My father was born in Detroit and had lived there up until that point. Unfortunately, I never asked and he never mentioned exactly when he came to Buffalo, New York but he did speak of going to elementary school in Buffalo.

Of his four maternal aunts, Ida Belle had passed away in 1940, Bessie had passed away in 1937, Verna Elizabeth had two children, and Anna Mae had no children. That Anaa Mae was childless, probably led to the decision that my father and his sister, Joan live with her and her husband even though it meant moving them to another city and state.

He lived with his Aunt Mae (as she was called) and Uncle Richard until shortly after he married. As a young struggling couple, my parents lived with them for a while when I was a baby.

Moving Forward

From my earliest memories, my great aunt Anna Mae and great uncle Richard Lee were my grandparents. That is how I introduced them. That is how they introduced me and my four brothers. They filled us with their grandparent love on a regular basis -- and then there were holidays and our birthdays that they always made extra special.

We called them Deety and Pop-poo. Their home was always had food stuff that we didn't regularly have at home, like fresh fruit and a candy bowl always filled with candy. We always thought of them as rich because of where they lived -- the Cold Springs/Hamlin Park area of Buffalo, New York. Although we didn't realize it at the time, it was a section of the city with a significant number of Black professionals.

I remember Sunday rides in Pop-poo's station wagon that had the "wood" on the side. We would go to the waterfront and sometimes to Canada. It was so much easier to cross the border at that time. Eastertime, Deety took us to Sears and Robuck for Easter outfits. Before the holiday, she would make chocolate eggs with a coconut filling -- and she would let me help. As the oldest and only girl, I often spent the night at house on the weekend or school vacations. I remember watching the Ed Sullivan Shoow and the Lawrence Welk Show. Much more that stuff, their home was safety, acceptance, and above all, love.

And then there were parts of my summers when I stayed with them in Idlewild, Michigan that I wrote about in another blog post.

Deety's obituary lists five grandchildren -- myself and my four brothers. Deety and Pop-poo are forever my grandparents and always in my heart.

So, my genealogy disconnect is looking at my pedigree chart and looking at family unit charts that list Deety and Pop-poo as anything other as my grandparents.

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

(A) Marshall's Sale of Enslaved: Raymond, Hinds, Mississippi, 1841

I came across this article from a local newspaper in Raymond, Mississippi when researching a family surname of STAMPS. In addition to the surname catching my eye, the location is an area where my Ancestors have lived -- to date I have documented ancestral family from Holmes, Rankin, and Simpson counties in Mississippi.

The city of Raymond is in Hinds County, Mississippi and it is one of two county seats, the other being Jackson, Mississippi. Directly to the east of Hinds County is Rankin County where my STAMPS family is from and it seems they continue to live.

At this point I don't know if I am connected to the enslaver(s) or the enslaved. Named are 36 men, women, and children who are being publicly sold in 1841.This is a time period when enslaved people were most often only named as property being bought, sold, or given in Wills,

A Marshall's Sale was a public auction held by a court-appointed Marshall to settle debts, legal judgments, or estates.

From the article . . . the following named negroes to wit: Rachael, Louisa, Rindah, Charles, Fanny, and one child (Ann,) George, Sally and one child Hubbard, Tom, Abram, Clarisa, and three children (William, Amorica and Manual,) Ben, Harriet, Anderson, Diannah, Anthony, Patrick, Phil, Isaac, Calvin, Melton, Shack, Aberdeen, Gilpin, Milly, Rosanna, John, Robert, Peter, Franky and two children (July and Peter,) . . .

I call their names and keep them in my heart.

South-Western Farmer, The Raymond Times

Raymond, Mississippi, February 12. 1841, page 2

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

My 16 Great Great-Grandparents: 1870 Representation

I consider myself fortunate that I have been able to confirm the names of my sixteen great-grandparents, especially since many 15 of the 16 were born and lived enslaved. The one ancestor who wasn't enslaved was an enslaver and his family is well documented. There is still a lot of research to be done in order to fill out their lives and tell their stories. Here are some basic statics on their lives -- except for landownership and marriages, information is from the 18780 census records.

Paternal Maternal

John W. Williams, Jr. (enslaver) William Barrett, abt 1847

Annie (enslaved) Luraney Raney, abt 1846

Austin Clark, b 1825 Ned Washington, b 1822

Martha Pound, abt 1835 Darkas ? abt 1823

Henry Button, abt 1815 Simon Stamps, abt1845

Nancy Lane, abt 1830 Olly Haley, abt 1845

Asa Carrington, b 1839 Willis Brown, b 1843

Henrietta Davis, abt 1850 Amy ?, abt 1842

Birthplaces Deaths

Virginia - 2 Georgia - 1 (enslaver)

Georgia - 8 Mississippi - 3

Mississippi - 6 Unknown - 12

Marriages (8 couples)

Couples - 5

Unmarried - 1

Enslaved / enslaver - 1

Unknown - 1

Landowners - 2 Occupations (1870 census records)

Farmers - 3

Farm Laborers - 5

Day Laborer - 1

Keeping House - 6

Unknown, enslaved in 1860

Born before the Civil War - 16

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Evelyn Orthelia Brown Williams: Her Final Chapter

Circa 1970s

My beautiful mother made transition on Monday, December 22, 2025. Evelyn Orthelia Brown Williams is now with the Ancestors. I call her name. I will miss her earthly presence more than I can express.

As I entered her information on the Find A Grave site and connected her to immediate family, I felt a sense of peace.

I lovingly wrote her obituary which, of course, only tells a small fraction of her story.

Evelyn Orthelia Williams was born November 30, 1931 in Buffalo, New York to Lucy and Noah Brown. From their union were born three other children -- Verlie, Arthur, and Vivian -- who all preceded Evelyn in death.

During her youth, Evelyn was actively involved in the Sunday School program and other activities at Saints Home Church of God in Christ. She lived her entire life in Buffalo and was a product of the public school system, attending School #31 and Fosdick Masten High School. While in high school, she was president of the Lambda Chi Hi-Y and president of Alpha Pi Eta Sigma Sorority. She worked briefly as secretary at the historic Michigan Avenue YMCA, where she met her future husband.

On September 26, 1952, she and Willis B. Williams were married in the home of the bride's mother. Their marriage lasted 58 years only ending with the transition of her husband in 2011.

The couple became the proud parents of five children: Sandra Ann, Richard Lamonte, Steven Arthur, Willis Barry, and Raymond Louis. And later, they became the loving grandparents of Elizabeth Orthelia.

Evelyn's hobbies have included bowling and painting. She was passionate about her garden, looking forward to planting a wide variety of vegetables every year.

Evelyn was the ultimate mother, opening her home to her children's friends; some of whom continue to call her Mom. She happily called Rickey Butler and Andrew King her sons throughout her life.

Evelyn Orthelia Williams was called home on Monday, December 22, 2025. She leaves to uplift her memory: daughter, Sandra Bush; sons, Steven (Mary) Williams, Willis (Barbara) Williams, Raymond Williams; granddaughter, Elizabeth Orthelia Bonds; dear cousins, Elizabeth Miller, Melvena Tyus and Ohio family; nephew, John Craddock; niece, Heidi Williams and a host of family and friends.

Saturday, November 8, 2025

Vandy Jane Doe: a DNA Cousin

On February 19, 2025, I was contacted by a DNA investigator through Ancestry.com that my mother and I were a DNA matches to an unidentified Jane Doe. The investigator determined our connection through the kits I had uploaded to GEDmatch.

"... we have worked with a couple of matches that match your mother and W that you manage ... RB and DS. RB matches you at 19cm and he matches another kit you manage at 23cms. You and RB share 19cm it says 4th cousins and with W he shares 23cms. On his end it says maternal side, ... an EL you share 111cm with him and RB shares 123cm. Do you have pro tool Ancestry? It shows your shared matches with your match."

On June 18, we connected through a Zoom call, and she told me the heart-breaking story of Vandy Jane Doe. An unidentified woman was found on a rural road near Nashville, Tennessee on September 8, 2018. She was in an advanced state of decomposition but fully dressed in Vanderbilt University clothing -- and that's how she became identified with the name "Vandy Jane Doe".

With advances in DNA, Nashville Police reopened the case. She was exhumed in 2022 to collect DNA for forensic genealogy research. Her DNA indicates that she is 50% African American and 50% Italian. In addition to her ethnicity, she was initially described as 5 ft-5 in tall, 15-25 years old, black hair, and biological female. Her description was revised as 5 ft-9in tall and age 16-35 years old after the police worked with an anthropologist.

Ancestry.com added the enhanced feature Pro Tools in December 2023. It offers several advancements to improving your family tree, including how to better evaluate DNA matches. I started using Pro

Tools mid-2024 -- focusing on one of the features at a time. By the time the DNA investigator contacted me, I had already begun grouping my maternal and paternal DNA matches.

The one match, EL is predicted as a 2nd cousin 1x removed or half 1st cousin 2x removed to me in Ancestry (2% shared DNA: 111cM across 7 segments). He only had six people in his tree. I have built out his tree to three generations and I am meticulously going through each person. And as I looked at the DNA groups of my maternal matches with EL, it appeared that the matches were on my mother's paternal line out of Mississippi.

Vandy Jane Doe has DNA connections to the states of Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee. To date, I don't recognize any of the surnames on the poster that are connected to her.

The most recent poster with information about Vandy Jane Doe shows the 2018 original image that was circulated shortly after Vandy was found. It also has an updated 2025 image as well as an AI version of what she may have looked like. The original photo that was circulated was produced using forensics, because she was unrecognizable due to decomposition.

In the initial investigation, no students, staff, or faculty from Vanderbilt University were missing. Vandy's official cause of death has never been released. She has been featured on Dateline and Facebook. Every time I Google "Vandy Jane Doe" there are more articles and alerts keeping her story in public view.

Everyone has a name. Everyone has familial connections whether they are nurtured or not. Everyone has community connections. It breaks my heart that a once vibrant young woman is unnamed and unidentified in death.

Metro Nashville Police Department trying to identify Vandy Jane Doe | Dateline

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/vandy-jane-doe-tennessee-rcna193129

Feb. 23. 2025

Nashville Cold Case

https://nashvillecoldcase.gov/vandy-jane-doe

Fallon - "Vandy Jane Doe" (edited November 6, 2025 -... | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dna.fallon/posts/pfbid0EM3qq8PhJ4ZwciZPmgg33xQYgp2upUY7Jj1bePbcELzuzPyR5NNtYcGCJerYWjbtl

Monday, May 5, 2025

Researching at an Archive -- Mississippi Department of Archives & History (MDAH)

Hello Mississippi

I visited Mississippi for the first time from April 28 -- May 2, 2025, as a genealogy research trip with some members of the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society of Chicago (AAGHSC) -- Mississippi Study Group.

MDAH

The first thing we encountered was the importance of calling an archive (courthouse, library, etc.) to verify open hours even when the hours are posted on its website because it happened that our first day we arrived, the Archive was closed for a state holiday. Mississippi officially recognizes the last day of April as Confederate Memorial Day with all state offices closed. Such irony that we came on that date when we are researching our African American Ancestors.

AAGHSC Mississippi Study Group

The second point in making a research trip is to have a plan -- which I did. I had a list of Ancestors that were family members and possible family members that I had cross-referenced from my family tree and the Mississippi Death Index. The record collection covers deaths in Mississippi from 1912 -- 1943. Using both Ancestry-dot-com and FamilySearch, I applied the less is more approach to searching, I only put in a surname and county. This way names were generated that I didn't have on my tree (possible family). In the list I prepared, I also included names from the Index of those in neighboring counties.