Putting Together the Family Unit of William Turner and Mary Jane Williams

Recently I have been on a mission to locate, verify and place on a timeline the children of a paternal set of grandparents, William Turner Williams and Mary Jane Brown of Georgia. These are the parents and siblings of my father's father's (his first name William or Willie or Willis, middle name Frances) .

The 1900 U.S. census is first one I have for the family (darn that 1890 census!).  They are living in Ethridge, Jones, Georgia. Turner and Jane were married in 1882 and have five children listed as their sons and daughters:

Year: 1900; Census Place: Ethridge, Jones, Georgia; Roll: T623_207;
Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 61.

Hester, 10
John Tom, 9
William, 4
Fannie, 2
Maggie, newborn

This census also lists that Mary Jane gave birth to eight children of which seven were living.  Where were the other three children?  Since their parents were married for 18 years, could the other children be older and on their own.


The 1910 U.S. census again has Turner and Jane with five children but one from the previous census is gone (Hester) and one is added (Edna).   It is also recorded on the census that Mary Jane gave birth to 10 children and seven were living.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Ethridge, Jones, Georgia; Roll: T624_200;
Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0080; FHL microfilm: 1374213

John T., 18
*Fanny, 16
*Maggie, 14
*Willie, 12 Transcribed as daughter but this is William (male) from previous census
Edna,  (?) The transcription has Ed but I think this should be Edna who was born in 1908 and chronologically would have been the last child listed.

*Ages not consistent with previous census.  The birth order and ages on some the the children are different, but understandable since initial birth years were listed as "about".


The 1920 U.S. census has W.T. and Mary Jane and the family living in Lesters, Jones, Georgia.  I have found no information on Lesters, other than it being Militia District 305. There are ten children in the household, some additions and others from previous census records are gone --  probably on their own.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Lesters, Jones, Georgia; Roll: T625_265;
Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 127

W.F., 23
G.W., 16 (George,b 1902; where was he in 1910?)
Daisy, 14
Edna, 11
Carl, 10
Mary, 11
Herman, 5
Harris, 3
Louise, 4
Maggie, 20

Not only were there initials for the names of the father and two sons, but the transcription of this census was terrible; Herman was Hem*, Harris was Homer, and Maggie was Maygi --  so I really had to analyze this census. And then there was the Lesters factor.

The 1930 U.S. census has W.T. and Mary J. back in Ethridge, Jones, Georgia with three children.  Did they ever leave Ethridge or was it renamed for this census?

Year: 1930; Census Place: Ethridge, Jones, Georgia; Roll: 372;
Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0013; Image: 146.0; FHL microfilm: 2340107

Herman, 15
Louise Vinson, 15
Harris 13


It's been fun --  okay challenging -- searching for this family in the census with the slight variations in the parents names and the additions, subtractions and name variations of their children.  By the same token, I feel a bit out of place trying to put together my family who lived in a different time and space.

Copyright © 2019 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

Jones County, Georgia (1807-1907)

Through the library system of Inter-Library Loan (ILL) I was able to get the book, History of Jones County Georgia: For One Hundred Years, Specifically 1807 - 1907 by Carolyn White Williams.  I requested the book because my paternal great-grandparents, Turner WILLIAMS and Mary Jane BROWN, are from Jones County, Georgia and I wanted to get a feel for the area during the time they lived there.

There was information that I could further research, like:

" . . . the slaves in Jones County came in from the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland and were about four generations removed from the savage African Negro." page 32  (Okay the "savage" is a bit much but being four generations removed is very interesting.)

" . . . Until emancipation the negroes had no surnames, though often they used their owners.  After freedom they did, on most occasions adopt the family name of those with who they had lived."  page 68  (Is this why my last name is Williams)

 "The Negroes before the Civil War worshiped in the same buildings with the whites in the country churches" (page 66) and the list of "colored churches"  with organization dates, ministers, trustees and other information (pages 71, 72).


There are laughable statements such as  "In the North the slaves were never profitable, the negro was not suited for the cold climate.   The agricultural south suited him better as to climate and as to work. The work was manual, uncomplicated and routine; plowing, planting, cultivating and picking, from February to December.  He liked the South and was thriving in it." (page 100)  This particular statement had me laughing because (1) I have lived in the North all my life and so have both of my parents; and (2) it reminded me of a class in my freshman year of college.  I don't know what the topic of discussion was, but I clearly remember the philosophy class discussion in which a student said that Blacks didn't play hockey because their skin disintegrates in the cold.  This was in the northern winter cold when I had to take two buses to get to the college.  (I was the only Black person in the class and one of a handful in the entire college.)

There are also many statements about the loving "Mammy" and familial ties between the negroes and their white families.


But way in the back of the book were family names with brief genealogies that really caught my attention. "The first Williams came to America from Wales about 1620 to Culpepper, Co, Va.  John Williams and Mary Childers moved to Warren Co., Ga. in the late 1700s.  They had a family of four boys and six girls.  When Jones County was formed from Baldwin Co., these four boys were living near Blountsville. Samuel, Henry, John and Thomas Jefferson Williams.  . . . " (page 701).

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

(1)  There is a 13-year old Turner Williams (possibly my great-grandfather) listed in the 1870 Clinton, Georgia census on the same page as Thomas Jefferson Williams  --  and on the previous page is John Williams.
(2)  My European DNA is mainly from the Great Britain area.
(3)  A DNA cousin of European descent contacted me who is directly related to John and Thomas Williams.