Oscar Boggs was the only son of Flora A D Poindexter before dying at age 27

+1 vote
277 views
Her mother was Jane Clark and I wondered what band of Indian they were? Jane had Florilla Alice Dale Poindexter who married my Great Great Grandfather Abner Boggs they had my Great Grandfather Oscar Boggs before her death at and 27. I wondered if there was a picture of her? I think people believe there weren't any children from this union, but they had Oscar (only child) Abner Boggs went on to marry 2 more times.

Thank you,

Kathleen Adams
in WikiTree Help by Kathleen Adams G2G Rookie (160 points)
Kathleen, can you please add a link to the WikiTree profile of the person(s) you're asking about? Thanks.

I did some digging and found Flora's profile:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Poindexter-460

I did some initial research on her husband Abner, recorded on his profile. 

Flora was Abner's second wife; they married about 1870, or shortly before. THey were still married in Jun 1880 (when census was taken and Flora), and Flora had TWO (not one) sons -- Barry and Oscar. See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Poindexter-460

On both census records, Flora is enumerated as white. 

It appears she lived until age 40, not 27. By the end of the year or early in 1880, Abner had married his third wife.

What evidence do you have that Flora had Native ancestry?

May have found *some* evidence of Indian heritage, but I'm not certain. 

I found her likely 1860 census entry here; note the "I" (?) mark in the race column, for her parents.

"United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBY-HSW?cc=1473181&wc=7QVJ-RZV%3A1589423252%2C1589423089%2C1589426068 : 24 March 2017), Illinois > Shelby > Windsor Subdivision 66 > image 3 of 3; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

In the 1860 census, Florilla has a brother George, old enough to have been in the 1850 census.  With that, I went looking and found George, some older siblings and his parents in WInchester, Scott, Illinois.  Mother is Jane; father is "Steph. H. Poindexter".  The race column is blank for the entire page; this was typically the case when everyone enumerated was white.

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DBLQ-KSV?cc=1401638&wc=95RQ-WQY%3A1031317001%2C1031446501%2C1031413201 : 9 April 2016), Illinois > Scott > Winchester > image 10 of 27; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

2 Answers

+2 votes

I found Harrison Poindexter and Jane Clark on a marriage index in Greene Co., Illinois. They married 30 December 1835. If you haven't already, you might wish to pursue getting a copy of their marriage record; it may provide more details. I could not find it among the digitized images.

"Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q292-DNMM : 14 February 2020), Jane Clark in entry for Harrison S. Poindexter, 1835.

If Jane's ages on subsequent census records are accurate, they married when she was a child-- as young as nine, as old as 13. He was about 10 years older than she was. 

While Illinois did have an indigenous population, most of the Indians had been forced from their homes south to Oklahoma by the time of these records. And given that Harrison was born in Kentucky and Jane born in Virginia, if they were indeed Native American as the 1860 census suggests, they were not native to Illinois-based tribes. But similar to the indigenous populations of Illinois, the Indians of Virginia and Kentucky were also forced out of those states long before these census records. Harrison and/or Jane might have been Chickasaw or Shawnee which were known to have lived/travelled through Kentucky and parts of Virginia.

Going back to Florilla/Flora, she died by late 1880; photography was pretty rare at that time. Not impossible, but rare. Perhaps if they'd lived in an urban area, there might have been a chance for a photograph.  But she died, probably, in /near Kokomo, Indiana. I have been unable to find a burial for her. She is not buried in the same cemetery as her husband.

by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (910k points)
+2 votes

I found a duplicate for the Flora Poindexter profile above, which also includes her parents Harrison Poindexter and Jane Clarke.  Each of them has ancestors attached which, if accurate, do not appear to suggest Native ancestry/origins.

See: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Poindexter-Family-Tree-409

by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (910k points)

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