I have hit several brick walls and will pose them in separate questions.

Question

 I am stumped for a surname for Delilah Long who was married to James Reuben Long b.1801 in Burke, NC and d. 188 Dial, Fannin, GA.  I have found where she requested a divorce in 1804 and I think it was for abandonment of her and children.  I can barely read her written request.  I have also found a will for him, again in longhand where I can only read his name.  No one seems to know what her maiden name was or where she went from the divorce.  She is approx to have been b. 1775 and d.1806 in McDowell, NC.  This is only and issue as she is my maternal 3rd ggm.  Any help appreciated.   Wiki ID of James R. Long is Long-1622.  Delilah is Unknown-49725.

Thank you all for any and all help with this.  It is a major stumbling block for my maternal line.

Cathy Harmon Geraci

 

Comments

You were asking a question about Delilah married to James Reuben Long, born 1801 and died in 188?  Then you say she divorced him in 1804, He would have only been 3 years old.  Did I miss something or read incorrectly?

Answer 1

Not sure I have a specific answer, but you're not the only one who has this problem. I've checked rootsweb for clues on World Connect, and everyone has the same information. Delilah ?.

The source info there is usually scant, but here's a couple of links that were at least interesting:

http://www.scislaw.com/genealogy/longweb/lineages/JamesLongII.html

This contains a transcription of the divorce petition on the site. I don't think it's going to be much help, but at least you can see the whole decree.

I also find it fascinating that the WikiTree profile indicates they were born in NC, died in NC, but married in Germany. If this is true, then that might be a clue. Since I don't have Ancestry to look up the sources, I can't determine if this is accurate.

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mars9232&id=I8521

Had some interesting information, but would require some verification.

Unfortunately, no clear help for last name.

Comments

I wondered about that as well. It would be unusual to write a will in 1842 and leave everything to his ex-wife, if she had divorced him in 1804 and then she passed away in 1806. The divorce makes it fairly clear that he had financially lost everything they owned by 1804, but he could have acquired additional property between 1804 and 1842 that he deeded to her. Still unusual to will property to someone who has passed away like that, but it did appear to be a divorce that was not friendly. Is it possible he didn't know anything of her past 1804 and just assumed she was still alive?

I suppose there's always a possibility that he remarried to another Delilah after 1804, but that would be a very odd set of circumstances.

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I didn't know about the website for my mother's family.  Interesting.  I doubt the German marriage.  I have seen it on Ancestry as well and it is total user input, no documents to back it up.  I think someone got frustrated and input BS just because they could.  I find that a fair amount on the individual profiles.

I couldn't read the will, so didn't know what it said.

It almost makes sense that he left, she filed for divorce when she didn't hear from him awhile and then maybe he made good and didn't realize he was no longer her husband?  Well, almost makes sense.  The family has some quirks, I know them and am one of them I guess.

In this family they only remarried when one of the partners died.  Strong Primitive Baptists, hell fire and brimstone. This is the ONLY divorce I know of in the family.  My grandfather married for 3rd time when he was old, never divorded as far as I know, they just quit living together.  I will look at all of your research and see where it leads.

When we don't know the surname, do we enter UNKNOWN or just leave it blank?  Whis is the preferred route?

Cathy

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As I dig deeper, on the Long family site, I read in the son Peter's Bio a statement about the parents moving, together, to North Georgia.

I have asked a distant cousin who has worked on this tree for years to join us and maybe fill in some blanks.

Thanks All,

Cathy

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Last question first: When you don't know the last name, you make it Unknown. If you identify it later on, you can change it to the correct one.

And the transcript of the will is on the site, just a little harder to find.

http://www.scislaw.com/genealogy/longweb/research/documents/mcdowell_1842jameslongwill.html

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Thank you!  I just didn't plug away long enough.  Also, on the same family site, under the son Peter's Bio, there is a statement

But many years later, on 28 December 1814, Peter's mother and father sold their 50 acres and moved the family west to Burke County NC, in what coincidentally in 1828 would become another booming gold mining area.

So, I am going to change the death date to Delilah to unknown.  If they moved together, they obviously didn't divorce.  This would also explain him leaving everything to her.

There is a LDS center here in Tucson.  I may jaunt on over there and see if I can dig up more.

I also wonder that most of us have William as the father of James R. II, but then why would he be a II?  I have asked a family geneaology guy to weigh in on this as he is the one who gave me the information.  Other Longs on Ancestry also have William as the father.

Cathy

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In my family I have Mason Howard Jones and grandson Mason Howard Jones II ... apparently after dad abandoned his first two wives he got his act together, my half brothers tell me he was a good guy but I never met the man.

Something to consider ....

Answer 2

notes on Delilah Masterson Wymore (Text)	Excerpt: Birth: Nov. 27, 1775 North Carolina, USA Death: Dec. 18, 1843 Lexington Fayette County Kentucky, USA Some records gi...	Delilah "Dellie" Masterson (born 1775)

Just a wild guess.

Comments

Thank you for the potential.  Plugged it in, isn't her.

Thanks for trying.

Cathy