Two mothers?

Question

This family is an LDS family from Utah if that assists anyone find records I cannot find.

Walter Price's California Death index lists Elizabeth Ainsworth as his mother, but Salt Lake City Birth Records lists Lydia Smith. To confuse matters, Elizabeth sometimes used Ainsworth, Potter, and Mace as maiden names. I can find no other record of Lydia Smith including marriage or death certificates. This is my husband's 2 great grandmother. No one in the family has heard of Lydia Smith, and I can find no record of her beyond this mention.

Comments

Does the death certificate state who provided the information at that time? And what was their relationship to him?

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I meant the California Death Index, Death certificate. Apologies. I will update the question to reflect that.

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Lydia Smith married William J White 27 Apr 1896 in Salt Lake.

"Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8G6-LPV : 31 July 2017), William J. White and Lydia Smith, 1896.

They had a child 9 May 1902, recorded in the Salt Lake County birth records on the line above Walter Eugene Price.

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Here's where the 'Potter' name came from.  1920 US Census shows Sebastian's mother-in-law named Elizabeth Potter, born England 1851.

"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8P6-PZF : accessed 2 January 2019), Elizabeth Potter in household of Sebastian W Price, Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; citing ED 92, sheet 16B, line 68, family 344, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1865; FHL microfilm 1,821,865.

Still digging.

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Elizabeth Mace's FindAGrave memorial clears most of the rest of it up.

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 January 2019), memorial page for Elizabeth Mace Annis Potter (25 Jan 1850–30 Jan 1920), Find A Grave Memorial no. 39081170, citing Sandy City Cemetery, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA ; Maintained by Annis Family Association (contributor 47125484) .

Elizabeth Mace, daughter of Thomas Mace and Elizabeth Gorlis, died 30 Jan 1920.

"Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZGN-6XQ : 11 September 2015), Myron J Potter in entry for Elizabeth Potter, 1920.

Potter was an alias for her husband Myron Annis.  In 1916, Elizabeth applied for a pension:

"United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDG-PB2Y : 13 March 2018), John M Or Myron J Potter Or Annis, 1916.

So, Walter Price's mother may have been born Elizabeth Potter or Elizabeth Annis.  At some point, she started using her mother's maiden name Mace.

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Thank you so much for all of this! Wow! Especially your follow-up about it being a transcription error. I didn't have the whole record, so didn't see that. I really appreciate you helping me clear this up!

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I do have a question. Why would a person have an alias for a last name in this case?

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You're welcome!  I've got more, including the Ainsworth connection. 

The FindAGrave memorials for Elizabeth Mace Ainsworth Potter and Myron Annis/John Potter say that Myron deserted the Army in 1873, and escaped to Utah where he lived as Potter.  Sources are consistent with this.

The story so far:  Elizabeth Mace married Benjamin Precious Hainsworth in Yorkshire in 1870.  Yes, Precious - it was his mother's maiden name.  They had a daughter Ada Jane in 1871 then emigrated to the US.  In Utah, they had a son named Benjamin Ainsworth.  Elizabeth and Benjamin parted under unknown circumstances, and Elizabeth had three more children:  Elizabeth (future Mrs Price), Eugene, and Janette.  Annis/Potter was the father of Eugene and Janette; I'm just now trying to wrap up Elizabeth.  They are not in the 1880 Census, which makes sense if Annis/Potter feared discovery.  He died in 1899, and the others started showing up again in the 1900 Census.

Edit:  OK, I think Elizabeth (Walter's mother) was a Potter, not an Ainsworth.  I put a note on her profile with the reasons.  She's there and ready to connect to Walter.  Feel free to edit as you see fit.  I'll add you as a manager, or orphan her for you if you want.  Just let me know.

Answer 1

Edit - online birth record is wrong.  See below.  I think you have to give more weight to the birth certificate.  The death certificate relies on third-party reporting for birth info.  The person reporting the death my have been misinformed about Walter's mother.

Sebastian W Price married Elizabeth A(insworth?) Mace, 30 Sep 1896.

"Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8G6-L4X : 31 July 2017), Sebastian W. Price and Elizabeth A. Mace, 1896.

Walter's mother was Elizabeth Mace.  The birth record was mistranscribed, because the father and mother info are on two successive images.  Lydia was the mother of the child on the line above Walter. 

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D4FS-322?i=265&cc=1464677

Ninth entry from the bottom of the page.

Comments

Thanks for the star, Alicia!