Mary Eliza (Mothershed) Adams (abt. 1856 - aft. 1920)

Born about 1856 in Floyd, Georgia, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of William Thomas Adams — married 22 Sep 1881 in Lincoln, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died after 1920 after about age 64 in Kentucky, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joseph Rusche [send private message]

Biography

Mary was born about 1860. She passed away after 1920.

Research Notes

Mary Eliza Mothershed was most likely born in the North Carolina district of Floyd Georgia^[1]. This explains why in some censuses she lists her state of birth as Georgia and, in others, she lists it as North Carolina. Most likely whoever was filling out the census was simply confused by the name of the disctrict.

This source^[2] was key in determining Mary Eliza's last name. Her two sisters, Geneva and Florence, can be found fairly easily in other records from the locations they're said to hail from in the newspaper (see their profiles).

At this point, it can fairly confidently be said that Mary Eliza was the daughter of James Mothershed and Julia Duvall. While no sources outright claim this, we can deduce this from references of her sibilings in various newspapers and their subsequent presence in the household of James V Mothershed in his census records. In all, 4 sibilings have been referenced in the Clay City newspaper as being Mary's Sibilings: Richard^[3],Geneva and Florence^[2], and Wade^[4]. While Geneva, Richard, and Florence's names do not appear in the same household as their proposed father, there are people in James V. Mothershed's 1870 census record whose ages match those of Geneva, Richard and Florence ^[5]. Upon examination of records from where Richard lived (see Richard's profile for said records), we can deduce that his real first name was Thomas and that he simply went by (presumably) his middle name so it's not impossible that Geneva and Florence did the same. Wade on the other hand can easily be found in James V. Mothershed's household and his age matches exactly that listed on his Alabama records (see Wade's profile for said records)^[6]. What's more, Wade can be seen in the 1880 census to be living with a brother, James T. Mothershed, who can also easily be found in James V. Mothershed's household^[7]. Lastly, we know from an 1880 census that one of Mary's sisters, Florence, had an aunt Mary who married a Lewis Duvall, a possible brother to James V. Mothershed's Wife Julia^[8]. The practice of family's marrying multiple members of their family to multiple members of another family was very common at the time so this would line up with James and Mary being sibilings and Lewis and Julia being Sibilings. With this abundance of information, it seems extraordinarily likely that indeed Mary Eliza and her sibilings where all the children of James V. Mothershed. While it's possible that the names, dates, and locations matching so well as described above is all a coincidence, the odds of that seem astrinomical at this point and only seem to decrease as more research is done.

Sources

1. ↑ "1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Georgia - Floyd County - ED 57-1 - ED 57-46B", National Archives Catalog, Micofilm A3378. On roll 11 of Enumeration District Maps for the Twelfth Through Sixteenth Censuses of the United States, 1900-1940. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5829988
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Geneva Hambright and Florence Habineicht Visit Sister Mrs. W. T. Adams", The Clay City Times. September 6, 1917. Page 4. Clay City, Kentucky. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44783622/geneva_hambright_and_florence/
3. ↑ "Mrs. W. T. Adams attends funeral of brother, Richard Mothershed", Clay City Times. May 18, 1916. Clay City, Kentucky.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44797863/mrs_w_t_adams_attends_funeral_of/
4. ↑ "Brother of Mrs. W. T. Adams Dies", The Clay. City Times. Clay City, Kentucky. 08 Apr 1915, Thu. Page 6. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50741116/brother-of-mrs-w-t-adams-dies/
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC3M-DXV : 19 March 2020), Julia F Mothershed in entry for James V Mothershed, 1870.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC3M-DXK : 19 March 2020), Wade H Mothershed in entry for James V Mothershed, 1870.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8LY-HX2 : 11 August 2017), Wade H Mothershed in household of James T Mothershed, North Carolina, Floyd, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district ED 68, sheet 249D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,146.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6S8-QGG : 15 July 2017), Florence Methershed in household of Mary A Duvall, Winnsboro, Fairfield, South Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district ED 66, sheet 4D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,229.

See Also:

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZMY-NDK : 13 December 2017), Mary E Mothershed in entry for J V Mothershed, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC3M-DXN : 11 June 2019), Mary E Mothershed in entry for James V Mothershed, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9HP-G52 : accessed 11 February 2020), Mary Adams in household of W Thomas Adams, Magisterial District 1 Clay City town, Powell, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 89, sheet 11B, family 212, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,548.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M26T-9M5 : accessed 19 December 2019), Mary E Adams in household of W T Adams, Clay City, Powell, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 189, sheet 8A, family 136, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 500; FHL microfilm 1,374,513.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHPZ-CGB : accessed 19 December 2019), Mary E Adams in household of William T Adams, Clay, Powell, Kentucky, United States; citing ED 143, sheet 10A, line 13, family 196, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 596; FHL microfilm 1,820,596.

• "Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ5-T7NV : 9 January 2019), Mary Mothershed in entry for Grace A Dickson, 20 Apr 1958; citing Death, Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky, United States, certificate , Office of Vital Statistics, Frankfort; FHL microfilm 1,709,624.

• "Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXJ5-RHD : 7 February 2020), W. F. Adams and Mary E. Mothershed, 3 Apr 1879; citing Marriage, Floyd, Georgia, United States, Georgia Department of Archives and History, Morrow, FHL microfilm 282,713.

• "Geneva Jones Visits Mrs. W. T. Adams", The Clay City Times. Clay City, Kentucky. 07 Dec 1922, Thu. Page 1. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44786515/geneva-jones-visits-w-t-adams/

Assorted Newspaper Articles

The following articles need to be properly sourced

• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44750631/clay_center_menaced/

• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44750915/fire_in_clay_city/

• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44751068/red_river_hotel_advertisement/