Sarah Elizabeth White (1878 - 1958)

Born 4 Oct 1878 in Washington County, Arkansas, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Feb 1958 at age 79 in Azle, Tarrant County, Texas, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Shari S [send private message]

Biography

DNA Notes

A descendant on Lizzie's matrilineal line (child of granddaughter Bobbie via daughter Pearl) has tested mtDNA Full Maternal Sequence and autosomally. The mtDNA haplogroup is H2a1a1.

Many close autosomal DNA matches through Lizzie and Charles' children Bill, Mattie, Pearl, and Clyde can be found at Ancestry.com. As of this writing (30 September 2019), only those from the Pearl branch and two from the (same) Clyde branch have their DNA on sites where segment location comparison is possible.

So far, descendants of Pearl have had no known matches to cousins through Lizzie's father Lewis Marion White. This may be a matter of bad luck with who has decided to test. (Note: since first composing these notes, all close matches without a tree can be linked to other ancestors via shared matches, thus ruling out close matches who are possibly White or collateral descendants.)

Descendants of Lizzie's brother James and sister Laura - presumably biological children of Lewis White who were born after his marriage to Caroline Perry - have tested. While their shared segment locations are unknown, the size of the segments is inconclusive with regards to how well they fit the expectations for third cousins (~53 cM) to third cousins once removed (~27 cM) to fourth cousins (~13 cM), at which distance half of known cousins won't be DNA matches. (One match shares a segment of expected size; the others are about half the size.)

The possibility of a "non-paternal event" should be considered, meaning that Lewis may not have been the biological father of Lizzie, especially when considering 1. the number of descendants of the White/Stout/Hanna families known to have tested, 2. that many matches have been found for Lizzie's smaller and more elusive maternal side, 3. the space between Lewis and Caroline's marriage date and Lizzie's birth date, and finally, 4. the number of close and unique matches to a previously unknown family.

Lizzie's date of birth, including year, is consistently recorded as being October 1878 in her daughter's Bible (entered while Lizzie was alive), her marriage record, and the 1900 census. The 1880 census accurately enumerates her as being a year old - she would not turn two for four more months. Lewis and Caroline married in June 1878 according to the county record.

It's therefore highly likely that Lewis married Caroline when she was just over five months' pregnant, and given the lack of paternal DNA matches for Lizzie's descendants through daughter Pearl (so far), it's possible that Lewis and Caroline's marriage took place due to his kindness, her deception, or a truth that cannot be known over 150 years later.

Descendants of Lizzie's daughter Pearl have over a dozen unique and close matches at various sites to descendants of William H Porter, husband of Lizzie's speculative aunt, Talietha, via six children of his first wife. (In this case, "unique" means that all of the matches have different parents if not grandparents.) Seven of the matches are greater than 20 cM, with the three largest (39 cM, 45 cM, 71 cM) being descendants of William's son Aaron Dennis Porter. One match (A963595) triangulates with descendants of Lizzie's children Clyde and Pearl. Segment sizes for matches to descendants of Lizzie's allegedly full siblings are all at least half the size, save one.

Ancestry's "ThruLines" feature also shows tens of matches to the proposed parents and grandparents of William H Porter. The majority of these matches are in the 17-23 cM range, but most matches are under 13 cM and thus difficult to evaluate. Of interest, though, is that of the three-dozen known matches to the purported family of William H Porter's wife, Sarah, namely Dennis Thomas and Jerusha Henderson, most are in the 18-28 cM range.

More research needs to be done to eliminate other connections as well as to verify William's relationship to these suggested ancestors, and of course the segment locations of closer cousins need to be known to progress further.

Note: In the face of mounting DNA evidence, Aaron Dennis Porter's profile has been connected to Sarah's as her father; the profile for Lewis Marion White, legal father, remains available via her mother's profile.

Sources

• Family Bible owned by daughter Pearl Stanley Simonds. Now in possession of Pearl's grandson C. Simonds. Dates and counties for births of Pearl's parents are given, as are cities, but the cities happen to be the county seats. Possibly these were given as a general indication of place since Lizzie White Stanley does not seem, from census records, to have been born in Fayetteville.

• Marriage record of Charles F. Stanley and Sarah E. White. Personal copy owned by Sarah E. White. Now in possession of great-great-granddaughter Shari S. The copy is in pieces from being folded and lists the bride and groom as "Miss Sarah E. White" and "Mr Chas. F. Stanley", both of Seminole, Indian Territory, with "L. M. White" as the witness. "Recorded in the probate office" (handwritten, "Register of Deeds" being crossed out) of Cleveland County, Oklahoma. 11 July 1894.

• Oklahoma County Marriages, 1891-1959. Charles F. Stanley and Sarah E. White. 11 July 1894. Cleveland County. This record includes parents' names and ages and birthplaces of groom (23, Missouri) and bride (15, Arkansas). Parents of groom are listed as William Stanley and Angeline Williams. Parents of bride are listed as J. (sic) M. White and Caroline Perry. License dated 10 July 1894. Digital image of original document: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXLX-3TG

• Texas Deaths, 1890-1976. "Sarah Elizabeth Stanley". 12 February 1958. Tarrant County, Texas. Died at Azle Hospital. Parents are named as "Lewis White" and "(Unknown) Perry". Digital image of original death certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3ZN-RR3

• United States Federal Census. 1880. Arkansas. Washington County. Page 581c. Lewis White household. "Sarah White". Image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&indiv=try&h=6808837

• United States Federal Census. 1900. Texas. Cherokee County. Page 288b and 189a. Charles Stanley household. "Elizabeth Stanley". Image of original document at Ancestry.com:

• United States Federal Census. 1910. Texas. Angelina County. Page 158. Charles F. Stanley household. "Elizabeth Stanley". Image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&indiv=try&h=136577972

• United States Federal Census. 1920. Texas. Angelina County. Page 6a. Charles F. Stanley household. "Sarah E Stanley". Image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1920usfedcen&indiv=try&h=112749797

• United States Federal Census. 1930. Texas. Angelina County. Page 254b. Charles F. Stanley household. "Elizabeth Stanley". Image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1930usfedcen&h=65872259&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1940. Texas. Angelina County. Page 11b. Charles Stanley household. "Sara Lizzie Stanley". Image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1940usfedcen&indiv=try&h=155916950

• FindaGrave.com. "Sarah Elizabeth White Stanley". Memorial page originally created by great-great-granddaughter Shari S based on personal visits to cemetery. Photo of headstone on memorial page. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14711409

• Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976. "Pearl Simonds" (daughter). Mother listed as Sarah Elizabeth White. Image of original death certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K387-WP3

• Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976. "Douglas Clyde Stanley" (son). Mother listed as Sarah Elizabeth White. Image of original death certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3XM-MMT

• Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976. "James Atamine White" (brother). Father listed as Marion White. Image of original death certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K37F-JK3

• Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976. "Laura Evelyn Benton" (sister). Father listed as Louis White. Mother listed as unknown Perry. Image of original death certificate: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3QX-6RC

• Nickname as "Lizzie" comes from her grandson, Charles Simonds, as relayed to his granddaughter Shari S. Descendants of her brother, James, who have contacted Shari have referred to her as "Aunt Lizzie".