19th Century Tennessee Birth Records?

[kdunn]

My gg-gparents, Hugh Newman and Sarah/Sally Cliffen/Cliften married in 1865 at the Justice of the Peace, Knox, Tennessee. Hugh was a Civil War veteran whose health was apparently broken during the war (technically, he deserted and returned home to his parents in Thorn Grove). He died in 1869, 28 years old.

Sally shows up in the 1870 census living with her inlaws and 1-yr-old son James (my g-gfather). In 1880 she is living independently with 11-yr-old James and two more children, ages 5 and 3 (Boliver and Mahala). All are using the 'Newman' surname.

On the 1900 census she reported being married 4 years, widowed, with 5 children, 4 still living. In 1910 she is listed as head of household, but Boliver and his wife (married 6 months) are living with her.

Even assuming that the 4-year marriage was long enough to have produced an earlier child than James, that still leaves 2 children unaccounted-for. I haven't found any sign of them. Can somebody help?

[gc1]

For referance is this Boliver marriage on LDS
Married in 1898 would mean they would have beem married 12 yrs not 6mths in 1910 census..
Only a long shot (idea maybe a first wife!!)

Boliver Newman &  Frankie Hancock  23 Apr 1898 , Knox, Tennessee

[gc1]

Again for referance is this Mahala ??
States as Granddaughter

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[kdunn]

Thanks for the reply!

The marriage for Boliver seems plausible, and I found a family tree on Ancestry that includes that marriage. I was working from memory, so I may have meant the 1900 census rather than 1910 (I'll check on that when I get home). Boliver couldn't be a common name (although when I googled Bolivar Newman (assuming he was named after Simon Bolivar - other family members named their children after famous people), I got a hit from the Galveston Daily News of 1868 - there actually was a person of that name elected to the board of directors of a railroad company or something). He's too old to be "my" Boliver, but the thought that he may have traveled to Tennessee is intriguing.

The names associated with the Mahala entry don't look familiar, but I'll have to check my info when I get home. I'm still working from memory here, but I think Mahala was 3 in 1880, and Boliver was 5. The name Mahala wasn't rare in that time and place, but I don't know of any other Bolivers. I assume she was probably married by 1900, but didn't find any marriage recorded for her.

You've given me more avenues to explore. Thanks!

[kdunn]

Ok, I'm home and I checked. It was the 1900 census that showed Bolivar as a newlywed, age 26. Wife Frances was 19. His occupation is shown as Boat Hand. I can't find the marriage on Ancestry, but it does show up on FamilySearch.

Going looking for Mahala now.

[kdunn]

Tacking another question onto this one -

Sally/Sarah's mother was Elizabeth Coker, who had at least 6 children before she married Green (Greenberry) Cliften/Cliffen. I haven't found any record of her before she lived with him, but the (1850?) census shows her and her children under the name 'Coker'. The marriage was in 1854, as I recall.

I recently ran across a family tree in Ancestry (and couldn't find it when I went back to look for it again) that showed Elizabeth married previously to a James Coker, and the first 4-5 children (including Sally) as his, instead of Green Cliften's. There weren't any records attached to support the earlier marriage, but the tree's owner appeared to have private information sources about Cokers.

If true, this would mean I have misidentified my GGGgfather. Everything I have found shows the children using the Cliften/Cliffen name, but that's not unheard-of with adoptive fathers.

I'm looking for any information I can find to support or refute this scenario. Can anybody help me?