The purpose of this large post (or mini-essay) is to identify the older children of Davidson McGuire and Margaret Kelley. All sources are listed. All theories are identified as such. Much credit to Kay King, Karen W., Barbara Strength, JessieJ., and James P. McGuire. They shared their research freely, and I have expanded upon it. Please credit me if you use the information provided here. Comments and corrections are very welcome!
To begin:
There is little disagreement about the younger children of Davidson McGuire because they are fairly well documented in the 1850 and 1860 US Censuses for AL. Only the ages vary a little from one census to the next. (As experienced researchers know, ages listed in the censuses can range +/- 10 years!)
The 1850 Census lists Mahaly, 18, Sarah A, 15, Alsy, 13, Emily, 10, Amanda, 8, and Martha, 6. Also listed are sons John, 17, Robert, 12, Hiram, 11, and William, 3. The 1860 Census lists Martha, 13, William 11, Thomas, 9, Robert F, 22, Hyrum (Hiram) K, 20, Emely 18, and Manda M., 16, Martha, 13, William H., 11, and Thomas, 9. So, according to these two censuses, the children and their approximate birth years are:
Mahala, 1832
John, 1833
Sarah, 1835
Alsy (sometimes Axy, or Alice) 1837
Robert, 1838
Hiram, 1839
Emily, 1840
Amanda, 1842
Martha, 1844
William, 1847
Thomas, 1851
More facts: Davidson married Margaret Kelley in December 1822 when he was about 20 and she was about 14 (Charles Kelley Bible). Timothy McGuire, probably Davidson's first son, was born between January 1822 and 1825 (various censuses, mostly 1900). Censuses from 1850 to 1900 provide this range of years as his birth year.
Some speculation here: it's possible that Davidson was married before Margaret, had Timothy, the first wife died in childbirth, and he married Margaret in order to take care of his motherless son. But there's no evidence of this. Margaret is usually credited as Timothy's mother. Certainly he named a daughter for her. Since many of the Jefferson County records were lost in the 1870 fire, we may never know. Nonetheless, Timothy McGuire is firmly established as a son of Davidson McGuire in my previous posts about him.
So now the list of Davidson and Margaret's known children are:
Timothy, 1822 - 1825
Mahala, 1832
John, 1833
Sarah, 1835
Alsy (sometimes Axy, or Alice) 1837
Robert, 1838
Hiram, 1839
Emily, 1840
Amanda, 1842
Martha, 1844
William, 1847
Thomas, 1851
To find more of the children in the 10-year gap between Timothy and Mahala, we turn to the partial settlement of Davidson's estate in 1867, on file at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Birmingham. (Obviously not all the records burned...) There we find two more daughter's names:
"The liens and distributees of said Davidson McGuire deceased are as follows to wit: Jane Pledger, wife of Pleasant Pledger and resides in this county; Mahala McLaughlin, wife of Alexander McLaughlin and resides in this county; Polly McLaughlin, wife of W. H. McLaughlin, and resides in this county..."
The new names are (Elizabeth) Jane, wife of Pleasant Pledger, and (Mary) Polly, wife of W.H. McLaughlin. From the 1850 and 1860 Censuses, we derive approximate birth years of about 1829 for Jane and between 1826 and 1829 for Mary Polly, also sometimes called Jane. Now the list of children looks like this:
Timothy, 1822 - 1825
(Elizabeth) Jane, 1829
Mary Polly Jane, 1826-1829
Mahala, 1832
John, 1833
Sarah, 1835
Alsy (sometimes Axy, or Alice) 1837
Robert, 1838
Hiram, 1839
Emily, 1840
Amanda, 1842
Martha, 1844
William, 1847
Thomas, 1851
Continuing, we look at the 1840 US Census for AL, where Davidson Mc(space) Guire lives in an unnamed township in Jefferson County. In the household are seven males and 6 females. Males: two under 5 (Hiram K., 1, and Robert, 2), one 5 to 10 (John L., 7), three 10 - 15 (Unknown, Unknown, and Timothy, 15 - 18), one 30-40 (Davidson, 38). Females: 2 under 5 (Alsy, 3, and Sarah, 5), three 5-10 (Mary Jane, 11 - 14, Elizabeth Jane, 11, and Mahala, 8), one 20-30 (Margaret Kelley, 32). Thus the list now looks like this:
Timothy, 1822 - 1825
Unknown Male #1, 1825 - 1830
Unknown Male #2, 1825 - 1830
(Elizabeth) Jane, 1829
Mary Polly Jane, 1826-1829
Mahala, 1832
John, 1833
Sarah, 1835
Alsy (sometimes Axy, or Alice) 1837
Robert, 1838
Hiram, 1839
Emily, 1840
Amanda, 1842
Martha, 1844
William, 1847
Thomas, 1851
More about the 1830 Census for AL in a bit.
To discover the identity of Unknown Male #1, we look at the 1884 court case in Jefferson County on file at the JeffCo Courthouse. Apparently when Davidson died in 1861, all his land went in miniscule shares to heirs acknowledged in the partial settlement of 1867 and then some. By 1884 a McLaughlin brother-in-law wants to buy up the shares, and in order to have no questions whatsoever about the title, he sends court papers to everyone who might even remotely be considered an heir of DM. There are also affadavits from citizens who know DM and his family. Remember, these court papers are sent to "heirs" known to be and acknowledged as DM relatives by people who actually knew the "heirs."
One such "heir" is James McGuire, named in an affadavit by George C. Jones, as being over 21 and living in Texas, post office unknown. James is also mentioned in an 1851 complaint in Shelby County against Moses and Alphoso Johnson for assault and battery. This is on file at the Shelby County Historical Society. I haven't yet found James anywhere else yet. So we'll just identify James as Unknown Male #1 with a birth year between 1825 and 1830.
The person who fits neatly into the slot for Unknown Male #2 is Charles McGuire. Charles is in St. Clair County in 1850, born about 1828, living with Simeon Pledger, brother to the Pleasant Pledger who married Jane McGuire. On Friday, Jan 20, 1854, in JEFFERSON County he married Sarah Ann Hurst (Two days later John McGuire was married in Jefferson County as well.). In 1860 Charles is living in St. Clair County with Sarah and his three children. In 1861 both John McGuire and Charles McGuire muster into Company C, 18th Alabama (Leeds: Her Story, Huntsville AL Public Library). After Charles dies at Chatanooga, TN, his widow Sarah and their three children are listed in the 1866 AL State Census just doors away from in-laws McGuire/McLaughlins, brother Edward Hurst, and so on. In the 1870 US Census for AL she is still in Jefferson County next to McGuire/McLaughlin in-laws. On top of everything else, Margaret Kelley's father's name is Charles. Since so many people in Davidson's family are named after ancestors and friends, it's reasonable to assume that Margaret would name a boy after her father. To sum up, while there is no smoking gun to prove definitively that Charles is Unknown Male #2, he's a pretty darned good candidate.
Some people would argue that because James, John and Charles are not named in the partial settlement of 1867, they cannot be sons of DM. However, one of my relatives explained that sometimes sons took their portions early or when they married, and would not be eligible for further shares of the estate. In 1860 John has money, as does Charles. It looks like they took their portions early. Thus, no mention in the settlement. This seems reasonable to me, and so I do not exclude these men as sons of DM soley because they are not mentioned in the settlement.
As final proof, in the 1830 US Census for AL, Davidson McQuire is listed in unknown townships in Shelby County. The family makeup is consistent with the family in 1840 and 1850, allowing for the children's coming of age, marrying, and moving out. In the household are 2 males under 5 (James, 0 - 5, and Charles, 2), 1 male 5 - 10 (Timothy, 5 - 8), and one male 20 - 30 (Davidson, about 28). There are also two females 0 - 5 (Mary Jane, fourish and Elizabeth, oneish) and 1 female 15 - 20 (probably an error--Margaret Kelley would have been 22).
After thoroughly -- and somewhat long-windedly -- going through the evidence, it seems clear to me that a reasonable list of the older children of Davidson McGuire and Margaret Kelley would include
Timothy, 1822 - 1825
James, 1825 - 1830
Charles, 1828
Elizabeth Jane, 1829
Mary Polly Jane, 1826-1829
added to the originals from the 1850 - 1860 Censuses
Mahala, 1832
John, 1833
Sarah, 1835
Alsy (sometimes Axy, or Alice) 1837
Robert, 1838
Hiram, 1839
Emily, 1840
Amanda, 1842
Martha, 1844
William, 1847
Thomas, 1851
WOW! 16 kids in 29 years. Davidson and Margaret were sure busy farming and popping out kids!
Thanks again to all the people whose research helped me piece together this final list. Comments, corrections, and additional data very welcome. Happy hunting!
(Note: this material was originally published May 2010 on both Genforum.com and Ancestry.com message boards. Copyright 2010 ALRoots)
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