There were lots of "grass" widows in the world in the old days. It wasn't hard for one or the other to take off and go someplace else and either ignore the previous marriage, or claim the spouse was deceased. If anyone was suspicious, it would take awhile to get an answer back from wherever. I suppose it was usually the man that took off, but I suppose there were women who took off as well. Curious, these ancestors of ours. Karen On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 7:56 PM, <kat3946429@aol.com> wrote: > Thanks, Karen. I so appreciate your response. Actually we are trying to > find a connection to James M. Morton to my Morton line. We know who his > wife is, and a record of that marriage, but his wife states she is a widow > in the 1880 census. One researcher on Ancestry has him dying in AL, I > believe, but not sure that is the same man. It's also possible that he > "disappeared" and his wife just told everyone she was a widow. Was hoping > someone on the Union County site might have a Beeler in their line and know > the circumstances. > > > Again, thanks so much! > > > Nina > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Karen Tippets <sahara346@gmail.com> > To: tnunion <tnunion@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Mon, Mar 17, 2014 7:23 pm > Subject: Re: [TNUNION] James M Morton > > > About when was your James Morton born? There is a James Morton born 10 Nov > 1840 buried in the Ousley Cem, but he didn't die until 14 Apr 1920. > There's a listing for a Alva Morton though as the wife of James 17 Dec > 1838- 12 Jul 1909...so this is probably not your James, unless there was a > divorce. He's the only one listed in Footprints which is the book done on > Union county cemetery interments. (I have to admit that, as much as I love > the book, since they've got a complete index in back, I wish that they'd > left the individual cemeteries in row order instead of alphabetical order. > One loses the family connections when its in alpha order.) > > There's not going to be a death certificate more than likely for him, as TN > didn't start death certificates that early (not until 1908). Knoxville did > have earlier death certificates for those living there. > > You might see if there are newspapers in the area, that anybody has indexed > that might include some kind of a death notice for him. Without a date, it > would take a lot of searching though. > > Karen > > > On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 6:31 PM, <kat3946429@aol.com> wrote: > > > I am searching for a death record for James M. MORTON who was married in > > Union County, TN to Martha BEELER in 1865. She is listed in the 1870 > > census with the family. In 1880 she is listed as living with her sister, > > Matilda, along with her children. Cannot find a death cert or > notification > > as to when James M. Morton died. > > > > > > Any help greatly appreciated. > > > > > > Nina Morton T. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > -- > Finding ancestors is like eating potato chips--you can't stop with just > one! > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body > of > the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Finding ancestors is like eating potato chips--you can't stop with just one!

Karen, thank you so much for the term “grass” widows. I had not heard that term in all the 35 years I’ve been working on our family lines. We are down to the 3rd and 4th generation trying to find the parents of David MORTON and Nancy Catherine JAMES. The piles of information we have is unbelievable but still no clue, so we are down to researching the strange occurrences that happen when a MORTON appears that we cannot connect. We know the different MORTON families that passed through Anderson/Union/Campbell Counties and are hoping that we might connect through them. This James M. Morton is one of those we can’t connect. Happy Tuesday, and thanks again. Nina -----Original Message----- From: Karen Tippets <sahara346@gmail.com> To: tnunion <tnunion@rootsweb.com> Sent: Mon, Mar 17, 2014 8:32 pm Subject: Re: [TNUNION] James M Morton There were lots of "grass" widows in the world in the old days. It wasn't hard for one or the other to take off and go someplace else and either ignore the previous marriage, or claim the spouse was deceased. If anyone was suspicious, it would take awhile to get an answer back from wherever. I suppose it was usually the man that took off, but I suppose there were women who took off as well. Curious, these ancestors of ours. Karen On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 7:56 PM, <kat3946429@aol.com> wrote: > Thanks, Karen. I so appreciate your response. Actually we are trying to > find a connection to James M. Morton to my Morton line. We know who his > wife is, and a record of that marriage, but his wife states she is a widow > in the 1880 census. One researcher on Ancestry has him dying in AL, I > believe, but not sure that is the same man. It's also possible that he > "disappeared" and his wife just told everyone she was a widow. Was hoping > someone on the Union County site might have a Beeler in their line and know > the circumstances. > > > Again, thanks so much! > > > Nina > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Karen Tippets <sahara346@gmail.com> > To: tnunion <tnunion@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Mon, Mar 17, 2014 7:23 pm > Subject: Re: [TNUNION] James M Morton > > > About when was your James Morton born? There is a James Morton born 10 Nov > 1840 buried in the Ousley Cem, but he didn't die until 14 Apr 1920. > There's a listing for a Alva Morton though as the wife of James 17 Dec > 1838- 12 Jul 1909...so this is probably not your James, unless there was a > divorce. He's the only one listed in Footprints which is the book done on > Union county cemetery interments. (I have to admit that, as much as I love > the book, since they've got a complete index in back, I wish that they'd > left the individual cemeteries in row order instead of alphabetical order. > One loses the family connections when its in alpha order.) > > There's not going to be a death certificate more than likely for him, as TN > didn't start death certificates that early (not until 1908). Knoxville did > have earlier death certificates for those living there. > > You might see if there are newspapers in the area, that anybody has indexed > that might include some kind of a death notice for him. Without a date, it > would take a lot of searching though. > > Karen > > > On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 6:31 PM, <kat3946429@aol.com> wrote: > > > I am searching for a death record for James M. MORTON who was married in > > Union County, TN to Martha BEELER in 1865. She is listed in the 1870 > > census with the family. In 1880 she is listed as living with her sister, > > Matilda, along with her children. Cannot find a death cert or > notification > > as to when James M. Morton died. > > > > > > Any help greatly appreciated. > > > > > > Nina Morton T. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > -- > Finding ancestors is like eating potato chips--you can't stop with just > one! > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body > of > the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Finding ancestors is like eating potato chips--you can't stop with just one! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNUNION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message