Of all the women I have ever traced in my family, Catherine WATERS has to be one of the most frustrating! Lyrice Shiver McCranie and I have spent a good deal of time researching Catherine and chasing her all over the South! Unfortunately, there are still quite a few gaps in the timeline of her life... Here, as briefly as I can give it, is the information we have on Catherine:
As best we can discern from census records, Catherine WATERS was born between 1815-1817 in Georgia. According to the Thomas County, GA Marriage Records, Book B, pg. 34, she married David N. DAVIS on 12 Jun 1838. They had two children shortly thereafter:
- Andrew Jackson, b. 17 Jun 1839, d. 20 Dec 1914. (Married Martha Ann PARHAM.)
- Angelina Nancy, b. 31 Jan 1841, d. 5 Sep 1917. (Married Seaborn LUCKEY.) She was said to have married a BREWER before marrying Seaborn LUCKEY abt. 1866/1867. We have located a Henry C. BREWER with a wife, Angelina in Dale Co., AL in 1860, but cannot find a marriage record for them as yet, and can't be certain it is our Angelina DAVIS.
There is an interesting legal notice in the Albany, GA newspaper for 3 Dec 1845, which reads as follows: "NOTICE: I hereby forewarn all persons from trading for any note of hand given by George WATERS to David DAVIS, as the consideration for which said notes were given, has entirely failed. (Signed) George WATERS, Thomas County".
1850 Federal Census of Dale County, Alabama
Enumeration Date: 6 Jan 1850
M432, Roll #, Page #224, Dwelling #806, Family #806
NAME AGE SEX OCCUPATION R/E VALUE BIRTHPLACE George Waters 72 M Farmer $125 Georgia Abigail M. Waters 60 F Georgia Jackson Davis 8 M Georgia Angeline Davis 6 F Georgia Katherine Waters 31 F Georgia Elizabeth Waters 17 F Georgia It appears from the above two sources that abt. 1845 or so (note the date of the legal notice above), Catherine left David DAVIS (or vice versa) and moved with her parents to Dale Co., AL. But where is David N. DAVIS? We have searched many counties in both GA and AL and are unable to locate David N. DAVIS in the census in 1850. He just disappears...
From later census records, we know that Catherine (and David DAVIS?) had two more children:
From here we have to jump to 1870, as Catherine is nowhere to be found in 1860...
- George W., b. Apr 1855 in Alabama or Georgia. Married Elizabeth NELMS.
- Avie (short for Abigail?), b. abt. 1858 in Alabama or Georgia. Married Needham V. ADKINSON.
1870 Federal Census of Camilla P.O., 9th District, Mitchell County, Georgia
Enumeration Date: 10 Jun 1870
M593, Roll #166, Page #16, Dwelling #92, Family #94
NAME SEX AGE OCCUPATION BIRTHPLACE Richard Crosby M 38 Farming Georgia Sarah J. Crosby F 35 North Carolina Missouria Crosby F 12 Georgia Weltha Ann Crosby F 10 Georgia Artemesia Crosby F 6 Georgia Jenney Crosby F 5 Georgia Henry Crosby M 2 Georgia Wiley W. Crosby M 6/12 Georgia Catherine Davis F 55 At Home Georgia Avie Davis F 15 At Home Alabama George Davis M 11 Farm Laborer Alabama
So why is Catherine living with her two younger children (who are mentioned by name in Angelina's obituary as being her siblings and apparently also the children of David DAVIS), with the CROSBYs? I believe that we have speculated that there might have been a WATERS/CROSBY marriage somewhere along the line and that these people were cousins of some sort. By this time, Catherine's daughter, Angelina is married to Seaborn LUCKEY and is also living in Mitchell County, Georgia.
In 1880, Catherine is found at age 58 (she has only aged 3 years since the last census?), living with her widowed daughter, Angelina and granddaughter, Elizabeth in Mitchell County. We have been unable to find a specific death date or place for Catherine as yet, and would be VERY interested in locating this information.
If you think you might have any information that could clear up some of the confusion surrounding Catherine WATERS (or David DAVIS for that matter!), please e-mail me. Thanks!
