Nothing with genealogy is as simple as I thought it was. Things were a bit different in older times when life spans were shorter and health care was sparse. Couples got married and had kids, and when a spouse died, the survivor remarried. Then they would have more kids. Trying to figure out who biological mothers and fathers are can be difficult in a time period when widows and widowers were quick to remarry. Remarriage was often a matter of survival, and staying single with young dependents was a sentence of starvation.
Adding to the genealogical complications, couples often named their children after sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, fathers, and mothers. It was much more common for the firtborn male to be named after his father and, a lot of times, the firstborn female after her mother. For example: think I have about 4 men named Thomas Mims in my tree. Also, Elizabeth was Elizabeth’s mom, and Sarah was Sarah’s mom and so on and so forth. You can see how this poses problems for the researcher.
I am having trouble with a few issues. Today I will post this one. Can you help?
I have no idea who Shadrach (or Shadrack) Mims belongs to. Here are the possibilities.
1) Several online sources list Shadrach as the son of Thomas Mims (1681-1711) and Amelia Anne “Mellyanne” Martin (1690-1711). Many of them claim Shadrach lived from 1706-1813. To have lived to 107 years old was nearly impossible in my opinion. (Admittedly, I could be wrong.) These sources also claim Shadrach is the husband of Elizabeth Woodson (1734-1777).
However, here’s where it gets tricky.
2) Other sources claim Shadrach is actually Thomas Mims’ (the aforementioned’s) grandson, and a son of David Mims Sr. (1701-1791) and Agnes Weldy (1703-1777). These sources also claim Shadrach was married to Mary “Mattie” Allen on Feb 3, 1754 and then married to Elizabeth Woodson on May 24, 1760.
So, either Shadrach is the son of Thomas and Amelia, OR he is the son of David Mims, Sr. and Agnes Weldy, and Thomas and Amelia are his grandparents. Then there is the possibility that…
3) Shadrach is actually two different people. One is a son of Thomas and Amelia and one is a son of David and Agnes, named after his uncle Shadrach. BUT both Shadrachs could not have married the same Elizabeth Woodson.
Can anyone clear this up for me? I know I’m not the only one confused here. Several google searches have turned up people asking these very same questions.
STORY OF MY ROOTS 