Young Parents -- Thomas and Mary Elizabeth

Thomas and Mary Elizabeth were married on December 23, 1846. By 1848, they were parents of a little girl. Although early records list her name as "Atlanta" (I'd love to know the story behind that), later records use the nickname "Addie." Within two years, Lucy was born to the family. She is of particular interest to me because she is my great-grandmother. What I wouldn't give for a baby picture.

Lucy Probert

I can only imagine the joy followed soon after by sorrow, when their first-born son, Thomas, was born. I don't know how long Thomas lived, but their must have been complications. Little Thomas was buried in the Lexington Cemetery on November 21, 1854 followed a week later by the burial of his mother on November 28, 1854. I assume she died from the complications of childbirth.

Lexington Cemetery Record

Records like this always break my heart. Of the eleven family members buried here, two are children and two are infants. Baby Thomas is buried at the feet of his mother.

Grave of Mary Elizabeth Probert and Infant Son, Thomas

Thomas was 30 and a widower with two young daughters. Mary Elizabeth died at the age of 29.

A couple of months earlier, Thomas also lost his mother. She was only 51 years old and was living in Louisville with one of her daughters at the time of her death from cancer.

Kentucky Death Records, 1852-1953, Louisville, Jefferson Co., p. 3.

As any parent of two young children knows, you need a support system. Where was Thomas' support?

Next Up: The move to Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Six Degrees of Separation

Credit:  Wikimedia.com

In a conversation on google+ a few days ago, Megan Smolenyak asked whether or not two cousins could be connected within 6 degrees?  To quote Wikipedia, "Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer.

One of my favorite ancestors, and the one who piqued my interest in genealogy, was my paternal gg-grandfather, Britton Wainright.  He died of heatstroke on July 9, 1863 when, as a member of the Indiana Home Guard, he and others marched to confront John Hunt Morgan of Morgan's Raiders.  I've written extensively about Britton in a series of posts. 

Click to enlarge

Over the years, Morgan's story has become larger than life.  It seems like everywhere I go, I am confronted with reminders.  The bike trail I ride on has an historical marker recalling the spot where Morgan and his raiders attacked a train.

Last October, my cousin Barbara and I, traveled to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky to research our Probert ancestors and attend a meeting of the Mongtomery County Genealogical Society.  Following the meeting, we were able to get in the Historical Society.  They had a traveling exhibit of some of Morgan's artifacts on display, including his saddle. One of the members helped hold out part of the saddle where Morgan's information was embossed.

General John Hunt Morgan
2nd Kentucky Cavalry
1863

So last Friday, I traveled to the Lexington Cemetery to track down the grave of a gg-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Dimond Probert, from a totally different paternal line.  I had forgotten that this cemetery was also the burial location for John Hunt Morgan, his parents, and many other Morgan family members.

Grave of John Hunt Morgan
(Note the Confederate flag at the base)

Morgan Family Plot

The parents of Morgan have a substantial monument and are surrounded by a circle of graves of their children. This memorial is not 100 yards from the gravesite of my grandmother where a Union fatality of the Civil War is buried.  When we were in Mt. Sterling, we were told of both Union and Confederate forces being in Mt. Sterling at the same time shooting at each other.  As a result of one of these encounters, the Court House was burned.

So back to the six degrees of separation game.  I guess I can connect my gg-grandfather, Britton, to my gg-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth.  1) Britton died marching to confront Morgan. 2) Morgan is buried in Lexington Cemetery. 3) Mary Elizabeth Probert is buried about 100 yards from Morgan.  And an additional link -- Morgan was in Mt. Sterling when my gg-grandfather, Thomas Probert, was living there.  Does the game work for dead people?

A "Diamond" in the Rough

As mentioned in the previous post, I had the opportunity to travel to Lexington to research my gg-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Dimond Probert. I'd only known about her for less than a year.  She was the first wife of my gg-grandfather, Thomas H. Probert, and mother of my g-grandmother Lucy.  In a search of the online Lexington Herald newspaper, I had found a marriage announcement for my gg-grandparents.

(Spelling:  Dimond)

A search of the Lexington Cemetery turned up a burial record for Mary and her newborn son, Thomas. Thomas was buried in the same plot a week earlier.

I was able to find a census record for Mary Elizabeth's father, Joseph, in the 1840 Census. (Spelling:  Dimond)

Same for the Marriage Record from the Kentucky Marriage Index. (Spelling:  Diamond)

A trip to the Lexington Cemetery found everyone in the plot using the "Diamond" spelling.  Yet a review of the Lexington City Directories from the early 1800s to 1902 showed members of the same family with the surname spelled both ways.

Thanks to correspondence with a member of the Ancestry.com community, I felt like I would be able to identify the branch of the Diamond/Dimond family from which Mary Eliz. descended.  I set up a spreadsheet and logged in every person whose surname was spelled either way. Then I was able to narrow my data base to those "Diamonds" that descended from Joseph and Mary Elizabeth.

I knew who Mary Elizabeth's siblings were.  The list posted above is comprised only of her siblings, their spouses, and in a few cases, their children.  I noted that both A.C. (Augustus Charles) and his brother, Richard, made their living drilling wells. David, a member of the next generation, got into the family business.

With this information in hand, my next job will be to research other family members. The cemetery record listed James L. Diamond as the owner of the plot.  There is evidence that James lived in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and then returned to Kentucky.  One census document states that James' father was born in Massachusetts.   I'd say that is quite a lot of clues for one day's work.