3-Patsy Chilton (Mrs. Truman Douglas)
The family information of Truman and Patsy (Chilton) Douglas is limited and intreguingly contradictory at this point. So the published accounts will be listed first and then analyzed for accuracy:
Truman Douglas was married to Patsy Chilton, sister to Thomas Boggs Chilton, in Ray county, Tenn. about 1800. Moved to Carter County, Mo. in an early day. There were four sons and one daughter born to them: Samuel, Joseph, Thomas and Truman and a girl named Minerva. Sam Douglas was married to Sarah Tinker in Shannon County Mo., to which union were born two children: Marion and Scintha. Marion Douglas married to Sarah Hanger about 1869; no children. Scintha Douglas was married to George Baker in Shannon County, Mo. about 1857. Manerva Douglas was married to Jack Tinker about 1845 in Carter County, Mo, to which union were born three children: Manerva, Emeline and Elizabeth. Manerva was married to Alexander Tucker in 1864 or 65, no children. Emeline
Tinker was married to William Richardson of Shannon County, Mo. in 1866. Thomas Douglas lost his mind when about 20 years old and died one or two years afterwards. Joseph and Truman
disappeared someway, but I know not how.
-The Chiltons,... page 870. -Quoting J. J. Chilton.
Truman Douglas from Ray County, Tennessee, a brother-in-law to Thos. B. Chilton, settled on the upper part of what now known as the Levi Mayberry Farm, sometime between the years 1820 and
1825.
-The Chiltons,... page 197.
Van Buren was organized sometime between 1830 and 1840, a post office was established and a grocery was put up by Henry Shaw. John Melton settled where the Woods mill was established later. Mr. Melton sold the farm and mill site to John George. Mr. George built the first mill there. He and most of his family died in a few years, and the property was sold to John Woods, who with most of his family also died there.
The next farm up Current River was settled by Sam Douglas, about 1830 and later known as the John Chilton farm. The next farm above the Douglas place was settled by Upton and Bryant and was known as the Longbottom farm.
-The Chiltons, ... page 199.
Patsy Chilton, probably the daughter of James and Ann --- ) Chilton , was named as a sister of Truman Chilton. She married Truman Douglas in Rhea Co., Tenn., about 1800. (Rest of this is the same as the J. J. Chilton quote)
-John Frederick Dorman, The Chilton Families of Virginia and Maryland, Vol 20, # 1, 1976.
"J. N. Douglas, merchant and farmer of Big River Township was born in Shannon County, Mo. in 1847, and is the second of five children born to SAMUEL AND LETITIA (DAVIS) DOUGLAS.
THOMAS DOUGLAS was a farmer and stock-raiser and fought in the Black Hawk War and was one of the first to settle in Shannon Co. Thomas passed the remainder of his life in Shannon Co..."
(Notes by Gerry Fleming - Samuel was a native of Randolph County, Tennessee and came to Shannon Co., when just a boy, with his father THOMAS DOUGLAS. Also, if Thomas Douglas fought in the Black Hawk Wars (1830-1834) then he probably was living in Illinois in the 1830s.)
-Goodspeed, History of Southeast Missouri (for Jefferson County), pg 881.
Jackson & Teeples indexes:
mo - 1830 - no Truman or Patsy Douglas
- 3 William Davis in state (not in area)
1840 - " " " " or Tinkers in area
- Saml in Ripley 344
- Patsy in Ripley 344
- Thomas in Ripley 344
- John in Wayne 221
- William Davis - Ripley 346
- William J. Davis - Ripley 343
- William S. Davis - Ripley 344
- Williams Davis - Wayne 224
1850 - Jacob & Samuel in Shannon 200/199
- Thomas in Reynolds 410
- Polly & Heatther in Texas 23/23
- John W. in St. F 194
- no Tinkers in area
- William Davis - Ripley 415
- William A. Davis - Wayne 205
- William J. Davis - Reynolds 401 also many others -
1840 Census Ripley County, Missouri
Samuel Douglass 20/30
f 30/40
f 10/15
m 5/10
Patsy Douglass 40/50
m 20/30
m 20/30
f 10/15
f 10/15
f 10/15
Thomas Douglass 20/30
f 20/30
1850 Census
Saml Douglas 39ky 1850 Shannon
Letta Douglas 24ky
Elizabeth 4mo
Jacob 2mo
Ge W Douglas 1mo
----
Thomas Douglass 35Ky 1850 Reynolds
Magaret 30il
Elizabeth 10mo
Cynthia 4mo
Elisa J. 2mo
John D.Douglass 8/12mo
----
Matthew Douglass 45ky 1850 Polk
Nancy 48uk
Wm P 24tn
John 21tn
Polly 20tn
Richard 17tn
Abraham 15tn
Hiram 13tn
Nancy 11tn
Fanny 9tn
Milly 7mo
Thomas H 3mo
----
To first address questions about Patsy's parents, no records have been found mentioning who they are. Wallace Hopper stated they were James and Ann Chilton in his above article in the Virginia Genealogist. However, his sole basis appears to be that the ages of Patsy and her known siblings could fit well with this family. Without a definite link though, it would have been nice to see a discussion of other possibilities before arriving at this conclusion.
Patsy has not been found in the 1830 census. The only record of her age is found in the 1840 Census of Ripley County, Missouri. It states she was born between 1790 and 1800. This appears to conflict with J. J. Chiltons statement that she was married in 1800. For both statements to be correct, Patsy couldn't have been more than 10 years old when she was married.
Getting an idea where she was born would be easier if her birthdate was available. If she was born after 1791, then she was probably born in Tennessee. This was where her brothers, sister and the rest of the Chilton family lived during this time. If she was born before 1791, the possibilities include Tennessee, Maryland and Virginia.
It is assumed from the published accounts that Patsy was married to Truman Douglas in Tennessee. No records have been found although marriage records for both her brothers Truman and Thomas Chilton have been found in Jefferson County. It appears the family either moved a short distance away or the county boundaries may have changed. At any rate, records from some of the surrounding counties have unfortunately burned. This also brings up a slight inaccuracy in J. J. Chiltons published account. He states Patsy and Truman Douglas were married in Ray County, Tennessee about 1800. The correct spelling is Rhea County and the county wasn't actually created until 1807.
Patsy and Truman were definitely married by 1809 when their son, Samuel Douglas, was born in Kentucky. Census reports state another son, Thomas Douglas, was born in 1815, also in Kentucky. The actual extent of the family is unknown. To date, no records have been found for the three additional children Joseph, Truman, and Minerva Douglas that J. J. Chilton lists in his article.
A further unknown at this point concerns another Douglas who lived nearby in Missouri. Patsy and Truman could have been in Kentucky earlier than 1809 if the Matthew Douglas (born 1805) found later in Polk County, Missouri (1850 census) also turns out to be their son. This would imply that they may have moved back to Tennessee by 1825 when Matthew's children were born. Additionally, this increases the likelyhood that the 1800 marriage date is correct and that there was an inaccuracy in the census data. See how a little more information could change the story!
At any rate, Truman and Patsy raised their family in Kentucky fairly soon after they were married. The 1830 Kentucky census shows quite a number of Douglas families so they may have been living near Truman's family. A cursory glace did not easily place them in Kentucky at this time.
Sometime during this time period the family moved to Missouri. The first record found was in the 1840 census for Ripley County, Missouri. Since the 1840 census listed only the head of each household, Patsy, Thomas, and Samuel Douglass are the only ones who show up by name. Because Patsy is listed as the head of the household, this implies that Truman Douglas had died sometime before 1840.
The question arises as to why Patsy came to Missouri at this time. A likely hypothesis at this point would point to Truman Douglas having died before she came. As a widow, there would have been a strong pull for her to move close to her known brothers and sisters. She was able to enjoy their company for some time. She then passed away within the next ten years as she is not listed in the 1850 census.
There are a number of published accounts mentioning the family in Missouri. Some of them were probably taken from each other. Although J. J. Chilton is usually quite accurate in his family relationships, it looks like he was confused about Samuels family in the first article quoted. Technically, Manerva could not have married Jack Tinker in Carter County, Missouri in 1845 because Carter County was not created from Ripley and Shannon Counties until 1859. This does raise the question as to where Manerva lived because no Tinkers have been found in the area in the 1850 Census. A guess at this point would be that the Tinkers married into the family but at some later date.
The intreguing part of this family stems more from the holes than the known information. Though a concerted effort has not been made, only one record mentioning just Patsy Douglas has been found. Their marriage record is not recorded in Jefferson County, Tennessee with the rest of the Chiltons. Three of the five children listed in the published account don't show up in any of the 1830-1850 census indexes in Missouri. Their son, Samuel Douglas, was married at least twice, but not to Sarah Tinker. Gerry Fleming states that Patsy's husband was Thomas, not Truman Douglas. However, Gerrys other comment that Samuel was born in Randolph County, Tennessee, goes against all the census reports which state they were in Kentucky at the time. There are as many questions as there are answers.
The descendants of Patsy (Chilton) Douglas are believed to be:
3- Patsy Chilton b-1780/90
m-abt 1800 Ray County, Tennessee
d-1840/1850 Missouri
bur-
s- Truman Douglas b-
d-before 1840
4- Samuel Douglas b-1811 (see following section)
4- Joseph Douglas (disappeared)
4- Thomas Douglas b-1815 Kentucky
d-
s- Margaret b-1820 Illinois
5- Elizabeth Douglas b-1840 Missouri
5- Cynthia Douglas b-1846 Missouri
5- Elisa J. Douglas b-1848 Missouri
5- John D. Douglas b-1849/50 Missouri
4- Truman Douglas (disappeared)
4- Manerva Douglas m-abt 1845 Carter County, Missouri
s- Jack Tinker b-
5- Manerva Tinker m-1864/5
s- Alexander Tucker
5- Emeline Tinker m-1866
s- William Richardson of Shannon County, Missouri
5- Elizabeth Tinker
Other miscellaneous unknown Douglas information is:
a- John Douglas b- (note:is this John Douglas in Wayne Co in 1840?)
s- Mildred Crawford b-
b- John Crawford Douglass b-5 Jul 1844 St. Francois County, Missouri
d-14 Oct 1930 Iron County, Missouri
bur-Middlebrook Cemetery, Iron County
s- Clarissa C. b-1849
d-1917
bur-Middlebrook Cemetery, Iron County
Larry E. Douglas bur-10-1-1975
-Arcadia Valley Cemetery, Iron County Cemetery Book pg 130.