It happened again! It's as if God brings clients to me whom I am supposed to research to find out that I might be related to them. This has happened multiple times. I found out I was related to a client I knew in Colorado. I've also learned I'm related to a friend of mine, although she wasn't a client. But learning of this connection really blew my mind.
An associate I volunteer with at the Franklin County Historical Society hired me to do some research on her family in St. Louis. Since my family is from St. Louis, I have experience in that area. She wanted me to trace the lines to see if there were any living relatives. So off I went, building out her tree. This was a new challenge for me as my client is black. Researching records for black or African American roots can be difficult, depending on the time period and area. But I was enjoying tracking down her family.
One of the lines I was tracing (Turner) had a girl who married a man with the last name of Hooper. But that's not what got my attention. The gentleman was born in Waverly, Tennessee. Now, if you have followed my blog and read about my family, you will know my Wheeler line is from Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee. My grandpa, Les Wheeler, was born there.
Leslie Woodrow Wheeler
Born Dec 18, 1918
White Oak Creek, Humphreys County, TN
And one of the jokes was, "If you are related to someone in Waverly, you are related to all of them." What led weight to this fact was that I did have Hooper's in my tree. So I immediately started looking closer into that line.
I found James Ira Hooper's family in Humphreys County in the census records. First, I found the 1910 census. Thomas Hooper is the father of James Ira Hooper. The family is listed on line 45 on sheet 12A. (This is important to note)
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| Thomas Hooper & Family 1910 United States Federal Census Sheet 12A; Line 45 District 60, Humphreys County, Tennessee Source: Ancestry.com |
When I began researching my Wheeler family in Humphreys County, Tennessee, I learned quickly that they all lived very close to each other and appeared on the same pages of census records. So I decided to look at the lines above and below this Hooper family to see who would have been their neighbors.
Read "Wheelers and Damesworth and Curtises... Oh My!"
I scrolled up to line 33 and thought, "Hey, I recognize those names!". It turns out that it is my great-grandfather, James Benjamin Francis Wheeler, my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wheeler (nee Damesworth), and their children. My grandpa, Les Wheeler, wouldn't be born until 1918. My family lived right near my client's Hooper family! Then I looked right below the Hooper family and found my great-grandfather's Uncle, George Smith, and his wife, Georgia Smith (nee Wheeler).
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| Thomas Hooper, James B Wheeler & George Smith 1910 United States Federal Census Sheet 12A; Lines 33, 45, & 50 District 60, Humphreys County, Tennessee Source: Ancestry.com |
If that wasn't enough, if you scroll up higher on this sheet, you will find my great-grandmother's parents: James Dillard Damesworth and Willie Damesworth (nee Thompson). They are on line 5 of the same sheet! This is insane! But wait, there is more. Right above my Damesworth family is Thomas Hooper's PARENTS!
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| James Damesworth & William Hooper 1910 United States Federal Census Sheets 11B & 12A; Lines 98 & 5 District 60, Humphreys County, Tennessee Source: Ancestry.com |
While they are listed right next to each other, we need to remember this is farm country. So the census taker would have walked many miles to the next property. They could have been crossing the road to the next farm. So it's possible the families lived across the road from each other and not next door. But still, the fact that they literally lived right by my family blew my mind. What are the odds? And this is just the 1910 Census. Let's go back to the 1900 Census.
In 1900, William Hooper, father of James Ira Hooper, lived in Humphreys County District 18. And right underneath their family was James Damesworth, my 2nd great-grandfather.
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| William Hooper & James Damesworth 1900 United States Federal Census Sheet 4B; Lines 88 & 98 District 18, Humphreys County, Tennessee Source: Ancestry.com |
I have yet to prove any relation to this line of Hooper's. And if there is a connection, it would only be through the short marriage of James Ira Hooper and Margaret Turner, but a connection is still a connection. And I would be excited to be connected with my colleague. I just hope the connection is a positive one.
Just one of the exciting findings in my research. Stay tuned for more!
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