Bluebonnet Country Genealogy

Posts Tagged ‘Carrico’

This rocking chair belonged to my great-grandmother, Marie Mistrot Carrico Stanley. When she passed away, the rocker went to my Mom. When my Mom passed away, the rocker came to me and is now an honored member of my household!

The Library of Congress website has a section called Chronicling America:

Welcome to Chronicling America, enhancing access to America’s historic newspapers. This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1880-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

Newspapers available here come from the following states: California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

Texas… Hummmm, which papers are available? Any from the Dallas- Fort Worth area?

I’m in luck, because editions of the Fort Worth Gazette, 1891-1898 are available. The only connection I have to Fort Worth in that time period is the marriage of my second great-grandparents, Sallie Hattie Lee Kennedy and Crist Hayes Carrico on 19 Nov 1893. That date came from Tarrant County, Texas Marriage Records, Volume III (Fort Worth Genealogical Society), Marriage Book 7, p 289.

I sure would like a little more detail about this marriage, so I navigate the Chronicling America site until I arrive at the 19 Nov 1893 edition of the Fort Worth Gazette. 16 pages later and no mention of this marriage.

Ok, I’ll move onto the 20 Nov 1893 edition, this time totaling 8 pages. On page 8:

Wow, there it is, in black and white! This is amazing and so exciting! A few misspellings, but names, dates and locations. Of special interest is the last sentence: “The happy couple left last night for a visit to friends in Kentucky.” A couple of years ago, I met a “cousin” online who had info about some Carricos in Kentucky, but I have not been able to connect my Carrico to those Carricos. Maybe this is the link I need!

The story of my second great-grandfather Crist Hayes Carrico is a very sad one indeed. Once a prominant civil engineer employed by the railroads, Crist Carrico died a grisly death on a dark and lonely country road.

His once-respected life had devolved into that of the “town drunk”, a lost soul.

At the time of his death, Crist Carrico was divorced from my second great-grandmother and estranged from his only child, my great-grandmother Marie Stanley. When I began my genealogical research, my aunt tossed this photo onto my notebook and when I asked who this very distinguished-looking gentleman was, she stated, “That’s MaMaw Stanley’s father.” When I asked more about him, she said he died in New Mexico…and that was it. Basically, he was a non-person to our family.

But I was immediately intrigued. What could this man have possibly done that was so bad that, in the eyes of my family, he essentially never existed to begin with?

Well, after a few years of looking and the aid of a wonderful RAOGK (Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness) volunteer, I had a few answers:

1. Crist Hays Carrico was never accepted by his in-laws. Apparently he was never “good enough” for the daughter of a highly-respected local surgeon and Civil War veteran.
2. He divorced the daughter of said highly-respected local surgeon and Civil War veteran.
3. He became the “town drunk” and died a horrible death, directly related to alcoholism:

When I received these newspaper clippings, I tried to get Crist Carrico’s death certificate. It was apprently misfiled somewhere, as I have been unable to locate it at either the local or the state archives.

Recently, the FamilySearch Record Search site added the New Mexico Death Records 1889-1945 collection to its site. And here is Crist Carrico’s record:

Name: Crist Hollah Carrico
Titles:
Titles & Terms – Prefix(standardized):
Death date: 01 Aug 1941
Death place: Hobbs, Lea, New Mexico
Gender: Male
Race or color (on document):
Race or color (expanded):
Age in years: 68
Estimated birth year: 1873
Birthdate:
Birthplace:
Marital status:
Spouse’s name: Hattie Mais
Spouse’s titles:
Spouse’s Titles & Terms – Prefix(standardized):
Father’s name:
Father’s titles:
Father’s Titles & Terms – Prefix(standardized):
Father’s birthplace:
Mother’s name:
Mother’s titles:
Mother’s Titles & Terms – Prefix(standardized):
Mother’s birthplace:
Occupation:
Street address:
Residence:
Cemetery name:
Burial place:
Burial date:
Funeral home:
Informant’s name:
Additional relatives:
Film number: 1913313
Reference number: 3336
Collection: New Mexico Death Records, 1889 – 1945

Not much detail, and maybe whoever created this index was a drinking buddy of my second great-grandfather (just kidding , since the name was misspelled!)

My point is: first the index, later the actual images… maybe someday soon I will have Crist Hays Carrico’s death certificate!

On Thomas’s Destination: Austin Family:

Craig Manson over at Geneablogie has started a new meme which I think is important since it gets the surnames in my genealogy research info out into the blogosphere.  As Craig put it:

“List the surnames you are researching and the general localities. Then tell the names of your “Most Wanted Ancestors,” that is, the ones you most want to find behind that brickwall.”

Great idea!

My Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces:

HALL surname: Kansas (Shawnee County)>Texas (Cooke County)

McBURNETT surname: Georgia (Carroll County)>Texas (Milam County)

CARR surname: Alabama (Marengo County)>Texas (San Saba County)

CARROLL surname: North Carolina>Texas (San Saba County)

STANLEY surname: Alabama (Tuscaloosa County) >Texas (Hill County)

CARRICO surname: Missouri (Stoddard County) >Texas (Hill County) >New Mexico (Lea County)

ROGERS surname: Kentucky (Montgomery County) >Texas (Tarrant County)

TURNER surname: Tennessee (DeKalb/Cannon County)> Texas (Hill County)

DIXON surname: Alabama (Marengo County)

BENNETT surname: Texas (Williamson/San Saba/Brady Counties)

KENNEDY surname: Alabama (Sumter County) >Texas (Hill County)

DAVIS surname: Alabama (Tuscaloosa County) >Texas (Hill County)

TURNEY surname: Tennessee (DeKalb County)

VANCE surname: Tennessee (Wilson/DeKalb/Cannon Counties)

CHAPPELL surname: Virginia >Alabama (Fayette/Tuscaloosa Counties)

MOST WANTED ANCESTOR #1: William Earl HALL, my paternal great-grandfather, born about 1888, possibly Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas. Married Dovie C McBurnett, 22 Jan 1906, Ardmore County, Oklahoma. Living in Gainesville, Cooke, Texas when my grandfather was born. Worked for the railroad. Believed to have died before 1917 in railroad accident, location unknown. William and/or Dovie were believed to be of Chickasaw descent (mariage listed Chickasaw Nation Marriages 1895-1907: HALL, W E 22 McBURNETT, DOVIE 18 22 JAN 1906 TX,GAINESVILLE/ARDMORE J©57).

MOST WANTED ANCESTOR #2: Joseph ROGERS, my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, very little is known about Joseph, possibly born Kentucky, 1840-1850’s, married Susan Hannah Knox,  died in Kentucky when my great-grandfather Charles Arthur Rogers was a child.

My boss is coming back to work this next week part-time, so there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel! So, very soon I will be able to really get back into genealogy!
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from a lady in Ohio who is reseaching the surname Carrico. A new “cousin”! She found this blog and read my posts about my 2nd great-grandfather Crist Hayes Carrico and made the connection. She has been able to give me a lot of info and confirm my suspicion about his parents. I had previously found in the 1880 census for Liberty township, Stoddard Co, Missouri a Benjamin Carrica family who had a son named Chris who was the right age, with Benjamin being from Kentucky, which matched the confirmed info in the 1900 census entry for Crist Carrico. But I was not really sure about the Carrica family being the same as Crist Carrico’s family. Apparently I was correct in my assumption. My Carrico apparently is related to numerous Carricos of Bullitt Co, KY. My new cousin also sent me some marriage info and several other names to check out. I still have to document everything, of course, but it looks pretty good at this point.
This is pretty exciting for me, not just because of the new data, but because this lady is the first “cousin” that I have met from my Mom’s side of the family! I have met several from my Dad’s side, but now this lady is the first fraternal “cousin”.
A few months ago I commented that when Footnote.com gets a bit more of its Texas Birth and Death Collections completed, that I was planning a subscription. That time is drawing closer. A few days ago, I did a bit of searching and found several birth certificates for “lesser” players, some of my more distant Bennett kin mostly. At $1.95 per copy without a subscription, I’m not ready to start downloading just yet, but maybe in a few more months, hopefully by summer…