Color me frustrated: Where is the Death Source Citation???

19th century marble sculpture 

My 3^rd great grandfather was James M (possibly for McGraw or McCraw) Combs.  I know where he was born, who his family members were, and a few interesting tid-bit stories about him, but not his death place or date.  Usually this wouldn’t be a big deal except that I have seen a metric ton of death dates out there for him…without a source citation.

Cousin Debby is my Combs family research partner.  She is the one who gave me this date first.  Her information came from other Combs family members, who got it from another Combs family researcher many years ago.   Unfortunately, this gentleman is now gone and no one in that chain is certain on what happened to his research notes.

The family lore that has been passed on to me by these cousin researchers is an interesting one.  In the end they all agree on his death date, but no one can give me a source, preferable one that I can see and read myself.  Below I have outlined the story of James’s life as I know it. Maybe someone out there will be able to help me.  Worth a shot.

James M. Combs was born to Charles Combs and Abigail Reavis Brassfield in 1820 at Surry County, North Carolina.  He was the oldest of 8 children, all but the last 2 born in North Carolina.  Before 1845 a portion of the family moved to Indiana, with the presumption that several of the sons and older daughters stayed in North Carolina with their new families.  From the court house record I know on 23 February 1845 James Combs and Mary Jane Hayden were married in Orange County, Indiana.   Her family had moved to the area from Mercer County, Kentucky shortly before then as well. You can read about her family under the Hayden links on this blog.

From US Federal Census Records I know they resided in the following places:

·         1850 Franklin Township, Owen, Indiana

·         1860 Center, Greene, Indiana

·         1870 Center Greene, Indiana

·         1880 Columbia City, Dubois, Indiana

For a bit of geographic perspective, Orange County is 2 counties southeast of Greene. Owen County is immediately north of GreeneCounty, and Franklin Township is near to the Greene / Owen County line.  Dubois County is a neighbor county to the southwest of Orange County. 

He is listed as a farmer in the Censuses, married only to Mary, and they raised 11 children. As of yet there are very few other records that I have been able to locate on James besides his Civil War Draft Registration (on Ancestry) from June 1863 for the Indiana 7^th.  Then there is a giant hole.

Family lore and legend tells that James, Mary, and several of their children moved from Dubois County, Indiana to Wabash County,Illinois between 1880 and 1885.  From what I have been told James shot someone who was, well, trying to court his wife.  How much of that, if any of it, is true I don’t know.  I have been looking through what I can find on line to prove it since I have not made it back home to search there.  According to the Combs researcher the family moved to Keensburg, Wabash County, Illinois where James died on 23 January 1885.

In August last year I contacted the County Clerk Office in Wabash County.  It was a very nice phone call; they were very friendly and helpful, just in case you need to contact them too.  The clerk searched for any trace of him in the county and called to tell me she couldn’t find any.  She looked though the death records, cemetery listings, probate records, and real estate deeds as well.  I was very disappointed, but at least that is one county court house searched.  While I was on the phone with her after the search was complete she said it is entirely possible that he did die in the county but since his wife was still alive there may not have been a probate as she would have inherited it all.  Also, he may have been buried in a small graveyard or on private property which would mean that he may not have been recorded in their cemetery listing.

Mary Jane abt 1874
Picture thanks to
Cousin Debby

After James’s death Mary moved onto Missouri with 2 of her sons, John Wesley Combs and Daniel Webster Combs.  I have found records for them there and have a picture of her tombstone from Willow Springs, Howell County, Missouri.  I even went so far as to look for James there too, just in case.  No luck.

I will keep looking, digging, and annoying my family with this mystery.  It really bugs me that so many people have latched onto this fact with only the word of others without seeing any evidence.  I would be thrilled even if that evidence was written in a research journal where someone had documented the fact when they found it with all the information on where it was located.  At least it would be something.

Things that make you go hmm…..

I got a bug for a few hours to do some research on my Brassfield lines (thanks to Reba) and I started coming across a few things that have made me think. In no particular order they are:

·       At the end of the episode last Friday there was a comment by the historian that all Brassfields are related through George Brassfield who immigrated as a boy from England. I have a real problem when people use language like “always” and “never” because there is always wiggle room. That is why I always make sure that I never use them… except when making a point.

·    I have run into the “there were 3 brothers who immigrated” story again. Why is it always three?  The story, in a nut shell, is that there were three brothers who came over from England. George, John and Joseph. It appears from my searching that I belong to John… I think.

·       I went and perused some online trees (always a fun and interesting experience) and I am still not sure I am any better off than when I started.

·       Found a stament that John settled in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. I live 5 miles from Spotsy County, and the records archive is 20 miles from my house. Guess I now have real good reason to actually pull some books and go digging for records.

·       After nearly a year of looking, the only Brassfields I am positive about are my 4^th great grandmother Abigail, and her father Jesse. I would LOVE to find some evidence of the line going back that I can sink my teeth into and really say “YES! That is it!

·       There was a published genealogy in 1960 of this family line.  I think I need to see if I can get my hands on it.  I may be overly cautious, but I think I would like to see the source for a lot of these trees than take people’s word for it.  Wow, that sounded really cynical.

*Image: HikingArtist.com via photopin cc

WDYTYA Reba and the Brassfields

I saw this clip the other day while reading up on tonight's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and got very excited.  You see, I have Brassfields in my family who are also from this area of North Carolina.  It will be interesting to see if there are any names, or places, in common!

My nearest ancestor with the Brassfield name is my 4th great grandmother, Abigail Reavis Brassfield.  She was born 13 August, 1806 in Surry County North Carolina and died 16 May, 1859 in Monroe County, Indiana.  Her father, Jesse Brassfield (1778-1826) and her grandfather John Brassfield (1732-1778) were born in Wake County, North Carolina.  Where, it is revealed in the clip above, Reba's Brassfield line is from. 

Here is a lineage for my Brassfield line.  Please note: I have not personally verified the sources, and I am waiting for correspondence from the author on his research.  Fingers crossed for another cousin connection.


*Image from wikimedia: Allison DeMarcus interviews Reba McEntire at the Academy of Country Music 2010.  Allison DeMarcus interviews Reba McEntire

Charles Combs Surry County North Carolina to Monroe County Indiana

I have been able to trace, with relative ease, my father’s line back to the man who started it in Indiana.  Primarily I have been using census and birth indexes from Indiana.  The records from North Carolina have been the major stumbling block.  I have found the Combs & Family website extremely useful in the search of my Combs ancestors.  However, even they do not know where to go after Charles, beyond the fact that my line is not among those listed in The Combses Genealogy (Combs, Josiah H, PhD. The Combses Genealogy. Talahasse Florida: Rose Printing Co., 1976.).

Below is a synopsis of the information I have on the earliest known Combs in my line:

Charles Combs, born 2 July 1793 in Virginia and died 28 February 1866 in Indiana Creek, Monroe County Indiana.  He had 2 wives that I know of.  First, and from whom my line descends from, is Abigail Reavis Brassfield.  She was born 13 Aug 1806 in Surry County North Carolina and died 16 May 1859 in Indian Creek, Monroe County Indiana; daughter of Jesse Brasfield and Mary Prichard Reavis.  His second wife was the widow Anna McLaughlin (married name), born 10 Jun 1819 and died 12 July 1892 in Monroe County Indiana.

From what I have been able to piece together Charles was possibly the son of a man named William Combs, also from Virginia.  With mentions that William may have been a Revolutionary War soldier, but no solid facts on that.  Charles Combs’s name is on a roll for George L. Davidson’s North Carolina Militia during the war of 1812.    He received 3 land grants from the Vincennes Indiana office issued in 1840 for tracts of land in Monroe County Indiana.

Charles and Abigail had eight boys, and he had one boy with Anna.  If there were girls I have not yet located them in Indiana, or they may have stayed behind in North Carolina.  My line extends down through the oldest child James. 

James M (McCraw?) Combs born 25 October 1820 in Surry County, North Carolina; died 23 January in Keensburg, Wabash County, Illinois

Aaron Combs born 28 October 1825 in Surry County, North Carolina ; died 19 January 1886 in Center, Greene County, Indiana

Bryd Combs born 4 February 1828 in Surry County, North Carolina; died 18 March 1892 in Greene County, Indiana

Galin Combs born 01 February 1830 in Surry North Carolina; died 4 April 1856 in Monroe County, Indiana

John Joseph Combs born 5 October 1831 in Surry North Carolina; died 14 February 1891 in Greene County, Indiana

Silas Combs born 21 May 1836 in Surry County, North Carolina; died 1 December 1877 in Monroe County, Indiana

Pleasant Combs born 22 October 1839 in Indiana Creek, Monroe County, Indiana; died 26 February 1886 in Center, Greene County, Indiana

Charles Jr (aka Boy) Combs born 28 Aug 1843 in Monroe County, Indiana; died 2 January 1869 in Monroe County, Indiana

William Henry Combs (Anna’s son)  born 23 September 1859 in Monroe County, Indiana; died 21 February in Monroe County, Indiana

Find-a-Grave show the listing for 2 Combs Cemetery’s in the Monroe/Greene County area.  Many of these people as well as their descendants are buried at both.  At the Combs Cemetery in Buenavista, Monroe County, Indiana you find Abigail Brassfield Combs as well as her parents.  The Combs Cemetery in Cincinnati, Greene County, Indiana you find many of the children, and at least one of Charles’s Brothers.  To the left is the image of Charles Combs's tombstone.

* Land Patent image from Ancestry.com. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: United States. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. Automated Records Project; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes. http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. Springfield, Virginia: Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, 2007.

*  The Tombstone image taken by Janet Kaufman

Found a grave at findagrave.com

I spent the afternoon (unintentionally) going through the posts at findagrave.com.  It started off simply enough.  I found a record with a conflicting death date for a relative, which lead me to track down my sources for the date I already had.  (See, there is a reason for good book keeping!)  One of the sources was find a grave, so with a click of a button off I went.

If you have never been out to find a grave it is an interesting place.   People, out of the goodness of their hearts, post information and sometimes images, from tombstones at cemeteries all over the world.  You can send in updates, and edit information on there too.  As always, this is a secondary source, but it can give you lots of interesting clues and starting points to finding those long sought after primary docs.

As for my case….someone has done a lot of updating on one cemetery that I have connections too.  Even adding comment notes with corrections that have supporting evidence as to why things should be changed.  Jump up and do the happy dance don’t you know!

This post mainly concerns the Combs family line for me….but never fear, I am sure I will have other lines to update with this site too.  The 21 Interments at the Combs Family Cemetery, Buena Vista, Monroe County, Indiana, USA:

Name                               How related to me

Andrew Brassfiled            4^th great-grand uncle

Ellen S Brassfield               Andrew’s Daughter in law
Jesse Brassfield                 5^th great-grandfather
Lottie D Brassfield            Andrew’s grand-daughter
Mary Parham/Parkham Combs Brassfiled      Andrew’s Wife (could she also be a combs relation??)
Mary Pritchard Reavis Brassfield                 5^th great-grandmother
Susan Hold(?) Brassfiled                 unknown relation
Abigail reavis Brassfield Combs    4^th great-grandmother
Byrd Combs                       4^th great-grand uncle
Chas “Boy” Combs, Jr      3^rd great-grand uncle
Chas Monroe Combs       2^nd  great-grand uncle
Franklin W. Combs           1^st cousin 4xremoved (son of Silas)
Galin Combs                      3^rd great-grand uncle
Infant Combs                     1^st cousin 4x removed
James M Combs                2^nd great-grand uncle
Mary McG(?) Combs        Wife of Silas (pretty sure this is Mary Ann McLaughlin Combs)
Pleasant Combs                1^st cousin 4x removed (Son of Silas)
Robert Combs                   1^st cousin 4x removed (Son of Silas)
Robert Combs                   1^st cousin 4x removed (son of Charles Boy)
Silas Combs                        3^rd great-grand uncle


There are a lot of old cemetaries around me.....I think I may "inventory" a couple and help out some other genealogist out there....but I think I will wait until it is a bit warmer.

*This picture is from Find a Grave of the Combs Family Cemetary in Buena Vista Indiana.  Uploaded to the site by Tony Jefferies on 5 April 2011.