The research desk
A family tree is an argument assembled from evidence. This site keeps the paper trail alongside the story, including the places where the paper disagrees with itself.
A named record directly reports the claim; we identify the record and leave room for errors in it.
Several records fit together, though a single direct statement may be missing.
Promising evidence; an important link or transcription still needs checking.
A relationship or memory Sandy supplied, identified as such until matched to a record.
Records disagree. Both versions remain visible while we investigate.
A question, candidate, or next step—not an established fact.
What is available now
- Chambers records reviewed by SandyIndiana State Library marriage index for James and Prudence More (1840); Daviess County census household (1860); Cynthia Ann’s death certificate. Findings are described on their profile; record images and full citations still need attaching.
- Silas Chambers grave marker and pension indexWorking images on Silas’s profile; marker transcription under review.
- Smith, Freels & McCoy family-history report, version 4A compiled working narrative. Underlying records will be linked individually after review.
James and Prudence in 1850
Their household has not been located in the 1850 census. Sandy manually searched Baker Township and Brown Township, Martin County, Indiana, without finding it. That does not show where the family was.
Search guide from the 1860 census: James, about 32–33; Prudence, 26–28; Mary Jane, 8; Silas L., 5–6; Cynthia Ann, 1–2. Ages are estimates for a possible household.
Also open: Nanny’s Nelson ancestry, records for James’s parents, matching original records along the Joseph Mart line, and reviewed scans for other branches.
The Silas parent link
The 1860 household places Silas L. with James and Prudence. Cynthia Ann’s death certificate names James and Prudence Moore as her parents, while the 1840 marriage index names James and Prudence More. Together they strongly support Silas’s parentage. Strongly supported
Keep both readings in view
The 1860 census reports Indiana for Prudence and Cynthia Ann. Cynthia’s death certificate reports Tennessee for both. The marriage index spells Prudence’s surname More; Cynthia’s death certificate uses Moore. We preserve each record’s wording rather than silently choosing one.
How this conclusion changed
September 2026: Replaced the tentative online-tree connection with a strongly supported James and Prudence → Silas link based on Sandy’s review of the marriage index, 1860 census, and Cynthia’s death certificate. Removed Tennessee as Silas’s established birthplace: the reviewed 1860 census says Indiana. The 1850 search remains open.
Records behind the bridge
- 1910 U.S. census, George W. Smith household: Leanner and grandson William Stirling Smith.
- William Stirling Smith delayed birth certificate: parents John Houston Smith and Arda Freels.
- John Houston Smith’s 1940 Tennessee death certificate: parents George Washington Smith and Leaner V. McCoy; informant Artie.
- Dovie Guthrie Smith Williams’s death certificate: George W. Smith and Lee Anna McCoy.
- George W. Smith’s 1918 death certificate and 1860 census household: Levi Smith and Martha Reed.
These descriptions come from the Version 4 family-history working report. Original scans and repository citations will be attached after each is inspected; this list does not pretend that the report itself is a primary record.