Gathering Giddens: John Giddens, a Planter in North Carolina

This land transaction shows the only record of John's occupation, a planter. [1]

I first started researching the Giddens family in 1998. My mother's mother, Edith Giddens, was a descendant of Mitchell Giddens, the youngest son of John Giddens and his wife, Sarah.  

Much documented and undocumented information is found when searching for John Giddens on genealogy websites. In this post, I will highlight some of the conflicts and some of the many documents that tell about John and his family.

 

John Giddens vs. John Jacob Giddens

When John died in 1802, he had at least 1000 acres of land and a large inventory of other items, as well as a wife and eight children.[2] John's name can be found in many records both before and after his death. In all records I have seen, his name is written with no middle name or initial. 

Sometime in the last decade, his name began to appear as John Jacob Giddens in family trees at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, and other sites. In October 2021, there were 162 trees at Ancestry for this John Giddens, father of Mitchell and other children. John Giddens is his name in 90 trees and John Jacob Giddens in 72 trees. In those 72 trees, there were no documents showing that his name was John Jacob Giddens.[3] 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #46: Peter aka Perry Melvin Hairston, son of Samuel B. Hairston

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

As I researched this Hairston family, I wondered how much contact they had with family spread throughout Texas. 

I loved the fact that I found Mollie Hairston White visiting her brother, Peter "Perry" M. Hairston. However, found that it was sad that the visit was the first in almost 25 years. 

Peter was the youngest child of Samuel B. Hairston and Matilda Glasgow, born August 21, 1870 in Alabama. In 1912, Mollie had not seen her 41 year old brother since he was in his late teens. 

No Story Too Small

On the 1880 United States Census, ten year old Peter was living in Bloomingdale, Chambers County, Alabama with his parents, Samuel and Matilda, and his brothers, Edd and Jim. Older siblings were living with their young families. 

I did not find Peter again until 1910 in Vernon, Texas where he was a laborer doing odd jobs. His family consisted of his wife Lila and two daughters, Ella and Anna. 

The newspaper article above indicates that Peter was living in Spur in 1912, but by 1916, he was living and working as a laborer in Fort Worth. In 1918, Peter was found in Dallas where he would spend the next 10 years living with his family. Peter sometimes worked as a cemetery caretaker and Lila as a seamstress. Two more daughters were born in the 1920s - Vivian LaVerne and Evelyn Irene. 

By 1928, Peter and his family were living in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas and all found records indicate that Peter and his wife remained in that city.  

In 1940, the household consisted of Peter and Lila, three of four daughters, and three grandchildren. Ella Hairston Fox was living in the home with her daughter, Lila Geraldine, and Annie Hairston Kline was living in the home with her daughters, Janice Ann and Carolyn Joy. Fifteen year old Evelyn was living in the home, but sister, Vivian LaVerne was not found. Sometime around 1940, Vivian married Fred Arthur Thetford. 

Peter died at age 82 on January 22, 1953. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery along with Lila who died in 1969. 

Diana

© 2014

Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

White, Frank E., editor. The Crosbyton Review. (Crosbyton, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 18, 1912, Newspaper, April 18, 1912; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth242278/ : accessed December 13, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Crosby County Public Library, Crosbyton, Texas.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Bloomingdale, Chambers, Alabama; Roll: 5; Family History Film: 1254005; Page: 240D; Enumeration District: 178

Year: 1910; Census Place: Vernon, Wilbarger, Texas; Roll: T624_1597; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0237; FHL microfilm: 1375610

Year: 1920; Census Place: Dallas Precinct 19, Dallas, Texas; Roll: T625_1792; Page: 25A; Enumeration District: 36; Image: 535

Year: 1930; Census Place: Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas; Roll: 2392; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0003; Image: 170.0; FHL microfilm: 2342126

Year: 1940; Census Place: Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas; Roll: T627_4184; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 257-6