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Mitchum genealogy - North Carolina. Brick walls.?
Have been looking for death certificate on Ancestry.com for a James Wesley Mitchum. Born 11 January, 1836 and died 19 January, 1915. Buried in Greenview Cemetery, Reidville, Rockingham County, NC. Burial record is on Findagrave.com. Married Sarah Elizabeth Childress (Born 18 September 1846, died 19 September 1941). Sarah's findagrave memorial posted by someone else states she died 19 September 1939, but her death certificate says 1941. I know that NC had death certificates in 1915 but cannot find James' at all. Have searched the Mitchum name in every spelling I can come up with. Also, have searched under Nicholas Mitchum. For some reason, all the census records list him as Nicholas W. Mitchum, but Sarah's death cert lists her husband as James Wesley Mitchum, as well as that of a couple of their kids. I know that Nicholas and James are the same person although I do not know why the name discrepancy. In any event, I cannot find James death cert on Ancestry. Anyone else with an Ancestry account that can provide a second set of eyes searching may have better luck than me and find it. Please post the link if you can find his death cert.
Thanks Ancestor....I think his is one they missed when indexing. I had noticed the name issue on Sarah's death cert. Other records indicate her father was James Henry Childress, not James Wesley as indicated on her cert. However, I have located death cert for one of Sarah and Jame's daughters and that child's death cert also lists her father's name as James Wesley Mitchum and mother was Sarah Elizabeth Childress. That child was Mary Jane Mitchum Nance (hubby's g-g-aunt. He remembers her and verifies that was her full name). Having 2 death certs (wife and child) and a grave which all lists his name as James Wesley kinda sinches it as his name, but all census records say Nicholas. Logically, one would assume I have the wrong family on census records. But I know I do not. All other info matches up for each census year. Mary Jane's death cert at this link:
2 Answers
- ancestorseekerLv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
I can't find him either but a clue as to why Sarah's husband's name is listed as "James Wesley" and not Nicholas Mitchum is looking at father's name. It too is listed as "James Wesley" Childress. Either the informant had a lapse of memory or the person filling out certificate wrote it wrong.
Ancestry's databases and indexes are not complete, they "miss" people all the time. Contact the cemetery as they have to have a copy of at least a burial permit and who the funeral home was. Also the county may still have the death certificate.
I looked at all the people indexed by Ancestry that died January 1915 and still no one that can be Nicholas Mitchum. With a son named Nicodemas, you might look at this first name for his father too. Try doing a search for Nic* Mitchum and soundex to cover most spellings of either name.
Looks like son George filed a WWII Draft Registration Card in Pittsylvania, VA 1917. He stated wife death and has one child to support. Could be Nicholas died in VA. 1920 George A Mitchum is remarried and still living in VA (Danville, independent city) with mother Sarah and daughter Carrie O born in VA who is age 5, not 25 as Ancestry's index has so 1915 so Nicholas could have died while visiting his son George in VA to see new born granddaughter or help with her if mother died at birth.
Source(s): Ancestry - 5 years ago
The basic rule in genealogy research is that you move from the known to the unknown. First off, pose a question to yourself that sums up ONE piece of information that you would like to obtain. Such as: what is the parentage of [names of the siblings you mention in your question]. Write down everything you know about them - all the known facts. Even tiny things that you think are not important. Family tradition too - because though it is usually fraught with errors (like a game of 'telephone') there is often a grain of truth in there somewhere (again like 'telephone'). As others have said, you are probably now going to need more than stuff on the internet. As we do not know what time period or national origins or anything about these ancestors, it is hard to help you in a more specific way. But you will need archival records - land records, wills, probate, census maybe - basically things that link the members of families together. You will be looking at researching the family as a whole, rather than one ancestor in a lineal sense, because it is through the web of known proven connections betweeen people that you will place your ancestors in a family group with their parents. And if we are talking about 17th century immigrants from England or the Netherlands - well, you might not be able to make the leap at all, not with any certainty. Some 'gateway' ancestors are well documented and some have rather dubious and unproven connections to people with similar names in their home country (I know, because I have plenty of ancestors like this!) Best of luck and do give us some more details if you would like more specific help.