Looking for information on Carroll F Ferguson 1878-1944

Question

I am looking for the parents (my 2nd great grandparents) of Carroll F Ferguson.  (I was told the F is for Frank by a second cousin but I can't confirm that)  The information I have found so far says that Carroll was born January 19, 1878 in Arkansas.  He married Sarah Elizabeth McConnell (aka Elizabeth or Lizzie Ferguson) on June 10, 1900 in Magazine, Arkansas.  I have only found him on two census records in Sabastian County Arkensas, township of Bloomer.   Both Census lists my grandmother Imogene as his daughter.  The 1920 census lists him as C. F. Ferguson.  The 1930 census has him as Carl (?) Ferguson.   Almost all of the family trees (of DNA matches) on ancestry and familysearch has his parents listed as Sterling P. Ferguson and L. Sarah Buce (Bruce) Baxter.   Sterling was born in 1861.  If he is the father of Carroll he would have been 17 at the time of Carroll's birth.  While this is not impossible it is highly unlikely.  His marriage to Sarah didn't happen until 1893 when Carroll was 20 years old.  This leads me to believe that she is not his mother.  I have also found arrest records for both Sterling and Sarah for adultry filed by Sarah's husband (Baxter).  In this arrest record the husband states that Sterling has 2 living wives (not including Sarah).   I have only found one other marriage record for Sterling to a Margaret McEvelyn.  He married her when Carroll was six.  So I don't think she is Carroll's mother either.  And even with all the information I have found on Sterling I can't find any documentation that he is even Carroll's father.   It's like Carroll doesn't exist before his marriage to Sarah Elizabeth McConnell.   I know that Carroll Ferguson and Sarah Elizabeth McConnell are my great grandparents through DNA.   If you have any info on them or point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

Comments

Have you tried to obtain his death cert from the state of Arkansas? All births and deaths are recorded at Dept of Vital Statistics

4815 W Markham St  Little Rock, AR  72205

(501) 661-2134

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Also, here is his WW2 Draft card states he was born jan 19 1879 contact person is Mrs Beulah Ferguson.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J4MF-VNT

and ww1 draft which states born in 1878.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3PB-31P

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https://www.ark.org/doh_dcs/ This site can be used to search and order Arkansas death certificates from 1935-1961....But I couldn't find him. Sometimes they have names spelled wrong.

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Thanks for looking but he was born in 1878.  We tried to get his birth certificate but was told they didn't have any certificates from that time period

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That site is for death date not birth date so he should be pull up if he died in 1944 in Arkansas

Answer 1

Here's the 1910 Census for Carroll:

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKJR-DXD : accessed 19 August 2017), Carol Furgeson, Hurricane, Franklin, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 43, sheet 5B, family 104, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 50; FHL microfilm 1,374,063.

You might also want to take a look at this 1880 Census for Carrol J. Ferguson.  The middle initial is incorrect but it comes from the same county where Carroll lived at the time of his marriage.  Carroll is a fairly unique given name, so this record probably deserves due consideration until it can be eliminated.  From context, it identifies Mollisa (Robbins) Ferguson, a 23-year old widow born in Tennessee  as his mother. Tennessee parentage for Carroll is indicated on later censuses.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW6-88V : 12 August 2017), Carrol J Furgison in household of William H Robbins, Reville, Logan, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 98, sheet 276C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0050; FHL microfilm 1,254,050.

Comments

Thank you I will check this out.

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We tried to get his birth certificate but they didn't have any for that time period.  

It looks like we can connect The Mollissa Robbins from the1880 census to my great grandfather Carroll.

It seems that Sterling P Ferguson is his father.  We found a marriage license for a S P Ferguson and M C Robbins in 1879.  The only thing that remains a mystery is the actual year of birth.  His grave says 1878 yet his parents were married in 1879 and the 1880 census said he was 0 years old.  The other mystery is that the 1880 census says Mollissa (Melissa) is a widow but we have many other documents for Sterling for many years after 1880.

I also found another marriage license for Carroll after his Sarah died.  He married A Bulhla Flynn which explains the contract person on the draft card.

 

Thanks for all the help