Mary E. Akin (1841 - abt. 1860)

Born 30 Sep 1841 in Alabama [uncertain]

Wife of Felix W. York — married 22 Mar 1855 in Jackson County, Arkansas

Descendants

Died about 1860 at about age 18 in Jackson, Arkansas, United States [uncertain]

Biography

Mary was born 30 Sep 1841, according to her marriage record. She married Felix W. York in Jackson County, Arkansas, on 22 Mar 1855^[1]. They were the parents of one son, James William York.

Her grandson Daniel Carroll York stated that Mary died when James William was about two years old, which was in 1860. It appears that she was still living at the time of the 1860 census, although the entry for what is probably this family is rather problematic, for several reasons. The census date for that year was June 1, although the area in which they lived was not visited until August. According to census rules, anyone who was living in a given household on the "Census Day" was to be listed, even if he had moved or died. Anyone not living in a household after the census date was not to be listed, including a baby born June 2 or after, or anyone joining the household on or after that date, no matter how late the census might actually be taken for the area. Were the census rules always strictly adhered to, this would mean that Mary could have died any time from June 2, on. We all know, however, that the rules were quite frequently ignored, which highly increases the odds that she was still living as of 10 Aug 1860.

That is if family #1106 is indeed Felix, Mary, and James William. On the one hand, family #1106 is listed shortly after Felix's brother William Carroll York, his wife, Martha Stegall, and some of her siblings and cousins. It was William Carroll and Martha who took James William in and raised him as their own when he was orphaned at the age of five. Martha may well have been the one to care for him from his mother's death on, particularly after war began the following year, and both William Carroll and Felix W. left to serve, with Felix never to return. Several other families on this same census page are connected in some way to the York and/or Stegall families. So it seems quite logical that Felix, Mary, and James William would be family #1106.

On the other hand, the census reads as follows: P York 25 NC Mary (or May) " 22 NC William " 3 Ark

This presents several possible problems. The initial "P" is a relatively small issue, since "Phelix" is a valid, if uncommon, spelling for the name usually spelled as "Felix". There were actually at least a couple of men in Jackson county at the time who did spell their name "Phelix". The age, 25, is a year off, but that's not bad for the census! Although the wife's name is sometimes transcribed or indexed as "Mary", which of course is what I think it should read, it does appear to me to read "May", instead. And if Mary and Felix's marriage record is correct, she would have been only 18 at the time, but still, not the worst age-related error ever found on a census record! William (the name by which James William most often was found in various records) would have turned two years only six days before the day of the census visit, but again, one year off - even for a child - is not at all unusual.

The biggest problem here is the "NC" birthplace given for both husband and wife. D. C. York was unsure whether his grandfather was born in Alabama, before the family moved to Arkansas, or in Arkansas, after the move. The 1850 census states Felix was born in Alabama, and that fits with other family information found, even though there does not seem to be any other record that gives a birthplace at all. But it is almost certain that he could not have been born in North Carolina. Very little information has been found about Mary, and nothing has been found that gives a birthplace for her, other than possibly this.

Sources

1. ↑ "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NMPR-29N : accessed 21 Dec 2012), Felix W York and Mary E Akin, 1855.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89048793 : accessed 31 March 2021), memorial page for Mary E. Akin York (30 Sep 1841–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial no. 89048793, ; Maintained by Karla York Nelson (contributor 47342344) Unknown.