Mabel GILBERT Benjamin Franklin CHRISTIAN Charity MORRIS Mini tree diagram
Caroline Mabel GILBERT

Caroline Mabel GILBERT1,2,3

about 18201,2 - before 18641,2

Life History

about 1820

Born in Pennsylvania.1,2

21st Nov 1839

Married Benjamin Franklin CHRISTIAN in Montgomery County, Tennessee.2,4,5,4,3

before 1864

Died in Texas.1,2

Notes

  • Sources that appear to be for the same Benjamin Franklin Christian report birth date around 1817 or 1818.

    Montgomery County, Tennessee, Marriage Index, 1799-1953
    Christian B F
    Caroline Carr (name usually found as maiden name Caroline Gilbert)
    Solemnized by John Cooke, JP
    Married 21 November 1839
    Recorded Montgomery County Marriage Book, p 17

    In 1870 B F and his wife C M are living near his parents James W and Louisa in Fannin County, Texas.

    1860 Federal Census, Fannin County, Texas, 19 June, Beat 1, P O Bonham, p 32, Hse #219, Fam #221
    B F  Christian 43 M Farmer $4500 Real Estate Value $522 Personal Estate b Tenn [b abt 1817]
    C M Christian 40 F b Pennsylvania [b abt 1820]

    It seems that C M's maiden name was Gilbert.  Another researcher had found the name C M Gilbert as the wife of Joseph Benjamin Christian, who seems to be B F's son.  Some genealogies have confused Joseph Benjamin Christian Sr with his father Benjamin Franklin Christian.  The details may still lead to further clarification, but right now it appears that is the scenario.  Dates and relationships do not match otherwise.  This is a line of enquiry that should be followed.

    "My investigation has identified Benjamin Franklin Christian. first wife (CM) as Caroline Mabel Gilbert (1820 PA - 1863 TX)."
    --  Loyd Keith Farris, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 10 March 2017

    A couple of genealogies have the marriage connection for B F and this Caroline Mabel Gilbert, but the records they attach are uncertain concerning Caroline's identity.  A marriage record in Tennessee is attached in some genealogies for a marriage of a B F Christian and a Caroline Carr. These genealogies identify this Caroline Carr as originally Caroline Mabel Gilbert, born in Pennsylvania, which matches the wife of B F Christian in Fannin County in 1860.

    But our B F Christian in Fannin County, is reported born in Texas, rather than Tennessee, where his parents were from.  Birth states are often wrong in the censuses, so this is not definitive.  But other factors make this a difficult match, so this Tennessee marriage couple may be a different couple than we are looking for.

    But the marriage year 1839 was my first cause for concern, since other factors indicate that Joseph Benjamin Christian was born about 1835. I need to keep looking further for our B F Christian and his wife CM, who may indeed be Caroline Mabel Gilbert.  There are still many gaps and details needed to fully reconstruct the lives of these individuals.

    Another record for a Caroline Carr who may be the same person, was reported in the records of the Quaker community in Buckinghamshire, Pennsylvania, where she died. That Caroline Carr died in 1865, while the same genealogies report that our Caroline Gilbert Christian died in 1863.

    All these factors would indicate that the Caroline Carr in Pennsylvania was a probably different person from the Caroline Carr in the Quaker records, unless she went back there at some point and where she died in Pennsylvania.  But this does not seem to connect with anyone who moved to Texas.  It seems likely a simple name association, rather than a continuity of identity.

    B F (Benjamin Franklin) was a common name in the Christian line(s) we run into, like the B F and Lavinia in Atchison, Missouri, who were also originally from Tennessee, but lived and died in Missouri, where they are buried.

Sources

  • 1. 1860 Federal Census, Fannin County, Texas
    • 19 June, Beat 1, P O Bonham, p 32, Hse #219, Fam #221
  • 2. Ancestry Messaging
  • 3. Montgomery County, Tennessee, Marriage Index, 1799-1953
  • 4. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • 5. 1850 Federal Census Upshur District, Texas
    • 24 December, Agriculture Schedule, page 819

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