Life History

Notes

• Christian Family Provenance
  
  Details are unclear on the first husband of Louisa Taylor, who married a Christian.  She had a son named Joseph B Christian, and it seems likely her husband was named the same.  Harold Keith Christian did the first thorough research on this family in the 1970s and 1980s.
  
  "The Hinds County, Mississippi, 1850 Slave Census enumerates a Joseph B. Christian who could be Louisa's first husband. For some reason his family was not enumerated in the regular 1850 census for that county, however. Hinds County was near Yazoo and Attala counties, where a number of Taylors, Jenkins and Days lived in the 1840-1950 time period."
  --  Jenkins Family History by Harold Keith Christian Online, p 9, http://objgenealogy.com/articles/josephsanfordjenkinshistory.pdf
  
  Harold Christian did not discover the parents of Joseph Benjamin Christian form Hinds County, Mississippi.  He must be kin to all the other Christians living along the trail from Tennessee to east Texas, some of whom also moved to Oklahoma Territory or Indian Territory around the same time.  Joseph and Louisa Christian's son Joseph Benjamin married Catherine Smith, sister of the first wife of Joseph Asa Jenkins, Hester Smith.
  
  No entries have been found for Joseph B Christian in the tax rolls of Cass County, though there are many records for the Jenkins family in the county.  Louisa is listed in a couple of records as Louisa (or L) Jenkins, after the time of her marriage to widower Joseph Sanford Jenkins in 1872.
  
  One might expect to find one or two for her as Louisa Christian, after her husband's death, but none have come to light.  The name Joseph Christian is common and occurs in many instances in various locations but none definitively refer to J B Christian who married Louisa Taylor and lived in Cass County.
  
  There is a city directory entry for a Joseph B Christian in Memphis, Tennessee for 1872.  This directory entry in an 1872 Memphis city directory may be for someone related to Louisa Taylor Christian's husband or son, but could not be for her husband, who died before Louisa's marriage to Joseph Sanford Jenkins in 1872.
  
  U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989, p 76
  Memphis, Tennessee, City Directory, 1872
  Christian Joseph B  cotton clerk Dickinson, Williams & Co  r Walker av
  
  Some other genealogies, such as a Funsten family tree, report that Louisa Taylor Christian's husband was named Benjamin Franklin Christian, and only the son was named Joseph Benjamin.  The dates do not fit, with a generation or more missing.  And none of these genealogies have any discussion or explanation or even notes on the dates provided.  Sourcing is also lacking, so these genealogies are not credible.
  
  But dates match fairly well for Benjamin Franklin Christian to be her husband's father, and her husband and son both named Joseph Benjamin Christian.
  
  One Christian family genealogist made contact in December 2015 to provide Joseph Benjamin Christian's father's name.
  
  "Mineola Christian Battles (1890 - 1972) was my maternal grandmother. Her father was Joseph Benjamin Christian and his father (my second great grandfather) was Benjamin Franklin Christian (1817 - 1870)."
  --  Loyd Keith Farris, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 31 December 2015
  
  The Benjamin Franklin Christian I find with these birth and death dates is reported in numerous genealogies, but has no son named Joseph Benjamin Christian in any of them.  Louisa's son Joseph Benjamin did have a daughter named Mineola, born about 1892.  If this is the same Joseph Benjamin Christian, then his reported daughter Mineola Christian is an additional child to the known Christian children of Louisa (Taylor?) Christian and her husband.
  
  Further cooperative research with Keith in 2017 yielded some resources indicating that  Joseph Benjamin Christian Sr's parents wre Benjamin Franklin Christian and Caroline Mabel Gilbert form Tennessee.
  
  "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
  
  B F's Find a Grave memorial inlcudes his obituary published at the time of his death, which reports he married C M after he moved to Texas in 1844, so she could not be the father of Joseph Benjamin Chrtistian Sr , born about 1835.  This was about 11 years before BF himself came to Texas, but perhaps BF was married earlier and JB was born in Tennessee.  No children or wife bfore C M were mentioned in BF's obituary.
  
  Move to Chickasaw
  
  Louisa's second husband Joseph Sanford Jenkins moved to Chickasaw Nation with his son Joseph Asa and his family about 1890.  J A reported that he moved there with or shortly after Joseph Benjamin Christian Jr.  Joe Christian was married to Catherine Jane Smith, the sister of J A Jenkins' wife Hester Ann Smith.  J A's sister Amanda Lucinda Jenkins had married William James Christian.  These couples moved to Chickasaw Nation around the same time.
  
  J A Jenkins' sister Mary Lydie married Thomas Jefferson Chapel.  They also moved to Chickasaw Nation.  So there was a migration of some Cass County families to Chickasaw Nation around 1885 to 1890.  But Louisa Christian Jenkins is not included in this migration.  No word is heard of her and no record found after the 1880 Cass County census.
  
  The following genealogy article about the Funsten family mentions the Christian family and Louisa Taylor Christian Jenkins.  Only four Christian children of Louisa are mentioned.  The name of Louisa's original husband named Christian, father of the children listed here, is not given.
  
  ---------------------------------
  MRS. G. FUNSTEN Bilbrey, Rt. 2, 824 N. 5th, Frederick, Okla. 73542, is re … [a line of text was left out of the printed article], born 1827, Louisiana and married first, Nancy (maiden name unknown), born South Carolina. Their children, all born in Cass County, Texas, were David, Laura, George, John and Robert.  His second marriage was to Frances Elizabeth Christian in 1877.  They had six children and he disappeared in 1889.
  
  The Christians [sic] children included Joseph Benjamin, Frances Elizabeth, Lucinda and Emily, all born in Cass County between 1854 and 1862.  Joseph Benjamin married Catherine Smith; Lucinda, Larkin Dycus; and Emily, Jason Forsyth.
  
  Their mother, Louisa, married a second time, J. S. Jenkins, March 7, 1872, and had one son, Henry.  After her death in 1900, Joseph Benjamin Christian sold the family farm to Lonzo Hicks.  Family tradition states that there is a lineage connection to the Hensley family but this has not been proven.
  --  Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 August 1971, p 9G
  ---------------------------------
  
  This reference to her death in 1900 is very interesting.  The family has no definite information on a date of death and has found no grave or documentation of her death.  The date in 1900 is especially intriguing since, in about 1890, her husband Joseph Sanford Jenkins moved to Indian Territory with his son Joseph Asa.  That story includes no information about Louisa.  Joseph himself died near Marlow and was buried there in 1893, just three years after moving into Chickasaw Nation.  There is no record for Loiuisa after the 1880 census in Cass County, Texas.
  
  Joseph Sanford Jenkins' farm was next to Louisa Christian's farm when both their spouses died.  They married but kept their separate farms and households.  It is thought that Joseph sold the Jenkins farm before moving to Indian Territory in about 1890, with his son Joseph Asa and Louisa's son Joseph Benjamin Christian and others.  Perhaps Louisa chose to remain on the Christian homestead instead of moving to new territory with her husband.
  
  However, if Louisa did in fact stay in Cass County, when her son Joseph Benjamin Christian and second husband left, that would mean that her son had to travel back to Cass County to handle the sale of her farm about 10 years later.  Why would Louisa have stayed behind?  On the other hand, it is likely that the year is vaguely remembered.  We know from other sources that the Jenkins-Christian families moved to Chickasaw Nation in 1890 or very close to that.  Joseph Sanford Jenkins died in Marlow, Chickasaw Nation, on the Chisholm Trail, in 1893.
  
  ---------------
  Joseph Benjamin Christian
  Birth abt 1835 Tennessee, USA
  Death abt 1870 Cass County, Texas, USA
  
  Few details are known about Joseph B Christian. Even his parents are uncertain, although there are other apparently related Christian families in the Cass County, Texas area and nearby counties, no clear connection of Joseph has been made.
  
  No birth record or census record has been found, but it appears from other family information he was born about 1835, and died some time before 1872, when his wife Louisa Taylor Christian married again.
  
  The family has not been found in the 1860 or 1870 census. It is estimated he and Louisa married about 1853, based on the birth date of their first child Frances Elizabeth on 7 July 1854.
  
  No death or burial record has been found. Many people in that era were buried on the family land, with no official report in government records. Their farm was in Cass County, near Bryans Mill. Joseph and Louisa's children were born on this farm.
  
  His wife Louisa continued to live on the farm. Louisa maintained the farm and the residence for her children, even after she married farming neighbor, widower J S Jenkins.
  
  Burial Non-Cemetery Burial
  Thought to be buried on the Christian family farm, near Bryans Mill, Cass County, Texas. No death or burial record has been found.
  
  Created by Orville Jenkins Jul 04, 2015, Revised 12 July 2016
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #148648476, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=148648476
  ---------------
  

Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 2. Various Sources
• 3. Texas, Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2011
• 4. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
  • Memphis, Tennessee, City Directory, 1872, p 76
• 5. Various Jenkins Family Sources
• 6. Jenkins Family History by Harold Keith Christian
• 7. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• 8. 1880 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas
  • 16 June, Precinct 3, District 12, page 17 (scan 128A), Hse/Family #143
• 9. 1910 Federal Census, Wichita County, Texas
  • 6 May, Justice Precinct 3, District 233, page 11A, Hse/Fam #148
• 10. Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
• 11. 1880 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas
  • 17 June, Justice Precinct 3, District 12, page 20, Hse/Fam #172
• 12. 1930 Federal Census, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma
  • 10 April, Kiowa Township, District 32, page 7A, Hse/Fam #120
• 13. 1920 Federal Census, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma
  • 31 January, Kiowa Township, District 199, page 18B, Hse #350, Fam #357
• 14. Ancestry Trees
  • Christian and related, http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=*v70t0775&id=I08258
• 15. 1900 Federal Census, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory
  • 2 July, Marlow Town, District 164, page 18A, Hse #326, Fam #329
• 16. 1880 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas
  • 9 July, Precinct 3, District 12, page 55 (scan 147C), Hse/Fam #526
• 17. 1920 Federal Census, Bowie County, Texas
  • 19 January, Dalby Springs, District 21, page 2B, Hse/Fam #38
• 18. 1910 Federal Census, Bowie County, Texas
  • 18 April, Precinct 4, District 19, page 2A, Hse/Fam #23
• 19. 1940 Federal Census, Bowie County, Texas
  • 24 April, Justice Precinct 7, District 19-37, page 15B, Hse #268, Owns $400
• 20. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
• 21. 1930 Federal Census, Bowie County, Texas
  • 14 April, Justice Precinct 7, District 33, page 9A, Dalby Springs and County Line, Hse #175, Fam #185