William Walker TERRY Ewart Anthony TERRY Tommy TERRY Sally TERRY Clarice TERRY M Rubin TERRY Ruby TERRY Mini tree diagram

Maris Ida WELLS1,2,3,4,5,6

between 1876 and 18801,2,3,4,5,6 - 23rd Sep 19101,2,5,2

Life History

between 1876 and 1880

Born in Bedias, Grimes, Texas.1,2,3,4,5,6

2nd Jun 1896

Married William Walker TERRY in Texas.1,4

23rd Dec 1897

Birth of son Ewart Anthony TERRY in San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.7,6,3,4,1,8

26th Jul 1899

Birth of daughter Tommy TERRY in San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.1

15th Dec 1900

Birth of daughter Sally TERRY in San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.9,3,1,4

about 1903

Birth of daughter Clarice TERRY in San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.4,3

5th Aug 1904

Birth of daughter Ruby TERRY in Gleeson, Cochise, Arizona.11

5th Aug 1904

Birth of son M Rubin TERRY in Gleeson, Cochise, Arizona.10,1,2

between 1905 and 1910

Divorced from William Walker TERRY in Arizona.4

23rd Sep 1910

Died in Globe, Gila, Arizona.1,2,5,2

Typhoid Fever

25th Sep 1910

Buried in Wells Family Cemetery, Douglas, Cochise, Arizona.2,5

Notes

  • Maris Ida Wells (Hilary Mercer ) was born about 1880 in Bedias, Grimes, Texas. She died on 23 Sep 1910.

    Maris married William Walker Terry on 2 Jun 1896. William was born on 27 Aug 1860 in Murray Co, GA. He died on 21 Feb 1919. He was buried in Wells Cemetery.

    They had the following children:
    M Rube Terry was born about 1905 in Gleeson, AZ. He died about 1950.
    F Sally Terry was born on 15 Dec 1900 in San Angelo, TX. She died about Jul 1970.
    M Tommy Terry was born on 26 Jul 1899 in San Angelo, TX. He died on 20 Jun 1977.
    M Ewart Anthony Terry was born about 1897 in San Angelo, TX. He died about Jul 1930.
    --  The Wells Gazette, http://wellsgazette.com/familygen/pafg02.htm#7

    There are several other children reported in the censuses.  Also Maris is always reported as Ida.  The children reported here before Ewart/Evart are the children of Lola Montez Clements, reported by other genealogies related to that lineage.

    1900 Federal Census, Tom Green County, Texas, 1 June, San Angelo, District 160, page 1A, Hse/Fam #8
    Terry, William Head W M Aug 1862 37 Married 10 yrs GA GA GA Day Laborer Owns
    Terry, Ida Wife W F  May  1866 34 Married 10 yrs 5 children/5 living TX TX TX
    Terry, Clarence Son W M May 1891 9 Single TX GA TX
    Terry, Allen Son W M Jan 1893 7 Single TX GA TX
    Terry, Delma Dau W F Mch 1895 5 Single TX GA TX
    Terry, Evart Son W M Feb 1897 3 Single TX GA TX
    Terry, Tomy Dau W F Feb 1898 2 Single TX GA TX

    This 1900 census says Ida is 34 years old and was born in 1866.  But her grave says she was born in 1880.  Her age reported in the 1910 census (see two records below) give her age as 32 and 34 again.  This would make her born in 1876 or 1878, which is closer to the birth year on her gravestone.  All this seems to indicate that the enumerator in 1900 somehow misunderstood Ida's age.  He probably worked out the birth year from what he thought she said was her age.

    Her date of death is interesting.  The date on her grave is 1920, but note that the Wells genealogy above reports her death date as 23 September 1910.  There is no documentation, and I don't find that date anywhere else.  However, it appears the 1920 date on the gravestone is also wrong, since at William's death in 1919, his son-in-law (also a Wells, reported him as a widower.  I have not found Ida's death certificate.

    In 1910, Ida is re[ported as a divorced head of household, and working as a Gardener in Cochise County, down near the border with both Mexico and New Mexico.  Occupation for the children is reported as None.  Since the twins, the youngest children, were born in 1905, we can say the divorce occurred between 1905 and 1910.

    1910 Federal Census, Cochise County, Arizona, 16 April, Gleeson, District 14, page 2B,  Hse #37, Fam #42
    Terry, Ida Head F W 32 Divorced 6 children/6 living TX TX TX Gardener
    Terry, Evert [Everett] Son M W 12 TX TX TX
    Terry, Tommy  Son M W 10 TX TX TX
    Terry, Sallie Dau F W 8 TX TX TX
    Terry, Claris Dau F W 7 TX TX TX
    Terry, Rube  Son M W 5 AZ TX TX
    Terry, Rubie Dau F W 5 AZ TX TX

    Note that the children are all reported as born in Texas and except Rube and Rubie.  This matches previous reports for Evert (Ewert?), Tomy (Tommy) and Sallie in the 1900 census.  But their father was born in Georgia and so reported in the 1900 census.  This is a common enumerator error we find a lot.

    There are some more important and difficult discrepancies in this 1910 census.  Ida is reported as 32 in 1910, while she was already 34 in 1900.  She should be around 42-44 in 1910.  It appears it was the 1900 census that was in error.

    The 1900 census reported she had borne 5 children, and in 1910 the number was only 6.  But in the 1910 census by age and name there are 4 new children that were born after the 1900 census.  That would make 9 children.  This could easily be an enumerator error.  Each census just reports the total number currently in the household and reports that none have died.

    In the 1910 census, there is no girl child matching Tomy's age, which should be about 12, possibly 11.  The 1900 census is notoriously wrong on the year of birth, usually a year early.  (The errors we find seem to indicate that the common procedure was to ask how old the child was, then what month was their birthday, then do the math, usually incorrectly, not accounting for the census date.)  In birth order of the children, Tommy (son and Male) matches Tomy (daughter and female) in 1900.

    But there is more.

    Tommy's birth date is reported in the Wells genealogy as 26 Jul 1899, which means he/she should have shown up in the 1900 census.  This supports the idea that Tomy and Tommy are the same individual despite the different in reported sex and relationship.  But the 1900 census reported Tomy (dau female) as 2 years old with a birth date of Feb 1898!  Since the month is different as well as the year, this error is hard to account for.

    But if the family is correct about the son Tommy's birth date, he would have to be in the 1900 census.  So it looks like the simplest overall solution is to consider Tomy (daughter and female born Feb 1898) as the same person as Tommy (son male born July 1899), despite the great discrepancy.

    But even then that is not the end of the story!

    There is another whole enumeration of this family for 1910.  Ida and her children were also enumerated in the Gila County near the center of the state.  All the children and their ages match.  But in this one Tommy is age 10 and is reported as a daughter and female!  Also here Ida is the Head of the home, with no husband reported, but she is reported as married for 13 years, not divorced as in the Cochise County report.  They must have been in the process of moving, but someone from the family had to be in each residence to make a report.  Note that in the Gila County report no one in the household has any occupation.

    At least one genealogy has an adult photo of Tommy, a woman.  The Wells genealogy above has simply referenced the erroneous 1910 census without benefit of the other correct records.

    1910 Federal Census, Gila County, Arizona Territory, 16 April, Globe, District 34, page 4A,  250 Bullion St, Hse #61, Fam #67
    Terry, Ida M Head F W 34 Married 13 years 6 children/6 living TX TX TX No Occupation
    Terry, Ewert Son M W 12 TX GA TX
    Terry, Tommy  Dau F W 10 TX GA TX
    Terry, Sally Dau F W 8 TX GA TX
    Terry, Clarice Dau F W 7 TX GA TX
    Terry, Rubin  Son M W 5 AZ GA TX
    Terry, Ruby Dau F W 5 AZ GA TX

    In this record, the name of the first son looks more like Ewert.  Because the loops are so full, it was read as Ernest by the Ancestry transcriber.  Because of the heavy loops and format of the letters, it is understandable why the name could look like Ernest.  In all the other records I have seen, including his signature on the WWI registration, it has appeared that the E is not connected to the next letter and there is only an upstroke as in a V.  Here there appears to be continuous movement and looks more like Ewert.

    This census says Ida (and her unreported spouse) have been married 13 years.  This matches the reported marriage date of 2 Jun 1896 in the genealogy above.  However,this does not account for the three older children in the 1900 Texas census.  These are the chidlren of Lola Clements, William's first wife.  I have seen no record and no reference in any of the genealogies of a first wife.

    One genealogy reports with no documentation that Ida died at the age of 30 of Typhoid.  This would match the date of death reported in the Wells genealogy above, and many othe family geneamlogeis.

    Maris Ida Wells Terry
    Birth 1880
    Death 1920
    Children: Sallie Terry Jones (1900 - 1970)
    Burial Wells Family Cemetery, Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona
    Plot: Row 3 plot 87
    Created by plyce Nov 06, 2008
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #31192376, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31192376

    Her death certificate reports her as married, not divorced.

    Arizona Death Certificate
    Mrs Ida Terry
    Married White Male
    Birth date and place Unknown, age 32 [abt 1878]
    Death September 23 1910 County Hospital, Globe, Gila County, Arizona
    Length of residence Not Reported
    Previous residence Not Reported
    Cause of Death Typhoid Fever
    Occupation Housewife
    Name and place of birth of parents Unknown
    Informant F L Jones, Globe
    Burial 25 Sept 1910 by F L Jones Gleason [sic], Arizona
    Filed 1 October 1910

    Note that the certificate reports the "Place of burial or removal" as Gleeson (spelled Gleason here), which is down in the southeast in Cochise County, where they previously lived.  She was buried in the Wells Family Cemetery at Lee Station, outside of Douglas, in Cochise County.

    As the death certificate indicates, though they actually lived near Douglas, and the cemetry is outside Douglas at Lee Station, Gleeson is still the town asosciated with the family.  This was a mining town that has become a ghost town.

    ------------------
    Gleeson, Arizona

    Gleeson is a ghost town southeastern Arizona's Cochise County. The town was first settled as Turquoise in the 1870s in what was then the Arizona Territory, then later re-established as Gleeson in 1900.

    History
    The area was initially settled as a mining camp called Turquoise after the mineral which had been mined by Native Americans in the area. The Turquoise post office was established on October 22, 1890, and lasted only a few years until September 17, 1894. When local miner John Gleeson registered a copper claim and opened the Copper Belle Mine, the town of Gleeson was created just downhill from the old site of Turquoise. Silver Bill, Pejon and Defiance were some of the other mines that followed in the surrounding areas.

    The Gleeson post office, established on October 15, 1900,[4] supported a town of about 500 people engaged primarily in copper mining, including veins of lead, silver and zinc.

    In 1912 a fire consumed 28 buildings and the town was rebuilt.

    Copper production boomed to supply demand World War I. The mines played out by the 1930s and eventually the Gleeson post office closed on March 31, 1939.

    Remnants
    Though several families still live on the site, Gleeson is, by all measures, a ghost town, with the only commercial venture appearing to be a rattlesnake products store. Visitors can find the ruins of a hospital, a saloon, a jail, the foundation of the village school and evidence of the extensive mining in the surrounding hills near town. The Gleeson cemetery is west of the town on the road to Tombstone.
    --  "Gleeson, Arizona," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleeson,_Arizona
    ---------------

Sources

  • 1. The Wells Gazette
    • http://wellsgazette.com/familygen/pafg02.htm#7
  • 2. Arizona Death Certificate
  • 3. 1910 Federal Census, Cochise County, Arizona
    • 16 April, Gleeson, District 14, page 2B,  Hse #37, Fam #42
  • 4. 1910 Federal Census, Gila County, Arizona Territory
    • 16 April, Globe, District 34, page 4A,  250 Bullion St, Hse #61, Fam #67
  • 5. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
    • Memorial #31192376, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31192376
  • 6. 1900 Federal Census, Tom Green County, Texas
    • 1 June, San Angelo, District 160, page 1A, Hse/Fam #8
  • 7. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
  • 8. Ancestry Trees
  • 9. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
    • Memorial #50584691, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=50584691
  • 10. 1930 Federal Census, Los Angeles County, California
    • 21 April, Los Angeles Ward 1, District 291, 19B, 401 21st St, Hse #321, Fam #365
  • 11. California, Death Index, 1940-1997

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