52 Ancestors - CHALLENGING: Those Pesky Slades

Slade Research, Why do I hate thee?

Let me count the ways:

1. The Slades of Georgia and Florida did not leave much of a paper trail. No death records. Certainly no birth records. Even a professional genealogist that I hired in Florida found precious little.

2. The Stephen Slade households of 1850, 1860 and 1870 are a mess making it nearly impossible to trace forward.

• Only Stephen and supposed daughter Julia remain consistent.
• Are Mary and Margaret the same person? Surely Margaret and Peggy are, despite the illogical difference in age from one census to the next.
• Were James and Mary Stephen’s children or perhaps his siblings or other relation? Mary was too young to be their mother, that is, if her age was recorded correctly.
• Peter and Pilester? Male OR female? Same? Different? I can find NO Peter Slade OR Pilester after their initial appearances. And what kind of name is Pilester, anyway?
• Cabel was possibly Louiza and back to Cabel, from Male to Female and back to Male. However, there is a marriage record for Cabel Slade and Charles Ross, suggesting she was female all along. Then there is the sale of land by Julia Slade and Emma C. Ross. Emma Cabel Slade Ross? Emma Cabel Louiza Slade Ross? What the heck???
• And what happened to the others? I don’t see them after the initial entry either.

3. My recent Slades are not SLADE at all. Three PERFECT matches and one genetic distance of 1 say they are CALHOUN. I never know where to put my research time. Should I concentrate on the Slades?  They were the legal family after all. Besides, it’s possible the oops-gotcha son might never have known the truth. Or should I concentrate on the Calhouns since that is where the DNA came from? If so, where do I begin since none of my matches seem to know which Slade woman and which Calhoun man (although I THINK I know).

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - UNUSUAL NAME: Cabell Slade

According to census records in Florida, Cabel or Cabell Slade is either my second great grandaunt or second great granduncle. 

Yeah.

In the 1850 Madison County census and 1870 Lafayette County census, Cabel is listed as a male. 

 

1850 Federal Census Madison County, Florida  

1870 Federal Census Lafayette County, Florida

However, in 1874, there is a marriage record in Lafayette County for Miss Cabel Slade and Charles A. Ross. 

State of Florida

Lafayette County

To a legal authorized minister of the Gospel, Justis of the Peace or Judge of account.

Greeting

These are therefor to authorize and permit you to solemnize the writes of matrimony between Charles A. Ross and Miss Cabel Slade and make a return to my office within 10 days Then bering no seal of office I have hereunto set my hand & [Privat?] seal this December 23^rd AD 1874.

R. P. Langston

Clerk of Court

State of Florida

Lafayette County

I hereby cerify that I have this day executed the above License this December 25^th AD 1874.

Z Bees

M [Minister] Gospel

Recorded December 28^th 1874

Lafayette County, Florida, Circuit Court, Marriage Record Book A: 1857-1874, Cabel Slade, Marriage License; Florida State Archives, Tallahassee; microfilm 152-MF002

  

When the census taker came around, did Stephen and his wife SAY Cabell was a male or did the census taker just assume so? 

And what about 1860?  No Cabell is mentioned.  However, there is a Louiza who is the same age as Cabell would have been, but no Louiza in 1850 or 1870.  Was Cabell really Cabell Louiza Slade or Louiza Cabell Slade?  

It’s possible.

Or so I thought until the sale of Stephen Slade’s land in Lafayette County in 1885. The sellers were Julia Slade and Emma C. Ross. It seems probable that the “C” stood for Cabell.

Whatever Cabell’s story is, she seems doomed to obscurity. What I have said here is ALL I know. One would think with a marriage in 1874, there would be census records at the very least to add. Alas, not even in 1880.

With a common, NORMAL, acceptable and sensible name like “Emma,” how did the Slades come up with a name like “Cabell” for a sweet baby girl born in 1848? I do not have an answer, but I did a little research on the name. Several sources say it was a French name meaning “rope.” Historically it was a boy’s name that reached its popularity around 1915 and has been declining ever since - no blips, no short resurgence of popularity, just a straight line to its new low.

I had to click on A LOT of baby name websites even to find “Cabell” as a girl’s name. There is very little information except a speculation that it is a variation of “Campbell,” a fine Scottish name. Hmm - maybe there is a clue to the Slade family heritage. Slades were supposedly Welsh, but without a maiden name for Stephen’s wife Margaret, I do not know the full story.

The name “Cabell” was strange-sounding to me, a new name I had never heard of. How did the writers of the television show “Bull” come up with the name “Cabel” for the character Cabel McCrory, the resident computer expert played by Annabelle Attanasio? Despite being written out of the show, will her popularity spark a new wave of little Cabells dressed in pink?

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.