Madness Monday - GGrandmother: Ms. Fannie What's Her Name

I haven't forgotten her, not by a long stretch, but decided to take a mini break for awhile and do a bit of reading but I feel the ancestors stirring, again. It's like they really do know time is running out for them, so they keep pushing ever so gently.

Revisiting the 1910 census:

1910 Federal Census - living in Militia Dist. 419, Walton County, Georgia as the wife of Cornelius "PIERCE."M2 Fannie "PIERCE," Mulatto, age 43, married 21 years, M1, mother of 13 children, 8 living, born in Georgia, Father born in Georgia, Mother born in Georgia.

The following children are listed with Fannie and Cornelius

Mary, daughter, age 19, born Georgia

Clara, daughter, age 18, born Georgia

Effie, daughter, age 16, born Georgia

Felton, son, age 13, born Georgia

Carl, son, age 10, born Georgia

Ossie, daughter, age 9, born Gerogia

One thing that I included this time that I didn't previously is that the 1910 census indicates that this is Cornelius' second marriage but Fannie's first. Do I take this "fact" at face value or do I ignore it in light of Fannie's various other surnames? For now, as you can determine from my previous posts, I've decided to ignore it but keep it tucked back.

As a reminder of the all the surnames:

1. White - the surname name handed down by Aunt Evelina Pierce and Aunt Ossie Pierce. Based on the Walton County Marriage Index, it's the name great grandmom used when she married Cornelius. This is the name that appears on Aunt Evelina's death certificate. The informant for Aunt Evelina's death certificate was her husband, Jim Jackson.
2. Henry - the surname handed down by my grandmother, Mary, and this is the name that appears on her death certificate. The informant for my grandmother's death certificate was my grandfather, Lucillous Hosch.
3. Sanford - the Martin cousins knew Fannie as grandmother Sanford. Unfortunately, Aunt Mattie died right on the cusp of Georgia keeping death certificates. Therefore, I've not been able to locate documentation of her death and therefore, any lineage information that may be indicated there.
4. Hilyard / Henyard - the two surnames for Aunt Mattie obtained from the Martin cousins. During our conversation last weekend, cousin Eunice stated that her mother always said Mattie was a Hilyard. Some of the other Martin cousin's (Ovella and Harrison) stated Henyard. Assuming that Aunt Mattie is great grandmother Fannie's child, these are other possible surnames.

What I've been up to since my last post on Fannie.

• Ordered a copy of the death certificate for Claude Durden, my grandmother's cousin, in hope's of determining how they were related. The Durden family, Claude's grandparents and their family, appeared in Walton county on the census about the same time that my great grandparents did. The Durden side of Claude's family is originally from Morgan county.
• Ordered a copy of Roy "JD" Pierce's SSN Application
• Ordered a copy of Aunt Effie's death certificate (what surname did she indicate?)
• Hoping to find out if there are any deeds / mortgage records / probabte records for Cornelius that might also shed light on Fannie. GGranddad Cornelius was in the process of buying his own farm (1910 census indicates he owned his farm and had a mortgage) when he died in May of 1910.
• Ordered a copy of Cornelius and Fannie's marriage certificate (had hope to pick this up in person during my research trip but since I have no idea when I will make it to Georgia, I went ahead and ordered a copy)
• Trying to find out if there is a birth certificate for any of the great uncles. Per their WWI Draft Registration cards, all three indicated they were born in Watkinsville. Last night I discovered that Oconee County has birth records dating back to 1875, so I'm hoping that a birth certificate is available for one or all 3. I decided to start with the middle brother, Willie Felton, and go from there.

Hopefully, responses to my various requests will start coming in this week. Please let there be some snippet of information that finally allows me to break down this seemingly monstrous brick wall. After discovering cousins Eunice and Irene last week, I have a feeling that after all these years, I'm getting close to solving my mysterious / fascinating yet maddening great-grandmother. Then it will be on to the next brick wall.
Until Next Time!