Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Cluster Genealogy

 

Hector Davis (1842-1925) & Lucy Milam Davis (1846-1927)

In genealogy research, cluster genealogy is a technique that has proven to yield great results. This technique involves researching beyond your core family or your direct ancestors. Cluster genealogy entails researching the community where they resided, especially their immediate neighbors. This is also known as researching an ancestor’s F.A.N. Club. F.A.N. stands for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. This methodology has helped me tremendously throughout my research. I will demonstrate one of my cluster genealogy cases that involved my great great grandparents, Hector & Lucy Davis.

Let’s take a look at the 1910 Panola County, Mississippi census page (transcribed below) that contained Grandpa Hector and Grandma Lucy. Immediately, you will notice that they were not the only folks with the Davis surname on that page. Notice that their next-door neighbor was a Johnson family, headed by Wesley Johnson. Like Grandpa Hector, his birthplace was also recorded as being South Carolina. Also, the elderly Mitchells, who are white, lived in the vicinity among all of the Davises, in household no. 12. Like Grandpa Hector and Wesley, Mrs. Martha Mitchell was also born in South Carolina. The following table below shows household nos. 12 to 23 and the connection to my great great grandparents. I have called this area “Davis Village,” which comprised of 56 members of my maternal grandmother’s family when the census-taker visited the area on April 15, 1910. She was a small child at the time. Other family members lived nearby on a different road.

	Household	Relationship	Age	My Comment
12	Mitchell, Clint W.	Head	64
	“     Martha A.	Wife	73	She was born in So. Carolina.
13	Davis, Hugh	Head	25	Hector’s nephew & Lucy’s nephew
	“     Francis	Wife	20
	“     Bertha	Daughter	4
	“     Alice	Daughter	3
	“     Ada	Daughter	1
14	Davis, John	Head	39	My great grandfather
	“     Mary	Wife	40
	“     John W.	Son	17
	“     Ollie	Son	15
	“     Jesse	Son	13
	“     James	Son	11
	“     May Ella	Daughter	9
	“     Fred	Son	7
	“     Pearl	Daughter	5
	“     Rainey	Son	3
	“     Minnie	Daughter	1	My grandmother
15	Davis, John Anna	Head	21	Hector’s niece & Lucy’s niece
	“     Lilian	Cousin	15
16	Davis, Shep	Head	27	Hector’s nephew & Lucy’s nephew
	“     Mittie	Wife	25
	“     Orna	Son	7
	“     Homer	Son	5
	“     Shirley	Daughter	3
	“     Lucille	Daughter	1 mth
17	Davis, Sam	Head	37	Hector & Lucy Davis’ son
	“     Texana	Wife	34
18	Davis, Tom	Head	25	Hector & Lucy Davis’ son
	“     Henrietta	Wife	26
	“     Lucious	Son	6 mos
	Partee, Minnie	Sister-in-law	16
	“     Druella	Sister-in-law	14
	“     Edna	Sister-in-law	11
	“     Square	Brother-in-law	7
19	Davis, Zack	Head	26	Hector & Lucy Davis’ son
	“     Lizzie	Wife	26
	“     Leroy	Son	5
	“     Luberta	Daughter	1
20	(white Cook Family)
21	Davis, Hector	Head	68	My great great grandparents
	“     Lucy	Wife	64
	“     Alex	Son	20
	“     Sam	Grandson	9
	Edwards, Ben	Grandson	3
22	Johnson, Whesley	Head	56	Hector’s first cousin born in So. Carolina
	“     Evaline	Wife	55
	“     Fannie	Daughter	25
	“     Mack	Son	20
	“     Eugenia	Daughter	12
	“     Evaline	Granddaughter	9
	“     Mary J.	Granddaughter	6
23	Burton, John	Head	36
	“     Evaline	Wife	36	Cousin Wesley Johnson’s daughter
	“     Bertha	Daughter	13
	“     Hattie	Daughter	9
	“     John W.	Son	7
	“     McClinton	Son	5
	“     Oscar	Son	2

Source: Portion of 1910 U.S. Census, Beat 1, Panola County, Mississippi. Line 37-100. Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 1, Panola, Mississippi; Roll: T624_755; Family History Film: 1374768; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0054. Source: Ancestry.Com.

Wesley Johnson and Grandpa Hector Davis were first cousins. I’ll first discuss how I found out about this connection. Back in 1993, when I started actively researching at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), I found my great grandparents’ marriage record. My maternal grandmother’s parents, John Hector Davis and Mary Danner, had married on January 7, 1892, in Panola County, Mississippi. I noticed that a man named Wesley Johnson was Grandpa John’s bondsman. John Davis and Wesley Johnson went to the Panola County courthouse, and Grandpa John took out a bond, indicating his intention to marry Grandma Mary and that the pending marriage was legal. Wesley Johnson signed his mark as Grandpa John’s security on the bond. During this time, I learned that bondsmen were often family members.

The marriage record of John Davis and Mary Danner, Jan. 7, 1892, Panola County, Mississippi

When I saw the name Wesley Johnson, I suddenly remembered that I had seen that name before. Then, I remembered that Wesley was a next-door neighbor to Grandpa John’s parents, Hector & Lucy Davis, in the 1910 U.S. Census. So I picked up the phone and called my late grandmother’s first cousin, the late Cousin Sammie Lee Davis Hayes. She was in her 80s and was very knowledgeable about the family history. She also enjoyed talking about it. Cousin Sammie Lee revealed to me that Wesley Johnson, whom she called Cut'n Wesley (Cut’n as a southern slang for Cousin), was a first cousin to my great great grandfather, Hector Davis. She conveyed the following, “Cut’n Wesley and Grandpa Hector were very close, just like brothers, but they were first cousins. He came with them from South Carolina. I don’t know how they come to be first cousins.”

I was soon able to figure out that the last enslavers of Grandpa Hector Davis, his parents, Jack & Flora Davis, his siblings, and other family members, including Cousin Wesley Johnson, were a couple named John & Anna Johnson Burnett. “Ain’t Gonna Take Massa’s Name” is my 2012 blog post that outlines that discovery. The Burnetts had transported them to Panola County, Mississippi around 1860/61, when he and his family decided to leave Abbeville County, South Carolina. They had resided in an area that was halfway between Abbeville and Greenwood, South Carolina. John died shortly thereafter, in 1863, and Grandpa Hector, his parents, his siblings, Cousin Wesley, and others were appraised on the slave inventory of his estate (shown in the aforementioned blog post). One of his children was Martha Burnett. She married a man named Clinton Mitchell. They were the same Mitchells who lived among my Davis ancestors in 1910, approximately 45 years after slavery.

Family elders also shared with me that Grandpa Hector Davis owned his own land. My cousin recalled that he had around 80 acres. They were accurate! Column 26 of the 1910 U.S. Census recorded if the head of household owned (O) or rented (R) his home. “O” was recorded for Grandpa Hector! “O” was also recorded for Clinton Mitchell. “R” was recorded for the rest in “Davis Village.” Although I haven’t found a land record yet, I highly suspect that Grandpa Hector may have been able to purchase a piece of the Burnetts’ land, where he labored during slavery shortly after being transported to northern Mississippi from South Carolina.

Below is a map pointing to the area where they lived in 1910, based on accounts from family elders. One of those family elders was another one of my grandmother’s first cousins, the late William Davis, who lived in the vicinity when I first visited him in 1993, shortly after those first trips to the MDAH. A descendant of John Burnett had also shared with me that John Burnett’s farm was located on the Tate-Panola County line but on the Tate County side. I realized that this was in the same area where “Davis Village” was located in 1910, but on the other side of the road in Panola County. Also, notice that the name of the road is Mitchell Road, likely named after Clinton & Martha Burnett Mitchell. 

Panola County, Mississippi

Performing cluster genealogy enabled me to learn these important tidbits about Grandpa Hector Davis’ history. That 1910 census page alone tells a story. Grandpa Hector died fifteen years later, on July 7, 1925. Family elders shared that his mule named Jenny had kicked him in the head, and he died instantly. He was approximately 83 years old. Indeed, his death certificate (below) verified the cause of death. My great grandfather, John Hector Davis, was the informant.

Grandpa Hector Davis’ death certificate: The cause of death was noted as “Kicked by mule in head; died with concussion of the brain.”