In Crawford county AR censuses between 1850 and 1870 appears George W. Ragsdale. This is an attempt to analyze records related to this man, and to argue that he was married at least three times and had at least six children by these three wives.
First some notes from a couple of secondary sources. History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas (Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889) contains a biographical sketch of one Wesley Hinson [Henson] of Crawford county. Among other things, the sketch states: “In December, 1866, he married Johanna, daughter of George and Hester Ann Ragsdale, who came here with her parents in an early day. She lost her mother when but a girl, but her father is now living in Washington County.” The name of Henson’s wife is subject to some variation; in his own will, recorded in Crawford co., he refers to her as “John Anna Caroline Henson” [Vol. A, pp. 222-223]. Various census and other records sometimes refer to her as Johanna or as some variation of John Anna.
I have now located the death certificate of this woman. She died in Crawford co. AR 25 Dec 1936, her name given as Joe Anna Henson, widow of Wesley Henson, b. AR 26 May 1845, age 91. Unfortunately, the names of her parents are not given, nor is the name of the informant.
A query posted by a Mrs. J. R. Bush in the Apr./May/June 1969 issue of The Arkansas Family Historian [7.2, p. 68] stated that George Ragsdale was the son of Peter and Matilda Ragsdale, was born in 1822 in Mississippi and “was a widower in 1860 census of Crawford Co., with two sons, Peter, 5, and Enos, 3.” She also indicated that other children of Peter Ragsdale included James (m. Patsy Benton and Mary Hale or Hail; he and his first wife appear in the 1850 census of Franklin co. AR two households away from Elizabeth Elliott), Sarah (m. Dosier Fussell), and Susan, m. Luna Booth. She also indicated that the Ragsdale family lived at different times in TN, AL, MS and MO before coming to Crawford co. AR in 1837.
George appears first by name in the 1850 census in Crawford county, living in the Bates twp. household of his brother-in-law and sister, Luna and Susan Booth). His mother Matilda is also in the household. This record gives his age as 28 (i.e., b. 1821-22). No wife or children are listed here. However, in neighboring Franklin county there appears Elizabeth Elliott, age 49, with a 16-year-old female Frances J. Elliott (known to be her daughter), two younger children (Frances and William J. Wright, otherwise unknown), and Johnana Ragsdale. The census gives Johnana’s age as 55, born in Arkansas—problematic since that would place her birth in Arkansas long before there were white settlers there. I believe the age is also incorrect, and that she was in fact 5; this is supported by the 1860 census, where Elizabeth Elliott’s household (her name spelled “Ellet”) includes J. A. Ragsdale, female, age 14, b. AR.
My interpretation here—admittedly conjectural, but I believe it is the best way to understand these records—is that George Ragsdale married Hester Ann Elliott, that they had a daughter, John Anna/Johanna, ca. 1845, that Hester Ann then died and the young daughter was raised by her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Elliott; her father lived nearby with his sister and her family. While there is no definitive evidence that Hester Ann was a daughter of Elizabeth Elliott, there is circumstantial evidence supporting this interpretation:
(1) Elizabeth Elliott’s 1840 household includes an otherwise unknown female the correct age to have married and born a child in the mid 1840s.
(2) Elizabeth Elliott had a son, W. T. C. Elliott, who moved to California and named his own daughter Hester.
(3) Elizabeth’s daughter Frances Jane married John Johnson (they were living adjacent to her in 1860); their son, Columbus, left family information indicating that his father had a sister Mrs. Raglyn. His notes, while generally correct, conflate the known relatives of his parents somewhat, and there is no known “Ragyln” in John Johnson’s fairly well-established family; my guess is that he has misremembered the name (he was only a child when his parents died and he left Arkansas) and confused how this woman was related to him. This would explain why he did not know this aunt’s first name (since she died before he was born) but would remember (if imprecisely) the last name (since his aunt’s daughter was being raised by their mutual grandmother and they lived next door).
George next appears in 1860 in Lafayette twp., Crawford co., without a wife but with (apparently) two young sons, Peter and Enos. Some Ragsdale researchers have concluded that these boys are also children of Hester Ann (probably based simply on the biographical sketch which mentions John Anna/Johanna). This seems quite unlikely, since it appears that Hester had died at least six years prior to the birth of Peter. There are no extant Crawford county marriage records for this period, but it appears that these boys’ mother was not Hester Ann, and that their mother is otherwise unnamed. I have not located death certificates or other records for either which would give their mother's name.
George appears in 1870, still in Lafayette twp., as G. W. Ragsdale, with a wife N. C. (who is only 19, while his age is given as 48!). His younger son Enos (E. B.) is still in his household, and there is a one-year-old girl, M. A., apparently the daughter of this new young wife. One might wonder if perhaps N. C. could be a daughter-in-law; but Enos was only 13 at this point, and Peter only 15. Furthermore, the 1880 census of Washington co. AR shows George Ragsdale (recall that the biographical sketch cited earlier implies that George now lives in Washington co.) with wife Nancy, and children Martha, George, and Maggie. I have not located death certificates or other records giving the name of the mother of any of these children.
George then appears in the 1895 census of Cherokee co. KS, in the household of P. Ragsdale (apparently his son by the second wife) and his family. I have found no further record after this. Some Ragsdale researchers have believed that he is the George W. Ragsdale who died in Pope co. AR in 1932, apparently simply noting his name in the death index for Arkansas. The death certificate itself, however, indicates that this George W. Ragsdale was born in 1848, so can hardly be the Crawford county George Ragsdale. There is a George W. Ragsdale who married Amanda Ladd who seems to have lived quite consistently in Pope county during the time when “our” George clearly lived elsewhere.
To summarize: I believe that this George W. Ragsdale married three times: (1) to Hester Ann Elliott, ca. 1845, by whom he had one daughter, John Anna/Johanna Caroline, b. ca. 1846, with Hester dying not long after ; (2) to an unknown woman ca. 1853, by whom he had Peter (b. ca. 1855) and Enos (b. 1857), with the wife dying prior to 1860; (3) to Nancy ----, many years his junior, ca. 1867, by whom he had Martha (b. ca. 1869), George (b. ca. 1871), and Maggie (b. ca. 1878). George later (ca. 1890) moved to Kansas; there is no further record of him after 1895.
