Making Progress in the RLP Mini-Challenge

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Last week's post covered my first few days participating in the Research Like a Pro 14-Day Mini Challenge. I've been working through steps 3-9 this week, to hopefully determine where Elizabeth Kite Stephen—a 2x great grandmother to my husband—was born.

Here's a recap of each day's tasks:

Jan. 18—Analyze Sources-Timeline

Today's task is to begin to analyze what is already known about Elizabeth Kite Stephen's life. So, I can look at various online trees, such as the FamilySearch Family Tree, to see what has already been discovered. This gives me a starting point from which to research her further. 

I was able to find many facts already gleaned from census enumerations, cemetery headstones, birth affidavits, and death certificates. I put all of these in my timeline table, created in the Airtable database. This "base" as it is called, was created specifically to track research projects by Nicole Dyer of Family Locket/Research Like a Pro. It has become my "go-to" tool to use to track research.

Here's the result of today's task. I set my timer for 15 minutes, and only went over by 6 minutes. Not bad for about 20 minutes of work.

Tomorrow, I'll more closely evaluate these documents in terms of what type of source they are, what sort of information they contain, and what type of evidence they provide about each fact.

Jan. 19—Analyze Sources-Source and Information

Today's task is to look at each source in Elizabeth's timeline and determine what type of source it is (original, derivative, or authored), what type of information it provides (primary, secondary, or undetermined), and what sort of evidence it gives (direct, indirect, or negative) for each event.

This task can sometimes be tricky. Some records, such as Elizabeth's marriage record, are pretty straightforward. It was created at the time of the event, by an eyewitness to the event:¹

"THIS CERTIFIES, That I joined in Marriage, as Husband and Wife J H Stephen

and Miss Elizabeth Kite on the 20th 

day of Sept. AD 1876     W.C. Martin J.P. E.C. Tex

Therefore it is an original source, giving primary information, and providing a direct evidence of the marriage date, place and parties.

A less straightforward example is an entry in the online FamilySearch collection, "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981." This is an index only, with no record images. It is described as, "Name index to birth, baptism and christening records from the state of Texas." Indexes are derivative sources, usually abstracted from original records. What information is contained in indexes, especially in this case, is impossible to determine. We can't see the record itself. We don't know who the informant was, whether they could have been an eyewitness to the event, or what their level of knowledge of the event was. This source does, however, directly answer the question of where Elizabeth was born: "Ala.". Importantly, this may or may not be correct given that we don't know who gave the information. And while it could mean Alabama, it could also be that this is a city or town name, though it is more likely to be the abbreviation of the state. Therefore, this source is noted as derivative, with undetermined information, giving direct evidence of Elizabeth's birthplace.

Jan. 20—Locality Research-Background Information

Locality is the focus of today's task. For this step, I am choosing Butler County, Alabama. Why? Elizabeth’s parents Harriet and Caswell Kite lived in Fayette County, Georgia for the 1850 census, and in Butler County, Alabama by the 1860 census. Elizabeth's birth in about 1854, would be bookended by these two censuses. The 1860 census is the earliest record of Elizabeth found to date.

In 1850 Elizabeth’s elder siblings were recorded in the census as having Georgia birthplaces. In 1860, Elizabeth and her sister Martha, born between the two enumerations, were noted with Alabama birthplaces. If Martha was born in Alabama, and is listed as 9 years of age, the family possibly moved from Georgia to Alabama about 1851. 

For the locality step, I collected some basic information about Butler County, including maps. Here is one from 1860 showing Butler and the surrounding counties:²

Jan. 21—Locality Research-Identify Sources to Search

In this step, I identified sources in which to look for the answer to my research question. Unfortunately, birth registration did not begin in Alabama until 1894, well after Elizabeth Kite was born. So, other sources must be used to determine her birthplace. I referred to my locality guide to find some record sets to research, including:

• 1855 Alabama State Census
• Alabama church records 1831-1994
• And two sets of Primitive Baptist Church records from Alabama.

I also am looking for evidence of where her father might have been during the time period 1850-1860 since the family moved during that time from Georgia to Alabama. The collection Alabama Voter Registration and Poll Tax Cards, 1834-1981 could show Caswell Kite's whereabouts, and indirectly where Elizabeth might have been born.

Jan. 22—Research Planning-Hypothesis

Building on the work of the past few days, today I am creating a hypothesis on where Elizabeth was born. My theory is that she was born in Butler County, Alabama. It is clear that her family was there by 1860, having moved there sometime in the previous 10 years. As Elizabeth had an Alabama birthplace recorded in the 1860 census, and this is the earliest record of Elizabeth yet found, her birth there is very likely. 

Discrepancies in her birthplace in other records where this information was recorded, such as her children's death records, or censuses where her children were giving her birth information, could be accounted for by the many years which had elapsed between their mother's birth and when they received the information or were asked for it. Elizabeth had already passed away at the time many of these records were created, and informant's memories may have faded, or her children were relying on secondhand information from others. In instances where Elizabeth herself had perhaps given her own information, such as in the 1900 census, an Alabama birthplace is noted.

Jan. 23—Research Planning-Prioritize Sources

Research planning takes center stage today. Here the questions are: "Which sources in your list do you think will help you prove or disprove your hypothesis? Which sources are most likely to answer your research question? Which sources are most accessible and easy to search?"

Butler County did not begin civil birth registration until 1894, so Elizabeth will not have a birth certificate. Other indirect evidence needs to be found, analyzed and correlated to determine her birthplace. Since as a child she would have left few records of her own, her father's records then become more important to the determination of where they lived when she was likely born.

Tax and land records would be the first and most likely place to find Caswell Kite. He was a farmer, and likely owned land and paid taxes on the land yearly. Or he may have paid a poll tax if he was over 21; in 1850 he is listed as 41 years old and in 1860 he is listed as age 50. 

And, though I am focusing on Butler County, Alabama as my locality, knowing that the family came from Fayette, Georgia leads me to want to look for Caswell in these records as well. Knowing when he stopped paying taxes in Fayette may lead me to when to begin seeking him in Butler.

My other research priorities are:

• Butler County, Alabama, deeds and mortgages (1853-1904); general index (1853-1898), 1853-1904  

  Caswell Kite may have purchased land in Butler in order to make his living.

• Alabama Voter Registration and Poll Tax Cards, 1834-1981 

  Caswell Kite may have registered to vote or to pay the poll tax in Butler, so this collection might also establish when the family was in residence in the years between 1850-1860 censuses.

• Alabama State Census, 1855 

  Elizabeth and her family might have been enumerated in this state census.

• Butler County 1853 Tax List - This is a book published by the Butler County Genealogical Society. Researching this volume involves either a look up or ordering the book, so it is further down my list due to inaccessibility.

• Alabama, Church Records, 1831-1994 

  Though it is unclear what faith the Kite’s were, Elizabeth may have been christened in a local church in Butler County.

Jan. 24—Source Citations

Source citations used to strike fear into my heart, but I am not so cowed by them anymore. I've learned that it just takes practice—and developing a habit of doing them when you're looking at a record. Generally, the records I look at fall in to several broad categories, like censuses, birth or death certificates, newspaper clippings, etc. So I've gotten used to writing these types of citations as I do them over and over. 

Today's assignment in the challenge was to write 1-2 citations for items in our timeline. Here's an example of one for Elizabeth's entry in the 1860 census, the first she is enumerated in. 

1860 United States Federal census, Butler county, Alabama, population schedule, Precinct 12, Page 274 (penned), line four, Elizabeth Kite, age 6, in the household of Caswell kite; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBP-9XF : accessed 11 January 2023); citing FHL film 005165574, image 26; NARA Series M653, roll 3, Washington D.C.

I was looking at a digital image of the census on FamilySearch, so this is a layered citation. The information for the physical copy is in the first layer; it covers what I actually see. The second layer is the digital information on where I found it on FamilySearch. The third layer is the information on the Family History Library microfilm which was later digitized by FamilySearch, and the fourth layer is the information on where I might find the original document in the National Archives (NARA). It seems complicated, but if you take it layer by layer, it makes a lot of sense.

It's been a productive week in the challenge in spite of some physical issues I currently have. I'm recovering from shoulder surgery and cannot sit at the computer for long periods yet. This just proves the wisdom of the RLP method. You can make progress in your research by working only short periods of time each day, when you work methodically through a process.  I look forward to finally digging into the records and writing up what I find in the final few days. 

Check back here next week to see what I've found in my quest to determine Elizabeth Kite's birthplace.

Until next time...

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NOTES 

¹ Erath County, Texas, Marriage Records, 1874-1880, Vol. B, p. 99, marriage of J.H. Stephen and Elizabeth Kite (1876) digital image, "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP3B-SB : accessed 13 January 2021); FHL film 004820345, image 157/967; citing Erath County Courthouse, Stephenville. 

² Johnson's Georgia And Alabama By Johnson & Browning. No. 28-29 (Johnson and Browning: New York, 1860); digital image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~2506~310018:Georgia-and-Alabama- : accessed 20 January 2023).