BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS

As I’m organizing my notes about Camilla’s father James Birdwell (1795-1849), I’ve been working my way through a puzzle that I hadn’t previously solved, re: James Birdwell. Since this puzzle provides an interesting little case study in how a single record — in this case, one printed in a newspaper — can lead you astray (or on a wild goose chase) in doing genealogical research, I want to share it before I begin my series of postings on the Birdwell family.

James Birdwell was born in 1795 in Franklin County, Georgia, son of Moses Birdwell and (probably) Louisa Marshall. James died of cholera at his Red River plantation in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, in December 1849.

A James G. Birdwell enlisted in Co. F of the 4th Louisiana Militia Infantry in New Orleans on 15 May 1846 for six months’ service in the Mexican War. This was right after Aletha Leonard Birdwell, wife of my James and mother of his children, died in Natchitoches Parish. (In my next posting focusing on James and documenting his life, I’ll provide citations for these pieces of information.)

Since I know of no other James Birdwell living in Louisiana in 1846, I have assumed the James G. Birdwell of this Mexican War service record is my ancestor James Birdwell. This is the only document in which I have found a middle initial for my James.

But I was thrown for a loop when I found an announcement in the Independent Monitor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 3 August 1842, that George A. Kitchens had been nominated as colonel of the Alabama 18th militia, the position having been vacated by the removal of Col. James G. Birdwell (from Alabama) – see the image at the head of this posting. This made me begin to ask if the James G. Birdwell enlisting for service in New Orleans in 1846 was this other James G. Birdwell and not my James Birdwell.

I’ve done some digging to try to sort out the confusion, and lo and behold, I find in the register kept by the Alabama Adjutant General’s Office to list military officers in the state during the period 1820-1863, the man who was colonel of the 18th regiment of Alabama militia was not James G. Birdwell but Thomas G. Birdwell. George A. Kitchens replaced Thomas when Thomas left Alabama in the early 1840s.

I also find an announcement in the Independent Monitor of Tuscaloosa on 1 September 1841 that the 18th regiment commanded by Col. Thomas G. Birdwell would parade at Tuscaloosa on 1 October for review and inspection.

The Thomas G. Birdwell who was colonel of the 18th Alabama militia regiment in 1841 was Thomas G. Birdwell, who married Thirza/Teresa Hester 6 April 1841 in Tuscaloosa County. This man is Thomas Gaines Birdwell (1804-1905). His father Robert Birdwell was a half-brother of James Birdwell’s father Moses Birdwell. My James Birdwell moved from Marshall County, Alabama, to Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, in 1838. Thomas Gaines Birdwell moved from Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, to Texas in November 1841.

The Independent Monitor of Tuscaloosa led me on merry chase by printing an incorrect name for Thomas G. Birdwell in August 1842, calling him by mistake James G. Birdwell when the paper said he had removed (from Alabama) before August 1842 and was being replaced as colonel of the 18th Alabama militia.

Moral of this little story: Keep digging. You just have to do that when you do genealogical research, because even printed records (and, Lord knows, tombstone inscriptions, bible records, birth and death certificates, etc.) can have incorrect information. You always have to check one source against another and in many cases, eventually decide which is the more reliable of conflicting documents.