Lucinda AmandaTaylor

I am the great grandson of Lucinda Amanda Taylor (whom some identify with the name sequence Amanda Lucinda, the same as her daughter Amanda Lucinda Jenkins). My great grandmother is an intriguing character, mysterious due to the details we lack, hiding somewhere just out of reach. The hopeful search for the missing clues goes on.

I have been searching for years for some clue to her parents and their situation around her birth in Mississippi in 1824. The location or county for her parents in Mississippi has never been determined. No clue has been found among the various Taylor households in early censuses in Mississippi where she was born or in Texas where we later find Lucinda and her Jenkins family.

The order of the names of Lucinda Amanda Taylor and her daughter Amanda Lucinda Jenkins varies in different public or family sources. I am listing the wife of Joseph Sanford Jenkins as Lucinda Amanda Taylor and their daughter as Amanda Lucinda Jenkins. The references in the Notes of this genealogy may not be consistent, due to the various referencing of disparate sources and usages.

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Lucinda Taylor

Little is known of Lucinda. As mentioned above the 1860 Cass County Census shows her age as 36 (Birth date ca 1824) and her birth place as Mississippi.

According to tradition of the Day family, one of Nancy Ann's (and Lucinda's) grandmothers journeyed by small boat from Ireland to the United States, taking six months to make the trip (possibly including intermediate stopovers).

The names of Lucinda's parents have yet to be established.
-- Jenkins Family History by Harold Keith Christian, http://objgenealogy.com/articles/josephsanfordjenkinshistory.pdf, p 4
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In the 1860 census, Lucinda is reported as the wife of Joseph Sanford Jenkins, but her name is simply L Jenkins. Her husband Joseph is oddly reported as Jno, but the details of the family and the review and comment of many family researchers confirm this is Joseph Sanford and Lucinda Taylor Jenkins. They were married in Mississippi and we see here the first three children reported were born in Mississippi.

1860 Federal Census, Cass County, Texas, 17 October, Beat 3, Post Office Unionville and Cusseta, Page 72, Hse #483, Fam #495
Jinkins Jno 32 M W Farmer 300 SC Cannot read and write [b abt 1828]
Jinkins L 36 F W MS
Jinkins N 14 F W MS Attended school during the last year
Jinkins J W 10 M W MS Attended school during the last year [b abt 1850]
Jinkins W L 7 M W GA [b abt 1853]
Jinkins M L 3 F W GA [b abt 1857]
Jinkins L 1 F W GA [b abt 1859]

From the ages, we can see they moved from Mississippi between about 1850 and 1853. I have not found the family in the 1850 census, and no family researcher has reported finding them. They are also missing from the 1870 census. Note that according to the reported ages here, Lucinda is older than Joseph.

Other sources suggest that Joseph was born in 1826, while Lucinda was born in 1824. Joseph Sanford's birth date from our family records October 14, 1826. Still, that would make Joseph only about 20 when the first child, Nell, was born.

Harold Christian, who compiled a history of Joseph Sanford and his descendants, reports that there was a rumor in family circles that Joseph was married before he married Lucinda, and had earlier children in Mississippi, who did not move with the family to Texas. Noting the ages here, it seems unlikely to me that this was the case, unless it was a short teen fling.

From these rumors of an earlier marriage, some have suggested that the first child reported here, N for Nell, was the daughter of that first wife. N Jenkins is reported here as 14 years old, making her birth about 1846.

This would be within the time since Joseph and Lucinda married. But no one has found an actual marriage record for Joe and Lucinda. See Notes for Joseph Jenkins for more details and discussion.

Harold Keith Christian suggests marriage closer to 1850, after birth of Nell.

"Lucinda is believed to have married Joseph Sanford while still in Mississippi and shortly before 1850, the place and year in which John C Jenkins was born. He is believed to be their first child."
-- Jenkins Family History by Harold Keith Christian, http://objgenealogy.com/articles/josephsanfordjenkinshistory.pdf, p 4

Lucinda Amanda's death occurred between 1868 and 1870. Jimmy Epperson reports the death as January 1867. Immediate family members, as reported by Harold Christian, recount the event in relation to other events in 1868 or 1869. I have reported the year as 1869, based on these reports.

Jimmy Epperson reported in an early genealogy that she was buried in Dalton, but I have seen no record in any cemetery in Dalton or Cass County. I have toured and photographed graves in the Dalton Cemetery and did not find her there. She may have been buried on the family land.

"She is believed to have passed away while the family was living on the farm between Bryans Mill and Dalton, Texas."
-- Jenkins Family History by Harold Keith Christian, http://objgenealogy.com/articles/josephsanfordjenkinshistory.pdf, p 9

There was another Amanda Taylor, born about 1840, who married J N Stone in Cass County in 1865. This is likely a member of the same Taylor family, but no further details have been found.

Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1977
Amanda Taylor
Marriage 11 Jul 1865 Cass County, Texas
Spouse J N Stone

It was discovered that Amanda Taylor was the widow of J S Taylor. The couple were enumerated in 1850 in Saline, Missouri. J S Taylor's family is probably not related to Lucinda Amanda Taylor's family in Mississippi, where she was born in about 1824.

1850 Federal Census, Saline County, Missouri, District 90
Amanda Brockman, daughter of J S Brockman
Age 9, born abt 1841 Missouri

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Lucinda Amanda Taylor Jenkins
Birth 1824 Mississippi, USA
Death Jan 1869 Dalton, Cass County, Texas, USA

Burial Non-Cemetery Burial
It is thought she was buried on the Jenkins family farm near Bryan's Mill, Cass County, Texas. It is uncertain exactly which location this is today, or who owns the property now. No official death or burial record has been found.

Lucinda was born in Mississippi, but the location and exact date are unknown. Research by numerous family members has failed to identify her parents.

She married Joseph Sanford Jenkins in Mississippi about 1845. memories of her children and other family events indicate Lucinda died about January 1869. Her date of death is not found in any family records or public records.

Censuses report that Lucinda was born in Mississippi. Family researchers have found no specific place of birth. No tie has been found to families named Taylor in Mississippi or Georgia, where she lived with her husband Joseph Sanford Jenkins between 1850 and 1859.

It is thought she died in Cass County, Texas, where they she and Joseph were living on a farm near Dalton. The locale Bryan's Mill appears often in family memory and records.

Spouse Joseph Sanford Jenkins (1826 - 1893)

Children:
John Cullen Jenkins (1850 - 1892)
Amanda Lucinda Jenkins Christian (1859 - 1948)
Joseph Asa Jenkins (1866 - 1962)
Mary Lou Jenkins Chapel (1867 - 1929)

Created by Orville Jenkins 03 Jul 2015

-- Find A Grave Memorial 148633397, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148633397/lucinda-amanda-jenkins
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Various descendants comment on family information about Lucinda Amanda Taylor. The following are Notes from R. Christian GED:

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Ref: Ltr fr William C. Day, grandson of Nancy Ann Taylor Day; ... quite sure Lucinda Jenkins ... buried in Dalton Cemetery ..living near there when she died ... many other Jenkins buried there ... my Grandmother Day's first name was Nancy Ann ... and she had a sister ... mother of the Jenkins ... if I remember ... her name was Lucinda ... I believe she died of cancer ....

Note by Harold Keith Christian: Lucinda was the sister of Nancy Ann Taylor Day and of Daniel Taylor. There is also speculation that Louisa Christian, wife of Joseph Benjamin Christian of TN, was a sister of Lucinda, Nancy Ann, and Daniel Taylor. [But the fact that her mother is reported born in Ireland seems to eliminate that possibility -- OBJ]

Ref: Cass County Cemeteries, by Cass County Genealogical Society; No Lucinda Jenkins identified.

Ref: Description of small Jenkins burial plot (see Joseph Sanford Jenkins).

Ref: Comments by Annie Tabor during visit by HKC: ... (REF to ltr from Mrs. Bilbrey to Annie) ... I bet it will turn out JSJ's 1st wife "Lucinday" was his second wife; or Louisa' sister-Lucinda ... Nancy Ann that married Joseph Day ... and Louisa married my (Bilbrey's) GGF Christian ... (Annie's comments) ... I always thought my mother's birthday was 30 May ... found it was 31st of May ... He (JSJ) was married before he married my grandmother (Lucinda) ... Momma (Amanda Lucinda) remembered there was an old negro woman. Her mother died when she was nine years old (31 May 1859 + 9 = 1868). This old negro woman had to take care of her.

Ref: Joseph Asa Jenkins TV Interview, Danny Williams Show, WKY TV, OK City, 1952; ... I remember my mother being lowered into the ground. A neighbor man picked me up to hold and console me.

Ref: FRANK.DOC #2. "Jack Jenkins was ..(Joseph Sanford Jenkins') father"
BIRTH: US Census 1860 TX, Beat#3, Sh#381B, P.O. Unionville and Cuseta, 17 OCT 1860, Dwg#483, Fam#495
MARRIAGE: US Census 1860 TX, Beat#3, Sh#381B, P.O. Unionville and Cusseta, 17 OCT 1860, Dwg#483, Fam#495
CHILDREN: US Census 1860 TX, Beat#3, Sh#381B. P.O. Unionville and Cusseta, 17 OCT 1860, Dwg#483, Fam#495

End Notes from R. Christian GED
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I am puzzled and a bit concerned about a couple of the source docs several genealogies have thoughtlessly attached to Lucinda. One or two also have an extraneous couple from New York as her parents without any comment or documentation indicating any connection.

Joash Taylor and his wife Amanda Norton lived and died in New York, in Niagara Falls on the Canadian border. It seems very odd anyone would associate this with our Lucinda Taylor Jenkins, since our Lucinda Taylor Jenkins was born in Mississippi and died in Texas. I think we must conclude, rather, that these must be dismissed as sloppy and irresponsible genealogies.

Two census records for another Lucinda, whose married name was Taylor, are attached by some to our Lucinda Taylor Jenkins. One is from 1870, after Lucinda Taylor Jenkins died! They even report that she died in 1869, but still report her in the 1870 census!

In the 1850 census, I see that Lucinda Taylor is the wife of Reddin Taylor. In 1850, our Lucinda was already married to Joseph Sanford Jenkins, and as far as anyone has known, Taylor was our Lucinda Amanda's maiden name.

A descendant of Reddin and Lucinda Taylor gives us her maiden name of Grober, in a note on the census entry for 1850.

"Lucinda Gober married Redden Taylor. Lucinda Gober was the daughter of Lewis Gober and second wife Rebecca Clayton who married 14 Jan 1816 in Amite County, Mississippi. Lucinda Gober Taylor is plainly marked WHITE on the census, as is her daughter Nancy Taylor." [She mentions this because for some reason several Mississippi census records are designated as Negro in Ancestry's transcription, when they are clearly entered as White in the actual original record.]
-- Bonnie Gober, Comment on Ancestry.com 1850 US Census, 17 July 2013, http://ancstry.me/1tnhh1O

I see this same Lucinda Taylor, wife of Reddin Taylor, as a widow in the 1870 census, while our Lucinda Taylor Jenkins, wife of Joseph Sanford Jenkins, died in Texas about 1869 or 1870. And our Lucinda was in the 1860 census in Cass County, Texas, as Lucinda Jenkins, reported as the wife of Joseph Sanford.
-- Ancestry 1870 US Census, http://ancstry.me/1nuAGAL