Lucy Ann Allen (1845) was the daughter of Isaiah Spencer Allen and Elizabeth Jane Taylor of Mississippi. Lucy’s FamilySearch profile has some rather common errors or problems in the FamilySearch Family Tree. A review of her profile, sources, and relationships is needed to identify the next steps in the research. Once that additional research is completed, her profile can be cleaned up and her story can be told.
Table of Contents
Problems
Lucy Ann Allen’s (1845) profile had a few obvious problems and questions. The first problem was she had two sets of parents:
| Isaiah Spencer Allen (1815) | Isiah Allen (1767) | |
| Elizabeth Jane Taylor (1819) | Elizabeth Jane Taylor (1819) |
Isaiah Spencer Allen (1815) and Elizabeth Jane Taylor (1819) are well documented with census and land records. Their children are documented, at least in census records. Some of their children are very well documented. In other words, Isaiah’s family is fairly well-established, documented, and accepted. Isaiah’s origins in South Carolina are uncertain and his parents have not been identified.
Isiah Allen (1767) had no source records at all. There was also the problem of Isiah’s birth year. He would have been 78 years old when Lucy was born. It is possible, but unlikely, that he would have fathered children at nearly 80 years of age. The children under him were essentially duplicates of Isaiah Spencer Allen (1815). Isiah did have parents, but the lack of sources makes the connection in doubt.
The FamilySearch profile for Isiah Allen was created from a Gedcom file upload. FamilySearch allows the upload of family trees from Gedcom files to add individuals to the FamilySearch Family Tree in bulk. These file uploads can be problematic for various reasons, but the biggest problem is the lack of sources and potential duplicates. Very often the contributors of these files do not take the time to deal with tree inconsistencies and duplicates.
Corrective Actions
Before research could begin for Lucy Ann Allen (1845), the extra parental relationships needed to be removed, and the duplicate siblings needed to be merged. This process takes a bit of time but is necessary. Having a profile that relies on records improves the tree and the hinting algorithm.
The first step was to remove Isiah Allen as a father. This required temporarily adding a couple relationship between Isiah Allen and Elizabeth Taylor. The relationship could then be separated from Elizabeth’s profile. Doing it this way retains the children with Elizabeth. The next step was to merge duplicate children and delete duplicate parent-child relationships. I demonstrate these fixes in the video that accompanies this blog article.
Sources for Lucy Ann Allen (1845)
Lucy Ann Allen (1845) had four sources attached to her profile. These sources were the U.S. Census. There was no source for the marriage to Benjamin L. Krebs in 1865 and no clear source to connect her to the two children listed on her profile. There were some interesting things revealed in the census evaluation.
| U.S. Census | Name | Birth year | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18501 | Ann Allen | 1843 | South Carolina |
| 18602 | Lucy Allen | 1844 | South Carolina |
| 18703 | Lucy Allen | 1845 | South Carolina |
| 18804 | Lucy Krebs | 1846 | South Carolina |
The first interesting thing to note about Lucy is her name. She was recorded as Ann in the 1850 U.S. census. This name difference would be enough to question whether it was a match or not. But later census records did correlate the name Ann as a middle name. This means her full name was Lucy Ann Allen. The 1850 U.S. Census does not include relationship statements, but Ann can be inferred to be a daughter of Isaiah. This is because the census instructions asked enumerators to list the head of household first, the wife, and then the children from oldest to youngest.5 The Isaiah Allen family appears to have been recorded in this manner.
The 1860 U.S. Census had a notation that indicated she had been married in the last year. Lucy would have been 16 years old and she could have married at that age. However, her last name was still Allen and she was still in her father’s household.
Lucy is still living at home in the 1870 U.S. Census with her parents. Her name is Lucy Allen. Her daughter, Mary, is also in the household but listed as Mary Allen. This daughter can be identified because of the 1880 U.S. Census, but it is a bit confusing because the daughter was listed as Mary Allen.
The 1880 U.S. Census listed Lucy with her married name of Lucy Krebs with her daughter Mary E. Krebs (1867). Her daughter’s full name could be Mary Elizabeth Krebs, but further documentation is needed. But the way Mary was listed in the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census could account for the two profiles that now appear to be duplicates.
The census listings do raise some questions:
- Was Lucy married around 1859-1860?
- Why was Lucy in her father’s household most of her adult life despite a potential marriage about 1860 and then again in 1865?
- Why does not appear with her married name until 1880?
Benjamin L. Krebs
Benjamin L. Krebs is connected to Lucy as a spouse. Yet, there were questions here too. His FamilySearch profile lacks sources for his death date. Records hints suggested he served in the U.S. Civil War for the Confederate army. The 1860 U.S. Census listing for Benjamin does not show him married within the year, but rather attending school.6
Oddly, there was a marriage record source for B. L. Krebs and L. A. Allen attached to his profile.7 The source is an index record linked to the film collection rather than the specific marriage certificate. The marriage record does appear to be a match for Benjamin L. Krebs and Lucy Ann Allen. The marriage date was on 5 September 1865 in Winston County, Mississippi. This date suggests Benjamin survived the Civil War, but it would be helpful to look at the actual marriage certificate to make sure the date in the index is accurate.
Create a research plan
My initial research plan quickly formed after noting the anomalies and questions that arose from the evidence analysis:
- Find the image for the marriage record to verify the marriage date for Benjamin L. Krebs and Lucy Ann Allen.
- Retrieve a copy of Benjamin’s Civil War packet from Fold3 to see if there is a death date or other information that could reveal more.
- Evaluate sources for Mary Allen/Krebs and merge the duplicates.
*Note: I know this is not a great research plan. I have a tendency to think broadly first and then narrow down to specifics. I am working on improving my research plans and I will note that in the next entry on this mini-research project.
Sources
- 1850 U.S. Census, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 140 (stamped), dwelling 1149, family 1149, Isaiah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M432. ↩︎
- 1860 U.S. Census, Winston, Mississippi, population schedule, Louisville Post Office, p. 114 (penned), dwelling 749, family 749, Isah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M653. ↩︎
- 1870 U.S. Census, Winston County, Mississippi, population schedule, Township 14, R. 11, p. 3 (penned), p. 436 (stamped), dwelling 20, family 20, Isiah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M593. ↩︎
- 1880 U.S. Census, Winston County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat Five, enumeration district (ED) 25, sheet 69B (stamped), p. 78 (penned), dwelling 161, family 166, Isiah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication T9. ↩︎
- “1850 Census Instructions to Enumerators,” United States Census Bureau, accessed 7 April 2024, https://www.census.gov. ↩︎
- 1860 U.S. Census, Winston, Mississippi, population schedule, Louisville Post Office, p. 33 (penned), dwelling 203, family 201, Stephen Krebs household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M653. ↩︎
- “Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911,” entry for B. L. Krebs – L. A. Allen, 5 September 1865, Winston County, Mississippi; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024). ↩︎
