In a book on the Meigs Family of America by Return Jonathan Meigs, it lists Thomas MOSS of Cheraw, South Carolina as Emeline's father. And due Emeline's 1880 and 1900 census record entries, we know that both her parents were born in South Carolina. That is all I had to go on.
I cannot find a Thomas MORSE in Cheraw, but there is a Thomas MOSS there in 1820 and 1830. Slight confusion might come about between Cheraw and Darlington because of shifting districts and counties and court circuits.
In the 1840 census I did not find a Thomas MOSS or MORSE, but I did find two Thomas MORRIS entries.
Thomas MOSS in 1820 in Chesterfield county, SC (where Cheraw is located) shows this:
2 males < 10 (so born between 1810 and 1820) (one of them being William? see below)
1 male 16-26 (born between 1794-1804)
1 male 26-45 (Thomas--b. 1775-1794)
3 females < 10 (born between 1810-1820)
1 female 10-16 (born between 1804-1810)
1 female 26-45 (Mrs. Moss--b. between 1775-1794)
Tho MOSS in 1830 in Chesterfield, county, SC shows this:
1 male < 5 (born between 1825-1830)
2 males 5-10 (born between 1820-1825)
2 males 10-15 (born between 1815-1820)
1 male 40-50 (Thomas--b. between 1780-1790)
1 female < 5 (born between 1825-1830)
1 female 5-10 (Emma--b. between 1820-1825...and it was about 1822)
2 females 10-15 (born between 1815-1820)
1 female 30-40 (Mrs. Moss--b. between 1790-1800)
Trying to mesh these 2 census records together, this is the family I come up with:
Thomas MOSS b. 1780-1790 in South Carolina
Mrs. MOSS b. 1789-1795 in South Carolina (1791-1792 if it's Martha, see below which is crazy since the first child was born 1794-1804. Maybe he had a second wife?)
1. male b. 1794-1804
2. female b. 1804-1810
3. female b. 1810-1820
(I don't know the order of the males and females for children 4-7)
4. male b. 1815-1820
5. male b. 1815-1820
6. female b. 1815-1820
7. female b. 1815-1820
8. Emeline b. 1821 (1820-1825)
9. male b. 1820-1825
10. male b. 1820-1825
11. female b. 1825-1830
12. male b. 1825-1830 (perhaps George b. 1827-28, see below)
Now, Emma moves from Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina to Darlington county, South Carolina in between 1841 and 1844 (or sooner?). I noticed 2 MOSS families living in Darlington, so I wondered if Emma's parents (or mother) left Cheraw and traveled to Darlington with her. I was excited to see that these two families, Martha and William MOSS, have their last names recorded as MOSS or MORSE, depending on the census year. So William's last name is MORSE in 1840, MOSS in 1850, and MORSE again in 1860.
In 1850, William MOSS was 38--so he was born 1811-1812 (and doing more research his birthday is 21 January 1811...which doesn't fit perfectly into my combined family group sheet above--though perhaps he would have already been out of the house by then, but I can't rule him out as being Emma's brother).
Martha MOSS, age 58 in the 1850 census (so born 1791-1792, which does fit in with my Mrs. MOSS), is listed in Darlington and living next door to her is a Geo(rge) MOSS age 22 (so born 1827-1828) which could make him child #12 above.
In the 1860 census in Darlington county, South Carolina, there is a Martha MOORE, age 65 born in SC-therefore born about 1795, living in the same house as Emeline MEGGS and her husband Jno K, but she is given a separate family number than the MEGGS's. Is Martha her mother, aunt, or not related at all?
The "problem" with George is that in the Martha MOSS household in the 1840 census there is not a male in the 10-15 age category...only one male 30-40...yet Martha was head of household (she would have been about 48 at the time). There is a Martha MORSE in Darlington in 1840 with one male 20-30 years old, 2 females 15-20, and one female 40-50.
Anyway, as I was doing research online I came across the following site:
http://www.olddarlington.scgen.org/skinner15.html
This site is for the Darlington Genealogical Society's John Carroll Skinner genealogical collection. There are thousands of cards that you can order for 33¢ each for different last names. I ordered the cards for the MOSS family (35 cards), MORSE family (3), PINNER (2), MEGGS (1), RUSS (1), and KOLB (5). In the end, I didn't find anything useful.
Next step--checking land and probate records in Cheraw and Darington for 1830-1840. Did Thomas die in Cheraw or did they move to Darlington first? As others have probably worked on finding Thomas before, I don't know that I hold out much hope for really solving this, as I would guess that the Cheraw records have been checked...but maybe not the Darlington records? They might even be the same records as the boundaries and districts changed...
I had been told that the courthouse records had been burned and I had figured it was during the civil war, so the records I would want wouldn't be there...but according to family search wiki on Darlington county (https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Darlington_County,_South_Carolina), the courthouse fire was in 1806, so maybe I can find something.
I also want to find William and George's death records to see who their parents are--though death certificates weren't required until 1915. I wonder if Martha died in between 1850 and 1860. I need to look at cemeteries, too.
In the 1830 census in Chesterfield, South Carolina, I found a Thomas MOSS as well as a Thomas MORRIS, but not a MORSE.
In the 1840 census I did not find a Thomas MOSS or MORSE, but I did find two Thomas MORRIS entries.
I realize that just because a child is listed in these census records, it doesn't mean that the child belongs to Thomas and his wife, but we'll pretend that all listed children do belong to them for now.
Thomas MOSS in 1820 in Chesterfield county, SC (where Cheraw is located) shows this:
2 males < 10 (so born between 1810 and 1820) (one of them being William? see below)
1 male 16-26 (born between 1794-1804)
1 male 26-45 (Thomas--b. 1775-1794)
3 females < 10 (born between 1810-1820)
1 female 10-16 (born between 1804-1810)
1 female 26-45 (Mrs. Moss--b. between 1775-1794)
Tho MOSS in 1830 in Chesterfield, county, SC shows this:
1 male < 5 (born between 1825-1830)
2 males 5-10 (born between 1820-1825)
2 males 10-15 (born between 1815-1820)
1 male 40-50 (Thomas--b. between 1780-1790)
1 female < 5 (born between 1825-1830)
1 female 5-10 (Emma--b. between 1820-1825...and it was about 1822)
2 females 10-15 (born between 1815-1820)
1 female 30-40 (Mrs. Moss--b. between 1790-1800)
Trying to mesh these 2 census records together, this is the family I come up with:
Thomas MOSS b. 1780-1790 in South Carolina
Mrs. MOSS b. 1789-1795 in South Carolina (1791-1792 if it's Martha, see below which is crazy since the first child was born 1794-1804. Maybe he had a second wife?)
1. male b. 1794-1804
2. female b. 1804-1810
3. female b. 1810-1820
(I don't know the order of the males and females for children 4-7)
4. male b. 1815-1820
5. male b. 1815-1820
6. female b. 1815-1820
7. female b. 1815-1820
8. Emeline b. 1821 (1820-1825)
9. male b. 1820-1825
10. male b. 1820-1825
11. female b. 1825-1830
12. male b. 1825-1830 (perhaps George b. 1827-28, see below)
Now, Emma moves from Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina to Darlington county, South Carolina in between 1841 and 1844 (or sooner?). I noticed 2 MOSS families living in Darlington, so I wondered if Emma's parents (or mother) left Cheraw and traveled to Darlington with her. I was excited to see that these two families, Martha and William MOSS, have their last names recorded as MOSS or MORSE, depending on the census year. So William's last name is MORSE in 1840, MOSS in 1850, and MORSE again in 1860.
In 1850, William MOSS was 38--so he was born 1811-1812 (and doing more research his birthday is 21 January 1811...which doesn't fit perfectly into my combined family group sheet above--though perhaps he would have already been out of the house by then, but I can't rule him out as being Emma's brother).
Martha MOSS, age 58 in the 1850 census (so born 1791-1792, which does fit in with my Mrs. MOSS), is listed in Darlington and living next door to her is a Geo(rge) MOSS age 22 (so born 1827-1828) which could make him child #12 above.
In the 1860 census in Darlington county, South Carolina, there is a Martha MOORE, age 65 born in SC-therefore born about 1795, living in the same house as Emeline MEGGS and her husband Jno K, but she is given a separate family number than the MEGGS's. Is Martha her mother, aunt, or not related at all?
The "problem" with George is that in the Martha MOSS household in the 1840 census there is not a male in the 10-15 age category...only one male 30-40...yet Martha was head of household (she would have been about 48 at the time). There is a Martha MORSE in Darlington in 1840 with one male 20-30 years old, 2 females 15-20, and one female 40-50.
Anyway, as I was doing research online I came across the following site:
http://www.olddarlington.scgen.org/skinner15.html
This site is for the Darlington Genealogical Society's John Carroll Skinner genealogical collection. There are thousands of cards that you can order for 33¢ each for different last names. I ordered the cards for the MOSS family (35 cards), MORSE family (3), PINNER (2), MEGGS (1), RUSS (1), and KOLB (5). In the end, I didn't find anything useful.
Next step--checking land and probate records in Cheraw and Darington for 1830-1840. Did Thomas die in Cheraw or did they move to Darlington first? As others have probably worked on finding Thomas before, I don't know that I hold out much hope for really solving this, as I would guess that the Cheraw records have been checked...but maybe not the Darlington records? They might even be the same records as the boundaries and districts changed...
I had been told that the courthouse records had been burned and I had figured it was during the civil war, so the records I would want wouldn't be there...but according to family search wiki on Darlington county (https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Darlington_County,_South_Carolina), the courthouse fire was in 1806, so maybe I can find something.
I also want to find William and George's death records to see who their parents are--though death certificates weren't required until 1915. I wonder if Martha died in between 1850 and 1860. I need to look at cemeteries, too.
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