Washington Green Falkner

'Wash' Falkner (my 2nd great grandfather) was born 1 Sep 1858, Alert, Sandy Creek Township, Franklin Co., North Carolina and died 26 Sep 1924 in the same location and was buried in the family burial plot nearby.  Cause of death was heart failure.  He fell in the yard and died in 5 minutes, according to his death certificate.  His wife was daughter of Albert Green Pernell and Henryetta Christmas Duke Pernell, Narcissia Geneva Pernell, born 7 Feb 1858, Sandy Creek Township, Franklin Co., North Carolina and died 23 Jul 1925 in Henderson, Vance Co., North Carolina, which is the location of the closest hospital, and is also buried in the family burial plot next to her husband, Washington.
Their children were all raised at Alert, Sandy Creek Township, Franklin Co., North Carolina

• Albert Green Falkner (1876-1950) My great grandfather
• Charles E Falkner (1881-1901)
• James Earnest Falkner (1884-1956)
• Richard Cleveland Falkner (1886-1959)
• Elizabeth C L Falkner (1888-1986)
• Tollie Furman Faulkner (1891-1975)
• Wiley Falkner (1891-1950)
• Ada S Faulkner (1893-1965)
• William W Falkner (1895-1974)
• Percy Jessie Faulkner (1899-)
• Gussie G Falkner (1899-1943) 
• Ollie Thomas Falkner (1900-1972)

Elizabeth Virginia Falkner

Not much is known about my third great grandmother Elizabeth Falkner.  I have not found any evidence of marriage and have been told by family members, she was in fact never married, but raised seven or more children.  While looking at the pieces of accumulated information it is hard to distinguish what is correct. Elizabeth was born in Sandy Creek township, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina on 20 Dec1833 as found in the Falkner family bible passed down to a first cousin.  The information was hand written and hard to read. She died 27 Nov 1912, in the same community. Evidence of this was determined by the tombstone placed on her grave in the Faulkner Family Cemetery and her death certificate, which I found on ancestry.com.
Looking at other documents, such as census reports can be very confusing, but with investigation of the documents as a whole can lead you to the truth.  However, the more I look at census reports for Elizabeth Falkner, the more confusing they become.  Here is what I found:

1860 census
Jinny Falkner  age 65  (maybe Elizabeth's mother)
Elizabeth Falkner age 25
James Mosley age 14
Washington Mosley  age 7
William Mosley  age 3
Lucy Mosley  age 6
Mary Mosley  age 6 months
Jane Mosley age 22

1870 census
Elizabeth Falkner age 36
Washington Falkner age 15 (name changed since 1860)
John H Falkner age 18 (not on 1860 census)
William Falkner age 14 (name changed since 1860)
Charles Falkner age 8
Ernest Falkner age 5
Sallie Falkner age 1

1880
Elizabeth Falkner 47
Ernest Falkner 15
Sally Falkner 12
Gertrude Falkner 9

1900
William H Falkner age 43 (listed as head of house)
Elizabeth Falkner age 66

Questions:
Are the Mosley children in the 1860 report Elizabeth's?  James is probably not her child because of his age.
Where does Jane Mosley fit in this report?  Elizabeth did have a sister named Jane Malon Falkner born in 1838.
Which name is correct for Washington and William?  Is it Falkner or Mosley?

Theories:
1.  Elizabeth was never married and all of her children were illegitimate. James in 1860 was her stepson.
2.  Elizabeth had a sister that married a Mosley and when the sister and husband died unexpectedly, Elizabeth stepped in to take care of the children and eventually change the name from Mosley to Falkner.
3.  Elizabeth was a kind-hearted young woman and dedicated to raise these orphaned children.

Where does this leave me? I'm not quite sure.  Am I a Faulkner or a Mosley?

Faulkner Family History

Faulkner Family History

First Generation

We know that everyone has a starting point, but this is the first generation we were able to fine. I will leave it with my collaborators to help me find more since this is a rough sketch of our history.

As far as we have been able to unravel at this point, the Falkners of 1800 were in what is now Franklin Co., North Carolina, in a small village now called Alert of the Sandy Creek township.

1. William Hillard Falkner, b 09 Mar 1800
Married Jane Jefferson Gant, b 15 Apr 1804
Their 7 Children:

·         Elizabeth Virginia Falkner, b 20 Dec 1833, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina, d 27 Nov 1912, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina. We have not found record of marriage.  My paternal grandmother.

·         Sidney Benjamin Falkner, b 08 Nov 1835, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina

·         Jane Malon Falkner, b 02 Mar 1838, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina

·         William Hillard Falkner, b 28 Jan 1842, Alert, Franklin Co., North Carolina, d 22 Jul 1926

·         Sarah Frances Falkner, b 09 Apr 1828

·         Ann Eliza Falkner, b 18 Apr 1831

·         Leomidas Falkner, b 1843

Genealogy

I have been doing genealogical research for some time now. I have over 16,000 people in my family tree. I seek to uncover more history anywhere I can. I find a need to hunt down any information that pertains to my research. If I touch on any of the names you recognize feel free to let me know. I have worked on the Faulkner side and this is what I have found.

The name Faulkner is English, originating from the Falcon trainers of England, who trained and handled the birds for the royal ranks of palaces and regaled estates.
I have researched back to the early 1800's, with the help of a cousin who just happened to have the family bible containing hand written loose pages, which were yellowed and brittle with age. Between the two of us we were able to make out many of the names and dates listed there.
The earliest listing we were able to make out was 'William Hilliard Falkner' born March 9, 1800 and was married to 'Jane Jefferson Gant' born April 15, 1804. The pages did not list where they might have been born, but all their children were listed as being born in Alert, Sandy Creek Township, Franklin County, North Carolina.
The original spelling of the family name did not contain a 'u', and it is determined by this writer that it was added in the late 1800's.

It's amazing

Yesterday while my newest son-in-law was here, I asked a few questions about his family and entered new names into my family tree.  Within a few minutes, I had quite a lot of history.  He did not know his grandfather at all. His grandfather died in 1966 and my son-in-law wasn't born until 1985.  I was even able to pull up his father's enlistment information.  He was truly astonished that information came up that easy on ancestry.com.
I can hardly wait 47 days, when ancestry.com will have the 1940 census available.  I enjoy the census reports because I can get the names of people and their children and approximate birth dates.  The census also lists states or countries of every one including the parents.  The occupations are listed as well, however, people in rural areas were mostly farmers.
My favorite census report is 1900 as it not only lists the ages, but also the year and month of birth.  I don't read all the census reports, but I read any that are closely connected to me.  One thing you need to remember when reading any census report, and that is the report is only as good as the understanding of the census taker.
Birth registers are not as good as I would hope as babies sometimes registered well after the birth, called delayed registration. I suppose many doctors could not send the information in as soon as the birth occurred.
Military records, such as draft cards and enlistment papers, have a wealth of information.  Many list the next of kin, place of work, occupation residence and is more accurate for birth dates.
Happy hunting!

Researching Family History

Researching family history can be fun and rewarding.  I have been researching my family tree since the late sixties-early seventies.
To begin, I asked some of the older members for information.  Fortunately, I had an aunt who was willing to share information and knew a bit about the family history.  In addition to past history, work on the present as well.  Talk to aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives to obtain current information about family.  This information will be in place for years to come and also, it makes you feel closer to your family connections.
Ask you relatives if you can see their family bibles. Many of them have tons of information in them; dates of birth, death, marriage etc...
Visit family cemeteries and record information from the tombstones.  An easy way to do this is to carry a small camera with  you and take pictures of each stone.
When I could finally afford it, I joined Ancestry.com.  I have a huge family tree there along with some smaller ones.  I also have FamilyTree software on my computer and back up information from ancestry every couple of months.
I have been in contact with many relatives which I would not have known if it had not been for my interest in the family history and Ancestry.com.