CATHERINE TENNIS
BIRTH: 25 DEC 1782 • Franklin Co. Virginia ??
DEATH AFT: 1865 • Champaign co. IL ??
Catherine Tennis’s birth and death dates have perplexed her Family researchers for years!
Her birth date of December 25, 1782, in Virginia was established from:
Citation Information:
Source Information
Title: Family Data Collection - Births
Author: Edmund West, comp.
Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations Inc
Publisher Date: 2001
Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA
Repository Information
Name: Catherine Tennis
Father: William Tennis
Birth Date: 25 December 1782
State: VA
Country: USA
Catherine was married to William Maddox on 01 Nov 1795 in Franklin County, Virginia per the following:
Citation Information
Source Information
Title: Franklin County, Virginia, Marriage Bond Index, 1786-1858
Author: Ancestry.com
Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
Publisher Date: 1999
Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA
Repository Information:
Name: Catherine Tinnis
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 1 Nov 1795
Marriage Place: Franklin, Virginia, USA
Spouse: Wm. Mattox
Household Members:
Name: Catherine Tinnis
Name: Wm. Mattox
Name: Wm Tinnis
This birth and marriage date would have meant that Catherine was married to William Maddox at the age of 12 years.
The 1850 United States Federal Census provided the following information:
Name: Catharine Mattox
Age: 79
Birth Year : abt 1771
Birth place: Virginia
Home in 1850: Liberty, Adams, Ohio, USA
Gender: Female
Family Number: 987
Household Members:
Name: Barcum Mattox
Age: 26
Name: Sarah J Mattox
Age: 17
Name: William Mattox
Age: 80
Birth Year: 1770
Birthplace: Virginia
Name: Catharine Mattox
Age: 79
Birth Year: 1771
Birthplace: Virginia
It appears that Catherine and William were living with their youngest Son Henry Bascom Maddox.
Her last child, Henry Bascom Maddox, was born in 1824. With a birth date of 1771 she would have been 53 when he was born. With the birth date of 1782 she would have been 41 years old when
Henry Bascom was born. Her first child, John Tennis Maddox was born in 1798 with her birth date of 1782 Catherine would have been 15.
The 1860 United States Federal Census adds more confusion to her actual birth date:
Name: Catharine Maddox
Age: 78
Birth Year abt 1782
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Virginia
Home in 1860: Liberty, Adams, Ohio
Household Members:
Name: H B Maddox
Name: Sarah J Maddox
Name: William R Maddox
Name: Elizabeth E Maddox
Name: Ristine Maddox
Name: Caroline Maddox
Name: Catharine Maddox
Again Catherine is living with her youngest son Henry Bascom Maddox and she is listed with a birth date of 1782 age 78. If she was born in 1770 per the 1850 census she would be age of 89 in 1860. William Maddox is no longer living.
The following material is provided with the permission of the author, Mr. John P. Alcock. If you are a serious researcher who has an interest in Virginia and early Kentucky records you should find it extremely interesting and useful.
Link: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jcat2/genealogy/18centvalaw.html
18th Century Virginia Law
“Official records of vital statistics were not kept in Virginia until 1853. Marriage records for the era are somewhat more available. Besides the surviving church records there are marriage bonds and marriage registers. The bonds were required for obtaining a marriage license from the county clerk. By them the groom and his security guaranteed that no legal block to the proposed marriage existed. The bond was given in the county of the bride's residence.
At this point I wish to state unequivocally that whenever and wherever in 18th century Virginia there was a legal requirement that a person be of age, that is an adult, he or she must have reached his 21st birthday. This was the requirement for persons to sell real estate, to sue in one's own name in a court of law, to sign a bond or promissory note, and to marry for the first time. If either of the parties to be married was not of age, the consent of a parent or guardian was necessary. It was to be in writing before two witnesses, unless it was sworn to before the clerk of the county court.
After 1748 the law specified father. From then on you know the father was dead, if a woman granted her consent. If there was no written consent, do not assume that the bride was of age. Her father may very well have accompanied the groom to the courthouse, given his consent orally, and then signed the bond as security. I said bride because it was rare for a groom in that era to be underage. Only 6 grooms out of 1800 getting marriage licenses needed a consent in Fauquier in the last 40 years of the century. I estimate about 500 brides received a written consent in that period. If a child between the ages of 12 and 16 was married without her father's consent, the 1705 law stated she would lose her share of any inheritance to her next of kin. Note that with parental consent, a 12 year-old could be married.”
My conclusion is:
I want to go with the 1782 birth date. To me in the late 1700s having your first Child at 15 years old is more likely than having your youngest Child at 53. Adding the fact that a 12 year old girl could marry with parental consent it seems likely that Catherine was born in 1782.
Then we must also consider that there are records of her birth and marriage dates that support the 1782 birth date.
Now where is she buried and when and where did she die???
