Amanda J Gothard

Rumor was Amanda was 18 months old when she came to the United States with her parents. However, she does not show up on any immigration papers. Immigration, even back then, was well tracked. Usually you can determine the exact port immigrants entered and you can easily track the families movement across the US.

There are no records of Amanda before 1900, when she appears with John Henry. I have read and re-read this census record. Amanda had 12 children, 8 of which died. The census record clearly indicates she was born in Tennessee, her father was born in Kentucky, and her mother was born in Tennessee. The census taker carefully put Kentucky into the place where her father was born. This was done purposefully and with care. A careless census taker would have just marked Tennessee for everybody but the word Kentucky near the end of the page is a strong indicator that her father was born in Kentucky.

The 1900 census record clearly shows none of this Gothard family had the ability to read or write. Neither John or Amanda could read or write and that begs the question, who's bible record did Mary Ellen use to obtain a delayed birth certificate from the state of Tennessee? It's possible we may obtain that information by trying to get a certified copy of her birth. I'm still left to ponder who Amanda's parents were...