Is Emma Jane an Evans or is Her Surname Piper?
While working on Ancestry.com recently I found a family tree that listed Emma Jane as Emma Jane Piper. Where did Piper come from? I wrote the owner of that information, but no response. So what do I do with this controversy. I have her as Emma Jane Evans and truly believe she was an Evans, particularly because my mother's middle name is her namesake. Emma Jane Evans is mom's great grandmother. Emma's husband and my mom's great granddad is William Bennett. There is no question that William and Emma Jane married and lived in Guilford in the 1880 Census.
How I proved she is an Evans:
To
start with I went to familysearch.org which is free and to
ancestry.com where I have a membership.
On
familysearch.org I searched for Emma Jane Evans and found her
marriage. According to the Maine Marriage
Records, Emma Jane Evans married William Bennett on October 3, 1862.
They married in Guilford, Maine which is in Piscataquis County. There
are a lot of my family's ancestors in Guilford. This is a good fit.
It
makes sense to select a federal census from either website for
Guilford, Maine. I selected the 1900 census. In this census William
Bennett and wife Emma Bennett are 69 and 52 years of age respectively
and are living with their daughter Clara Nickerson's family. Clara is
one of their daughters and she did marry a Nickerson so this is a
good fit also.
The
Piper genealogist had her Emma Jane being born in June 1847 and dying
in 1898 on October 14, in Gilead Maine. Since this is the 1900
census, the mysterious Emma Jane "Piper" Bennett is already deceased.
Piper is the wrong surname. Emma Jane Evans Bennett was born in the
same month and year, but she is still alive in 1900.
The
census shows me that Emma Jane and William have been married 37 years,
or since about 1863. I know from the marriage records that they
married on October 3, 1862; so this fact is verified additionally.
Next
I looked at the census page for Guilford in Piscataquis County Maine
and found my family surnames of Bennett, Evans, and Titcomb as close
neighbors. This is outstanding information.
Living
on North Guilford Road is the Nickerson family, the home where Emma
Jane and William are living. The head of the household is their
son-in-law Alexander Nickerson, his wife Clara, the three Nickerson children, and my mother's grandparents. This all fits well.
Next
door to this Nickerson home is an Evans residence. Stewart and Annie
P. Evans with their two children live here along with Stewart's
brother James. An Evans family living next door to another couple of
Evans is not likely a coincidence, so this is again a very good fit.
The
next house is the Titcomb home of John P. and Emmie Titcomb. Titcombs
are ancestors of my family, so we have another good family fit.
I
did pick up a fact in the 1900 census that I did not know. Emma Jane
Evans Bennett was in "nursing."
I
am no longer concerned about Emma Jane "Piper". I think my proof for
the surname Evans is very solid. I could gather a lot more through
other censuses but don't see a need for this research at this point.
William Bennett and Emma Jane Evans Bennett are my mother's great
grandparents.
Research
is good. Use the information you gather to build a timeline for your
family members and the facts unveil themselves nicely.
