RELATIVES of John McDowell's in 1850 and 1860 Tennessee: McDOLES and ELRODS

1. JANE McDOLE (born in S.Carolina about 1796) who lived in DeKalb County, Tennessee is probably a widow of a man named McDole.

She is not the widow of Andrew McDole or McDowell who lived from ca 1799 until the 1840s, since she and Andrew are both in the 1840 census in DeKalb County. They are near each other in District 8 on page 254 of the census. Neighbors of Jane include names like Elrod, Vincent, Medley and Childress--all familiar in that part of the County.

In the 1840 census there is a Jane McDole who is only 20-30 years old with one girl 5 and under 10 and one girl 10 and under 15. So the older girl was born 1826-1830, and the younger girl was born between 1831-1835. To find the younger daughter, I need to find a McDole girl who got married about 1846-1850.

In the 1850 census there is a Jane McDole, 54, born in S. Carolina in dwelling 651 and household 651 of District 14, DeKalb County, TN. Elizabeth McDole lives with her and is 26 and born in Tennessee. She would be born about 1824, close to the age for the older daughter in the 1840 census. In 1850 James McDole lives next to Jane in Dwelling 650 and Elizabeth Elrod lives next to Jane in dwelling 652.

In the 1860 census there is a Jane McDole (63, born in S. Carolina) living in the household of Elizabeth McDole, 33, born in Tennessee with a girl Jane McDole, 11. They are living in District 6 of White County with a Cassville Post Office, so they had moved. This time Elizabeth McDole is listed as if she was born in 1827, so that does match the age of the older daughter in the 1840 census.

From the data, it looks like Jane was Elizabeth's mother. Probably Elizabeth was the younger Jane's (b.about 1849) mother, although Jane could be another relative. She could be Elizabeth's niece. I have not looked yet to see if Elizabeth had gotten married about 1850. Everyone in the household is listed with the last name McDole.

Who was the adult Jane McDole in the 1840 census? She would have been born about 1811-1820, quite a few years younger than the Jane listed in 1850 and 1860. You can interpret the data in different ways. Is it the same woman in all three censuses with an error regarding her birth date, or two different people?

So we have a few different relatives born in South Carolina between 1795 and 1800. They would be (1) Jane McDole born in 1796 or 1797; (2) Elizabeth McDowell Elrod born in 1795; and (3) Andrew McDole born about 1799. We know that Andrew and Elizabeth are the children of John McDowell, who came to White County in 1810, because they are named in court documents regarding John McDowell's estate. Jane appears for the first time in 1840 by her own name; she might have been in the community earlier under her husband's or her father's name.


My theory is Jane may be the widow of the elusive older Smith McDole. In a recent post (June 15, 2011) I wrote about a deed for 200 acres on Dry Creek being assigned from Andrew McDole to Smith McDole in 1827; the only problem was that I didn't know of a Smith McD who would have been an adult at that time. Tonight I realized that Smith is the only local McDole who could have been Jane's husband! The land he got from Andrew was near Andrew's land and he and Jane were the same generation as Andrew. Smith could have died before 1840, and Jane could have been Smith's widow.

Who would Smith McDole (born about 1795) have been? My best guess is that he was a brother of Andrew McDole (b. 1799). John McDowell did not leave a will listing his heirs. Smith was not mentioned in the papers to settle John Mcdowell's estate; that may have just been because Smith lived too far away to be involved. Andrew felt close enough to him to name one of his sons Smith. I'm sure Smith was a brother or a cousin.

B. James McDole (b. about 1827, Tennessee) and Eliza (b. about 1826, Tennessee)

In 1850 the above Jane Mcdole lived in District 14 DeKalb Co. next to James McDole and his wife, Eliza. In this census James was listed as being 21 and Eliza is 23. In the 1860 census James and family have moved to District 7, White Co. with a New Ark Post Office. In 1860 James is listed as being 35 and Eliza is 36. They seem to not be very sure of their ages, but they do remember that Eliza is older than James! When I estimated their birth years above, I just split the years down the middle of what is in the two census records. I am still looking for more data on James and Eliza. As of today, I could not even find much about their children.


Children: All were born in Tennessee
John born 1846
Jane 7 months old June 1, 1850. So an estimated birth date of October 1849.
Sarah E. born about 1854
Nancy born about 1856
Thomas 3 months old on June 1, 1860. An estimated b.d. of February 1860.

How was James related to anyone else? It looks like he was the son of Jane or Andrew McDole and their respective spouses. Right now, I favor him being Jane's son because he stayed right beside her in 1850. He is not listed with his mother in the 1840 census, but he was probably out working on someone's farm. In the 1860 census, both James and Jane are living in White County, although they are not as close together as before.

NOTE 9/27/11. I found some information that may be about Jim and Eliza's son Tom on US GenWeb for White County, TN. It is a death record for Tom McDole.
Certificate 2181
Deceased: Tom McDole
Birth: White County
Date: Nov. 1863
Death: 29 Jan. 1944
Father: Jim McDole
Unknown birthplace
Mother: Unknown name
Spouse: Hattie Ludford
Cemetery: Plain View

Regarding Tom's birth date. I have found him in several censuses, with a different birth date each time. He was married twice, first to Tennessee Farmer and, secondly, to Hattie Ludford. Tom and his wives had several children.

Hatttie died the next year.
Deceased: Hattie Dora Ludford
Birth: 19 Oct. 1878
Place: Overton Co., TN
Death: 18 April 1945
Father: Jim Ludford
Mother: Fannie Sills



C. Elizabeth McDowell Elrod (born 1795 in South Carolina), wife of James Elrod

Elizabeth is the daughter of John McDowell (about 1770-1819) and the sister of Andrew McDowell/McDole. In 1850 Elizabeth is one of the three relatives living all in a row in the census. She is the widow of James Elrod who was born in Virginia between 1775 and 1780. This information on their children comes from a descendant, Geraldine Elrod Pollard.

Just a note on changing county lines in Tennessee. The McDowells settled in a area where the county lines changed often between 1810 and 1860. John McDowell had bought land in 1810 in White County, but it became part of DeKalb county about 1839. Then in the early 1850s, that area went into Putnam County. In fact, Fallingwater River is the dividing line between White County and Putnam County. Therefore, sometimes people did not even move, and the county name changed.

In 1850 Elizabeth McDowell Elrod was in DeKalb County and in 1860-1880 she was in Putnam County. I am not sure that she moved. I have noticed that some of the names are the same last names as previous neighbors: Medlin or Medley, Vincent, Green and Lefever.

Here are the children of Elizabeth and James Elrod:
1. Female Elrod born by 1820
2. Male Elrod born by 1820
3. John Elrod born 1813; died between 1880 and 1900. Married Cassandra Waddle.
4. James Elrod born 1815
5. Jane Elrod born 1817
6. William Elrod born 1820. Married Nancy Childress in 1851.
7. Bird S. Elrod born 1827. Married Tennessee James.
8. K. Harrison Elrod born 1832. A single man. Sometimes listed as K.H. Elrod.
9. Anthony Elrod born October 12, 1833.; died April 13, 1909. Married Mary Ward in 1863.
10. Elizabeth Elrod born 1835. Married Edmond Harrison Green January 7, 1851. Married 2nd Anthony "Tom" Vincent.
11. Parzetta Elrod born April 7, 1841; died November 12, 1917 in Putnam County, TN. Married Ammon A. Martin.