Ancestor Bio – Ella E (Mitchell)Adair
52 Ancestors – Week 190
By Don Taylor
This week I look at Ella E. Mitchell. As is so often the case with women ancestors, her life events are defined by her husband and her children. We know she had at least seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. She was a sharecropper’s wife and lived a simple life. She was born in Georgia, lived her entire life in Georgia, probably entirely in Paulding County. She died fairly young at the age of 49.
Adair Project 2017 – Ancestor AH-09
List of Grandparents
- Grandfather: Elmer Dewey Adair
- 1st Great-grandmother: Ella E. Mitchell
Ella E (Mitchell) Adair (1887-1936)
I believe that Ella E. Mitchell was born in 1887. I don’t normally consider an individual’s grave marker as certain, however, in this case, the 1910 Census, which is the census closest to her birth indicated that she was 22 suggesting a birth between 16 April 1887 and 15 April 1888. The 1920 Census was way wrong saying she was 38 years old (born about 1881 or 1882). The 1930 Census indicated she had only aged three years since 1920, she was 41 (born about 1888 or 1889).
I have not been successful determining who her parents or siblings were. I have searched newspapers (Newspapers, Newspaper Archives, Genealogy Bank, and Chronicling America) to no avail. I believe I will next need to try a surname focus study for Mitchell in Paulding County, Georgia and see if I can determine a potential family.
Marriage
The first record showing Ella is her marriage license and certificate where she married Allen William Adair on 18 April 1904 in a ceremony performed by B. H. Owen, J.P. in Paulding County Georgia.[i]
Adult
Tragedy struck the young couple quickly. The 1910 Census indicates that Ella had two children, one of whom was living. We know that Floyd was born on 21 Apr 1909. So, and unknown infant must have been born and died, probably between Allen and Ella’s marriage in 1904 and the census date (15 April 1910).[ii]
1910 Census – The family consisted of Allen who was a farmer renting his farm near Humphrey, Paulding County Georgia. Ella and one-year-old Floyd were with him. Neither Allen nor Ella could read and write. Living with them was a 20-year-old boarder from Alabama named Hollis Ware. They were living in Humphrey, Paulding County Georgia.[iii]
1918 – Ella was identified as Allen’s wife when he registered for the draft. They were living on R.F.D. 1, Dallas, Paulding County.[iv]
1920 Census – The family had grown by 1920.[v]
- Floyd was still at home and attending school. He is identified as being able to read and write, the first in the family.
- Elmer was born in 1912 and was also attending school.
- Lola was born 14 Oct 1914 in Dallas, Paulding County, Georgia.
- Paul was born 25 Aug 1918 also in Paulding County.
1923 – Tragedy struck again with the death of another infant child. Ella had twins, was named Mary Lee that lived, the other twin died. It is not clear how long the second twin lived.
1930 Census – The census record shows that Allen and Ella have three of their children still living with them. They are living on a farm on Villa Ricca Road, Dallas, GA. Sadly, 17-year-old Elmer is working as a farm laborer and is not attending school. He is also identified as unable to read and write. His brother, 11-year-old Paul, is attending school and can read and write. Six-year-old Mary is not attending school.[vi]
Death
Marker – Ella M [Mitchell] – Allen William Adair
Further Actions / Follow-up
- Search records searching for Ella’s actual birth date.
- Search records searching for Ella’s actual death date.
- Determine Ella’s parents (Do a surname study of Mitchells in Paulding County). Georgia.)
Endnotes
[i] Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950, Family Search, Allen Adair – Ella Mitchell – 18 April 1904. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXVF-7XP.
[ii] 1910 Census (NARA), Family Search, Allen Adair – Humphrey, Paulding, Georgia ED 121, Page 10B, Line 75. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLLS-FJM.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (NARA), Family Search, Allen William Adair – Georgia Paulding County; A-Z. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZZJ-FMK.
[v] 1920 Census, Family Search, 1920 Census – Allen [Adair] Adain, Cains, Paulding, Georgia, United States; citing ED 143, sheet 5A, line 5, family 74. Accessed 19 August 2017. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJXS-4VR.
[vi] 1930 Census, Family Search, Allen Adair – Dallas, Paulding, Georgia, ED 8, Sheet 3A, Line 3. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:3HF1-WZM.
[vii] Find a Grave, Find a Grave, Ella [Mitchell] Adair – Memorial #45685515. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=45685515.