Person:Nicholas Anthony (8)

[Alamance County_Feb 2006_backup.FTW]

From Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet II: http://www.genfiles.com/anthony/nicholasaanthony.htm Nicholas A. Anthony

(14 August 1846? – 7 July 1893)

Although his birth date, according to a descendant[1], was 14 August 1844, Nicholas A. Anthony appears consistently in Bedford County, Tennessee censuses as born about 1846. He is age 3 in 1850, age 13 in 1860, missing in 1870[2], and age 34 in 1880. In the 1880 census his occupation is given as "Wool Carder & M.G.", age 34. His wife was Emma L., age 30, born in Tennessee, and children as listed below.

According to a different descendant, that wife was Emma L. Hooper, who was born on 3 February 1849 and died in 1886. [3] Nicholas Anthony evidently married her sometime in the late 1860s, probably in Tuscumbia, Alabama which was then in Franklin County. Emma is in the household of her father B. Y. Hooper in Franklin County in both 1850 and 1860. In 1870, she is enumerated in Tuscumbia (by then in Colbert County) in the household of her mother or stepmother as “Emma Anthony”. Although Emma was surely pregnant with Edward Young Anthony when the 1870 census was taken, her husband Nicholas Anthony is nowhere to be found in Alabama, Tennessee, or any other state. [He may have been circuit riding without a permanent home in which to be enumerated, but he was clearly simply missed for some reason.] They must have remained in Tuscumbia for a few years, as the 1880 census shows the birthplace of the second child (in late 1872) as Alabama.

Nicholas was back in Tennessee by 1875 for the birth of their third child, and in 1880 was enumerated with Emma and four children in the village of Normandy, in Bedford County.[4] The oldest child, Edward Young Anthony, stated in two 1913 life insurance applications that his father died at age 53 and his mother at age 30. This would suggest deaths about 1900 and 1880, respectively, several years different in both cases than the dates Ruth Thomas gives. [Note, though, that the nature of the record, combined with his estrangement from his family, gives us plenty of reason to doubt this information.] He also stated he had two brothers, ages 39 and 37 (in 1913), and two sisters, ages 41 and 35. Since only the younger sister is missing from the 1880 census record, which was taken 14 June 1880, Emma may have died at or shortly after the birth of a daughter in late 1880.

Edward Young Anthony told his wife that he ran away from home after his mother died, and that he was about 14 at the time. That suggests his mother died before 1884 or 1885. However, Ruth Thomas tells me that Emma did not die until 1886. Perhaps Edward Young Anthony did not leave home until he was 16 or older, and his wife either misremembered or embellished the story. Edward Young Anthony also told his wife that his family moved out of Bedford County to someplace on or near the Cumberland River, and were living there at the time he ran away. Indeed, Nicholas Anthony paid property taxes through 1881, then disappeared from the Bedford tax rolls.

He apparently went several miles northeast to DeKalb County, Tennessee, where there is a marriage record dated 12 May 1889 for N. A. Anthony and Mattie Robinson. According to a book on the Robinson family, his wife was Mattie Robinson (1870-1899), the daughter of John Elbert Robinson and his wife Margaret B. Smith.[5] A 1915 history of DeKalb County states: “Among the Southern Methodist circuit riders since the war who served at this place and other churches in the county, the following are recalled by H. L. Hale… N. A. Anthony…”[6] The same source reports that N. A. Anthony was also the pastor of the first Methodist church at Smithville, DeKalb County.[7] No date was given, but it must have been in the mid or late 1880s. The DeKalb County, tngenweb website contains several abstracts of the period 1886-1900 from issues of a local newspaper, the Liberty Herald, which mention Reverend N. A. Anthony.[8] Several issues from 1886 through 1889 make it clear that he was living in the village of Liberty during that period. These references are summarized in a footnote below.[9]

The issue of 16 October 1899 notes that Rev. Anthony was appointed to the Chestnut Mound circuit. This apparently resulted in move out of DeKalb County, for there is no further mention of him in the Liberty Herald. [Chestnut Mound itself is in Smith County, and it’s possible they lived there briefly.] Sometime in 1890 he became the minister of a church in western Trousdale County, about thirty miles northwest of Liberty. An article on the history of the Willow Grove Methodist Church of Trousdale County states that “Bro. N.A. Anthony, who served the church from 1890 to July 1893, died during his pastorate at Willow Grove.”[10] In 1891 he appears on a voter’s list in Trousdale County.[11] Ruth Thomas tells me that Nicholas Anthony died in Hartsville, Trousdale County a few miles east of Willow Grove. Melissa Watson confirms that, adding that he was buried in the Hartsville Cemetery.

His widow and children evidently returned to DeKalb County following his death, for they begin to be mentioned again by the Liberty Herald beginning in late 1894 as residents of Temperance Hall. The issue of 27 January 1897 notes that “Mrs.. N. A. Anthony is recovering from a spell of pneumonia” and the issue of 31 March 1897 notes that “Mrs.. N. A. Anthony is very feeble.” Although she recovered, she was again “very ill” in the issue of 19 April 1899 and the issue of 3 May 1899 notes “The writer was grieved to hear of the death of Mrs.. Mattie Anthony of Temperance Hall.” The book mentioned above gives her date of death as 19 August 1899, but the newspaper makes it clear she died several months earlier, sometime in April.

The children, except for the two youngest, had apparently left the area by the time of her death.

1. Edward Young Anthony (14 Nov 1870 - 23 Jan 1946) See separate page.

2. Lellie May Anthony (9 Oct 1872 – 20 September 1911) The 1880 census gives her birthplace as Alabama and her name as Lellie M. According to Ruth Thomas, she was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, married William Rufus Nicholas (1867-1928) and died in Conasauga, Polk County, Tennessee. Ruth reports the seven children shown below, but the 1910 census states she was the mother of five children, four of whom were living when the census was taken in April 1910. The 1910 census of Polk County, which lists the family as “Nichols”, shows four sons in the household: Harry (16), Dewey (12), Thomas (8), and Chauncey B. (2). The census indicates they had been married for twenty years.

2.1. Florrie Etta Nichols (21 August 1891 – 8 April 1892)

2.2. Ruth Lee Nichols (21 March 1893 – 16 February 1975)

2.3. Harrison Anthony Nichols (23 March 1895 – October 1967)

2.4. William Dewey Nichols (June 1897 - ?)

2.5. Thomas Ford Nichols (c1901 – c1957)

2.6. Chauncey Trueman Nichols (c1907 - ?)

2.7. Lacy Bryns Nichols (17 December 1910 – 29 May 1911)

3. Charles W. Anthony (c1875-?) He was born in Tennessee according to the 1880 census. The Liberty Herald issue of 31 July 1895 reported that Charlie Anthony had “skipped” and the issue of 19 April 1899 reported that Charles Anthony “of Texas” was visiting his mother Mrs.. Mattie Anthony. I did not find him in the 1900 census of Texas. E. Y. Anthony obviously thought he was alive in 1913, but I couldn’t find him in the 1900, 1910, or 1920 censuses. It is possible he is the “Charlie Anthony”, born February 1875 in Tennessee, who is a farm laborer in the household of Percy Waite of Sugar Grove township, Kane County, Illinois in the 1900 census. That person gives his father’s and mother’s birthplaces as Tennessee and Alabama.

4. Nicholas W. Anthony (January 1877 – 7 April 1945) He was born in Tennessee according to the 1880 census, which lists him as “Nicholas W.” The Liberty Herald abstracts mention him once, noting in the 24 June 1896 issue that “Nick Anthony of Temperance Hall has been visiting friends [in Liberty] for a few days.” The 1900 census has only one Nicholas Anthony anywhere in the country who is approximately the right age to be our man. And that person lists his birthplace as Tennessee, with his father also born in Tennessee and his mother in Alabama, and further lists his name as “Nicholas W.” He is therefore surely the same Nicholas Anthony found in Mahomet, Champaign County, Illinois in 1900 and 1910. The 1900 census shows him, born January 1877 in Tennessee, with a wife named Ellen E. (who is age 48, more than twice his age) and three stepchildren named Phillippa. The census indicates the couple had been married a year earlier, and his occupation is “farm hand.” In 1910, his age now given as 35, he is listed with the same wife and two of the stepchildren, with his occupation now a “horse dealer.” In 1920 he is listed in the adjoining community of Bloomington, McLean County, as a divorced lodger in a boarding house, his occupation now “house carpenter.” By the 1930 census of McLean, he acquired a wife named Evelyn C. with two more stepchildren. He is listed in that census as a “contracting carpenter.” There is an Illinois death certificate for the death of Nicholas W. Anthony in Bloomington, McLean County on 7 April 1945.[12] He appears to have had no children of his own.

5. Vesta Anthony ? (c1880 - ?) E. Y. Anthony also thought this sister was alive and aged about 35 in 1913. Since she’s not in the 1880 household, she must have been born later that year not long thereafter, making her no older than 33 in 1913. She may have been the Vesta Anthony mentioned twice in the Liberty Herald (in 1894 and 1895) as a resident of Temperance Hall.

There were two known children by Nicholas Anthony’s second wife, Mattie Robinson:

6. Elbert A. Anthony (May 1892? – 7 September 1957) In 1900 he and his brother are in the DeKalb County, Tennessee household of his aunt Sallie Robinson and her husband George W. Martin, his birth date given as May 1892. I did not find him in 1910, but he appears to be the “Albert” Anthony enumerated in Chicago with a recently acquired wife named Alice in 1920. In 1930 the same couple, this time listed as “Elbert A.” and “Sarah A.” are in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. Two children are in the household: James A. (10, born in Illinois) and Elaine M. (6, born in Indiana). His occupation in 1920 is some sort of clerk[13] and in 1930 is mail clerk for a railroad. A descendant found his birth date as 9 June 1891 in papers relating to his retirement, conflicting with the 1900 census record.[14] She reports that his wife was Sarah Alice Hendricks, whom he married on 16 October 1916 in Platt County, Illinois, and that both are buried in the Washington Park Cemetery in Indianapolis. The couple had three children who died young (Lois, and twins Paul and Pauline) and two others (James Allen and Elaine Mae).

7. Clarence Anthony (January 1894 - ?) In 1900 he and his brother are in the DeKalb County household of his aunt Sallie Robinson and her husband George W. Martin, his birth date given as January 1894. I did not find him in 1910, but he may be the Clarence G. Anthony enumerated in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan in 1920. He has a wife named Olive, no children, and was employed as a hammer-man in an axel manufacturing company. In 1930, it was perhaps the same person in Huntington Beach, Los Angeles County, California employed as a stock clerk in an automobile agency. The wife in 1930 was named Reba, whom he married about 1923 according to the census, though no children were in the household.