Mystery Monday: Nicatie Gibson

Nicatie Gibson

As I have mentioned before, I began searching my family tree years ago when I was young.  Everything was a mystery and there was no ancestry.com, no Internet that I knew of, to help you along quickly.  I researched by going to the library, ordering vital records through snail mail, writing family members who lived too far away, and interviewing the ones who were close.  One of those interviews was of my Grandma’s sister, Aunt Janice.  We went to her home and had a cheesy chicken broccoli mushroom casserole that I wasn’t too sure about as a kid, not liking broccoli or mushrooms or casseroles.  My mom recalls, “We sat down and I thought my girls will never eat this.  How will they react to it?”  I ate it the best I could, meaning as little broccoli and mushroom as possible.  We liked it so much my mom got the recipe and makes it minus the mushrooms to this day.  It is an often-requested birthday dinner meal.  I still push the broccoli aside.

I was anxious to hear all about Grandma’s ancestors.  After dinner, Aunt Janice began to share what she knew with me.  I learned that my great-grandmother was the youngest of 6 children to her parents, George William and Nicatie (Gibson) Comer: Owen born 1888, Mary born 1890, Marietta born 1892, William Webster born 1892, Daniel Kennington born 1894, and Matilda E born 1896.

The most intriguing was about my great-grandmother’s mother, Nicatie Gibson.  She whispered that Nicatie’s mother was said to be full-blooded Native American and that the “E” in my great-grandmother’s middle name stood for Elizabeth for her mother.  I have since found my great-grandmother’s delayed birth certificate and it states her middle name was Estelle.  Did I misunderstand?  Was she named after her grandmother instead?  I began to think it was possible as I did more research.

I could find no trace of Nicatie.  Even after I starting searching on ancestry and all over the internet, it became apparent that Nicatie was a nickname and that others were searching for “Nicatie’s” with very little luck too.  I found someone named Rebecca Gibson that fit the time period, but I had no proof.  A year or two ago, I got another clue in the form of the beautiful picture above.  This came out of another visit.  This time my Dad had caught the genealogy bug.  He and mom went to West Virginia to visit his aunt, the oldest sister of my Grandma. Little did he know he would be coming home with copies of so many wonderful pictures.

In the lower left corner of this picture someone has written:

“Nicotie Comer:

born Nov 15-1860

died July 14-1898.

Mother age 38 yrs.

“Gone but not forgotten.”

I finally had some dates.

I found her husband, George’s, death certificate but he remarried after she died so that does me no good.  I have searched FindAGrave for both their names.  No luck.  I searched newspapers for their names.  No luck.  I searched wvculture.org and only found this marriage license for a GW Comer and Rebecca A.M.N. Gibson but I cannot decide if I believe it’s them as it places George three years younger than his death certificate birthdate would make him.  It makes her two years younger than the writing on the picture.

I found this 1870 census in Roane County for an Elizabeth M Gibson, parents Martin and Matilda, my great-grandmother’s name.  I just cannot clarify if it is her or not.

One thing I know for certain is that her nickname was Nicatie and that stuck so well that three of her children, including my great-grandmother have that as her name on their delayed birth certificates.  My great-aunt said her husband or father called her “my little Nicatie.”  I have searched unsuccessfully for a meaning for that nickname as well.

Birth certificate of Matilda Comer

Nicatie will remain an unsolved mystery until I can find just the right clue.  Is she Elizabeth? Rebecca? Or are they one in the same?

George William Comer

George William Comer

My great-great-grandfather, George William Comer was born 18 August 1857 in Advent, Jackson County, (West) Virginia.  At the time of his birth Jackson County was still a part of Virginia.  West Virginia was granted statehood on 20 June 1863 after western Virginians  voted in 1861 to secede from Virginia due to the course Virginia was taking in seceding from the Union.  The Virginia/West Virginia question has always been a difficult one for me in my genealogy adventures.  Technically, George William Comer (and many others in my family tree from this time period) was born in Virginia.  It was the state of Virginia at the time.  It was pointed out to me recently that the 1870 and 1880 census generally list births before this date as taking place in Virginia and after, West Virginia.  Later, however, births long before this date were listed as West Virginia and the death certificates I have seen also list West Virginia.  I was unable to decide how to list these until I recently posed the question at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness and was told to list the place as what it was at the time of the event.  Makes perfect sense. Mystery solved.

George’s father, as listed on his death certificate and found on census records, was William Comer.  His son-in-law, Russell Bailes (my great-grandfather) was the informant for his death certificate which states George’s mother’s name is “not obtainable.”

Death Certificate, George William Comer

George William was born in 1857.  I have been able to find one brother, Daniel, born in 1862, who was born to William and George’s mother.  I have located an 1860 census that appears it could be this family but I am not sure yet.  The 1870 census shows his father remarried and having a child with his new wife in 1866.  So George’s mother died sometime between 1862 and 1866 when he was between five and nine years old.  Considering his mother’s name is unknown, it is likely he never spoke of her.  Perhaps she died earlier rather than later.  Could it have been in childbirth with his brother?

On the 1870 census, 12-year-old George is going by William.  His brother Daniel is eight.  He also has two half-sisters, Sarah, 5, and Louisa, 2.  I have not been able to locate George definitively on the 1880 census.  His father and stepmother have added four more brothers and one sister.     He was 23 and no longer living with his father.

I have also not found him on the 1900 census.  By then he had married Nicatie Gibson, and between 1888 and 1896, they had three sons and three daughters, the last being my great-grandmother, Matilda.

In 1898, Nicatie passed away.  He remarried Mary Jane Shafer about 1904.  They had three daughters, Ora, Masel, and Ruby Ethel, and one son, Roma Monroe.

By the 1910 census the family is living in the Buffalo District of Clay County, West Virginia.  George was a laborer in a lumber camp.  There was one called Buffalo Creek Stave Lumber Co near Widen, West Virginia in Clay County.  On the 1920 census, George is listed as a farmer.  Only he, his wife, and their four children are in the household.   By the 1930 census, his wife passed away and his 38-year-old daughter, Marietta, moved back home.  She was not listed with the family on the 1910 and 1920 census.  Perhaps she moved back after the death of his wife to help with his youngest daughter, Ruby, sixteen in 1930.

On the 1940 census, George, going by Willie, is living with his son Roma and his family.

According to my great-aunt, she remembers her grandfather being mean.

George passed away 15 Jan 1942 in Strange Creek, Clay County, West Virginia.  His death certificate states he is buried in Chapman Cemetery near Harrison, West Virginia.

My 16: Great-Great Grandparents

Today I begin sharing the lives of my great-great grandparents:

• John Merido Watkins and Margaret Roxanna Radford of North Carolina
• David Mooney Taylor and Sarah Elizabeth Grant of North Carolina
• Doctor Franklin Sebastian and Elizabeth Dowell of North Carolina
• Henry L Bemis and Ida Mae Osgood of Ohio
• John Solomon Bailes and Rachel Louisa Bragg of West Virginia
• George William Comer and Nicatie Gibson of West Virginia
• Henry Preston Hudnall and Martha Ellen Williams of West Virginia
• Jerome Clinton Eskins and Eliza J Slack of West Virginia

My great-great-grandparents were born between 1837 and 1878.  The last one passed away in 1954.  Four lived into their eighties, two into their seventies.  Four of the eight women passed away in their thirties.  In fact, all but one of these men outlived their wives.  They were farmers, miners, teamsters, merchants, a postmaster, and a soldier.

These are my grandparents’ grandparents, most of whom were not known to my grandparents because they passed away before they were born.  In some ways it is harder to write about them because most were unable to pass their stories along.  Some have been more difficult to find, research, and write about, their stories feeling somehow incomplete.  I continue researching them in hopes of knowing and sharing more of their lives.  I feel grateful to be able to share photographs of five out of eight sets but continue the search for more.

Many people begin researching their genealogy to see if they are related to someone famous or because they have heard they are.  Many are expecting great things from their ancestors, but let’s face it:  most people today live simple lives like you and I, working each day to provide for their families.  The same can be said for most of our ancestors.  Sometimes small surprises come our way.

I will revisit my great-grandparents and their families often, sometimes sharing information on their siblings that you may find interesting.  I will also keep sharing those old photos we all love.  Let me begin by sharing the story of John Merido Watkins.

Mamaw Bailes-Matilda Comer

Matilda Estelle Comer

Matilda Estelle Comer, my great-grandmother, was born April 17, 1896 in Advent, Jackson County, West Virginia, to George William Comer and Nicatie Gibson.  My whole life, I did not know her middle name but guessed it was Elizabeth, based on things a great-aunt told me.  I recently found her delayed birth certificate and found, to my surprise, that her middle name was Estelle.

Birth certificate of Matilda Comer

Matilda’s first picture,
3 weeks old

Matilda was the youngest of six siblings, Owen, Mary, Marietta, William, and Daniel.  Her mother passed away when she was about two years old.  To date, I have been unable to find the family in the 1900 census.  Her father remarried Mary Jane about 1904.  By the 1910 census, the family has moved to Buffalo in Clay County.  Their father is a laborer in a lumber camp.  Matilda was thirteen and all her siblings except the oldest, Owen (22), were still living at home.  Her father and his new wife had added Ora and Masel to the family by then and later came Roma and Ruby.

In the 1920 census, Matilda, Mary, and Daniel are living with their brother Owen and his wife, Glendora.  Owen is farming and brother Daniel is a laborer for the railroad.  Is it possible at some point she worked? The picture below is a postcard picture on the back of which is written “Matilda E. Comer, later Bailes, with friend…worked at Kelly Axe Co? Charleston, WV.”

Matilda Comer (right)

Matilda & child

Matilda married Russell Bailes on 16 March 1921.  By the 1930 census, they had their oldest daughter (7-still living), Kathlene (5), Carl (3), and Doris (1).  Russell is working as a coal miner by now and did so until the end of his life.  By the 1940 census, they are living near her brother, Roma and his family.  Three more children are added to the family as well, Janice, and twins Chessie and Chelsie.  Matilda and Russell had one other child, Kenneth, twin to Kathleen, who died at about one year of age.

Matilda with grandchildren
(holding my dad)

Matilda’s husband, Russell, passed away in 1948.  About four years later, she sold their home and 77-acre farm.  She eventually moved to Elyria, Ohio.

It is getting more and more common for young people to know their great-grandparents.  My children knew five out of eight of theirs.  But many years ago, this was very uncommon due to disease, lack of medical advancements, and earlier deaths.  I feel blessed to have known two of my great-grandparents, both great-grandmothers.  Matilda was one of them.  I was almost five years old when she passed away 7 September 1980 in Elyria, Ohio.

Mamaw Bailes & great-grandchildren
(me on her lap)

I have extremely few memories of Mamaw Bailes, honestly probably only two specific memories.  I remember my mom making iced tea for her, going to her house nearby and leaving it on the front porch in the sun when she was not home.  I also remember a tobacco box of hers that my dad has and kept colored pencils in for a long time. My best memory of Mamaw Bailes was going to her house once when she had recently washed her hair and did not have it up yet.  I had never seen Mamaw Bailes with her hair down.  She always wore it in a bun.  It was long and black, and  I remember her sitting in a rocking chair doing her hair up quick and easily.  I remember wishing she would wear it down all the time because it was so beautiful.

Mamaw Bailes with great-grandchildren-
me next to her