Life History

Other facts

Notes

• I first got information on James Henry Tate and his wife Elizabeth in an email on 31 March 2008 from Wanda Tate Cox, a great-granddaughter.  I had been unable to clearly identify the parents of Eliza Jane Tate, who originally came into the genealogy as the wife of James Jackson, in my Green-Jackson family.  With just the names, which Wanda gave me, I was then able to find other sources to reconstruct this family.
  
  I have found no record of a marriage or children before J H married Elizabeth Teter in about 1866.  It appears that Henry, although about 40 years old at that time, had not been married before.  I have not found information on the parentage of J H.
  
  I first found them in the 1870 census in Parker County, Texas.  We see here that widow Elizabeth (Teter) Watkins has married James Henry Tate.  This census enables us to estimate a birth year for each of these individuals.  Martha Ann is the first child born of this marriage, in about 1867.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas, 22 August, Precinct 2, PO Fort Worth (Tarrant Co), page 55, Hse/Fam #404
  J H Tate 44 M W Farmer $250 Real Estate $400 Personal born Georgia [b abt 1826]
  Elizabeth Tate 32 F W born Illinois [b abt 1838]
  S Wadkins 12 F W born Texas [b abt 1858]
  Jas Wadkins 7 F W born Texas [b abt 1863]
  Wm Wadkins 7 F W born Texas [b abt 1863]
  L Wadkins 6 M W born Texas [b abt 1864]
  Martha [Tate] 3 F W born Texas [b abt 1867]
  Mary [Tate] 1 F W born Texas [b abt 1869]
  
  The family name we know as Watkins was often spelled Wadkins in the censuses on the 1800s and early 1900s.  The children named Wadkins here are the children from the first marriage of Elizabeth Teter to William J A Watkins.  I received these names from Wanda, so was able to correlate this census report with her information.  James and William Watkins are the same age here, matching Wanda Cox's report of them as twins.
  
  The child listed as L Wadkins matches the child reported by Wanda as E D Watkins (a girl).  But this child L Wadkins is listed as a Male.  There is no female to match E D.  E D Watkins is listed in the 1880 census in the household of J R Brown and his wife Sarah.  Thanks again to Wanda Tate Cox for pointing me to this. Wanda tells me that Sarah Brown is the sister of Elizabeth Teter Watkins Tate, the mother of the Watkins children.  Our coresearcher Evlyn Broumley informs me that "E D Watkins on the 1880 census is Sarah's niece, mother was Elizabeth Teter Watkins Tate" (personal email, 21 Sept 2009).  So E D Watkins was Elizabeth's daughter from her first marriage.
  
  I have not been able to account for the initial L in this child L Wadkins nor the male gender in the 1870 census.  The girls Martha and Mary are in Wanda's list of children of James and Elizabeth.  The entry is unclear on their last name, but they are listed last, and from their ages and names we know who these two girls are:  Martha Ann and Mary Elizabeth.
  
  The name Mary Elizabeth also helps clear up one uncertainty from our earlier limited information.  The name of James Jackson's wife was given in most sources as Eliza.  This is short for Elizabeth, so some have listed her as Elizabeth, with Eliza as a nickname.  It now appears that her parents actually named her Eliza as a proper name, even though she had a sister named Elizabeth (Mary Elizabeth).
  
  We can estimate from the ages of the Martha Tate that James Henry and Elizabeth married about 1866.  I have not been able to find a record of their marriage.
  
  In 1880, J H is listed as Henry Tate.  He is a widower, so this tells us Elizabeth died sometime after the 1870 census.  No record of her death or burial has been found.  But she must have died in Parker County, since all other information we have about the family is in Parker County.
  
  1880 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas, 1 July, Precinct 2, District 136, page 53, Hse/Fam #436
  Henry Tate 50 W M Farmer [widower] MO Unknown Unknown [b abt 1830]
  Martha Tate 13 W F Daughter TX MO Illinois [b abt 1867]
  Mary Tate 11 W F Daughter TX MO Illinois [b abt 1869]
  Isaac Tate 9 W M Son TX MO Illinois [b abt 1871]
  Eliza Tate 7 W F Daughter TX MO Illinois [b abt 1873]
  
  We may note here that Henry has gained only 6 years in age since that last census, being 44 in 1870 but only 50 in 1880.
  
  The 1870 census says J H was born in Georgia, but the 1880 says Missouri!  This may tell us that he and his family came originally from Georgia, but moved to the Midwest, before going on to Texas.  This does not tell us anything definitively about their earlier location before 1870; Georgia is next door to Alabama, so that might be.  The 1900 census again reports Georgia, and this is what I find in other genealogies that include John Henry Tate.
  
  In 1900, we find James H with his second wife Mary L (Ragle).  The Texas Marriage Collection (Ancestry.com/State of Texas) reports that James and Mary married on 11 December 1891.
  
  1900 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas, 5 June, Precinct 3, District 64, page 2B, Hse/Fam #38
  Henry Tate 50 W M May 1826  74 Married 9 yrs GA GA SC  Farmer
  Martha L Tate Wife W M [sic, should be F] Sept 1840  50  Married 9 yrs 0 children AL VA NC
  Bullard, Henry grandson W M Sept 1892  7  TX TX TX
  
  James' birth state has been corrected to Georgia, and we now have the birth states of his parents: father Virginia, mother South Carolina.
  
  Henry Bullard, is the son of James Henry's daughter Martha Ann, who had married Nathan Bullard Jr, who has now died.  At the time of the 1900 census Martha Ann is living with her sister Eliza and Eliza's husband James Jackson.  With her is her son 1-year old Carley Glanton (listed in one genealogy as Charlie).  Martha Ann is reported as a widow.  So she has already been widowed twice at age 33.
  
  The Texas Marriage Index records the marriage of J H Tate to Martha L Ragle on 11 December 1891 in Parker County, Texas.
  
  I first got James' death date from Wanda Tate Cox, who reported on the pension application of Martha Ragle Tate.  In applying for a pension for her husband's service for the Confederate Forces in the Civil War, Martha gave James Henry's death date as 2 August 1901.

Sources

• 1. 1870 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 22 August, Precinct 2, PO Fort Worth (Tarrant Co), page 55, Hse/Fam #404
• 2. 1900 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 5 June, Precinct 3, District 64, page 2B, Hse/Fam #38
• 3. Email Sources
• 4. 1880 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 1 July, Precinct 2, District 136, page 53, Hse/Fam #436
• 5. Texas, Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2011
• 6. 1900 Federal Census, Erath County, Texas
  • 20 June, Justice Precinct 1, District 64, page 19B, Hse/Fam #331
• 7. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 8. Texas Death Certificate
  • Certificate #30638
• 9. Gravestone of Isaac Jerome Tate, Liberty Cemetery, Erath County, Texas
• 10. 1900 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 15 June, justice Precinct 6, District 77, page 7A, Hse #128, Fam #130
• 11. Personal Letters
  • Letter #8
• 12. 1880 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 1 July, Precinct 2, District 136, page 53A, Hse/Fam #436
• 13. 1900 Federal Census, Parker County, Texas
  • 6 June, Justice Precinct 1, District 64, page 3A, Hse/Fam #46
• 14. Cindy Mixon Beam Genealogy research
• 15. Cemeteries of Texas