52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #23 Sarah A Mooney Cole

As I study the image of my great-great-grandmother, I look for resemblances, but see none. I wonder who this woman was who appears so worn down by life before her 70th year.

Quick drop page, Sugar and Spice, Digital Scrapper, April 2010

Sarah A Mooney was the second of five children born to William C Mooney and Permina Alexander Mooney of Henry County, Tennessee. Born in September of 1847, Sarah was a young teen at the outbreak of the Civil War. She saw the young men of the area march off to war. Was she affected by the skirmishes in the area? Did she despair of finding a husband?

On March 02, 1865, young Sarah married Joseph M Cole, a farmer and doctor who was about 13 years her senior. She bore two children: William and Julia.

The 1900 census finds the widowed Sarah living with Julia Cole Carter and Robert Alphonso Carter in Clay County, Arkansas. By 1910, Sarah had moved to the Clay County home of her son, William. It seems that her daughter had also predeceased her.

William Cole and his family posed for a group photo with Sarah about 1914. There is no known record of Sarah Mooney Cole after that photo, so it is likely that she died in Arkansas between 1914 and 1920.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #22 William J Cole

William J Cole was one of only two children born to Sarah A Mooney and Joseph Cole, who lived in Henry County, Tennessee. Joseph was a farmer and a doctor. My great-grandfather William followed only in his farming footsteps.

Quick drop page from Bookshelves kit, ClubScrap

On December 6, 1891, the 26-year-old William married Mollydine Alexander in neighboring Weakley County, Tennessee. The couple had four sons and also cared for William's aged mother near the end of her life. The family moved to Clay County, Arkansas, in the late 1800s.

The couple apparently had marital problems. In the 1930 census, "widowed" Molly and son Seborn were living in Michigan, near sons Noble and Clifford, while "widowed" William was living in Arkansas with son Carlos.

William J Cole died in Arkansas in 1937, and was buried in New Hope Cemetery in Pollard, Arkansas. He was buried in a different cemetery and even a different town from his wife.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #15 Mollydine Alexander Cole and Twin

We don't talk much about the family of my maternal grandfather. Most of what I know has been gleaned from records, newspapers and very distant cousins. But I do recall one conversation about my great-grandmother, Mollydine Alexander Cole.

My Mom was telling me that only her mother's stubbornness stood between herself and the name Mollydine. She  was grateful that she had been named Molly, rather than Mollydine after her grandmother. I didn't ask about the spelling. Instead I wrote the name down as Molly Dean, thinking it was a clue to another ancestral line.

Quick drop page from ArtPlay Palette Family by AnnaAspnesDesigns
for Digital Scrapper, March, 2012

When I saw the 1880 census for Weakley County, Tennessee, I figured out how the unusual name came to be. Mollydine had a twin, Josephine. Can't you just see their parents trying to rhyme a name with Josephine? Give it a try -- I did!

The exact date of the twins' birth is fuzzy. Mollydine and Josephine were born on January 31, 1873, according to Molly's obituary. Josephine's typed death record gives a birth date of January 13, 1873, but I suspect that is a typographical error. Josephine Alexander Stacks showed a birthdate of February, 1875, in the 1900 Weakley County census. Molly showed January, 1874, for her birthdate in the 1900 census taken in Clay County, Arkansas. The twins never had identical ages in any census after 1880. Based on all the evidence, I believe that their most likely birthdate is January 31, 1873.

The twins were born to Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Alexander and Rebecca Ann Maynard. Josephine's death certificate says that they were born in Weakley County.  They grew to womanhood there and were also married there. Mollydine married William J. Cole on December 6, 1891. Josephine married William Edward Stacks on January 19, 1899. Their lives diverged when Mollydine and her family moved to Clay County, Arkansas, leaving her twin behind in Tennessee.

Mollydine gave birth to four sons: Carlos, Noble, Clifford and Seborn. She and William apparently had marital problems. In the 1930 census, "widowed" Molly and son Seborn were living in Michigan, near her sons Noble and Clifford, while "widowed" William was living in Arkansas with son Carlos.

Mollydine Alexander Cole died in Arkansas on January 24, 1956, and was buried in Piggott Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Piggott, Arkansas. She was buried in a different cemetery and even a different town from William J. Cole, who had predeceased her.

Josephine Alexander Stacks died on July 19, 1948, in Hardeman County, Tennessee. Her place of burial was not given on her death certificate.