It’s been on my mind since the late 90s when I came across something a bit irregular while reading through the original Union County tax books housed at State Archives of North Carolina. Like most county records once stretching the capabilities of County Courthouses across our state, Union County’s original tax lists were moved to the centralized repository in Raleigh where they receive a higher degree of safety. And about the source in general, tax lists document all legal landholders for a given year inclusive of how many acres each person owned along with the total value of each said tract of land.  Such tax lists are considered by researchers to be valuable as prime resources due to the information that is collected and recorded by a legally responsible official for use in determining how much tax is to be charged.  And from a genealogical standpoint, whether the information is used to track people as they come of age or die, or to track changes in wealth through time, county tax lists provide family historians with snapshots in time as well as a better understanding of trends regarding how people faired in comparison to their neighbors.

Going back to the early 90s when I first began my quest to learn more about my heritage, and at first poring through handwritten family group sheets shared from ring binders compiled by others, it became known to me that my third great grandfather Ananias Thomas married a person named Sarah Ross. However, in time I found no record substantiating the claim.  Furthermore, from comments made on the old Genforum genealogical forum, I learned that many in the Ross family were adamant that Ananias could not be the husband of the only known Sarah Ross.  Yes, we have her grave marker identifying her name as “Sarah Thomas.” We also have her loose estate papers which include a document listing every single one of her many surviving children and grandchildren. However, I believe there is no specific document or lore treasured by the Ross family we can put to work to synch this wishful belief.  And that’s only half of the problem. Note that the image of the tax list (top of page) names Headley Thomas, truly an unusual name with origin maybe helpful in resolving this dilemma. Born circa 1815, the son of Ananias and wife Sarah Thomas, who was Headley Thomas named for?

Living between Gourdvine and old Negrohead (now Salem Creek), my Thomas family neighbor happened to be Francis Coburn (1740-1813) who appears earlier in Martin County NC.  Francis married Lydia Ross, and they had son Headley Coburn who was born circa 1765. Some say that Lydia’s maiden name may be Headly. Fifty years older than Headly Thomas, could Headly Coburn be his namesake?

There is also Col. Headley Polk (1812-1907) who grew up in the neighborhood and whose father William Shelby Polk is said to have married Winnefred Colburn, a daughter of the aforementioned Headley Coburn. Headley Polk moved with family to Tennessee before settling in Texas.

Please realize that at this point I am not trying to prove the ancestry of Headly Thomas, albeit Headley Coburn and Headley Polk must play into how my family’s lore came to be. And at some point, long before I took up the craft of genealogy, some unknown person mapped their thoughts on the old tax list, likely unbeknownst to the clerk of court while the book of tax lists was housed in the Union County Courthouse (not at all a good thing!).  Also listed is Ola, or Alice Thomas, whose husband David is Headley’s brother and therefore my second great grandmother.  And of the notation concerning Charity Thomas, she is the widow of Ezekiel Thomas who is Ananias Thomas’ brother. Ezekiel owned land on the north side of Richardson Creek giving reason for his wife to be the namesake of the crossing called “Charity Ford.” It is said the old Thomas burying ground was once located nearby on the northside of the stream.  Charity married second to Peoples Hasty and Ezekiel’s son Jonathan (born to a first wife) soon after left for Cherokee County, Alabama where also lived members of the Coburn family.

It would be very easy to grab the name Sarah Ross and make her my own.  However, the details simply do not make the case. Maybe it is time to look again as new tools including DNA and the digitization of documentation might be brought to bear.