52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week
26 (June 28- July 4)
Prompt: Identity
#52ancestors
I wrote about the Evans brothers who possibly were living with Eliza
Flynn on the 1860 Adams County, MS census in my blog post of Aug 12, 2022. Who was Eliza Flynn?
Eliza Flynn was born in Ireland in 1830 and was living in Adams County, Mississippi
by 1860. The 1860 census doesn't asked
for marriage status or relationship to others in the household, but it shows
Eliza with 8 children from ages 6 months to 12 years old. She has no occupation
listed nor any personal or real estate. It
looks like a blended family since there are two children named Mary and two
children named John. That would indicate that Eliza had lost her spouse, and some
of those children had lost both their parents.
Eliza was possibly caring for her brother or sister's children as well
as her own. Eliza had a great many
stressors in her life. Since she was born in Ireland, it is likely that she did
not have much if any family support near her. Besides taking care of 8 children alone,
she was likely dealing with grief and a lack of money.
There is not another Eliza Flynn listed in the Adams County census for
1860, so it is likely the following information is about the same Eliza Flynn.
There was a resolution presented at the May 28th, 1867 Natchez City
Council meeting, asking the city to provide $25.00 for the immediate needs of a
certain lunatic, Eliza Flynn. It passed with the request that her friends take
steps at the current probate session to have her placed in the state asylum.
On May 30th of 1867, there is a court hearing with a petition asking the
court to declare Eliza Flynn insane. The testimonies of her neighbors state
that she had not been able to govern herself since 1862. The petition states that she is without any
relatives. There is no mention of any
children in the documents, nor does it mention how the judge ruled. It is
likely that neighbors or relatives have taken over the care of the children by
this time.
The Natchez Democrat newspaper on June 6th, 1867 published a notice that
Eliza Flynn had been placed on the Quitman to go to the insane asylum in
Jackson.
In 1870, Eliza Flynn was listed in the Insane Asylum in Jackson,
Mississippi, however her age is listed as 52 born in Pennsylvania when it
should have been closer to 40 and born in Ireland. Was this a mistake or is this a different
Eliza Flynn? There is also a Bridget Flynn listed in the asylum. Her age is 42 and
born in Ireland. Was there a mistake made in the census records which switched
Bridget and Eliza's information?
I have found no other information on Eliza Flynn. She is not in the
asylum in 1880, nor apparent in the census anywhere else. I haven't found a
death record, marriage record or burial record for her after 1870.
I haven't found any of the 8 children in the 1870 census, but they could
be under the last name of the family they are living with or just not in the
census at all. The 1870 census in
Mississippi is known for missing a large number of families that were living
there. During the chaos of the reconstruction, there were many families who
refused to have any dealings with the government or "carpet baggers".
Most of the children's names are very common so it is almost impossible to
search for them by their first names of John, James, Mary, or Sarah. I have searched for Jerry and Henry but
haven't found any person the right age with the right name in Mississippi. The
search is also complicated by the large number of people who are only listed by
their initials and last names in this census.
I am puzzled about Eliza's identity
and her relationship with the 8 children in her household in 1860. I have a hypothesis about the identity of some
of the children in my August 12, 2022 blog post, if you are intrigued with this
mystery.
General Quitman Ship: Could this be the ship that Eliza was placed on?
