Lorenzo Dow Tipton

Every now and then a Tipton family researcher will run into a dead end on researching one of their ancestor’s origins. One such case is that of Lorenzo Dow Tipton (pictured at left with his third and last wife, Martha Hooks, the picture is dated 1895, they were married 18 April 1889.) Lorenzo was born in Missouri June 16, 1830, and died Cooke County, Texas May 1, 1908. Then, to add to the confusion, there was another Lorenzo Dow Tipton who died in Texas. He was Lorenzo Dow Tipton, born June 8, 1810 in Clover Hill, Tennessee and died in Barton Chapel, Jack County, Texas September 12, 1894. This Lorenzo Dow Tipton was a Baptist Minister (names after the great Baptist minister Lorenzo Dow.) Because of his prominence, many records exist of his existence.

This search for the Lorenzo Dow Tipton born in Missouri came about by a question from his great-great granddaughter Caroline (Tipton) Miller sent to me in January of this year.

Caroline sent me an e-mail January of this year stating:

“I am the sister of Jerry S. Tipton, one of the exact 37-market matches to you at Family Tree DNA for the Tipton surname project. We are trying to find how we hook into the line of Jonathan Tipton, as we know only the last five generations. Would you share your ancestors with us so we might narrow down the possibilities?

Our line goes like this:

Jerry Tipton b. Nov. 5, 1946 (Jerry is Caroline’s brother)
Kenneth N. Tipton b. April 1923, d. Mar. 2003
John Sidney Tipton b. July 1894, d. Aug. 1942
Daniel H. Tipton b. Jan 1870, d. Oct. 1961
Lorenzo Dow Tipton b. June 1830, d. Sept 1908



L. D. Tipton was born in Missouri, and moved to Texas in 1859 with his wife, Dorothy, and son, John S. Dan, Sidney and Kenneth were all born on that family farm in Cook County, Texas. In the 1940, Kenneth moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Jerry (her brother) was born.

If you could tell us not only the names and dates of your ancestors, but their locations, we might find an overlapping geographical location or migration trail, and find out how we are related. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Caroline (Tipton) Miller
Monterey, CA

Caroline mentions in her e-mail that her brother Jerry and I are exact 37-marker matches for the Tipton Family Tree DNA project. I am a direct descendent of Major Jonathan Tipton (b. 1750, d. 1833) of North Carolina and Tennessee. Caroline’s great-great grandfather is obviously a descendent of Major Jonathan Tipton. As any Tipton family researcher has discovered, Major Jonathan Tipton has many direct descendents. He was married three times and produced a total of thirteen children. Many of his children produced even larger families. An interesting fact is that many of my fellow Tipton researchers are descended from Major Jonathan Tipton. Some of those are Tim Tipton of Knoxville, Tennessee, Norman Tipton of El Cajon, California, Paul Tipton of LaJolla, California, Gene Tipton of Witchita, Kansas, and Kevin Weaver of San Francisco, California.

A few years ago I encountered a similar situation. I received an e-mail for a woman whose name I cannot recall at this time who was inquiring about her ancestor Fred Tipton. Again, she encountered a similar situation. She could go back so far and the history of her family stopped with Fred Tipton. I was able to find a Fred Tipton gravestone but we had no way of establishing the father of Fred Tipton. She came to the conclusion that Fred Tipton was probably illegitimate. This inquiry came to me a few years ago, before the Tipton Family DNA project. Maybe if she is reading this blog, she can contact me and I can put her in touch with the DNA project. Of course she would need a male member of her family to have his DNA tested because the test only works through the male bloodline.

One has to wonder what the circumstances are that would cause the father of Lorenzo Dow Tipton to completely disappear from the records of that time. I did a search on Ancestry.com for Lorenzo in the individual family trees. The name of Lorenzo’s mother comes up. It was Fanny Rhine Linebarger but the slot where the father’s name appears says “Unknown Tipton.” I can surmise that perhaps “Unknown Tipton” was not married to Fanny Rhine Linebarger and didn’t want the responsibility of a child. Of course there could be any number of reasons why there is an “Unknown Tipton.” Perhaps he died young. My partner’s father died when he was one year old. My Mother’s Mother died when she was not quite two years old. These things happen and the original parent tends to fade into memory because they died so young.

Perhaps there is someone out there in the vastness of the Internet community who is reading this posting now who knows of an old family bible that some long ago Tipton recorded the father of Lorenzo Dow Tipton. If so, please contact me so we can put this mystery to rest and tie Caroline’s line into the Major Jonathan Tipton III line of Tipton descendents. We would love to hear from you!

Ezekiel Tipton 1874-1959

Recently I received an inquiry from a lady in Colorado. She was inquiring about her great-great grandfather, Ezekiel Tipton. Below is her e-mail:

Hi, my name is Pam. My great-grandfather was Ezekiel Tipton, born 1871 in TN or NC (records show different locations.) He lived in Unicoi County, TN on 1900 census then moved to Idaho somewhere between 1906 and 1910, show up on 1910 Idaho census. He married Sarah Catherine Proffitt. Ezekiel's father was James C. Tipton born approx. 1852 and mother Amanda J. Blankenship. Thank you so much for all your research. I just found out about my Tipton ancestors about a year ago. My mother has been so thrilled to find out about her family. Her mother (Anice Tipton, daughter of Ezekiel) died at age 26 from TB when my mom was only 6, and Anice was raised by another family after her mother (Sarah Tipton) died in 1912. My mother wasn't given much info about her mother. My mother knew her mother's name, birth year, birth state and that she was raised by the Bairs and THAT is all she had. We've come a long way and would like to know more.

There are so many Tiptons, was wonder if we are related through this line of mine?

ANY info would be most appreciated, especially by my Mother, and thanks again for all your hard work.

I researched my records and I discovered that she does fit into the Tipton family tree. Most often I can fit Tiptons into the records that I have if supplied with at least three generations back. In this case the lady who sent me the inquiry had the name of her great grandfather which was a unique name (Ezekiel - unique names are always easier to find in a family tree.) Plus she had the name of her great grandfather's parents which is how I was able to identify her great-grandfather. It turns out that Ezekiel is also descended from Major Jonathan Tipton (1750-1833), who is also my ancester. The lady's mother is my 5th cousin. My cousin, and fellow Tipton genealogy family researcher, Tim Tipton (and also my 5th cousin), is checking further into his records to see if he can find any more information on Ezekiel Tipton's wife, Sarah Proffitt (or Prophet.)

This is a good example of why I love researching in my family genealogy and why the Tipton family genealogy is so unique. All records indicate that the Tiptons presently residing in the United States today are descended from that first Jonathan Tipton (1659-1757) who arrived on these American shores in 1692 from Jamaica by way of Pontesbury, England. He settled in Baltimore County Maryland and proceeded to make a large number of land purchases. The records of those purchases exist to this day and form the basis of the Tipton family genealogy. However, in researching the maternal side of my family tree, I ran into a different situation. The name is Hadfield and quite a number of Hadfields emigrated into the United States during the middle of the 19th century through the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as well as other points of entry into the United States. However, all records indicate that only ONE TIPTON emigrated and stayed in the United States over 400 years ago. Ezekiel Tipton is just one of them. He is the son of James C. Tipton (1850- 1929), who in turn was the son of Henderson Tipton (1819 - unknown), who in turn was the son of Jacob Tipton (1791-1857) who in turn was the son of Jonathan Tipton III ("Major"), who in turn was the son of Jonathan Tipton II (1699-1799) who in turn was the son of the first Jonathan Tipton (1659-1779.)

The following is Ezekiel Tipton's obituary:

Obituary from Idaho newspaper:Ezekiel Tipton, 87, a resident of Emmett since 1921, died Sunday at a local hospital following a long illness.He was born Oct. 8, 1871, in Tennessee, and was married there in 1892 to Sarah Catherine Prophet. She died in 1911. He moved to Oakley, Idaho, in 1903. He was married to Hettie Hoggatt in 1912 at Oakley.Surviving are nine sons, Ross of Emmett, Clark of Jerome, Tony and Homer of Twin Falls, Elden of Hereford, Ore., Delmar and Leo of Baker, Ore., Raymond of Huntingdon and Ralph of McCall; one daugher Mrs. Mildred Smith of Baker, and one sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Hensley of North Carolina.Services were held Wednesday at the Beatty chapel with Harry Bingham officiating.Interment was in the Emmett Cemetery.

The Downside of Genealogy Research

Today I received an e-mail from a William Tipton. I don't know Mr. Tipton personally, but I assumed that at one time he sent me an e-mail or an inquiry to one of my Tipton family web sites. All Tiptons that I receive e-mails from I add to my mailing list for Tipton genealogy assuming that they would also be interested in our common family genealogy. Each time I update my "Tipton Tales and Trails" blog, I send links to these e-mail addresses, assuming they would be interested in reading a blog about our family research. Since the evidence is abundantly clear that we Tiptons are all descended from the same common ancestor, a Jonathan Tipton who immigrated to this country in 1692 from Port Royale, Jamaica. Well, it appears that I have overstepped my bounds. William Tipton requested that I remove his name from mailing list, equating my e-mails with spam. If William Tipton intended to hurt me by his scarcastic and dismissive e-mail, he succeeded. I will honor his request and remove him from my mailing list. In fact, I'll do him one better. I will no longer send links to my postings on Tipton Tales and Trails. I understand that he does not want to be bothered and that is fine with me. I have encountered this attitude before among some Tiptons during my research on our common family tree. They do not want to be bothered. However, what I did think was unnecessary was his need to insult and dismiss me as a "genealogist" and a spam producer. But, be that as it may. It isn't the first time I've been slapped down for being altruistic. Probably won't be the last time either. On occasion in the past, I thought I would change the way I operate. However, I found it very difficult to be self-centered, selfish, and dismissive and hurtful to others. It's not in my nature. I will honor William Tipton's request and not forward links to my blog postings any more. However, I do have a suggestion for William Tipton. The next time if you just request to be taking off of a mailing list, just send an e-mail saying "Please take me off of your mailing list. Thank you." Sarcastic and hurtful words only add to the negativity that is all too abundant in this world now. Below is the content of William Tipton's e-mail that he sent to me today.

Ron,

As a fellow Tipton "geneologist" I can certainly appreciate your interest in all things "Tipton." It should be noted, however, that we comprise a very large tree with some branches being so far removed one from the other that any two particular branches may have no closer a blood relationsip than if we randomly put a finger down on a name in the phone book and compared that blood relationship to our own. Such is the case with your branch of the Tipton tree and my branch of the same, large tree.

I would hope you're a considerate guy, so I have one kind request, please:
Remove my email address from your periodic Tipton Trails notice. It's of no interest to me and I've grown more-than-tired of receiving the same message from you, sir.

Like most of us, I've lived with spam only because I must. We Tiptons really have no business adding to the problem.

Thanks for not replying and for taking me off your email list.

-Wm. Tipton

Visit to Cousin Elsie Mae Gouge Kilby

In 1994 I began my research into my Tipton family genealogy. For many years I had wondered where my father came from. All I knew was that he was a “hillbilly” from Pigeon Roost, North Carolina. He and his eight brothers and parents moved to Pennsylvania around 1929, when my Father was nine years old to work as tenant farm labor on their Uncle Don Byrd’s farm near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Two more brothers would be born in Pennsylvania. As anyone who has studied their family tree knows, the first place you start is to ask your parents questions. What were their parent’s names and when were they born? Then you ask what were your grandparents’ names and when were they born? Well, my dad didn’t even know his grandparents names. Early on, I learned when one road comes to a dead end, you go down another road. In this case I asked another relative, my Uncle Ed. He knew the name of his grandfather, my great-grandfather (it was Hiram Tipton born 05 Mar 1852 - died 1933.) Thus began my long quest to find my roots. Over the years since then I have sometimes devoted much time researching my family history. However, there have been periods of time in which my job so consumed my life, that I had to take a leave from family genealogy research. Then I had the problem of selling my house in Pennsylvania and moving to my retirement home here in Delaware that ate up over two years of my time. What happened, before I realized it, 10 to 12 years had slipped by. During that time, some of my older relatives passed on, thus ending the most valuable source of information that any genealogist, amateur or professional could have. One such missed opportunity occurred in 1996 when I discovered that my Mother’s aunt was still alive. She was 96 years old and lived in West Chester, only six miles from where I lived and worked in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. My grandmother died when my Mother was only two years old. Here was an opportunity to talk to my grandmother’s sister and find out what my maternal grandmother was like. Also, it was an opportunity to find out about that side of my Mother’s family of which I knew very little. I called her and she was clear of mind and anxious to talk to me. Alas, I was so caught up in my work that by the time I got around to calling her again, she had died. I tried not to make that mistake again. I had several interviews with my Aunt Peg (Mrs. John Henry Tipton, born 14 Jun 1915 - died 15 Jan 2006), before she died at 90 years old a few years ago. Before she passed on, she loaned me several priceless old family photos, including one of my great grandfather that I had never seen before. I scanned those photos into my computer and now some of them are posted on the Internet for posterity. Last week I called my Father’s first cousin, Elsie Mae Gouge Kilby (born February 24, 1922.) Mrs. Kilby is also clear of mind and asked me to stop by “anytime” to visit her. That is what I did today. She lives in Kelton, Pennsylvania, right over the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania. Ironically, her house is just a short detour from the route I take to my Mother’s house in Pennsylvania. Bill and arrived at the agreed upon time, 1 pm. She lives on a heavily traveled turn on Rt. 796, Jennersville Road in a house that is over a hundred years old. Her divorced son lives with her and is her caretaker. Coincidentally by Mother also lives with her divorced son who watches over her. Elsie Mae Gouge Kilby is the daughter of David Gouge (born 05 Mar 1881 died 1946) and Cynthia Abigail “Abby” Tipton born 29 Aug 1880 died 30 Apr 1971). Abby Tipton was the older sister of my grandfather Fieldon Jacob Tipton, Sr. (born 04 Jun 1884 – died 08 May 1939). Mrs. Kilby welcomed Bill and me into her 100 year old home. She introduced us to her son, Robert “Buster” Kilby. We got settled into our seats and I took out my family lineage sheets for her family. I read dates to confirm with her. She corrected me on some dates, and added dates that I did not have. She shared some anecdotes with me like the time she and her husband eloped to Elkton Maryland with my Uncle Ed Tipton and his future wife Mable Thompson to get married. They wanted to keep it secret but the news of their marriage was in the newspapers the next day so the "secret" was out. Cousin Elsie told me that "back in the day" one got married "first." Then she produced a reprinted picture of her father David Gouge as a young man when he attended Milligan College with his first cousin, David Edwards. This was exactly what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an original picture but a poor ink jet copy. I asked her if I could borrow the original copy so I could scan it into my computer. She said she would have to “dig the pictures out” and asked if I could stop back because she couldn’t do it now because she was recovering form a recent fall. I gave her reprints of pictures of my grandfather, grandmother and her brother. She did loan be two old pictures, one of her brothers and sisters and mother taken in 1963. The other picture was of her and her sister Mary with their mother taken about 1918. What I’m really after is that picture of her father looking handsome and majestic in is suit along with his cousin in their official college picture. Another cousin, Anne Tipton (born 21 Aug 1935), had loaned me a picture of her father, George Britt Tipton (born 31 Mar 1897 – died 28 Dec 1969), son of my grandfather’s older brother Dove Tipton (born 11 Nov 1875 – died 22 Jul 1951) that was also his official Milligan College student photo. Finding these grand old photos of these handsome young men and beautiful women is one of the great joys of discovery when doing genealogy research. While I like adding dates of birth and death and marriages and children, the special treats are when old photos are discovered. With these old photos I can scan them into my computer and eventually post them to the Internet so these individuals will never be forgotten. I add these photos to my family tree and now I also add them to the web site Find A Grave.com. That is the true joy for me in genealogy. First I discover my roots. Secondly, by permanently recording this information I leave a legacy for future generations. It is a good feeling. Today was a good day. I’m looking forward to my return visit to Cousin Elsie.