Grandma Nora born 125 years ago today but there's a problem with her delayed birth certificate

My grandmother, Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder was born on August 10, 1900, in Wilkes County, NC, to George Thomas McNeil and Clara Eva Jarvis McNeil.  The photograph of George and Clara McNeil with their two oldest children dates from about 1901. George is holding Ila, and Eva is holding my grandmother Nora. They later had six more children.

Since North Carolina didn’t require birth certificates until 1913, Nora didn’t receive a birth certificate in 1900. But she received a Delayed Birth Certificate in 1959, probably so she could apply for Social Security.  Here is my copy of her delayed birth certificate:

Nora had to supply three forms of proof of her birth. The first proof was the affidavit from her mother (highlighted in the image above). A mother’s affidavit is excellent proof since the mother is the one person who is certain of the child’s date of birth. However, when I applied this year for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the registrar noticed something I had never noted. Clara died on January 24, 1959, but Nora’s delayed birth certificate says Clara’s affidavit was dated February 24, 1959. So the DAR would not accept this delayed birth certificate!

Notice that February 24, 1959, is recorded several times in this certificate. It’s the date Nora and the Register of Deeds signed the certificate. I believe the typist mistakenly used the same date for Clara’s affidavit.

Fortunately, the DAR accepted the NC Birth Index on Ancestry.com:

Sources:

Photograph of George Thomas McNeil family, about 1901, Wilkes County, NC. Privately held by the author.

State of North Carolina, State Board of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, Delayed Birth Certificate, p. 66 (issued 1959), Nora Bessie McNeill, born 10 Aug 1900 in Wilkes County. Privately held by the author.

"North Carolina, U.S., Birth Indexes, 1800-2000," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 August 2025); entry for Nora Bessie McNeill, born 10 Aug 1900 in Wilkes County.

Allen Whittington (1801-1899) obituary

My 3rd great-grandfather, Allen A. Whittington, lived almost the entire 19th century. Born in 1801, he died on July 25, 1899, in Wilkes County, NC. 

This chart shows Allen's immediate family - parents, wives, and children. He was widowed twice and married his third wife when he was 93 (she was 41). According to family lore, his sons had to help Allen mount his horse to go courting.  They questioned why he wanted to get married at the age of 93. He said "Surely to God I will live ten more years."

On the day he died, the local newspaper The Chronicle published a quickly written obituary. It promised a fuller obituary later but I never found one (some issues of the paper are missing).

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References:

Family story was shared by Carrie Disher (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) to Barbara McGeachy, letter, 27 Dec 1999; privately held by the author.

I created the chart using PowerPoint. My family often does not fit into standard charts!

"Allen Whittington Dead.," (Wilkesboro) The Chronicle, 26 Jul 1899, p. 4, col. 2.; online image, Newspapers.com, accessed 11 Apr 2018.

Free historic YouTube video about Wilkes County, NC!

Title: This is Progressive Wilkes County, 1948

Channel: State Archives of North Carolina

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUzl3Lg22

Do you see anyone you know? I don't recognize any people but I do recognize the (old) courthouse in Wilkesboro, Spainhour's Department Store, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's fun to see the old cars and the way people dressed in 1948.

Enjoy!

Jones-May-Snyder Grist Mill in Trade TN

New grist mill's wheel.

Around 1802, Thomas Jones built a grist mill very close to why my Snyder ancestors lived, near Trade in Johnson County, near the NC line. Jones sold it to Pleasant and Callie May. William Rosencrans Snyder bought it in 1915. William was my 2nd cousin 3 times removed. William's son Peter ran the mill until he retired in 1989. The mill was torn down but the original equipment was donated to the Trade Days Museum.

The mill was reconstructed in 2008 and is gorgeous as you can see in the photo above.

Read all about the historic mill and the new mill in this great article with lots of pictures here: https://millpictures.com/mills.php?millid=1421

The Johnson County Chamber of Commerce tells about the mill and has lots of pictures on their website https://www.johnsoncountytnchamber.org/area-info/trade-gristmill/

Source of photo: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20150407005048/https://www.wataugalakemagazine.com/tradetennessee.html

Big Surprise Waitin’ For You!

Today, March 7, 2025 would be my mother's 99th birthday. She learned to be a caretaker starting in early childhood.

Here's a photo of the Snyder family about 1935 in the front yard of their farmhouse on Pleasant Home Church Road, Millers Creek, Wilkes County, NC.

Back row: Tom (W.T. Snyder) and Neil (age 13).
Front row: Nora holding Ralph (age 3), Carrie (age 9) holding Bette (age 1), Kathy (age 6).

Neil was the oldest child but gender roles were strictly enforced. As Tom and Nora’s oldest daughter, Carrie’s chores included looking after her younger siblings. First Kathy, born when Carrie was 3. Three years later, Ralph came along. The other children could play outside after dinner, but Carrie had to rock the baby until he closed his eyes. She blew lightly on Ralph’s eyelids, then dashed outside. Sometimes it worked!  Bette arrived in 1934; Carrie was 8. Carrie wrote:

I remember the nights after supper, we all played “Ain’t no bears out tonight, Papa killed them all last night.”  At dusk we were scared. Mama usually made me sit on the back porch and rock the baby to sleep. I would hurry to put the baby into bed so I could play. If I quit rocking too quick the baby cried and Mama would call me back in. By the time the baby was really sound asleep, I was too scared to go into the yard.

While walking home from school in the spring of 1936, a neighbor lady called out “Carrie Mae, you better hurry on home! Your mama and daddy got a big surprise waitin’ for you!” Carrie then walked as slowly as she could because the last time that lady said there was a big surprise, Bette was the surprise. So Carrie figured there was another baby for her to take care of. Instead, they got a radio!  All the neighbors came over to hear it. Tom told them it didn’t work at night so they would go home and not stay for dinner. Carrie loved the music and comedy and stories. The radio was much better than another baby! 

Charlie and Lily's Story

My grandmother Nora told me a story she heard from her mother Eva Jarvis. Eva said that when she was a little girl, her older brother Charlie and younger sister Lily died the same week from diphtheria.

Eva was born in 1873, long before birth and death certificates were required in North Carolina (1913). I don’t have the family Bible. No newspapers in Wilkes County have survived prior to 1890. So where could I turn to prove or disprove this story?

Everyone is familiar with the U.S. census population schedule. But did you know that there are additional schedules? In 1880, the “mortality” schedule listed all people who died within the year prior to the census enumeration day. In other words, it listed the people who died between June 1, 1879, and May 31, 1880. In Wilkes County, I found Charlie and Lily’s deaths on the mortality schedule!

From left to right in this image:

• 11 is the household number on the population schedule for the Richard F. Jarvis household. Richard was the father of Charlie, Eva, Lily, and many other children.
• Jarvis C.C. was Charles Clinton Jarvis, age 9, male, white, unmarried.  
• He was born in N.C. as were his father and mother.
• The occupation column has a dash.
• He died in September (1879) of diphtheria.
• The next line shows Jarvis L.P. (Lily Prudence), age 4, died the same month.

It’s always a good idea to look for all possible records for a family. Charlie and Lily were born after the 1870 census so the 1880 mortality schedule is the only record of them. They must have had gravestones (their father was a Baptist minister) but I have not found them.

By checking the mortality schedule, I was able to confirm this sad story. It must have been so hard for my great-grandmother Eva, age 7, to lose her closest siblings. They are gone but not forgotten.

Source:

1880 U.S. census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, non-population schedule, Mortality and Manufacturing, Wilkesboro, enumeration district (ED) 214; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 22 Apr 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M1805, roll 5, lines 2 & 3, C.C. Jarvis and L.P. Jarvis.

2025 Genealogy Goals

My number 1 goal is to join lineage societies including the

• National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
• United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC)
• National Society United States Daughters of 1812
• First Families of Tennessee

I’m 99% sure I can join these societies immediately. I will keep an eye out for more societies.

Why join? They will preserve the documentation I send as proof of my lineage. Other relatives will be able to use this documentation for research and possibly to join the society themselves. Also, they have local meetings where I can make friends with people with similar interests.

2. Write my next book! So far, I’ve only published one book – about my grandparents (Tom and Nora Snyder). I’ve researched and written chapters for the Whittington, Faw, Wagner, Stout, McNeil, Nichols, Jarvis, and Pardue lines.  I need to gather them and create an index. My plan is to upload them to Lulu.com where relatives and others can buy them. I will donate copies to several libraries.

3. Scan family photos and documents and upload them to websites including Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Find-a-Grave.com, and others. This is a great way to preserve and share the documents.

4. Teach genealogy! I’ve taught 7 classes (from 3 to 6 weeks each) at the lifelong learning institute at N.C. State University. I’d like to continue that as long as it’s fun and they want me to continue!

5. Serve on the board of the Wake County Genealogical Society (currently, I am the President).

6. Keep learning about DNA, my DNA matches, and participate in the DNA SIG of the Wake Co Gen Soc.

7. Learn more about genealogy by attending webinars and local events. My favorites are Legacy Family Tree Webinars, the Tennessee Genealogical Society, the N.C. Genealogical Society, and of course, the Wake County Genealogical Society here in Raleigh!

8. My final goal for 2025: Post more on this blog!