A Mother for Nancy Milton Carroll Newton

Y’all.

I know I previously told you I had not been able to find any direct evidence that James Milton was the father of Nancy Milton Carroll Newton. But that has all changed!

After we worked together to complete our case study showing that Alfred James Milton was the father of Nancy Milton, who married William R. Carroll and was the mother of Mary Frances “Fannie” Carroll, I began to deepen the research on James Milton. As a reminder, the overarching purpose of researching this family so thoroughly is to hopefully earn my Florida Pioneer Certificate from the Florida State Genealogical Society.

I began looking for specific sources to confirm that James Milton was living in Florida prior to statehood, which occurred March 3, 1845. Remember that James and his second wife were married on August 31, 1845, in Hamilton County, Florida, so I figured it would be easy enough to find something to push his residency back just a few more months. I just needed him on a voting register or a tax list or some Second Seminole War service (all the “greatest hits” of sources I have been using to confirm all my Florida Pioneers so far).

First, I checked to see if James Milton applied for Bounty Land due to his Indian Wars Service. I found one military bounty land warrant issued to a “James J. Milton.” I could see that he never took possession of it and sold it to a man named Walter J. Robinson as soon as he was issued the warrant, so I knew tracking the land would be fruitless. Plus, I doubted this was my guy. I was looking for Alfred James Milton, not James J. Milton.

Search results from the Bureau of land Management website.

This is the Mortality Schedule of the United States Census of 1880 for Polk County, documenting persons who died during the year ending May 31, 1880. James Milton is listed as having died in Sept, thus he died in Sept 1879 (the September prior to May 31, 1880). He was born in Georgia. Both of his parents were noted to have been born in Georgia, and it is indicated that he had lived in Polk County for 14 years.

United States. Department of the Interior. Polk County Mortality Schedule for the Federal Census of 1880. 1880. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/345775>, accessed 22 January 2023.

Because he had died in 1879, I knew that he had not lived long enough to apply for a pension if he had served in the Second Seminole War, but his wife, Mary Ann Milton, was still alive at the time of the 1900 Census enumeration, so she might have applied for a Widow’s Pension.

"United States, Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M368-G3F : Thu Apr 11 20:32:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Mary A Milton and Harriet I Milton, 1900.

I searched the index on Fold3.com for James Milton and found this card.

There was that middle initial "J" again, and the wife was listed as "Mary A. Milton" instead of "Mary Ann Milton." I decided to dismiss it. But then I flipped back to it. And then I dismissed it. It wasn’t my James. But maybe…no, it wasn’t him! I told myself to stop thinking about it. But that middle initial "A" for his widow Mary was too much of a draw for me.

I decided to check the cost of ordering a pension record from NARA. Maybe if it was $20, I’d go ahead and order it. But it was $45. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh! No, I wasn’t spending the money. This wasn’t my guy! But what if it was? No! It wasn’t. I was being ridiculous! But this was a “same-named” individual, and per the genealogical proof standard, I really should be reviewing this record, if for no other reason than to rule him out. Before I could talk myself out of it, I ordered the record. And all I can say is, oh my goodness.

Y’all, it was my James Milton. MY James Milton. It was 85 pages of genealogical gems. I am working on transcribing it and analyzing it and making conclusions that I will share with you fully later (the transcription alone will take me a couple of months). But what I couldn’t wait to share with you is that this provided the direct evidence we needed from a primary source stating that James Milton was the father of Nancy Milton Carroll Newton, as well as direct evidence of Nancy’s mother! And y’all, just wait. You are not going to believe what that led me to find!

On page 78, an affidavit was given by a woman named Nancy Simmons, aged 74, who stated she was present at the death of James’ first wife, Vasti Milton, which took place in Thomas County, Georgia, around 1839. Could Vasti be Nancy Milton Carroll Newton’s mother?

Mary A Milton (widow James J Milton), widow’s pension application file No. 7.011 Indian Wars; Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Indian War Service; Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1960; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; digital images, "Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926.; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T318, 12 rolls. Affidavit of Nancy Simmons dated 27 May 1898.

I’m not going to go into it any further in this particular case study, but Nancy Simmons married Reverend Lacy Simmons in 1841 in Thomas County, Georgia, and her maiden name was "Milton." They were married by Henry Milton, a minister of the gospel.

"Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXJD-WJ1 : Wed Jul 24 16:18:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Lacy J. Simmons and Nancy Milton, 31 Oct 1841.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are building a deep FAN club. This is one of those leads that is going to break things wide open for us as we move back another generation—I can just feel it. We will delve into that lead in a later blog post.

But page 80 of Mary A Milton’s widow’s pension application! My, oh my!  It is an affidavit given by Nancy D. Newton, aged 65 of Arcadia, DeSoto County, Florida (reminder: This is Nancy Milton Carroll Newton, our research subject).  In the affidavit, Nancy D Newton states, “I was there at the time of my mother's death. She died in Thomas Co. Ga. about 1839. My mothers name was Vasty Milton the wife of Jas. Milton who is now dead and left a widow Maryann Milton.”  This is our direct evidence from a primary source!

Mary A Milton (widow James J Milton), widow’s pension application file No. 7.011 Indian Wars; Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Indian War Service; Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1960; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; digital images, "Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926.; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T318, 12 rolls. Affidavit of Nancy D. Newton dated 28 June 1898.

My next step was to check the Georgia marriage records for a marriage license for a woman named Vasti/y and a man with the surname Milton. (Negative searches were performed on 11 Jan 2025 using all combinations of the female first name "Vasti," "Vasty," "Vashti," and "V*," and the male surname "Milton" and "Melton" in both record sets entitled Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950 and Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967 for the date range of 1830-1840.)

Vasti is an unusual first name, which is very useful for determining if you have the right person. Unlike more common names like Mary, Sarah, or Nancy, "Vasti" is uncommon enough that I assumed it could easily be misheard, misspelled, or misindexed. Thus, I decided to I search the same record sets for only a male named "James Milton" with no female name listed. This search provided only one good result.

I remembered that I had investigated this record before because Nancy Milton Carroll Newton had noted in her Widow’s Pension Application that she was born in Thomasville, Georgia. So, I had looked into the possibility of her parents getting married there. I had not been convinced by this marriage record between James J. Milton and Emily Tuggle because James’ middle initial was recorded as "J." However, now I had more information.

I now also had his first wife’s name, which was "Vasti" and not "Emily." Perhaps if Emily’s middle initial had been "V" instead of "J," I could have been more optimistic. For now, however, the record still seemed like a bust.

"Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXJD-SY3 : Sun Jul 07 21:16:00 UTC 2024), Entry for James J. Melton and Emily J. Tugle, 30 Jan 1834.

However, I had vetted this lead before. I had eliminated it for some reason and thus didn’t enter the information into my Milton research log. (Note to self: Start recording when and why I eliminate leads in my research log, as well as the fruitful ones, to make revisiting them easier in the future.)

I started digging into the court minutes to find all those old pages that I had read before but not recorded, and I quickly remembered why I had dismissed this lead in the past: James and Emily Milton had got a divorce in the early 1840s. I had read through the numerous proceedings because they were fascinating. Divorces were uncommon during that period, and there were quite a few court minutes generated due to the case between the couple.

And not only did I not like the middle initial "J" for James, but I also couldn’t understand why, if Emily was Nancy Milton’s mother, she had not raised Nancy instead of James moving to Florida and raising her. Could Emily have died? I just wasn’t sure.

Here is a juicy page from the divorce proceedings:

“Writs, petitions, judgements v. B-E 1841-1865" images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3HQ-MWBG?i=236: Jan 11, 2025). Thomas, Georgia, United States records > Court Records > Court records, 1871-1908 > Writs, petitions, judgements v. B-E 1841-1865 > image 237 of 512.

Here is a transcription:

Georgia                } To the Hounorable the Superior Court of said

Thomas County } County to the May Term 1841

The petition of Emily Milton of said County formerly Tuggle respectfully

shewith that on or about the twenty third day of January in the year eighteen

hundred and thirty four she intermarried with her present husband James

Milton of said county that in so doing she was actuated by <illegible> Love and

effection for the said James Milton & in said marriage anticipated the enjoyment

to domestic Happiness incident to the most auspicious matrimonial union that she

 well hoped her love & affection for the said James Milton was reciprocated on his part.

That your petitioner has always behaved herself & conducted herself towards him

self husband in a kind tender & affectionate manner and was willing to have continued

to have done so so long as he would live with her that the said James Milton

in March of the year eighteen hundred & thirty seven thereabout voluntarily

without any provocation on the part of your petitioner abandoned your

petitioner separated himself from her & declared he had no love or effection

for her & utterly refuses upon solicitation to return to her or to support her

or to render her any assistance whatever so that she is entirely dependent upon

her Father for support & the necssaries of life and the said James Milton

Since his intermarriage with your petitioner has been in the habit of coha

-biting with other women which has given your petitioner great ment

-al affliction whereupon she prays a total and final divorce from the

said James Milton & that process may issue requiring said James Milton

To be and appear at the next Superior Court to be held in and for said

County to show cause if any he has why a Divorced a vinculo matrimonny

that is a total final Divorce should not be had and to answer your

petitioner in a libel for Divorce    Robt R Tones

                                                                           atty for Pet’r

 

Georgia                } To the Sheriff of Thomas County

Thomas County } Greeting

Emily Milton       }

vs                          } Divorce

James Milton } The defendant in the above stated case is required in person or

by attorney to be and appear at the Superior Court next to be held in said County

of Thomas on the fourth monday instant to answer the plaintiff's

demand in an action of Divorce as in default said Court will proceed

as to Justice shall appertain

               Witness the Honorable Carlton B. Cole Judge of said Court

 May 3rd 1841                  Hansel R. <illegible> Clerk

The defendant James Milton are not to be found in this county so a copy can be served

on him this May 6th 1841.    John Hirsh Shff

We the Jury find that sufficient proof has been referred to our consideration to authorize

a total divorce that is to say a Divorce a vinculo matrimonii upon legal proof between

the parties in this case                                 Thomas Jones

                                                                                                         Foreman

There are many other documents and court minutes noting that the divorce was granted. It’s a fun story, but it wasn’t relevant to my research. This James J. Milton was probably just a cousin of my James Milton. I put it aside and worked on my most pressing concern of the moment: taking down the Christmas decorations!

Taking down décor and boxing it up is an activity that keeps your hands busy but allows your mind to wander and keep working through problems. I kept turning this all over in my mind. That name “Vasti” was driving me crazy. I knew I had heard it before, and it’s not common. I thought about this for hours while packing up the bins of decorations.

Another thing niggling at the edges of my mind was the divorce between James J. Milton and Emily Tuggle Milton. I had only found a few court minutes about the divorce that morning. I recalled there being many more. The more I thought about the name “Vasti” and the missing divorce documents, the more the two issues became entangled in my mind.

By the time it turned dark outside, I had been packing and cleaning for hours when it suddenly hit me—I remembered reading a document in the minutes where James’ mistress was named. I was certain I had, but finding it again—would I be able to? And why was I so certain it related to Vasti?

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I stopped with the Christmas decorations, pulled out my computer, and started searching through the Thomas County, Georgia court records again, looking for anything and everything related to James and Emily’s divorce. It took a while, but I found it. And y’all are not going to believe this record.

Did you notice that list of witnesses? Nathaniel Milton, Senr., James (?) Milton, Leonard Tuggle, Hugh McCain, James E. Whitfield, and John Young (?). Now that’s what I call a FAN club to research!

Here’s the main takeaway: Vashti Jones is Nancy Milton Carroll Newton’s mother! Vashti never married Nancy’s father, James. She was his mistress. James was married to Emily Tuggle but left Emily to live with Vashti. (This is the spelling I like the most and the one I’m going to stick with going forward until more documents are gathered. But what did I say about how easily it could be misspelled? She’s mentioned in three different documents, using three different spellings!)

And that’s why James raised Nancy in Florida instead of Nancy staying with Emily—Nancy was not Emily’s child. She was the daughter of Vashti, who died around 1839 in Thomas County, Georgia!

Next on the agenda will be to research the various new FAN club members I found. I can’t be 100% confident that Vashti’s maiden name was Jones. It might have been a married name, and she may have been widowed when she and James started their relationship. She is noted as a single woman, meaning she was not married when they were cohabitating.

Also, Nancy’s middle initial is “D,” and many researchers believe it stands for “Delaney.” Although I have not found documents to confirm this, I have no issue using it as an onomastic clue. It might indicate that Vashti’s maiden name was Delaney. I will certainly pursue that research path as well.

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A Father for Nancy “Nannie” Milton Carroll Newton