Household #11: Pace, William H. Jr.

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, William H Pace headed a 4-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

William H Pace headed a 4-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 2 children.

William H Pace's listed occupation was Farmer.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

Family Photograph

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

• Possible Pace-network newspaper references: Three 1903 "hideous monster" / "inland sea serpent" articles name Buck Pace of Barney as the first person to see the reported creature near Little River/Cecil. A 1901 Valdosta Times article on a body found in Little River also says Bailiff Pace at Barney had arrested Eli/Dave Dodson before the reported lynching. These items place Pace-named men in the Barney/Little River area, but neither article gives a first legal name, wife, child, age, or other bridge proving whether Buck Pace or Bailiff Pace was William H. Pace Jr. of this household, William H. Pace Sr. of HH#103, or another local Pace.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

• Census page: 2 | Lines: 2-5

• Head: William H. Pace, age 33, born Mar 1867 in Georgia, farmer.

• Wife: Emma Gornto Pace, age 28, born Oct 1871 in Georgia.
• Children in the 1900 household:
• William Reid Pace, age 6, born Jun 1894.
• James Foster Pace, age 1, born Nov 1898.
• Identity and parentage: The strongest direct childhood chain is 1870 Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, and 1880 Nances, Muscogee County, Georgia, where William appears as a son of William Henry Pace Sr. and Susan A. Pace. That chain fits the 1900 birth-month report and later Thomas County records.
• Correction to earlier draft: The earlier parentage claim tying this William to Ensil/Eusil Pace and Georgia Goolsby is not supported by the childhood census evidence and should not be repeated here.
• Marriage to Emma Gornto: The draft cites a FamilySearch marriage record for William H. Pace and Emma Gornto on 29 Mar 1891 in Brooks County. The original image could not be reopened in this pass, but the 1900 and 1910 census records independently support a marriage beginning about 1891.
• 1910 correction: William and Emma were still together in 1910 with children Reid, James F., Pearl, and Willie. The earlier claim that William had already remarried Loula in 1910 is incorrect for HH#11.
• Later family trail: By 1920 Emma had remarried Frank M. Smith, while William had later married Ella Mae Duncan. William's later Thomas County trail is supported by the 1920-1950 censuses, probate material, and his 1953 obituary. Pearl Pace Owens's 1966 North Carolina death certificate independently confirms William Henry Pace and Emma Gornto/Gondo as her parents.
• Obituary closure: The Valdosta Daily Times obituary of 7 Mar 1953 confirms William Henry Pace Jr.'s Columbus birthplace, Thomas County residence, surviving wife Ella Duncan Pace, surviving children W. R. Pace, J. F. Pace, Woodrow W. Pace, and Mrs. B. B. Owens, and burial in Boston City Cemetery.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• HH#11 to HH#103 William H. Pace Sr.: William H. Pace of this household is best identified as William Henry Pace Jr., son of William Henry Pace Sr. and Susan A. Foster Pace. HH#103 is therefore his father's 1900 Barney household with second wife Lula E. Burns Pace and infant Selma Pace.
• HH#11 to HH#15 William Blair Gornto Sr.: Emma Gornto Pace gives this household a direct Gornto connection. The Ancestry tree profile supplied in June 2026 identifies Emma L. Gornto as daughter of William Blair Gornto Sr. and Martha Jane Taylor, matching the adult couple in HH#15. That profile is derivative tree evidence, so the link should be checked against direct records, but it fits the marriage and later child-death evidence naming Emma as Gornto/Gondo.
• HH#11 to HH#14 William Blair Gornto Jr.: If Emma's placement as a daughter of William Blair Gornto Sr. and Martha Jane Taylor is confirmed, then HH#14 represents her brother's household and should be treated as a close collateral Gornto connection.
• Possible HH#11 to HH#89 Dr. Stephen William Bourquin: This connection should stay cautious. It depends on the exact Pace relationship between William Henry Pace Sr./Jr. and Fannie Louisa Pace Bourquin. The Bourquin household belongs in the "possible wider Pace network" until a direct record proves the shared Pace-line relationship.

Research Notes

• The original 1891 FamilySearch marriage image for William H. Pace and Emma Gornto could not be reopened in this pass.
• Emma's direct Georgia death certificate or death-index entry was not located in this pass.
• Willie Pace's life after 1920 remains unresolved.
• Emma Gornto's parentage is strengthened by the supplied Ancestry tree profile, but that profile remains derivative evidence until supported by a direct or near-direct record.
• The possible Bourquin connection remains unproven and should not be stated as a settled relationship.
• The Buck Pace and Bailiff Pace newspaper references are useful local leads only. Do not attach either article to this household as proved family evidence unless a direct identity bridge is found.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#11 through direct or near-direct records where possible; mark derivative-only parent links as unresolved until supported.
• Child census audit: confirm every child named in the 1900 household against later census, marriage, death, obituary, cemetery, probate, or draft records; separate proven child links from same-name candidates.
• Other household member audit: verify boarders, servants, in-laws, stepchildren, grandchildren, and unrelated residents in HH#11; document the exact relationship instead of assuming kinship.
• Spouse and marriage audit: locate marriage records, death records, divorce records, or later census records for spouses or absent spouses tied to this household.
• Direct image review: re-check the 1900 census image and any cited index-only sources before treating ages, relationships, birthplaces, or name spellings as final.

Research Status

• Status: Source-exhausted / ready for baseline use.
• Strengths: Strong identity chain; corrected parentage; corrected 1910 household; later Ella Duncan marriage and 1953 obituary closure are well supported.
• Remaining cautions: 1891 marriage image unavailable in this pass, Emma death record not directly closed, Willie Pace unresolved after 1920, and Emma Gornto parentage not newly re-proven here.

Sources

• 1870 U.S. census, Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, William Henry Pace Sr. household, including William H. Pace Jr.
• 1880 U.S. census, Nances, Muscogee County, Georgia, William Henry Pace Sr. household, including William H. Pace Jr.
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage record or index for William H. Pace and Emma Gornto, 29 Mar 1891.
• Ancestry family tree profile for Emma L. Gornto, tree 89457463, person 392147384019, viewed June 2026; used only as derivative support for parent/relationship leads.
• Family-supplied photograph of Emma Gornto Pace, received 24 Jun 2026.
• The Valdosta Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 21 May 1901, "A Gruesome Discovery," reprinted from the Quitman Free Press; mentions "Bailiff Pace at Barney" in the Eli/Dave Dodson body-found account.
• The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), 26 Aug 1903; user-supplied PDF of the Little River/Cecil monster or inland sea-serpent story naming "Buck Pace of Barney."
• Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), 29 Aug 1903; user-supplied PDF of the same Little River/Cecil monster or inland sea-serpent story naming "Buck Pace of Barney."
• The Valdosta Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 29 Aug 1903; user-supplied PDF of the same Little River/Cecil monster or inland sea-serpent story naming "Buck Pace of Barney."
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney Precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, William H. Pace household, page 2, lines 2-5.
• 1910 U.S. census, William H. Pace and Emma Gornto Pace household.
• 1920-1950 U.S. census records for the later William H. Pace / Ella Mae Duncan Pace Thomas County household trail.
• Probate material for William Henry Pace Jr., Thomas County, Georgia.
• The Valdosta Daily Times, 7 Mar 1953, obituary of William Henry Pace Jr.
• North Carolina death certificate for Pearl Pace Owens, naming William Henry Pace and Emma Gornto/Gondo as parents.

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