Household #15: Gornto, William¶

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, William Gornto headed an 8-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot¶

William Gornto headed an 8-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 6 children.

William Gornto's listed occupation was Farmer.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

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.

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¶

• Head: William Blair Gornto Sr., age 55 in 1900, farmer. His death certificate records birth on March 30, 1845, and death at Quitman on November 25, 1927; the birth particulars are informant-reported.
• Spouse in 1900 household: Martha Gornto, age 50, born about 1850 in Georgia.
• Children in the 1900 household: Leila, Thomas, Dollie, Gertrude, John J., and William.
• Identity: William Blair Gornto Sr. is supported by the 1900 and 1910 censuses, his 20 May 1911 Confederate pension affidavit, land records, and the death certificate of son Thomas Norwood Gornto, which names mother Martha Taylor.
• Parents: Joel Gornto and Mary Blair. No inspected record gives Mary the middle name Joyce; that name belonged to her reported mother.
• First wife: Martha Jane Taylor. Her maiden name is supported by Thomas N. Gornto's Georgia death certificate.
• Second wife: Fellie A., first securely identified in 1910. No record in this pass proves her prior surname or earlier identity.
• Confederate service and land context: The cited records support Company A, 20th Georgia Battalion Cavalry service, a Brooks County pension filing, and long-term Gornto landholding on the older family tract.
• Family context: HH#14 is William Blair Gornto Jr.; HH#7 connects through Hannah Elizabeth Gornto Hall.
• 1899 newspaper context: A 14 Oct 1899 Valdosta Times article names "William Gornto" among the Barney-area farmers. Because the article does not distinguish senior from junior, the reference fits the Gornto farm network but cannot yet be assigned with certainty to HH#15 rather than HH#14.
• Death and burial evidence: Georgia certificate image 004179451_01448, indexed as William Blair Garnte, records death at Quitman, Brooks County, November 25, 1927, age 82; parents Joel Garnte and Mary Blair; and burial at “Garnto Cemetery” on November 26. The informant was E. E. Eason of Quitman. Full name, generation, parents and named wife strongly identify this as the senior William, not his junior son, whose conflicting birth-year evidence is discussed in HH#14. The certificate is contemporary death evidence; its birth and parent information comes from the informant.
• Marital-status caution: The original certificate says widowed, although its index says married, and names Martha Jane Taylor in the wife field. That entry does not explain the separately documented 1910 wife, Fellie A. Both records are retained; Fellie's prior identity and later history remain unresolved.
• 1920 continuation: The original Barney census, ED 46, sheet 14A, image 4295805-00516, lists W. B. Garnto, 74 and widowed, as father in T. N. Garnto's household. This is an explicit relationship entry, not an inference from a shared surname.
• Cemetery application: A March 28, 1940 headstone application for William Blair Garnto repeats November 25, 1927 and places Garnto Cemetery at Barney. Mrs. B. C. Eason is the applicant. Ordering and shipping annotations are present, but the application alone does not prove the stone was installed or identify a present grave location. Its unit line reads “29-Ga” with cavalry/Company A annotations; that differs from the pension-based 20th Battalion identification below and needs service-file comparison.
• Estate distinction: The January 12, 1928 temporary appointment for W. B. Gornto names Mrs. B. C. Eason as administrator. The date, initials and headstone applicant make a strong estate-identification lead, but no relationship to Eason is stated. A separate 1906 J. J. Gornto estate had a W. B. Gornto as administrator; that person's senior/junior identity and the estate's 45-acre parcel remain unresolved.

Earlier Joel Gornto estate: a land lead, not a completed title chain¶

The Brooks will register preserves a petition and witness testimony on page 1 and the will and admission order on pages 2–3. Joel Gornto’s will is dated October 20, 1860. Nathan and Mary Gornto’s petition says he died that October, leaving the day blank. The will was proved December 3 and recorded December 5, 1860; those are not death dates.

Joel asks that his estate be kept together for his family, especially wife Mary Gornto during her natural life, then divided equally among his “legal heirs.” It does not name individual children, give Mary’s maiden name, or describe a numbered lot. The record is a strong research lead for the Joel and Mary named in William’s later death certificate, but this package does not by itself complete that identity and inheritance chain. The petition does not state smallpox or an exact death place.

The inventory warrant, page 47, explicitly identifies Mary Gornto and Nathan Gornto as administrators with the will annexed. The estate inventory, page 48, lists part of land lot 274, valued at \$1,200. The acreage reads 235 or 236; the final digit remains uncertain in the inspected image. No district or boundary is stated. Recorded September 10, 1861, this is an estate appraisal entry—not a deed to William, a later tax return, or proof of the tract’s subsequent ownership. It must not be used to silently resolve the separate 274/279 reading conflict.

Nathan Gornto's role as co-administrator does not establish that he was Joel's father. The current evidence does not prove Nathan's relationship to Joel.

Two administration bonds name Mary and Nathan as principals: January 3, 1861, with Enoch Hall as security, and March 4, 1861, with John Joyce and Tarlton B. Joyce named as securities. These roles do not establish kinship or personal ownership. The reason for the second bond is not stated in the inspected records. Neither is merged with the separate 1906 J. J. Gornto estate.

Military Service¶

The preserved record set supports William Blair Gornto Sr.'s Confederate service in Company A, 20th Georgia Battalion Cavalry. His 20 May 1911 Confederate pension affidavit and Brooks County filing provide the current service anchor; fuller service-file or pension transcription would strengthen the detailed chronology.

Connections to Other Barney Families¶

• HH#15 to HH#14 William Blair Gornto Jr.: HH#14 represents William Blair Gornto Jr., son of this household head.
• HH#15 to HH#7 Sion L. Hall: HH#15 connects to HH#7 through Hannah Elizabeth Gornto Hall, linking the Gornto and Hall lines.

Open Research Questions¶

• Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#15 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#15; 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: Well-researched.
• Strengths: Core identity, land history, military service, and family placement are well supported.
• Remaining cautions: Fellie A.'s identity before 1910 remains unproven, and some later child attributions still need direct-record reconciliation. Joel’s 1860–1861 estate adds a lot274 lead but does not complete the later inheritance/title chain; its acreage reading remains uncertain.

Sources¶

• 1900 and 1910 U.S. census.
• Confederate pension application dated 20 May 1911.
• Georgia death certificate #26388 for Thomas N. Gornto.
• Land records LL 274, LD 12.
• Huxford.
• Compiled family material used cautiously as secondary guidance.
• Georgia death certificate for William Blair Garnte, November 25, 1927, Brooks County; Ancestry 2562:322331, original image 004179451_01448. Original inspected September 20, 2026; widowed, not the index's married.
• 1920 U.S. census, Barney district 1571, ED 46, sheet 14A, household 242; Ancestry 6061:7326815, original image 4295805-00516.
• National Archives, RG 92, Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925–1941, NAID 596118; William Blair Garnto, application March 28, 1940; Ancestry 2375:1152678, original image 40050_1220705228_0368-03481. Applicant Mrs. B. C. Eason; cemetery Barney. A request/order record, not an inspection of the installed marker.
• Brooks temporary letters p.118, January 12, 1928, image 005782590_00562. Separate J. J. Gornto estate: 1906 bond p.107 and sale account p.41; W. B. Gornto's administrator capacity does not establish personal land ownership.

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