Household #23: Kellbrew, Walter

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Walter Kellbrew headed a 2-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Walter Kellbrew headed a 2-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner.

Walter Kellbrew's listed occupation was Seamster.

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

Name	Relation	Age	Birthplace	Occupation
Walter Kellbrew	Head	21	Georgia	Seamster
Mary Kellbrew	Wife	22	Georgia	—

Children and Later Trails

No child-tracking items are open for this page because the 1900 table lists no children in the household.

Family Narrative

Walter Kellbrew, age 21, and his wife Mary, age 22, appear in the 1900 Barney census as a two-person newly married household. The household was renting its home. In the preserved local census summary report, Walter's occupation is not listed.

A user-supplied marriage license/certificate image now directly supports the marriage. It shows Walter Kelbrew and Miss Mary Tillman in Lowndes County, with the license issued 2 Feb 1900 and the marriage certified 4 Feb 1900. This corrects the earlier "Mary Fillman" reading in the encyclopedia.

A user-supplied 1880 census screenshot strengthens Walter's side of the identification as well. It shows "Henry Killibrew", born Jul 1879, in the household of "Taylor Killibrew" and "Nancy Killibrew" in Macon, Georgia. James clarified that Henry was Walter Killebrew's middle name, so this works well as a childhood anchor for the later Walter Henry Killebrew.

A user-supplied 1929 Georgia death certificate strengthens the identification. It names "W. H. Killebrew", white male, age 51, residence Ellenton, Georgia, who died 19 Oct 1929 in Moultrie, Colquitt County. The certificate names his wife as "Mrs. Mary Killebrew" and gives his parents as "U. T. Killebrew" and "Miss Susiana Barfield". That age fits the HH#23 Walter far better than the earlier preserved note that gave a birth month and year of Apr 1862.

The 1910 widow household is now directly supported. A user-supplied census screenshot shows Mary Killebrew, age 36, widowed, in Hahira, Lowndes County, with daughters Perlie and Sallie C. in the household of Jim H. Tillman and Sara A. Tillman. Additional user-supplied census screenshots then carry Mary forward in 1920, 1930, and 1950 in Colquitt County.

Those later records now look less contradictory than they first seemed. The 1880 census screenshot shows Mary Tillman, age 5, as daughter of Harrison Tillman and Sarah A. Tillman. The 1920 census also places Mary in that same line. The 1910 census shows her as daughter in the household of Jim H. Tillman and Sara A. Tillman at Hahira. If "Jim H." is James Harrison Tillman, these may be different name forms for the same parental couple rather than two separate parent hypotheses.

A newly supplied Tillman family book page still needs careful handling. It lists Mary Tillman under Harrison Tillman and Sarah Ann Duckworth, then lists James H. Tillman separately on the same page. That remains a compiled secondary source, not primary proof. But once James clarified that "Jim H." stood for James Harrison, the page no longer reads like a clean contradiction of the 1910 household.

The FindAGrave memorials for both Mary and Walter add useful burial and family-link support, including cemetery photographs and matching child names, though one memorial detail — marriage year 1889 — conflicts with the direct 1900 marriage record and should be disregarded. A newly supplied Tampa obituary for "Mrs. Mary M. Killebrew" also fits the later-life trail: it says she died in 1964, was a native of Berrien County, and was survived by "one daughter, Mrs. Ben Tillman", which matches the 1930 and 1950 households.

One preserved research note from 29 Mar 2026 identified a "Walter H. Killebrew" who died in 1929. That note now looks partly right on the death year and spouse name, but wrong or at least unverified on the reported 1862 birth year and the military framing.

Record set now in hand:
1900 Barney census household: Walter Kellbrew and wife Mary, two-person household.
User-supplied marriage license/certificate image for Walter Kelbrew and Miss Mary Tillman, Lowndes County, 2 Feb / 4 Feb 1900.
User-supplied 1880 census screenshot showing Mary Tillman, age 5, daughter of Harrison Tillman and Sarah A. Tillman in Colquitt County.
User-supplied 1880 census screenshot showing "Henry Killibrew", born Jul 1879, in the household of Taylor and Nancy Killibrew in Macon, Georgia.
User-supplied 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1950 census screenshots tracing Mary Killebrew's widowhood and later household placements.
User-supplied Tillman genealogy page and book page identifying Mary under the Harrison Tillman / Sarah Duckworth line and naming daughters Pearle and Sallie.
User-supplied FindAGrave memorials for Mary Tillman Killebrew and Walter Henry Killebrew, with cemetery and family-link details.
User-supplied Tampa obituary for "Mrs. Mary M. Killebrew", dated 7 Aug 1964.
User-supplied 1929 death certificate for W. H. Killebrew naming wife Mary Killebrew.
FindAGrave negative search in Brooks County cemeteries.

Research Notes

A clean direct extract or image citation for the full 1900 marriage record.
Direct confirmation that "Jim H. Tillman" and "Harrison Tillman" are two name forms for the same man, if that is what the records show.
A clean direct extract or image citation for the full 1880 Harrison/Sarah Tillman household.
Mary Killebrew's later-life death record to confirm her parents and connect the FindAGrave memorial back to the 1900 bride.
Additional confirming records for Walter's parents, burial at Coolsprings Cemetery, and Ellenton residence.

Open Research Questions

Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#23 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#23; 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: substantially verified. The 1900 household, direct 1900 marriage image, 1880 childhood anchors for both Mary Tillman and Walter Henry Killebrew, the 1910-1950 widowhood trail, the Tampa obituary, and the 1929 death certificate now fit together well. What remains is mostly citation cleanup and a few parentage details, not a basic identity problem.

Sources

— Walter Kellbrew and Mary in the 1900 Barney household; occupation not listed in the local summary.
User-supplied marriage license/certificate image: Walter Kelbrew and Miss Mary Tillman, Lowndes County, license 2 Feb 1900, marriage 4 Feb 1900.
User-supplied 1880 census screenshot: Mary Tillman, age 5, in the household of Harrison Tillman and Sarah A. Tillman.
User-supplied 1880 census screenshot: "Henry Killibrew", born Jul 1879, in the household of Taylor and Nancy Killibrew.
User-supplied 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1950 census screenshots tracing Mary Killebrew's later household trail.
User-supplied 1929 Georgia death certificate for "W. H. Killebrew", age 51, spouse "Mrs. Mary Killebrew", residence Ellenton, burial Coolsprings Cemetery.
User-supplied Tampa obituary for "Mrs. Mary M. Killebrew", dated 7 Aug 1964.
User-supplied Tillman genealogy page, Tillman family book page, and FindAGrave memorials for Mary and Walter — useful secondary support, but not controlling where they conflict with direct records.
— older "Walter H. Killebrew" profile, now treated as partly corroborated but unreliable in details.
FindAGrave negative search: no memorials found from Brooks County, Georgia cemeteries (verified May 2026).

If you have photographs, family records, oral history, corrections, or additional information about this family, please contact the project with the details.