Household #36: Hiers, Mitchell

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

Under review: One or more details on this page conflict with an inspected source record. Corrections are being prepared.

In the 1900 Barney census, Mitch Hires headed a 7-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Mitch Hires headed a 7-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 6 children.

Mitch Hires's listed occupation was Farmer.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

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: Mitchell James Hiers (age 50, Georgia, farmer)
• Spouse (not listed in the 1900 household): Josephine Iona Wade Hiers

• Children in household: Enoch (age 20), Osca (age 18), Nannie (age 16), Ludie (age 14), Maggie (age 13), Ola E. (age 11)

• The census trail now runs from 1850 through 1910 for Mitchell Hiers/Hires.

• In 1850 Mitchell appears as an infant in Division 53, Lowndes County, Georgia, in the household of Philip Hiers and Mary Hiers.
• In 1860 Mitchell Hires, age 10, appears in Brooks County in the household of Philip Hires and Mary Hires.
• In 1870 Mitchell Hiers, age 21, appears in Brooks County in the household of Philip Hiers and Sarah Hiers, showing continuity but also a name discrepancy for the older woman in the household between 1860 and 1870.
• Josephine Wade also appears before marriage in Brooks County census households: in 1860 as a child in the household of Thomas Wade and Mary A. Wade, and in 1870 as Josephine Wade, age 12, in the Wade household at Quitman.
• The Brooks County marriage license was issued 31 Mar 1874 for Mitchell J. Hires and Josephine Wade, and the return states they were married on 4 Apr 1874.
• In 1880 Mitchell J. Hiers and Josephine Hiers appear in Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, with sons John B. G., George W., John Morgan, and one younger son whose given name is not clear in the summary now in hand.
• In the 1900 census the household appears under the spelling "Hires" in Barney, Brooks County, Georgia. Mitchell is listed with sons Enoch and Osca and daughters Nannie, Ludie, Maggie, and Ola. Josephine and Morgan Hiers are not listed in this household.
• In the 1910 census Mitch Hires is still in Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, with adult sons Enoch and Oscar in the household.
• A 1933 Brooks County death certificate for Morgan Hiers, born ~1875, identifies his father as Mitchell Hiers and his mother as Josephine Wade; the surname spelling on the death certificate favors "Hiers." Morgan Hiers bears the suffix "Sr." in the death record. This later-life evidence supports him as the household head's son.
• Taken together, the supplied census summaries indicate that Hires and Hiers were used interchangeably across this family line over multiple decades.
• The supplied FindAGrave memorials place both Mitchell James Hiers and Josephine Wade Hiers at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Pavo, Brooks County, Georgia. Mitchell's memorial includes a grave marker photo consistent with an 1849 birth year and death on 27 Oct 1911, while Josephine's memorial gives a death date of 4 Feb 1924.

Research Notes

• The census chain strongly supports Mitchell's continuity from childhood through old age, but the exact identification of Philip/Phillip Hiers-Hires and the older woman listed as Mary in 1850-1860, Sarah in 1870, and Mary again as Phillip's wife in 1880 still needs tighter record work before the parentage claim is stated as fully settled.
• An enumerator or transcription error is one possible explanation for the Mary/Sarah/Mary pattern, but that explanation remains unverified and should not be presented as fact.
• A supplied family-record compilation identifies Phillip Hiers's wife as Mary Catherine "Polly" Alderman, which would create an Alderman-family connection for this household, but that point should remain secondary until matched to direct records.
• Josephine's pre-marriage census trail now strongly supports her continuity in the Wade household from 1860 to 1870, but the exact interpretation of the 1870 Wade household structure still needs caution because the summary view shows multiple adults with the same surname and does not by itself resolve every relationship.
• The exact child list should be limited to the six children named in the 1900 census household; other candidates identified in derivative family trees should remain unlinked until matched to direct records. Morgan Hiers, son of Mitchell and Josephine, is supported by the 1933 death certificate.
• The 1880 youngest son should not be named more specifically until the underlying image or a clearer extract is pulled.
• Mitchell's and Josephine's burial placement at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery is now supported by the supplied memorial pages, but the parent, sibling, and full child links shown on those memorials should still be treated as derivative unless matched to direct records.
• Josephine's exact birth date still should not be stated strongly from the memorial alone, and Mitchell's full life dates are better treated as supported by memorial-level evidence unless a death certificate or other direct record is pulled.
• Claims about Confederate military networks, broader Alderman prominence, and Hall-lineage context go beyond the currently preserved direct source base for this household and should remain out of the main writeup unless re-documented.
• Any future connections section for HH#36 should treat the Alderman link as a likely but still secondary-source connection unless a stronger direct-record chain is assembled.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#36 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#36; 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: Materially strengthened; not yet source-exhausted.
• Strengths: The entry now has a direct census chain for Mitchell from 1850 through 1910, a pre-marriage census chain for Josephine in 1860 and 1870, the literal 31 Mar / 4 Apr 1874 Brooks County marriage license and return, later-life support for son Morgan Hiers through his 1933 death certificate, and burial/memorial support for Mitchell and Josephine at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. The Hires/Hiers spelling variation is now record-based rather than just a cleanup note.
• Remaining cautions: Mitchell's parentage still needs tighter handling because of the Mary/Sarah/Mary discrepancy in the older household across 1850-1880, Josephine's household relationships in 1870 should not be overread from the summary alone, the full child list still needs child-by-child direct support, and the kinship links displayed on FindAGrave should not be treated as proven without matching direct records.

Sources

• 1850 U.S. census, Division 53, Lowndes County, Georgia.
• 1860 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, post office Tallokas.
• 1870 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, post office Quitman.
• 1880 U.S. census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia.
• 1860 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, Wade household, post office Tallokas.
• 1870 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, Wade household, post office Quitman.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, under the spelling "Hires."
• 1910 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, under the spelling "Hires."
• Brooks County marriage license and return for Mitchell J. Hires and Josephine Wade, license issued 31 Mar 1874, married 4 Apr 1874.
• Georgia death certificate for Morgan Hiers, died 11 Feb 1933, naming father Mitchell Hiers and mother Josephine Wade; the record favors the suffix “Sr.”
• FindAGrave memorial for Mitchell James Hiers, Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Pavo, Brooks County, Georgia, memorial 31670361, with grave marker photo.
• FindAGrave memorial for Josephine Wade Hiers, Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Pavo, Brooks County, Georgia, memorial 50969249.
• Supplied family-record compilation page naming Phillip Hiers's wife as Mary Catherine "Polly" Alderman (used as secondary-source context only).

Share Additional Information

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