Household #48: Bridges, Edwin C.

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Edward Bridges headed a 5-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Edward Bridges headed a 5-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner, 1 child, and 2 boarders, employees, servants, or other non-kin residents.

Edward Bridges's listed occupation was Manager At Saw Mill.

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

• The 1900 Barney census shows the HH#48 head as Edward Bridges, age 28, born in Georgia in March 1872, working as a manager at saw mill. His household included wife Eva Bridges, daughter Nina Bridges, and boarders John Sharp and James Sharp.
• A brief Valdosta Times item from August 1899 refers to "Mr. E. C. Bridges, of Barney," which helps place the same man in Barney just before the 1900 census.
• The 1880 census in Dooly County places Edwin Bridges, age 11, in the household of J. W. Bridges and Lidia Bridges, with brother Benjamine Bridges also present. That record strongly supports treating HH#48 Edwin/Edward Bridges as part of the same sibling group as HH#19 Benjamin F. Bridges.
• The 1910 census in Quitman shows Eva Bridger, widow, age 42, as head of household with children Nina Bridger (11), Bessie Bridger (8), E. C. Bridger (6), and Eddie R. Bridger (infant). The same household also includes Rachel Sharpe, identified as Eva's mother, and Jim Sharpe, identified as her brother. That record strongly supports the Sharp family connection and helps bridge the 1900 Barney household to the post-1909 widow household.
• FindAGrave memorials identify the couple as Edward Caleb Bridges and Susan Evaline Sharp Bridges, buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, with death dates of 24 Nov 1909 and 24 Jan 1913. Those memorials also identify children including Nina Lee Bridges Wingate and Edward Caleb Bridges Jr. These details are useful derivative support, but they are not the same as direct vital-record proof.
• A preserved portrait attributed to E. C. Bridges appears to carry the inscription "Yours truly, E C Bridges." This supports the use of the initials E. C. for the HH#48 head, but it remains derivative identification evidence.
• Newspaper coverage from 1901, 1906, and 1909 ties E. C. Bridges directly to the Oglesby lumber and timber ventures around Quitman. A 1901 Savannah Morning News item reports a large land purchase by Messrs. Oglesby & Bro. and E. C. Bridges involving the Hunter tract northwest of Quitman, with plans for a large mill in North Quitman. A 1906 Valdosta Daily Times article reports construction of the Oglesby & Bridges tram road to the Hunter timber. A 1909 Valdosta Daily Times item reports that the Hunter tract cutting was nearing completion and that the Oglesby mill would begin cutting timber in Taylor County, Florida, adding that the Messrs. Oglesby and Bridges were large holders in the Interstate Lumber Company.
• The 29 Nov 1909 Valdosta Daily Times obituary for E. C. Bridges states that he died at his home in Quitman on Wednesday afternoon after several weeks of illness with typhoid fever and other complications. It describes him as born in Dooly County, coming to Brooks County about fifteen years earlier, first settling at Barney, later moving to Quitman, becoming associated with the Oglesby sawmill business, serving as manager of the Oglesby Lumber Co., holding interests in other enterprises in Quitman and Florida, and serving on Quitman's board of aldermen.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• HH#19 Benjamin F. Bridges: The 1880 Dooly County household of J. W. Bridges and Lidia Bridges includes both Benjamine Bridges and Edwin Bridges, strongly supporting the conclusion that HH#19 Benjamin F. Bridges and HH#48 Edwin/Edward/E. C. Bridges were brothers.

Research Notes

• The record set supports the identity chain Edwin Bridges (1880) → E. C. Bridges (1899 newspapers) → Edward Bridges (1900 census) → E. C. Bridges (1901-1909 newspapers and obituary), but the exact full-name expansion to Edward Caleb Bridges still rests primarily on derivative memorial material rather than a newly checked marriage or death certificate.
• The 1900 census screenshot reads the wife as Eva Bridges, while the memorial material gives her fuller name as Susan Evaline Sharp Bridges. The 1910 widow household with Rachel Sharpe as mother and Jim Sharpe as brother makes that identification plausible, but a direct marriage record has not been recovered in this pass.
• No online marriage record, death certificate, or cemetery register has yet been located for Edwin/Edward Caleb Bridges or Susan Evaline Sharp Bridges. Those items remain desirable, but they now look more like courthouse, archive, or cemetery-office targets than realistic online-only gaps.
• The 1910 widow household reports five children born, four living, while only four surviving children appear in the home. Additional follow-forward work on Bessie, E. C., and Eddie R. Bridges would strengthen the later family reconstruction.
• The business narrative is now supported by newspapers and the obituary, but it should still be framed narrowly: Bridges was clearly involved in the Oglesby lumber and timber ventures, yet broader claims about a coordinated multi-household lumber "dynasty" go beyond the present evidence.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#48 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#48; 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-documented but not source-exhausted.
• Strengths: The household now rests on a coherent chain across the 1880, 1900, and 1910 censuses, multiple newspaper references, a substantial obituary, and useful derivative memorial support.
• Remaining cautions: Exact vital-record proof for the couple, burial-register confirmation, and fuller tracking of the children remain unfinished.

Sources

• 1880 U.S. census, Dooly County, Georgia, household of J. W. Bridges and Lidia Bridges, including Benjamine Bridges and Edwin Bridges.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Edward Bridges with Eva Bridges, Nina Bridges, John Sharp, and James Sharp.
• The Valdosta Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 19 Aug 1899, brief item referring to "Mr. E. C. Bridges, of Barney."
• 1910 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Eva Bridger, including children Nina, Bessie, E. C., and Eddie R. Bridger, plus Rachel Sharpe and Jim Sharpe.
• Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), 8 Oct 1901, report of the Hunter tract land purchase by Oglesby & Bro. and E. C. Bridges.
• The Valdosta Daily Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 7 Jul 1906, report on construction of the Oglesby & Bridges tram road to the Hunter timber.
• The Valdosta Daily Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 18 Sep 1909, report on the approaching completion of the Hunter tract cutting and planned Florida timber operations by the Oglesby interests, with Messrs. Oglesby and Bridges identified as large holders in the Interstate Lumber Company.
• The Valdosta Daily Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 29 Nov 1909, obituary of E. C. Bridges.
• FindAGrave memorials for Edward Caleb Bridges and Susan Evaline Sharp Bridges, plus associated memorial photographs and family-attributed portrait material, used here as derivative support rather than controlling proof.

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