Household #57: Norman, James

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

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

Household Snapshot

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

James Norman'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

The 1900 Barney census shows James Norman and wife Louise Norman with six children in the household: Ella, Nancy, Malissa, Madie, Perish, and John. That record is the Barney anchor for this family, but the later evidence makes clear that the same man appears in other records as William J. Norman and William James Norman.

The identity chain is now fairly strong. In 1860, James W. Norman, age 1, appears in Colquitt County. In 1870, William Norman, age 12, appears in the John Norman and Nancy Norman household in Colquitt County. In 1880, William Norman, age 22, was head of a Colquitt County household with wife Louisa Norman and Margaret Register in the home as a sister-in-law. In 1910, William J. Norman, wife Louisa, and children from the earlier Barney household were still in Barney, Brooks County. In 1920, W. J. Norman and Louisa were still in Barney with daughter Meadie in the home and a younger daughter Nancy, age 13. In 1930, the indexed household appears as William J. Normens and Luizer Normens, but the ages, place, and household pattern fit the same couple.

Louisa's maiden name is now supported by more than one record trail. The 1860 Colquitt County census shows Louisa Register, age 5, in the household of Joel P. Register and Elva Register. In 1870, Louisa Register, age 15, was still in Colquitt County with Elvy Register and Margaret Register. The 1880 Norman household then includes Margaret Register as a sister-in-law, which fits the same Register family. Louiza Norman's 1933 death record also supports the Register connection, though the parental fields on that record should still be handled with care.

The later-life records support the same broad identification. Louiza Norman died at Barney on 4 Jul 1933, with burial listed at Sardis Cemetery. A Brooks County death index entry for W. J. Norman gives a death date of 21 Jul 1934. Memorial material for William James Norman and Louisa Register Norman is consistent with those records and places both burials at Sardis Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Colquitt County.

The parentage case for William James Norman is stronger than it was, but it is still a mixed-source conclusion. The 1870 census directly places William in the household of John Norman and Nancy Norman. A compiled Alderman family source identifies Nancy Alderman as the woman who married John Tillman Norman, and memorial material identifies the father more fully as John Tillman Norman. Taken together, those sources make John Tillman Norman and Nancy Alderman a well-supported working parentage conclusion, though the claim would still be stronger with a direct marriage or probate record.

Several child identifications also need to be handled carefully. Memorial material supports later identities for Ella Norman Alvis, Mary Melissa Norman Castleberry, and John Thomas Norman, but those links should remain derivative support until each child is bridged with direct marriage, death, or later census records. The Nancy problem is clearer now than it first appeared. A Brooks County marriage record shows Nancy Norman marrying Charley Morell on 28 Jul 1901, which fits the older Nancy who was age 17 in 1900. Memorial material for Nancy M. Morell gives a birth date of 4 Aug 1882 and a death date of 13 Jul 1907, consistent with that same older daughter. That makes the Nancy in the 1920 household, age 13, much more likely to be a younger daughter of the same name. Even so, the younger Nancy has not yet been traced forward with direct evidence.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
• Child census audit: Continue direct-record tracking for each child named in the 1900 household where later census, marriage, death, burial, obituary, or other parent-link proof is not already cited above.
• The full marriage record for William or James Norman and Louisa Register has not yet been added.
• A full death certificate for W. J. Norman has not yet been added; the present death evidence is a Brooks County death index entry.
• The parental fields on Louiza Norman's death record should be used cautiously until matched against other direct family records.
• The link from the 1870 John and Nancy Norman household to the fuller names John Tillman Norman and Nancy Alderman is well supported by compiled and memorial sources, but still needs a direct record if the entry is to present the parentage as settled fact.
• The later identities of Ella, Malissa or Melissa, and John are supported by memorial material, but direct bridge records are still wanted.
• The older Nancy is now substantially clarified through her 1901 Brooks County marriage to Charley Morell and memorial support as Nancy M. Morell, but the younger Nancy from the 1920 household has not yet been traced forward with direct records.
• The exact readings Perish and Meadie should be checked against the original census images if this household receives a final source-exhaustion pass.

Research Status

Strong household reconstruction with a good multi-census identity chain. The core Barney family is now well anchored in 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930, with earlier Colquitt County census support and later death-record support for both spouses. The largest remaining gaps are the marriage record, W. J. Norman's full death certificate, and direct bridge records for several children.

Sources

• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, James Norman household, sheet 3, dwelling 57, family 57.
• 1910 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, William J. Norman household.
• 1920 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, W. J. Norman household.
• 1930 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, indexed as William J. Normens household.
• 1880 U.S. census, Colquitt County, Georgia, William Norman household, including Louisa Norman and Margaret Register.
• 1870 U.S. census, Colquitt County, Georgia, John Norman and Nancy Norman household, including William Norman, age 12.
• 1860 U.S. census, Colquitt County, Georgia, James W. Norman, age 1.
• 1870 U.S. census, Colquitt County, Georgia, Louisa Register household, including Elvy Register, Margaret Register, and Louisa Register, age 15.
• 1860 U.S. census, Colquitt County, Georgia, Joel P. Register and Elva Register household, including Louisa Register, age 5.
• Georgia death record, Louiza Norman, died 4 Jul 1933 at Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, burial listed as Sardis Cemetery.
• Brooks County, Georgia, death index entry for W. J. Norman, died 21 Jul 1934, certificate 17492.
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage record for Nancy Norman and Charley Morell, married 28 Jul 1901.
• Find A Grave memorial for Nancy M. Morell, used as derivative support for the older Nancy's married identity, dates, and burial.
• Find A Grave memorial for William James Norman, used as derivative support for fuller name, burial, spouse, and child links.
• Find A Grave memorial for Louisa Register Norman, used as derivative support for fuller name, burial, spouse, and child links.
• Compiled Alderman family source stating that Nancy Alderman married John Tillman Norman, used as secondary support for the mother's identity.
• Find A Grave negative search in Brooks County, Georgia cemeteries during this review.

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.