Household #81: Merredy, Dave

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Dave Merredy headed a 3-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Dave Merredy headed a 3-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 1 child.

Dave Merredy's listed occupation was Teamster (reading favored).

Reported birthplaces span Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, pointing to movement into Barney or family formation across county or state lines.

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

Dave Merredy is securely documented in the 1900 census at Barney, Brooks County, Georgia. That record shows a Black man born in North Carolina in April 1878, with an occupation that reads as Teamster beneath an annotation, living in a rented house, and heading a young household with his wife Leaner and their infant daughter Rora. The census states that Dave's parents were both born in North Carolina. Leaner was born in Florida in May 1881, and the couple was reported as having been married one year.

At present, this 1900 household is the only record that can be tied securely to the family. An earlier draft treated the 1898 Brooks County marriage record for Dave Meredy and Tena Lenoard as part of the same household, but that identification should be handled cautiously. The names do not match cleanly. One completed year of marriage in June 1900 is compatible with a late-1898 ceremony, but does not establish that these are the same couple. Until the marriage record is rechecked directly and the discrepancy is explained, it should remain a lead rather than a settled part of the household reconstruction.

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 reported Brooks County marriage record for Dave Meredy and Tena Lenoard should be rechecked directly before it is treated as belonging to this household.
• No secure 1910 or later census follow-up has been found for Dave, Leaner, or Rora Merredy.
• No death, burial, probate, or local court record has been found for any member of the household.
• No earlier North Carolina census record for Dave or earlier Florida or Georgia record for Leaner has yet been linked confidently to the 1900 household.

Research Status

Limited but meaningful evidence. The 1900 Barney census gives a clear household structure, but no corroborating record has yet been found to extend the family's history beyond that single enumeration. The household is therefore best treated as a one-record census family with an unresolved possible marriage lead.

Sources

• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, ED 9, sheet 4A, lines 45–47, dwelling/family 81, household of Dave Merredy. Original census image.
• Census image and indexed detail review for Dave Merredy, with Dan Merredy noted as an index variant, in the 1900 Barney, Brooks County, Georgia census.
• Reported Brooks County, Georgia marriage record for Dave Meredy and Tena Lenoard, pending direct recheck.
• Find a Grave search for Dave Merredy, Leaner Merredy, Rora Merredy, Dave Meredy, and related variants in Brooks County, Georgia cemeteries, negative as of May 2026.

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.