Household #83: Radford, Amos

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

Household Snapshot

Amos Radford headed a 5-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 3 children.

Amos Radford's listed occupation was Woodsman.

Reported birthplaces span 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

The 1900 census places Amos Radford in Barney, Brooks County, as a married Black household head born in North Carolina in June 1866. His wife Missouria was also born in North Carolina, and the household included three children born in Georgia: James, Thomas, and Lillie. The schedule states that Amos worked as a woodsman, that the couple had been married three years, and that they lived in a house recorded as owned.

A Brooks County marriage record dated 17 June 1897 shows Amos "Rodford" marrying Missouri Wootin. The date fits the 1900 census report that the couple had been married three years. The handwritten license and return are especially useful here because they preserve the surname forms close to the event itself: Amos appears as Radford/Rodford in the record set, and Missouri appears as Missouri Wootin/Wooten.

By 1910 the family had moved to Precinct 17, Volusia County, Florida. Amos, then age 43, was enumerated as a Black or mulatto farmer on his own farm, owned free of mortgage. Missouri was still in the household, and daughter Lily B., age 12, remained with them. James and Thomas were no longer present. That absence is not enough to place them elsewhere, but it does show that the household had narrowed by the time the family reached Florida.

The 1920 census appears to preserve Missouri after Amos's disappearance from the record, though under a distorted given name. In Osteen, Volusia County, a widowed Black woman enumerated as "Missine Radford," age 36 and born in North Carolina, headed a household with daughter Litter/Little/Littie Bell Lonn and son-in-law Willie Lonn. The combination of surname, birthplace, widowhood, Florida location, and the daughter whose name fits Lily/Lillie makes this a strong probable continuation of the same family, but the entry is not explicit enough to treat the identification as proved beyond doubt.

The earlier 1880 census also offers a plausible but still unproved lead on Amos's parentage. In Tatoms Township, Columbus County, North Carolina, an Amos Radford, age 15, appears in the household of John and Charity Radford. That entry aligns well with the later Amos on name, approximate age, and the later reports that both of Amos's parents were born in North Carolina. Still, without a direct parent-linked record, the 1880 household should be treated as a probable identification rather than a settled one.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• Missouri Wootin's maiden surname invites comparison with HH#80 Walter Wooten, but the present evidence does not prove any relationship between the two households.

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.
• No direct record has yet been found naming Amos's parents.
• The 1880 Columbus County, North Carolina Amos Radford in the John and Charity Radford household is a good match, but still inferential.
• No direct death or burial record for Amos has been verified in the present evidence set.
• Missouri appears likely to be the widowed "Missine Radford" in Volusia County in 1920, but that identification remains probable rather than certain.
• The later lives of sons James and Thomas Radford have not yet been traced.
• The possible Wootin/Wooten connection to HH#80 remains unproved.

Research Status

Well-supported core household. The 1897 marriage record and the 1900 and 1910 census entries establish the family securely, and the 1920 Volusia County widow appears to be the same Missouri with their daughter. Parentage for Amos and any wider Wootin/Wooten kinship remain open questions.

Sources

• 1880 U.S. census, Tatoms Township, Columbus County, North Carolina, John Radford household, including Amos Radford, age 15.
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage license and return for Amos Radford/Rodford and Missouri Wootin/Wooten, 17 June 1897.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household #83, Amos Radford.
• 1910 U.S. census, Precinct 17, Volusia County, Florida, Amos Radford household.
• 1920 U.S. census, Osteen, Volusia County, Florida, "Missine Radford" household.

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