Household #102: Wingate, Ben

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

Household Snapshot

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

Ben Wingate's listed occupation was Farmer.

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

• Later records: likely the same man as Jones B. Wingate in 1910, Benjamin J. Wingate in 1920, and Benjamin Wingate of the 1929 Berrien County death certificate
• Later marriage: Brooks County marriage certificate for B. J. Wingate and Mattie Wilcox, license dated 21 Dec 1911, marriage dated 23 Dec 1911
• Death record: Georgia death certificate for Benjamin Wingate, died 19 Jun 1929 at Nashville, Berrien County; father named as Lawrence Wingate; birthplace given as Sumter County, Georgia

The 1900 Barney census shows a young household headed by Ben Wingate, a Georgia-born farmer who owned his home. His wife was Lizzie, and their infant son Chester was born in November 1899. That census remains the anchor for the household as it appears in the Barney enumeration.

The household is clearer now because it can be followed into later records, though not every step is settled. A Valdosta Times clipping from the "Hahira Happenings" column, published 29 April 1893 and dated 26 April 1893, reports that "On Sunday last Mr. Benj. Wingate was married to Miss Lizzie Easteg" at the residence of the bride's father. The bride's surname is hard to read in the clipped image and may instead be Eastes or something close to it, but the notice is a strong fit for the 1900 Barney couple and likely preserves their marriage announcement.

The probable 1910 match is a Barney household headed by Jones B. Wingate, age 38, with wife Aima, son Clenton, and daughter Katie B. That record matters because it bridges the gap between the 1900 Barney family and the later Berrien County household, but it also introduces the main unresolved problem in the case. The wife in 1910 is not Lizzie, and she cannot be Mattie Wilcox because Ben did not marry Mattie until December 1911. The wife's name, read here as Aima, needs confirmation from the original image. The child listed as Clenton may be the same child as Chester from 1900, but that remains a plausible identification rather than a proved one.

The Brooks County marriage certificate for B. J. Wingate and Mattie Wilcox is the firmest middle record in the chronology. It shows a license issued on 21 December 1911 and a marriage on 23 December 1911. That record proves Mattie was a later wife and fixes the point that she was not the woman in the 1910 household.

By 1920 the family was in Nashville, Berrien County, where the census shows Benjamin J. Wingate, age 48, working as a merchant in a grocery store, with wife Mattie and daughters Ethel, Katie B., and Lois. This later household lines up well with the 1911 marriage record and with the family material preserved for Ethel after her marriage into the McGee family.

Benjamin Wingate's 1929 Georgia death certificate strengthens the identification further. It places his death at Nashville, Berrien County, on 19 June 1929 and describes him as a married merchant. The certificate gives his birthplace as Sumter County, Georgia, and names his father as Lawrence Wingate, though the informant did not know his mother's name. The age at death points to a birth in late January 1871, which conflicts with the January 1874 birth reported in the 1900 census. That conflict should be left visible rather than forced into a single unsupported date.

Find A Grave memorials for Benjamin Jones Wingate and Ethel L. McGee support the later Berrien County identification and the Mattie Wilcox family line, but the census, marriage, and death records remain the stronger foundation for the entry.

Open Research Questions

• The 1910 wife's given name needs confirmation from the original census image; the current reading Aima may be an indexing or handwriting problem.
• Chester Wingate in 1900 and Clenton Wingate in 1910 are a plausible match, but they should not be treated as the same person without a stronger bridge.
• Lizzie's maiden surname in the 1893 newspaper notice is still uncertain because the clipped image is difficult to read.
• Lizzie's fate between the likely 1893 marriage announcement and the 1910 household remains unresolved.
• Benjamin's exact birth date remains conflicted across records: January 1874 in the 1900 census, about 1872 in later censuses, and late January 1871 by age-at-death calculation on the 1929 death certificate.
• Benjamin's burial place has not yet been firmly documented from the records reviewed here.

Research Status

Well-researched but not source-exhausted. The household now has a workable chronology from 1900 to 1929. The main remaining tasks are to clarify the 1910 wife, document Lizzie more fully, and resolve the Chester/Clenton question.

Sources

• 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Ben Wingate
• The Valdosta Times (Valdosta, Georgia), 29 April 1893, "Hahira Happenings" column, marriage announcement for "Mr. Benj. Wingate" and "Miss Lizzie Easteg" or similar reading
• 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Jones B. Wingate
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage record for B. J. Wingate and Mattie Wilcox, license dated 21 December 1911, marriage dated 23 December 1911
• 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Nashville, Berrien County, Georgia, household of Benjamin J. Wingate
• Georgia death certificate for Benjamin Wingate, died 19 June 1929, Nashville, Berrien County, Georgia
• Find A Grave memorial #110922766 for Benjamin Jones Wingate
• Find A Grave memorial #110922156 for Ethel L. McGee

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