Household #125: Scruggs, Hamilton

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Hamilton Scraggs headed a 4-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Hamilton Scraggs headed a 4-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 2 children.

Hamilton Scraggs's listed occupation was Laborer 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

• Hamilton Scruggs, head, age 23, born Dec 1876 in Georgia, laborer in a saw mill
• wife recorded in 1900 under a difficult reading that later records show belongs to the same Thomas-born spouse
• children in 1900 include Jane, age 1, and George, age 0

Hamilton Scruggs can now be followed with a strong run of direct records from 1880 through his death. The 1880 Brooks County census places J.H. Scruggs, age 4, in the household of John and Jenny Scruggs. That child aligns well with Hamilton Scruggs in 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950, and the identification is reinforced by his World War I draft registration, which gives his birth date as 18 Sep 1876 in Brooks County, Georgia.

The marriage record is clearer than the older entry suggested. Brooks County marriage records show Hamilton Scruggs licensed on 22 Dec 1897 to marry Litty Ann Thomas, with the marriage performed on 23 Dec 1897. Later records show the same wife under expected census drift: Letitia, Lethia, Lethan, Letha, Lethe Ann, and Leathean. The 1900 census reading that had been treated as a separate name is best understood as another bad enumeration or indexing problem rather than evidence of a different spouse.

The household continuity after 1900 is now much firmer. In 1910, Hamilton appears with wife Lethia A. Scruggs and children including Ranie J., George, Chester A., Elbert W., Katie E., Hattie, and Monday. In 1920, the same family remains in Dixie with the wife recorded as Lethan. In 1930, Hamilton and Lethe Ann remain together with daughter Elizabeth, age 17, in the household. In 1940, Hamilton and his wife are not widowed, as the older version of this entry said. Instead, they are living in the George Sharp household as father-in-law and mother-in-law, which strongly supports the identification of daughter Elizabeth Scruggs as the later Elizabeth Sharp. In 1950, Hamilton is still in Dixie with his wife present and a granddaughter in the home.

The children's identifications are also clearer than before. The 1900 child Jane Scruggs is probably the later Ranie J. Scruggs. A Social Security claims index entry for Ranie J. Mitchell gives a birth date of 11 Sep 1898 in Brooks County and names Hamilton Scruggs as her father. That fits the age of Jane in 1900 and suggests that the 1900 name is either a bad reading of Janie or an early form displaced by the later Ranie J. usage. The same index trail also links Hamilton's wife under the form Leathean Thomas and helps tie the household to daughter Ranie later in life.

George Scruggs is present in 1900 and again in 1910, but his later record trail is still open in this entry. Elizabeth Scruggs is well supported as the woman later in the George Sharp household, though the direct marriage record still needs to be added if found. The 1920 child once read as Kaline is better treated in context with the 1930 and 1940 records as part of the Elizabeth line rather than as a separate unresolved child.

Hamilton's end-of-life trail now extends beyond the census run. A Georgia death index entry gives Hamilton Scruggs's death on 30 Nov 1956 in Brooks County, certificate number 28014. That entry fits the man still present in the 1950 census, but the full death certificate is still needed to capture parents, spouse, informant, and burial details.

The broader Scruggs family structure remains plausible but should be written more cautiously than before. The evidence supports John Scruggs and Jenny or Jinnie Miley as the parents of Hamilton and William, with William's 1939 death certificate backing that younger-child cluster. The earlier 1870 household of John Scruggs with Creasy and older children such as Amelia, Mary, George, and Joseph may reflect an earlier marriage, but that reconstruction is still an informed reading rather than a closed proof argument because direct marriage or probate evidence has not yet been added here.

A 14 Oct 1899 Valdosta Times article naming John Scruggs among the Barney-area farmers and noting a saw mill and ginnery is useful local context. Because the article predates Hamilton's mature independent household, it most likely refers to John Scruggs rather than to Hamilton.

Connections to Other Barney Families

The strongest present connection is the one from Hamilton Scruggs back to the 1880 J.H. Scruggs in the John and Jenny Scruggs household. William Scruggs's 1939 death certificate supports the same parent pair and strengthens the placement of Hamilton in that younger Scruggs branch.

Hamilton's household is also tied forward through daughter Elizabeth, who appears as the basis for the 1940 George Sharp household connection, and probably through daughter Jane of 1900, who is likely the later Ranie J. Mitchell. Those are meaningful internal family links within the entry, even though some later marriage documentation is still missing.

Open Research Questions

• Obtain Hamilton Scruggs's full death certificate for 30 Nov 1956, certificate no. 28014.
• Look for the death certificate or burial record of Litty Ann Thomas Scruggs under her later name variants.
• Add the direct marriage record for Elizabeth Scruggs and George Sharp if found.
• Extend the later record trail for George Scruggs.
• Test the earlier John Scruggs household structure further before treating the Creasy and Jenny marriages as fully proved.

Research Status

SOURCE-EXHAUSTED online: The online record set now gives a strong household chain from J.H. Scruggs in 1880 through Hamilton Scruggs in 1900-1950, supported by the 1897 marriage record to Litty Ann Thomas, the 1918 draft registration with exact birth date 18 Sep 1876, the 1940 George Sharp household connection for daughter Elizabeth, the Social Security claims evidence for daughter Ranie J. Mitchell, and the 1956 Georgia death index entry for Hamilton. The remaining gaps are the full death records for Hamilton and his wife, the direct marriage record for Elizabeth and George Sharp, the later trail for George Scruggs, and stronger direct proof for the earlier John Scruggs marriages.

Sources

• 1880 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John and Jenny Scruggs, including J.H. Scruggs, age 4
• 1900 U.S. Census, Barney precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Hamilton Scruggs
• 1910 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Hamilton and Lethia A. Scruggs
• 1920 U.S. Census, Dixie, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Hamilton and Lethan Scruggs
• 1930 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Hamilton and Lethe Ann Scruggs
• 1940 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of George Sharp, including father-in-law Hamilton Scruggs and mother-in-law Lethe Ann Scruggs
• 1950 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Hamilton Scruggs
• Brooks County, Georgia marriage record for Hamilton Scruggs and Litty Ann Thomas, license dated 22 Dec 1897 and marriage performed 23 Dec 1897
• World War I draft registration for Hamilton Scruggs, 12 Sep 1918, giving birth date 18 Sep 1876, Brooks County, Georgia, residence on Route 4, and nearest relative in the wife-name cluster
• Georgia death index entry for Hamilton Scruggs, died 30 Nov 1956 in Brooks County, certificate no. 28014
• Social Security claims index entry for Hamilton Scruggs naming spouse Leathean Thomas and child Ranie J. Mitchell
• Social Security claims index entry for Ranie J. Mitchell, born 11 Sep 1898 in Brooks County, Georgia, naming father Hamilton Scruggs
• William Scruggs death certificate, 1939, naming parents John Scruggs and Jinnie Miley
• The Valdosta Times, 14 Oct 1899, Barney-area farmers notice naming John Scruggs and his saw mill and ginnery

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