Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Two Bird Farmers

Two Bird Farmers:  not two people who farmed birds, but two men named Bird Farmer.

There is a man named Bird Farmer found in the 1840 Jefferson County TN census.  He is noted as between the ages of 20 and 29.  There is a female in his household, presumably his wife, between the ages of 15 and 19.  There is an 1837 marriage record found in Jefferson Co TN for Bird Farmer and Jane Curnutt.

I find this Bird and Jane Farmer in 1870 and 1880 living in Newton County, Arkansas.  Their children from these records seem to be:  Bird Anderson, James Thomas, Martha J, David N, Margaret A, and Nancy.  Land records in Newton County, Arkansas are also found for Bird Farmer.  The census records indicate he was born about 1813 in Virginia.  I have found no death records for Bird in Arkansas.

There is another Bird Farmer who was born about the same year also in Virginia.  He is found living in Missouri in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 census records.  He married Alice Asa Abbott in 1854 in Lincoln County, MO.  Bird and Alice have one son, William Hubbard.  It is possible he was married to someone before Alice, but I don't know for sure.  It seems he remarried after his wife Alice's death.  There are two marriage records in Lincoln County for Bird Farmer and Elizabeth Horton, one in 1866 and one in 1877.  I am not sure why there are two records.  Elizabeth Farmer is living with her son in 1870 and then with her grandson in 1880 as Elizabeth Horton.  Bird Farmer of MO died about 1883 and mentions his wife Elizabeth in his will, leaving her $1.  He leaves all his other property to his son.

I don't think these two men are the same person but their records are often confused.  I am interested in Bird Farmer of Arkansas.  I believe him to be related to my husband's ancestor Nimrod Farmer who was also in Jefferson Co TN in the early 1800s.