2 Jan 1873MarriedThomas William Cavins — Boone, Missouri, USA
1880ResidencePrecinct 6, Collin, Texas, United States — Age: 32; Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head of House: Wife
9 Sep 1884MarriedJohn C Townsend — Wise, Texas, USA

Life as they lived it

Not the dates — the person. What the records happen to show of work, habits, possessions and the odd episode. Each line says where it comes from.

1913 The country correspondents followed her rounds among her daughters' homes. She "returned Monday after a two weeks' visit with her daughter, Mrs. J. J. Edwards of Roosevelt" in July 1913; in November 1914 she was "visiting her daughter, Mrs. Seth Abbott" at Fort Auger; and in June 1915 Robert McCarty brought her to the Abbotts' with his daughter Virgie, "who had been visiting her grandmother."

habit · The Frederick Press, 4 Jul 1913; The Frederick Leader, 20 Nov 1914 and 2 Jul 1915 · clipping 1 · 2 · 3

1914 When the Big Pasture was opened she moved to Tillman County, Oklahoma, "and located on a farm," where she lived until August 1914. That April the Frederick Leader's real-estate list had recorded Zachariah Cox selling Mrs. L. A. Cavins lots 15 through 20 in block 16 of Frederick for $1,000.

possession · The Frederick Press, 5 Nov 1915; The Frederick Leader, 17 Apr 1914 · clipping 1 · 2

1915 Left a widow, she married J. T. Townsend in 1884 and had two more children, Thomas L. Townsend and Robie E. Abbott. Yet in Tillman County she went by her first husband's name: both Frederick weeklies printed her obituary under Mrs. Cavins, "a well known resident of Tillman county."

unusual · The Frederick Leader and The Frederick Press, 5 Nov 1915 · clipping 1 · 2

1915 She had joined the Baptist church at twenty, and before she died she asked her children "not to mourn for her and not to wear mourning, because she was going to a beautiful land of rest," and to wear white. Every floral offering at her funeral in the First Baptist church at Frederick was white, and Rev. W. A. Knight preached from the text "She hath done what she could."

belief · The Frederick Leader and The Frederick Press, 5 Nov 1915 · clipping 1 · 2

Records behind this page

1850 United States Federal Census

1850 U.S. Census — District 2, Clark Co., Kentucky, dwelling 568: Stephen C Quisenberry household

read the transcript

READ FROM THE RECORD PAGE BY CLAUDE 31 Jul 2026 (URL line checked in the response, because Ancestry's SPA can serve the PREVIOUS page after a navigate). Ancestry coll. 8054 rec. 17001421. NARA RG29 M432 Roll 196 p. 40a, line 29, dwelling 568 family 569. Stephen Q Quisenberry 28 BLACKSMITH real estate $375 b. KENTUCKY — indexed 'Stephen Q', carrying the alternate 'Stephen C' twice Cloah Quisenberry 24 Lucy A 2 · Julia E 0 ⭐ MATCHES THE TREE: Cloah 24 = [997] Chloe Jane Bush b. 1825 · Lucy A 2 = [280] Lucy Ann 'Lou' b. 1847 · Julia E 0 = [1122] Julia Elizabeth b. 1849. ⭐⭐ THE OCCUPATION IS THE FIND: in 1850 he is a BLACKSMITH with $375 in real estate. By 1860 he is a FARMER with $2,000 real estate and $1,200 personal. This is the only one of the four couples still in Kentucky at this date. ⚠️ [1123] Achiles b. 1845 would be 5 and is ABSENT — and absent again in 1860. **The zero is controlled**: a search on his name in the 1860 collection returned the exact household under 'Lucy A Quisenberry, Rocky Fork, Boone, Missouri', so the instrument reaches this family. He genuinely is not in either household. ⚠️ POINTER, NOT OPENED: he is also listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census SLAVE SCHEDULES.

1860 United States Federal Census

1860 U.S. Census — Rocky Fork, Boone Co., MISSOURI, dwelling 86: Stephen C Quisenberry household

read the transcript

READ FROM THE RECORD PAGE BY CLAUDE 31 Jul 2026 (URL line checked in the response, because Ancestry's SPA can serve the PREVIOUS page after a navigate). Ancestry coll. 7667 rec. 39981493. NARA RG29 M653 Roll M653_608 p. 649, dwelling 86 family 85 (the two differ as indexed). FHL film 803608. Stephen C Quisenberry 37 Farmer real estate $2,000 personal $1,200 b. KENTUCKY Cloe J Quisenberry 35 Lucy A 12 · Julia E 10 · Polly F 6 · Eva M 1 ⭐⭐ THE MIGRATION DATUM: in Kentucky in 1850, in MISSOURI by 1860. Their children's birthplaces date the move to c. 1854-59. ⭐ MATCHES THE TREE: Cloe J 35 = [997] Chloe Jane Bush b. 1825 · Lucy A 12 = [280] Lucy Ann b. 1847 · Julia E 10 = [1122] Julia Elizabeth b. 1849 · 'Polly F' 6 = [998] MARY 'Mollie' b. 1854 (Polly is the standard diminutive of Mary) · Eva M 1 = [1128] Evie (Eva) Mary b. 1859. ⚠️ [1123] Achiles b. 1845 and [1125] Cornelia b. 1852 are both ABSENT — see the controlled zero on the 1850 citation. ⭐⭐ THE IN-LAW FIND, and it links two of this generation's four couples: Ancestry's own suggested records for Stephen include a **Newspapers.com Obituary Index entry captioned 'CAVINS'**, and Lucy Ann Quisenberry resolves in later censuses to **'Lucy A. Cavins'**. BOONE AND RANDOLPH COUNTIES ADJOIN. Both families left Kentucky for the same corner of central Missouri and married into each other. NOT ENTERED — no marriage or link created on this evidence. ⚠️ POINTER, NOT OPENED: he is listed in the 1860 SLAVE SCHEDULES as well as the 1850.

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census

Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 6, Collin, Texas; Roll: 1296; Family History Film: 1255296; Page: 240B; Enumeration District: 027

Denton County, Texas. County Court (Probate). Probate Minutes, Vol. N (1903-1904) [filmed as 'Vol M-P, 1902-1906', FHL/DGS 7576470; served open by Ancestry, 'Texas, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1833-1974' (coll. 2115)]

Vol. N pp. 84-87 (film images 007576470_00430-00431): will of S. C. Quisenberry, 21 Sep 1903, cause No. 1055; application 30 Nov 1903; order admitting 18 Jan 1904

read the transcript

Will of S. C. Quisenberry, 21 Sep 1903, recorded Denton Co. Probate Minutes Vol. N pp. 85-87 (cause No. 1055), read on the record-book images 22 Aug 2026: 'I next give to all of my daughters, viz: Lucy A. Townsen[d], Julia E. Johnson, Mollie F. Quisenberry, Nora Watson, Cora E. Murrey, all of which I want to have an equal part of all of the balance of my property ... except my watch and one note for $2,230.00 ... due me by Roger A. Quisenberry; this note and watch I give to my son Roger A. Quisenberry.' Earlier clauses give daughter Mollie F. one half of a $600 note due by William L. Johnson plus the buggy horse, and daughter Julia E. Johnson the note's balance. The probate chain in the same volume: application of Leslie W. Watson (of Dallas; husband of daughter Nora; atty A. S. Cowan), filed 30 Nov 1903, reciting that S. C. Quisenberry 'died on or about the 2 day of October 1903 ... in the County of Denton', personal estate ~$5,000, the will filed herewith (p. 85); citation issued 14 Dec 1903; order admitting the will to probate and qualifying Watson, 18 Jan 1904 (p. 84). NO WIFE is named anywhere in the will or probate papers. Captures: sources/quisenberry-sc-denton-will-2026-08-22/ (register K243).

Research notes

Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.

Research note · 4 Sep 2026

PROOF CLASS: MOTHER = ARGUMENT (Owen graded 4 Sep 2026). FATHER = DIRECT. SUPERSEDES this note's 22 Aug 'FATHER ONLY - ProofMother stays 0'. The 7 Oct 1844 Clark Co. bond marries them 3 years before Lucy's birth. THE ARGUMENT (full text: ancestry/proof-summary-280-quisenberry-mother-2026-09-04.md; record: register K441). Lucy Ann was born 25 Dec 1847 in Clark Co., Kentucky. (1) MARRIAGE BOND, Clark Co., 7 Oct 1844, read on the images in both of the compiler's two index appearances - 'Quisenberry, Stephen C., and Cloe J. Bush, daughter Ambrose Bush (consent); surety, Colby Bush' - George F. Doyle, Marriage bonds of Clark County, Kentucky 1793-1850 (1933), FS catalog 433805, DGS 7896907, arks 3:1:3Q9M-CS4X-R95H-S (p. 298) and 3:1:3Q9M-CS4X-R9RX-J. The marriage begins 3 years 2.5 months BEFORE her birth, in her own birth county. (2) 1850 census, Clark Co., dwelling 568: Stephen 28, Cloah 24, Lucy A 2. (3) 1860 census, Rocky Fork, Boone Co., Missouri, dwelling 86: Stephen C 37, Cloe J 35, Lucy A 12 - the wife still beside him 16 years on, enumerated in the bond's own form 'Cloe J'. (4) FORECLOSURE: all 63 transcripts in the film containing 'Quisenberry' were pulled in full from FamilySearch's full-text service and searched locally; 'Stephen C. Quisenberry' occurs TWICE in the whole 1793-1850 film - groom here, and surety on another's 1843 bond. No other Clark Co. marriage. Positive control: 63 of 63 transcripts contain 'Quisenberry'. WHY THAT CLOSES IT. For Lucy to have a different mother, Chloe must die inside a 3-year window in a county where the family was resident and enumerated; Stephen must remarry with no bond in a film recording every Clark Co. bond for 57 years; and the new wife must be named Cloe and born within a year of the old one, because that is who is enumerated beside him in 1850 AND 1860. That conjunction is not a live alternative. LIMITS, STATED SO THEY ARE NOT LOST. (a) SCOPE - the foreclosure is a CLARK COUNTY negative through 1850 and nothing wider; never restate it as 'Stephen married only once'. (b) The 1850 and 1860 schedules have NO relationship column and are used here ONLY for co-residence and for the wife's name and age continuity - never as filiation. That limit is why the bond was needed at all. (c) The bond does not name Lucy; it cannot, being 3 years earlier. (d) DATE CORRECTED: 7 Oct 1844, not the 10 Oct 1844 carried in earlier notes - that figure traces to the Find A Grave family widget (memorial 41174129), an Ancestry-tree-sourced panel unsourced to any record. (e) The row-alignment control, asserted BEFORE the target was read: this typescript sets dates in a right-hand column and the OCR splices them into the entry text, so the Sophia Ann Quisenberry x Randal M. Gordon bond was checked on two separate pages and reads 1839 Sep 7 on both; the target bond was then read on two separate images and reads 1844 Oct 7 on both. UNCHANGED FROM THE 22 AUG AUDIT - THE FATHER HALF, WHICH REMAINS DIRECT. Her father's own will names her: will of S. C. Quisenberry, 21 Sep 1903, Denton Co., Texas, cause No. 1055, recorded Probate Minutes Vol. N pp. 85-87, read on the record-book images (Ancestry coll. 2115, film 7576470 images 430-431; captures in sources/quisenberry-sc-denton-will-2026-08-22/): 'I next give to all of my daughters, viz: Lucy A. Townsen[d], Julia E. Johnson, Mollie F. Quisenberry, Nora Watson, Cora E. Murrey... except my watch and one note for $2,230.00... due me by Roger A. Quisenberry; this note and watch I give to my son Roger A. Quisenberry.' Probate chain read entire: application of Leslie W. Watson (husband of daughter Nora; of Dallas) filed 30 Nov 1903, reciting death 'on or about the 2 day of October 1903... in the County of Denton'; order admitting 18 Jan 1904 (p. 84). IDENTITY: [280] married John C. Townsend (F173), so the will's married surname matches; the census chain 1850/1860/1870 (register K215) places Lucy in [996]x[997]'s household from age ~2; and the will's six named children map 6-for-6 onto F390 - Lucy [280], Julia Elizabeth [1122] m. Johnson, Mary/Mollie [998], Nora [999] m. Watson, Cora [1081] m. Murrey, Roger [1000]. STILL OPEN, CARRIED FORWARD. (1) The six F390 children NOT named in the will (Achiles, Cornelia, Eddith, Evie, Jennie, Etter) read as predeceased or died young - recorded, not asserted; their ChildTable rows are untouched, and Achiles and Cornelia are absent from BOTH censuses on a controlled zero. (2) Only [280]'s own proof flags are set; whether the other five named children's rows also get ProofFather is a separate decision. (3) Ring-6 lead, parked: [996]'s own 1903 Texas death certificate exists and would name HIS parents. (4) The old claim that [997] was 'evidently dead by Sep 1903' is WITHDRAWN as unevidenced - her death event E3278 (14 Feb 1900) carries ZERO citations (K435); the will's silence about a wife is consistent with her predeceasing him but does not evidence it.

Elsewhere

This person on Ancestry (sign-in required)