My great-grandfather Claude C. Blount deserted his young family when his son was 2 years old. The talk in my family about him was very negative: deserted his family, a womanizer, and a drinker. I needed to know more about him for my family research. How do I find him? How do I find his parents?
From my great-grandmother Eleanor (who was married to Claude briefly), I knew that Claude’s mother was Martha McAnally. Eleanor thought his father was Jeff Blount. That was all the information she knew. No information on where his father lived in the past.
I knew about Martha as I had tracked her in mid-Missouri with her father Andrew to eastern Tennessee and back several generations of McAnallys. So, I needed to connect Martha with Jeff Blount (if that was the correct name).
Start with the Census
I started with the census records. I found Martha on Ancestry in the 1870, 1880 U.S. Federal Census living with her parents and siblings in Miller County and Camden County, Missouri. The next step was to search for a Blount family in either Miller County or Camden County in 1870 and 1880.
In 1870 Miller County, I found Abram Blount with his wife Delia and their 7 children, including son Jeff Davis, age 8. Continuing my search of census records, the 1880 census in Camden County showed Abram and Delia Blount with 6 children still living at home, including Jeff, now age 18.
Was Jeff Blount and Martha McAnally living close to each other?
Osage township in Camden County, Missouri, showed a population of approximately 11,000 in 1880. Both Abram Blount and Andrew McAnally were Methodist preachers in the area. Perhaps the children attended schools together or church get togethers; however, Martha and Jeff did meet.
They married in approximately 1886. Their son Claude was born January, 1887. In the 1900 census, Martha is married to her second husband, Joseph Robbins, (married 1894), and Jeff is married to his second wife, Sarah, (married 1892). The first marriage between Martha and Jeff only lasted a few years, long enough to have a son.
In the 1900 census, Jeff and wife Sarah are still living in Camden County, Missouri, Martha and husband Joseph are living in Kansas City, Missouri. They have a son named True, who was born in 1896. I have searched for divorce records for Martha and Jeff to no avail.
Paternity
Do I know for sure that Jeff is Claude’s father? The last piece of the puzzle is Jeff’s obituary. His full name was Jefferson Davis Blount. He died in 1934 in Camden County, Missouri, and in his obituary Claude is listed as a surviving son. The proof is not first quality, but enough proof for me to believe that Jefferson Davis Blount was Claude’s father. Jeff’s obituary and death certificate are attached to this article. There is other information about Claude that I have pursued over the years. He turned out to be quite a scoundrel: deserted 2 wives I know of, deserted the U.S. Marines, left 2 other children, arrested at least 3 times, stole a car, and drove from Kansas to North Carolina. I am still looking for his death information which I have not found yet.
Check out our previous blog on searching for ancestors.
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