I have been teaching the young lady I am dating how to do genealogy research so she can help me with the business. Besides simply enjoying her company, she tends to make the research fun. She jokingly makes up stories about the person being researched when we hit a temporary brick wall or run into bad trees.
One example deals with a Joseph Savage (about 1806 to between 1867 – 1870). Joseph’s father listed two sons (among others) to be executors of his estate. [i] The Will named Joseph and James Payne Savage as executors. Looking through the estate papers, we see both Joseph and James Payne (or James P.) mentioned. Joseph married Selah (or Celia) Hyatt, probably in South Carolina, although no marriage record has been found;[ii] their son, Joseph Shelton Savage’s Death Certificate states his mother was a Hyatt.
We had not determined Selah’s maiden name at the time or Joseph’s death, just that he disappeared from all records. However, James Payne started showing up, and his wife was allegedly Sarah. It is at this point that much of the information on Joseph’s children is now appearing in trees as children of James Payne. James’ Findagrave entry lists Joseph’s children as James’ children. The entry even has a picture of a book dealing with the history of Cherokee County, Alabama, which correctly lists James’ children from the 1850 census.
So, we are wondering what happened to Joseph and Selah, and many researchers on Ancestry have confused the two brothers and their families. While trying to determine what really happened, my lady friend comes up with, “James got to Alabama, killed his brother, took Joseph’s wife, and changed her name to Sarah to confuse everyone.” We start laughing long and hard.
She has done this several times when we come across such situations. She said one person must have come back from the dead just to serve in the Civil War, all because someone put a Civil War record belonging to another man of the same name in a tree we were looking at.
Before anyone says anything about trusting other people’s trees, we don’t! But we look for clues and what others might have found.
What happened to Joseph Savage? In 1866, Alabama took two censuses—one by the state, one by the federal land township and ranges. The federal census only lists Joseph Savage and entries by age and gender, but the state census lists another Joseph just below him, marked as disabled. [iii] He took the Voter Registration Oath of Loyalty in 1867 in Chambers County, Alabama [iv] and Selah Savage was reported as a widow, living with her son, James, and daughter, Rebecca Conner, and her family in Garden Valley, Smith County, Texas, in 1870. [v]
In September of 1867, Joseph filed for an artificial right leg and foot under the Civil War Pension application process. It is reasonable to believe he died from complications from his injuries between September of 1867 and the census of 1870.
It’s a powerful reminder that, even when family histories get tangled, there are real people and compelling stories waiting to be rediscovered—sometimes with a laugh, always with care.
[i] Union County, SC, Probate Records, Box 19, package 24, will of James T. Savage, dated 5 September 1831, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com: accessed 8 June 2025).
[ii] Kaufman County, TX, Terrell, Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, reg # 3213, Joe Shelton Savage, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com: accessed 8 June 2025).
[iii] Chambers, Alabama, 1866 State Census, Alabama Department of Archives & History, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com: accessed 8 June 2025).
[iv] Chambers County, AL, 1867 Voter Registration, precinct # 8, image 33 of 83, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com: accessed 8 June 2025).
[v] Smith County, TX, Garden Vally Post Office, p 10 (inked), dwelling and family 65, household of James Savage, , Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com: accessed 8 June 2025), citing NARA Publication M 593, roll 1605.