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Family Biographies |
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Return to the Family Biography IndexGreat-grand Aunt of James D Thompson Jr. |
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The mysterious life of Charlotte Buena Vista Goodner 1849-???? Charlotte B V Goodner was born February 9, 1849, in Hamilton County, Tennessee. She was the fourth daughter and eighth child of Jacob Goodner and Charlotte Kemp. Jacob and Charlotte had a total of 12 children. Charlotte first appears in the census of 1850, with her family, in Bradley County, Tennessee. Her name is shown as “Buena Vista Goodner”. In the census of 1860, Charlotte shows up again in Bradley County, as “Charlotte V B Goodner”. The first mystery about Charlotte, to me, is her middle name. “Buena Vista” means “Good View” in Spanish. Why would the grandson of a German immigrant give his daughter a Spanish name? On November 18, 1866, Charlotte married John London, in Bradley County. John had been previously married to Charlotte’s first cousin, Setira York. It is assumed by the family that John was widowed, although no record of Setira’s death has been found. In the census records of 1870, John and Charlotte are located in Bradley County, Tennessee, with four children. The two oldest, Mary J and John T London, are Setira’s children. The youngest, Robert A, and Sarah, are the children of John and Charlotte. In the census of 1880, John London was located in Marion with his third wife, Mahala Edgemon, (whom he had married on December 27th, 1874), along with 3 children. The children with them are Setira’s son John T London, and John and Mahala’s children, Fanny and Henry. John and Mahala eventually had a total of seven children. None of Charlotte’s children are present with them. Since this article concerns Charlotte B V Goodner’s life, we will leave the continued history of John London to his biography. At the beginning of my research on the London family, I found that other researchers and family members had assumed that Charlotte had died prior to John London’s marriage to Mahala Edgemon. However, I have discovered that this is not the case. John and Charlotte either divorced, or Charlotte simply left John and took her children. On July 5, 1877, Charlotte Goodner married Henry C McDade, in Bradley County, Tennessee. Charlotte had returned to her maiden name for her marriage record, another indication that a divorce or bitter breakup had occurred. I found Henry C McDade in James County, Tennessee (adjacent to Bradley), in the census of 1880. Henry is living with a family as a farmer laborer. He states that he is married, but his wife is not shown with him. I have not been able to find Charlotte in the census of 1880, although I did find her children. In the census of 1880, John and Charlotte’s two previously known children were not living with either parent. Robert Andrew London (age 11), was living with his first cousin on his mother’s side, Samuel Hazard Bean and his wife Callie. Sarah (age 9) was living with Charlotte’s parents, Jacob and Charlotte (Kemp) Goodner. Under normal circumstances, you would think that children this young would be living with their mother or father, even if he or she had remarried. This becomes even more complicated due to another discovery about Charlotte, which was previously unknown to current family members: There was a third child born to John and Charlotte. Luther A London was born on May 16, 1872. I do not know if Luther was born before or after Charlotte left John. In the census of 1880, Luther A London is living in the household of Joseph Hansford Smith, in Bradley County. Luther is described as an “adopted son”. I identified this Luther as the son of John and Charlotte by his obituary and death certificate from 1941. Another mystery: Why would Charlotte give up her son for adoption? So….where was Charlotte in 1880? I suspect that she lived near her husband and children, but as I said before, she has not been found. Charlotte next shows up in the Chattanooga City directory, as follows:
Year Listing 1889 Mrs. C B V McDade 1890 Mrs. C B V McDade 1891 Mrs. C B V McDade 1892 C B McDade, widow of Henry 1895 Charlotte B V McDade, widow of Henry 1896 Charlotte B V McDade, widow of Henry 1897 Charlotte B London, widow of John 1898 Charlotte B London, widow of John
Mystery number 3: Why, in 1897, did Charlotte begin referring to herself as Charlotte B London, widow of John? There are two pretty obvious problems with this:
1) Her last name is McDade, as far as we know. 2) Her ex-husband, John London, is not dead! Charlotte does not appear in the census of 1900, anywhere, in any state, by any of the names she went by. (Goodner, London, McDade) I checked the Chattanooga City death index from 1898 through 1910, but could not find her. Mystery number 4: What became of Charlotte after 1898? In summary, I believe my findings above are the facts: 1. Charlotte Goodner London left John London with her three children, between 1872 and 1874. 2. John and Charlotte may have divorced. 3. Charlotte was either pregnant with her third child, Luther, when she left, or he was an infant. 4. Charlotte dispersed two of her children to family members, and offered Luther for adoption by the Smith family. 5. Charlotte married Henry C. McDade in 1877. 6. Henry McDade died prior to 1892. 7. Charlotte was alive in 1898. 8. Robert Andrew London and Luther A Smith remained in contact through the years, but very possibly kept it a secret from the (Robert’s) family. To do list: 1. Find Charlotte after 1898. She was only 49 at the time. Did she marry again? 2. Charlotte’s gravesite and obituary. 3. More facts on Henry C McDade. 4. Did Charlotte leave Tennessee, when all of her children stayed? 5. Research more on Luther A Smith, in Loudon (where he lived) and Rhea (where he died) counties. Make contact with his descendants. 6. Obtain obituary for Charlotte (Kemp) Goodner, BVs mother, who died in 1894.
Jim Thompson Aurora, CO Updated March, 2012 |
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