Joseph or Joel Johnson - Make up your mind!

cynpowers1

I've solved a lot of mysteries on here but this one is killing me.

Joel Johnson McGee 1884–1940 G72T-PRH https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G72T-PRH

Joseph McGee 1884–Deceased GVSD-WJ9 https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GVSD-WJ9

This will all make sense if Joel Johnson started calling himself Joseph and then went back to calling himself Joseph. But what the heck?

Shannon Potter Wilcox

@cynpowers1 When I am looking at both records, both Joel and Joseph have married the same woman and each had three children with different names. I did see where you have added sources for Joseph and Joel. Could the problem be that they married the same wife and the marriage dates are not correct? The source for a marriage date does show that Joseph married her in 1909 and no marriage record for Joel with her. Perhaps, Joel didn't marry her and someone on the tree put the wrong wife for Joel?

Just from what I have seen Joel and Joseph are brothers and not the same person. What indication did you find that they could possibly be the same person?

cynpowers1

Thanks @Shannon Potter Wilcox !

These guys are like Clark Ken and Superman, never in the same place at the same time.

• For every type of record, they only have one.
• Only Joel or JJ appears in a census or has a death record.
• There's only one other son in the census, James T and he's 3 years older. He has a full record and is my great-grandfather.
• Only Joseph has a record of marrying her. JJ has no record of marriage.
• They were both born in 1884.
• Joel's parents in the census are WT and Laura A. On Find a Grave, they were William Thomas McGee and Amanda Laura Hudson McGee.
• Joseph's parents on his marriage record are Wm. and Amanda.
• Mom uses Amanda, Laura, Laura A and Mandie throughout her sources.

cynpowers1

So I went back through the sources with the kids labeled 1-6 based on birth order.

Birth - Joseph - 2,3

Birth - JJ - 4

Marriage - Joseph - 5

Marriage - JJ - 1,2,3,6

Death - Joseph - 1,2

Death - Joel - 3

Census - JJ/Joel - all

cynpowers1

#1 - JJ for marriage and Joseph for death

#2 - Joseph for birth, JJ for marriage and Joseph for death.

#3 - Joseph for birth, JJ for marriage and Joseph for death

#4 - JJ for birth

#5 - Joseph for marriage

#6 - JJ for marriage

If Joel was the father for the last 3, why would #5 put Joseph down when getting married?

1-3 just Joseph for birith and death, JJ for marriage.

I can imagine doing this. You're sort of getting married with the parents you have and JJ raised him.

Shannon Potter Wilcox

@cynpowers1 Wow! I can see it now. I wonder though, could Joseph and Joel be twins? It's just a thought where everything is such a tangle and they are in census records and other records as one or the other. I have to wonder who else has worked on this line and perhaps didn't get the information correct when they put it in. I can see your wanting it correct as it is your great grandfather's line. Who does your great grandfather have for a father Joseph or Joel? Do you have any family records that might bring to light some of who is who or is it one person? One place you could look is to probate records and directories to see if they both show up in the same place or own property. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/North_Carolina_Probate_Records

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/North_Carolina_Directories

I think this is where I would start and see if there was property. Sometimes there is a lot to gleen from these records besides just the property. Sometimes names of people as well. Directories can also help to show where they lived at a different time period.

Let me know what you find. I will be gone on Wednesday, but I will be back Thursday to check and see if you found anything.

Shannon Potter Wilcox

Here is another place to look as well. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/North_Carolina_Land_and_Property

Shannon Potter Wilcox

You might also want to go back one generation and look at the sources for Joseph and or Joel's father and see what his sources are and see if they list both sons or just one in any records like census.

cynpowers1

He was born in 1884 so 1900 was the first census record. I can't find a 1910 census. In 1920 he's already married to Etta and she has 3 kids.

Shannon Potter Wilcox

@cynpowers1 Interesting find. No Joseph. If there was a Joseph he should have been in this census. Taking a closer look at the sources for both Joel and Joseph, Joel has the majority of sources showing his connection to his parents and wife. I did find a 1930 census in Ancestry

This shows some of the children from Joel and Joseph in this census.. In my opinion from the sources and especially the census you just added where there is no Joseph, I think Joel and Joseph are one and the same. I think his name is Joel and maybe with the Johnson middle name, maybe nicknamed Joseph? If this were my tree, I would feel good about merging Joel and Joseph and add notes as to why you did it. I do not believe there was a Joseph. I will let you decide on what way to go, but I do believe they are one and the same.

I hope this helps you.

Shannon

cynpowers1

Thanks @Shannon Potter Wilcox!

Were you able to find a tree that included him/them? I'm curious about what others have done.

Shannon Potter Wilcox

I just did a search for Joseph/Joel in the search box on ancestry to find the information I sent you. I don't use ancestry a lot so I am not sure if I can find anything about them from other's records unless they are in my family tree. I suppose that isn't very helpful for you.