My great Grandmother was born Della Mae Gribble and married J Loyd Thomason. She told us growing up that she was half Cherokee, and I’m trying to find out who her parents were. She passed away in 1990, and I have been trying and have failed at finding her parents name or any info on them. I need help and any info at all on my quest will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Her headstone lists her maiden name, Gribble. From there you can find her marriage certificate showing the date and location: 1919 in Davidson County, NC. Going back to the 1910 Census in said county, you can find her listed as age 9, living as a “boarder” in a household headed by a man named Rheuben J. Workman. She is listed as not attending school at that time.. Listed directly above, another household is headed by a 71 year old matriarch named Anna Gribble. Anna’s adult daughter is listed as Mary Gribble, age 45. Neither of these women could read or write. Mary is listed with two children, Bertha and Edward, also with the surname Gribble.. It is quite likely that this was Della’s family (perhaps mother and grandmother?). There are no male partners shown and the women are listed as “working out.” In 1910, that status meant they were working for others, or hired out. I would suspect that this family unit was economically disadvantaged, and the 9 year old (Della) was living in another household working as a domestic servant.
Going back earlier, you can see the family unit in the same county (Davdison). And Anna is found as the head of household again, age 41. Mary C. Gribble is age 17. The death certificate for Mary’s son, Edward Gribble, lists father as “unknown;” Mary Gribble as mother. It appears a number of children were born out of wedlock and the father/s are unknown. In any event, the family is listed as White in records, and being born in Davidson County, NC about 1901 would not support a connection to any Cherokee community. Sorry this doesn’t get you back to definitive parentage, but perhaps it might be a step in that direction, or give you an indication of the family disposition.
Name: Della May Gribble
Gender: Female
Race: White
Age: 18
Birth Year: abt 1901
Marriage Date: 11 Jan 1919
Marriage Place: Davidson, North Carolina, USA
Spouse: Loyd Thomason
Spouse Gender: Male
Spouse Race: White
Spouse Age: 21
Event Type: Marriage
Thank you very much for your time and effort.
Della Mae was my grandmother. I lived with her in the lest few years of her life.
Mary was her mother.