Census records are just one of the many documents that can be used to search for ancestors of color. Death records or certificates also help considerably. The state of Georgia officially started keeping death records in 1919. We did not know when Sherman Stuckey died, but the 1920 census revealed he was alive at that time. So, we took a look at the 1930 Wilkinson County census. A search of it using the Stuckey surname revealed this household:

Stuckey, Willie Ann, Negro, age 54, widow, farm laborer
Stuckey, Mattie, Negro, age 21, daughter
Stuckey, Pearl, Negro, age 17, daughter
Stuckey, Robbie, Negro, age 15, daughter
Stuckey, Sherman, Negro, age 10, son

Willie Ann, now designated as a widow, headed the household. Mattie, now a woman, still lived with her mother and siblings, Pearl, Robbie and Sherman, Jr. Apparently,Sherman Stuckey died between 1920 and 1930.

Perhaps a death certificate could be found for Sherman Stuckey. A computerized Georgia death certificate search using the Stuckey surname and Wilkinson County turned up the following death certificate:

.

Sherman Stuckey died of pneumonia March 17, 1924 in Wilkinson County, Georgia . His parents were Alex Stuckey and Ellen Carr.Jerry Whipple, the informant, supplied this information. Remember, we discovered Alex Stuckey in the 1880 and 1870 censuses. He appeared in the 1870 census as head of this seven member household:

Stuckey, Alex, age 38, male, black, born in Georgia, farmer
Stuckey, Josephine, age 30, female, black
Stuckey, Sarah, age 10, female, black
Stuckey, George, age 14, male, black
Stuckey, Anna, age 8, male, black
Stuckey, Solomon, age 6, male, black
Stuckey, Elisabeth, age 3, male, black

Note, Sherman does not appear in Alex Stuckey's household.

Fortunately, while searching Stuckey marriage certificates, we recorded Alex (Ellick) Stuckey's marriage to Josephine Stuckey on May 29, 1873:

.

You probably noticed Alex and Josephine carry the same last name. Former slaves chose whatever surname they preferred.

But what about Ellen Carr? Did Alex Stuckey have a previous wife? Could we possibly have the wrong Alex Stuckey? Surprisingly, another Alex Stuckey appeared in the 1870 Wilkinson County census. This Alex Stuckey, a 50 year old white male, headed the following household:

Stuckey, Alex, age 50, male, white
Stuckey, Eliza, age 43, female, white
Stuckey, HT, age 21, male, white
Stuckey, Wiley H, age 16, male, white
Stuckey, Missouri, age 13, female, white
Stuckey, Rosmerson, age15, female, white
Stuckey, Fannie, age 10, female, white
Stuckey, William, age 8, male, white
Stuckey, Alex, age 6, male, white
Stuckey, Margaret, age 4, female, white
Stuckey, Lee, age 2, female, white

Join us next time as we unravel the history of Sherman Stuckey's parents and continue our search for ancestors of color.

Tips for Tracing Your Ancestors:

• You probably noticed that the census taker recorded "Negro" as race for Willie and all her children in 1930 . The race notation used by census takers for people of color varied with the census year.
• 1860-Used the terms Black, Mulatto,Indian
• 1870, 1880-Used the terms Black, Mulatto,Indian
• 1900-Used the terms Black, Indian
• 1910, 1920-Used the terms Black, Mulatto, Indian, Other
• 1930-Used the term Negro
  1. mixed white/ black called Negro
  2. mixed Indian/black called Negro