Rachel Lucinda Williams 1851 -1931

Rachel Lucinda William was my husband’s paternal second Great Grandmother. She was born 25 December 1853 in Bethany, Harrison County, Missouri. Her Father was the farmer, A.J. Williams and his wife, Nancy Lucinda Pruitt or Prewitt. The first time we can find Rachel, is in the 1860 census in Missouri together with her parents and her siblings. She and her siblings were attending school, except for the youngest.

We find Rachel and her family also in the 1870 census. At that time they were living in Sycamore, Montgomery County, Kansas. Rachel is now the oldest of her siblings.

A year later, Rachel married my husband’s second Great Grandfather, Charles Burgess, 30 July 1871 in Montgomery County, Kansas.

Nine years later the couple lived with their children in Waveland, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. He was a farmer, she a housekeeper and their older children attended school.

The Burgess family went west and they settled in Lake Creek, Stevens County, Washington. In the 1900 census we find them living with their children, Edith, Myrtle, Lee and Pearl. Edith was my husband’s Great Grandmother.

In the 1910 census we learn that the couple had been married for 40 years and they lived together with their youngest three children. We also learn that they had ten children together and that eight of them were alive at the time.

In 1920 Lucinda, her husband and their youngest son lived in Lincoln, Lincoln County, Washington.

In the 1930 census, Rachel is a widow and lives together with her son in law, R W Heber, and her daughter, Anna Heber, in Hunters, Stevens County, Washington. Rachels’ parents birth places are given as Indiana and Illinois, which is incorrect. They were both born in Kentucky.

Rachel Lucinda Williams died 7 September 1931 in Hunters, Stevens County, Washington. From the obituary below we learn that her husband was a Civil War Veteran. It also states that they first settled in Roseburg, Oregon before coming to Stevens County, Washington. It makes a lot of sense, as one of their daughters and my husband’s Great Grandmother, Editha Martha Burgess was born in Oregon in 1885.

On her death certificate we learn that her Father’s calling name was Jack instead of Andrew Jackson. Her daughter whom she had lived with, was the informant on the certificate.

I use Family Tree Maker to create family group sheets.

Rachel Lucinda William had a long, but probably a hard life. She had 13 children and moved around a lot with her husband and her children to make a better life for themselves. Her birth date was in 1853, however I switched to 1851 because it was on the death certificate. Her first child was born in 1866. She would have been only 15 years old. Girls back in the middle of the 19th century had to grow up fast. Despite having 13 children and moving several times, she made it almost to 80. Rachel must have been a strong and healthy woman to do all the things she did her in her life.

A map below shows where Rachel came from and where she died. She covered a lot of territory in her life. Almost 3000 miles!