Josiah and Sarah Toliver

Josiah and Sarah Toliver are on my grandmother Ethel Sarah Ann Stogsdill Tucker's family line. Grandmother's parents were Eliza Adline Winn and Green Berry Stogsdill.  Her grandparents were Sarah Elizabeth Toliver and George Washington Winn.  Although we knew her great grandparents were Josiah Toliver and Sarah, we were at a brick wall, unable to identify Sarah’s maiden name and her family or Josiah’s parents and their lines.

Both of Josiah's wives were named Sarah, but neither had identified surnames. My paternal 3rd great grandmother Sarah E. was his second wife. I was told by other Toliver descendants that Josiah didn't belong in the family that others had on their trees and seemed most likely to be his. Both were mysteries that required more records and DNA to solve.

What was known about Josiah and Sarah

Josiah Toliver was thought to have been born about 1791 in Alabama. However, there are no records that verify that information. He was issued land in Jackson County, Alabama. It seems that is what people used to base his birth there. Although some thought his father was Moses Toliver, this was dismissed by others because of his birth in Alabama. Moses had not lived in Alabama; therefore, he couldn't be Josiah's father.

His first wife was thought to be Sarah with an unknown surname. It seems they had at least three children: Susannah born about 1830, Andrew J. born about 1831 and James A. born about 1833. Sarah may have died before 1835.

Josiah's second wife was Sarah also with an unknown surname. She was born in South Carolina. They married in Jackson County, Alabama. Five children were born to them: Anisse Serena about 1835, Josiah "Joe" born about 1837, Sarah Elizabeth born about 1839, William J. N. born about 1842, and Washington D. Lafayette "Lafe" born about 1847.

Josiah and his second wife Sarah and all of his children traveled to Illinois. He died in 1848, sometime after their arrival.

Not a lot to go on. It is a starting point though.

Sarah E. Toliver, his second wife and my direct ancestor was thought to have been born between 1809 and 1815 in South Carolina. She married Josiah in Alabama, traveling with him and the children to Saline County, Illinois.

Discovering their story

Putting together the puzzle would require research for applicable records and the use of DNA.

First, let's establish that Jackson County, Alabama was not Alabama in 1791 when it was thought that Josiah was born. It was not part of Alabama until December 13, 1819. Before that it was Indian territory, part of Georgia. and then part of Mississippi Territory. My guess is that he was not born there but moved there and acquired land as an adult. The top portion of the Mississippi/Alabama area on the map below states that the strip was claimed by South Carolina and ceded in 1887. This map was found by our cousin Belinda, a descendant of grandmother Ethel Stogsdill Tucker's sister Myrtle. So, someone saw he acquired land in Alabama in 1820 but did not do their due dilligence to see when Alabama was established. Boundaries changed a lot in the early years.

Jackson County is located in the northeastern corner of the current state of Alabama, with Scottsboro as the county seat. It looks like it might have been part of that South Carolina strip at one time.

Map of the area that becomes Alabama later

Jackson County

Next, a record from the Tennessee, Early Land Registers, 1778-1927 has a land survey created on March 29, 1811 with a residence for a Josiah Toliver. If this is our Josiah, this would place him (about age 20) in Warren County, Tennessee, the same area where Moses Toliver lived in 1812. Moses is listed on a Warren, Tennessee, U.S. Early Tax List Record in 1812. Moses is believed to have left Warren, Tennessee about 1815 to move to Indiana and died shortly after arriving or on the way there. A Jesse Toliver is also listed on the Warren, Tennessee Tax List in 1812.

On April 24, 1820, the U.S. General Land Records, 1796-1907 shows that land was issued to Josiah in Jackson County, Alabama. So, we know he was there by this date.

On a Civil War Pension Application by Sarah, after her son William died in battle in 1863, she states that she married Josiah in Jackson County, Alabama about February 1839. She also states that she does not think there is a public record of the marriage. Let's note that people in those days did not keep track of precise dates or even spellings of their names. A foreign concept to us born much later! So, without a record, we don't know the accuracy of this marriage date. Note that her first child Anisse was said to be born in 1835. Other family researchers and I have confirmed Anisse passed down DNA of both Josiah and Sarah.

In 1840, there is a U.S. Census for a Josiah Toliver in McCracken, Kentucky. I added the names and approximate ages to the categories (shown below). They are pretty close so I believe this is our Josiah's family. Additionally, the births of their children Josiah 1837, Sarah 1839, and William 1842 are reported on later census records as Kentucky. All the older children were born in Alabama and the youngest, Washington 1847, was born in Illinois. These births locations provide a pretty good record of their journey.

1840 Census with Names Added

So far, we know that Josiah and Sarah and their children traveled from Alabama to Illinois with a stop in Kentucky. We don't know where he was born, but he could be the son of Moses Toliver since he did live in the same area when he was about 20. He reportedly died in 1848, sometime after their arrival in Illinois. The 1850 U.S. Census for Sarah Toliver lists her and their children, but not Josiah. So we know he did die before the enumeration of the census. On Sarah's Civil War Pension Application, witnesses stated they had known Josiah for about a year before his death in Saline County, Ilinois. They might have arrived anytime after William's brith in 1842 and before Washington's birth in 1847.

Let's look at Sarah's information now. On the 1850 census, she is listed as Sarah Toliver without a middle initial, age 39, and born in South Carolina. On the 1860 census, she is Sarah J Tolbert, age 45, and born in South Carolina. On the 1870 census, she is Esabelle Toliver, age 60, and born in South Carolina. The 1860 census initial may be an "I" instead of "J" and represent Isabel. So, perhaps she is Sarah Isabel/Esabelle? The birthplace is consistently South Carolina. The ages listed put her birth about 1809-1810. The few Death Certificates found for her children do not add any information about her maiden name. That is not a lot to go on to find her family.

Recently, our cousin Belinda found a land record documenting Sarah selling 40 acres in Saline County, Illinois in 1858. The record had her middle name on it! So, for the first time we see Sarah Izabel listed on a record. Remember, I mentioned that spelling was not precise in earlier years. A land record in 1872 has her as Sarah E. Toliver. Now, we have a full name but no maiden name.

Using DNA to find the families of both Josiah and Sarah

Finally, looking at trees and using DNA matches, I was able to find and confirm family lines for both Josiah and Sarah. As usual, breaking down those walls led to a cascade of names.

I started with Ancestry's DNA matches, looking for connections forJosiah's family. Using people known to be on the Toliver line, I started looking at how my relatives and I matched them and others. Ancestry now has a pro tool that enables you to view others that match both you and the original person you selected. This provides a triangulation to verify people match on the same line. As I found prospects, I searched their tree, if available, for a Toliver connection and verified through records that their tree was correct. As I found connections, I looked for others we both matched to verify the connections. This led to many Toliver connections on Moses Toliver's children, proving that our family also descends from him.

Since Ancestry does not provide a chromosome browser to compare the actual DNA segments, I looked on MyHeritage and other sites to find any of the people I had identified on Ancestry. Some people have their DNA on multiple sites, as I do. If I found one of the Ancestry matches, I copied their DNA matching segments to DNAPainter. This program enables you to identify shared family lines by comparing where on a chromosome your shared segment lies. Then I looked for additional matches our family shared with these matches. I looked at their trees to verify they also had Toliver ancestors. I also looked for additional people who matched us and had Toliver on their trees. This process takes quite some time but the rewards are worth the time. I was able to identify and verify many matches that descend from Moses and his sons Joel, John, and Zachariah.

A mystery match had sent me her tree information previously. When I looked at it, I found she had Moses Toliver and his wife Elizabeth Stamper. Other trees weren't agreeing on Elizabeth's surname. So, I started looking for Stamper connections and was able to confirm the relationship through DNA matches and trees. We had many matches up to my 5th great grandparents Jonathan Brooks Stamper, Elizabeth Stamper's father.

Shown below is one example of Stamper matches with my aunt Imogene on Chromosome 11. There were also matches on other chromosmes for her and others.

Chromosome 11 Stamper Matches with Imogene

This shows that aunt Imogene shares quite a lot of DNA with other Stamper descendants. So now, we have evidence that Josiah's family lines were through Moses Toliver and Elizabeth Stamper.

Searching for Sarah through records was harder, being a woman born in the early 1800s and married before the 1850 census.  Some of us cousins researching our genealogy have been looking for more than a decade for any clues.  I decided in late March 2025 to see what I could find with DNA matches and Ancestry’s new pro tools for shared matches. Following the same process used for the research on Josiah, I was quickly finding matches that had their most recent common ancestors (MRCA) as the couple James Andrew McGuffin and his wife Anness/Anice Jolly. Not only were there DNA connections with five of their children, there were also DNA connections with James McGuffin's brother Hugh and James's daughter Amanda with his second wife. No question about us descending from him. For Anice Jolly, there were DNA connections with her sister Margaret as well as her father William Wilson Jolly's brother Joseph. It also appears Sarah named her first daughter after her mother.

Although the DNA clearly proves Sarah was part of this family, she is not found in any trees as a daughter. There are no records either to place her in the family. There is, however, a Sarah listed in the family, born about the time of Sarah's birth, but she is listed as deceased as a child. There are no records for her death. So, there are more questions to be answered. Why was she in Alabama, not South Carolina, when she met and married Josiah? Could they have met in South Carolina? Why is she not in any records we have found for the family?

Sarah's sister Mimi met her husband in a different state while living with a relative. I am exploring that as a possibility for Sarah. Her maternal aunt Margaret Jolly married Daniel Isbell. There is an Isbell with land in the same area of Jackson County, Alabama as Josiah. Perhaps he is a relative, and she was staying with him and his family.

The research is not finished for Sarah. If there weren't so many DNA connections to both the Jolly family and the McGuffin family, I would think it might not be this couple. I have also looked for another marriage between the two families without any luck. The only option is to keep looking for records.

However, we now have more lines identified: Stamper, McGuffin, and Jolly. We also now know Josiah's father was Moses after all.

Solved by research/DNA: Toliver/Stamper before 2025, McGuffin/Jolly March 2025