Excerpt of the 1850 federal census of Sevier County, Arkansas, Clear Creek Township showing the Skidmore & McMillan households
Many genealogy researchers of the Barnett families of Sevier County, Arkansas, record Elizabeth R Barnett, wife of Elijah D Skidmore, as having been the daughter of Robert Stephen & Lucinda Millwee Barnett. Although we do believe there was a connection between them, for reasons we’ll discuss later, we don’t think that Elizabeth was their daughter.
One reason for our scepticism is that Robert and Lucinda were married in 1823,1 but Elizabeth was born in 1821. Her birthdate is recorded in a family Bible2 handed down through the descendants of Henry Skidmore (born 1779).
But the main reason we do not believe that Elizabeth was their daughter is because Barnett was her married name, and we’ll show that to be the case in these pages.
Pages from the Skidmore Bible showing Elizabeth's date of birth (left) and Andrew & Deltry's birthdates (right). Images enhanced for legibility.
Elizabeth’s maiden name is unknown as of this writing, although some researchers have said it was McMillan. Unfortunately, we have seen only arbitrary statements to this effect, with no factual, historical documentation to back up this assertion. We would love to be able to confirm it, because we believe there was a very good chance that her maiden name was, indeed, McMillan. (We think her middle name was probably Roxanna, because both of her sons, and one of her granddaughters, each gave a child that name.)3, 4, 5
Elijah and Elizabeth Skidmore were enumerated in the 1850 census6 along with five boys, ranging in ages from fourteen years to six months, all of whom apparently shared the surname Skidmore. From this, one might assume that Elijah and Elizabeth had five sons: Deltry, Andrew, Stephen, Henry D, and Vincent H.
However, Elizabeth Barnett & Elijah Skidmore were married in September of 1842, only eight years prior to the census.7 The two oldest boys, Deltry, 14, and Andrew, 12, were obviously not born in that marriage. Since the boys’ surname is apparently Skidmore, one might conclude that Deltry and Andrew were Elijah’s sons from a prior marriage. However, the Skidmore Bible contains entries for the births of Deltry M and Andrew N Barnett in 1836 and 1837, respectively.
The marriage of Elijah Skidmore & Elizabeth Barnett as recorded by the Clerk of Court, Sevier County, Arkansas
Deltry & Andrew were Barnetts, not Skidmores. Elizabeth’s surname was Barnett when she married Elijah, so what relationship were the boys to Elizabeth?
The answer lies in a petition filed with the Sevier County Court by Elijah Skidmore in 1848.8
