Surname Saturday – Ancestor #9 – Dialtha Jane OWENS

One of my goals for 2012 is to use the Surname Saturday blogging prompt as a way to assure that I spend some time researching each of my family lines and that I have appropriate source citations for the genealogical facts related to my ancestors. I’ve decided to use my ahnentafel report and work back through the generations starting with my grandparents, writing a summary of each ancestor. If you discovered this post through a search engine and find one of your ancestors listed here, please leave a comment to let me know.

My paternal great-grandmother Dialtha Jane OWENS was born about 1847 in Alabama, the fourth child of Houston T. and Sherreldia J. (HAMMONTREE) OWENS.[1]

While she was a young child, the Owens family moved from Alabama to northwestern Louisiana, settling in Bienville Parish. The Owens family were near neighbors of the Spurlocks in the 1850s and probably stayed close throughout the years. Dialtha’s sister, Missouri Ann, married M. D. L. Spurlock in 1860.[2]

Dialtha married John F. Spurlock about 1875[3] and they had six children:

• Jasper Jackson (1876-1940)[4]
• William Martin (1878-1973)[5]
• Era (1880-1961)[6]
• Lucy Jane (1882-1912)[7]
• John Thomas (1887-1969)[8]
• Sarah Elizabeth (1890-1970)[9]
• Jefferson Owens[10]

Dialtha died in 1893 and is buried in Hurricane Cemetery in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana.[11] She was only 46 years old when she died; I heard from someone that she had some kind of blood disease (leukemia, perhaps?).

It is said that I have so little information about Dialtha and her life. Here are some of the things than I plan to do to try to learn more:

1. I have searched the marriage records of Bienville, Claiborne and Jackson parishes for a record of Dialtha’s marriage to John Spurlock but have been unable to locate one.
2. I will attempt to locate digitized images of historical newspapers to see if I can find any reference to her death; if digital copies cannot be found, I will add it to the list of things to research when, and if, I have the opportunity to visit the area again.
3. I will try to find living descendants of her children and see if any has any artifacts or information about Dialtha’s life. Foster Spurlock, a descendant of Dialtha’s sister, may have some additional information.

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[1] 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Western District, Bienville, Louisiana, p. 288A, family 559, household of Huston T. Owens; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 230.

[2] Spurlock Family Association, database, family group sheet dated 23 Jul 1996.

[3] 1880 U.S. census, population schedule, 6th Ward, Claiborne, Louisiana, enumeration district (ED) 14, p. 30B, dwelling 266, family 301, household of J. F. Spurlock; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 451.

[4] Los Angeles, California, death certificate no. 19-442238 (1996), Jasper Jackson Spurlock; County of Los Angeles, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

[5] Texas, death certificate no. 23575 (1973), William Martin Spurlock; digital image, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," FamilySearch Record Search (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ : accessed 17 Feb 2012).

[6] Maxine Morgan, "Driskill Cemetery," transcription, USGenWeb Archives (http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/bienville/cemeteries/driskillcem.txt : accessed 21 Apr 2010), entry for Era S. Crawley. Eva (Spurlock) Crawley Photograph of tombstone, 1999; digital image, privately held by Denise Spurlock, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lomita, California. 2012.

[7] Descendants of Bartholemew Ranson Spurlock (Received Aug 2000 via email from Sandra Childs Haynie - schaynie@aol.com).

[8] Texas, death certificate no. 95183 (1969), John Thomas Spurlock; digital image, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "Texas Deaths 1890-1976," FamilySearch Record Search (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ : accessed 21 Apr 2010).

[9] Maxine Morgan, "Driskill Cemetery," transcription, USGenWeb Archives (http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/bienville/cemeteries/driskillcem.txt : accessed 21 Apr 2010), entry for Sarah S. Conville.

[10] Descendants of Bartholemew Ranson Spurlock (Received Aug 2000 via email from Sandra Childs Haynie - schaynie@aol.com).

[11] Dialtha Owens Spurlock Photograph of grave marker, 1999; digital image, privately held by Denise Spurlock, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lomita, Callifornia. 2012.

© 2012 Denise Spurlock