The Proeger Family · Generation 6 — Kristin's 3rd-great-grandparents

William H. Higginbotham

Probable father of Nancy Jane Higginbotham Walker · born about 1825

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Person · William H. Higginbotham

The record

The evidence

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Every claim is tagged

Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not. The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information rather than lacking it.

Confirmed

Attested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.

Probable

Strongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field, or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.

Not found

Searched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.

Family testimony

Supplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands apart from the three record tags above S24.

DNA evidence

Biological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond: no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document was read for it S46.

Living — withheld

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Research in progress

A branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.

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William H. Higginbotham

GeorgiaProbable

Probable father of Nancy Jane Higginbotham Walker · born about 1825

Born: about 1825
Died: 1864
Children: Nancy Jane Higginbotham Walker
Sources: 5

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE Probable confirm or correct → as the husband of Lucinda C. (Avery) Higginbotham and the father of Nancy Jane Higginbotham Walker; both women are Confirmed on their own cards, the links to him are Probable. Evidence: two census pages, both read from the image, place him at the head of Lucinda's household, with her in the wife's place: Wm Higginbotham, 25, in 1850 S995, and Wm H. Higginbotham, 35, in 1860 S842. What is weak: neither census states relationships; Nancy was born in 1864, after the 1860 census, and Lucinda was a widow by 1880 S812; and Nancy's 1953 death certificate names her father Robert Higginbotham S331. Two readings stand: William H. was Nancy's father and the certificate's informant, ninety years on, gave the wrong name; or Lucinda had a second Higginbotham husband, Robert, between 1860 and 1864. A Randolph County marriage record, a Civil War service or death record, or an estate file would settle it.

Evidence: The 1850 and 1860 Randolph County, Alabama, census pages, both read from the image, put Wm (H.) Higginbotham, farmer, born Georgia about 1825, at the head of Lucinda C. Higginbotham's household, with her in the wife's place (S995, S842); Lucinda was a widow by 1880 (S812). Weak or missing: Neither census states relationships, Nancy Jane was born in 1864, after the 1860 census, and her 1953 death certificate names her father Robert Higginbotham (S331). His death, between 1864 and 1880, is not found. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1825

Born about 1825, Georgia: 25 in November 1850 S995 and 35 in June 1860 S842, both times a farmer born in Georgia.

Census1850

In 1850, as Wm Higginbotham, 25, farmer, he headed a household in Beat 7, Randolph County, Alabama, with Lucinda C., 21, John, 2, and C. C., 1 Confirmed S995.

Census1860

In 1860, as Wm H. Higginbotham, 35, farmer, he headed a household at Rockdale, Northern Division, Randolph County, with Lucinda C., 30, a seamstress, and six boys: J. F. M., 12, born South Carolina, and C. C., R. L., Alexr, B. D. and E. H., born Alabama Confirmed S842.

Death1864

Died between 1864 and 1880: he is not in Lucinda's household in 1870, when she headed it with Alexander, Benjamin and Nancy, 6 S960, and she was a widow in 1880 S812. If he was Nancy's father, he was alive in early 1864. No death or burial record has been found.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage2026

History of this card. 26 Oct 2026

card added; he was entered on the family tree on the same day as Lucinda's husband and Nancy Jane's probable father, with both readings of her father's name in the research note (PROPOSALS-APPLY PA-1026J, card PA-1026K). Every fact here was already on Lucinda's card, with the same sources.

Children1864

Father of Nancy Jane Higginbotham Walker, born 1864 S331.

William H. Higginbotham · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

5 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

S331Texas death certificate no. 3466 — Nancy Jane Walker, 1953. Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903–1982 (Ancestry collection 2272, record 21787116), Jackson County. Read from the image. Born 19 October 1864, Alabama; died 3 January 1953, Lolita; widowed; father Robert Higginbothan; mother's maiden name Avery; cause of death carcinoma of the jaw, one year; buried Lolita Cemetery. The certificate image is in the Documents grid.
S8121880 U.S. Federal Census — Rockdale Beat no. 3, Randolph County, Alabama, supervisor's district 2, enumeration district 107, p. 2, dwelling 13, family 15, enumerated 1 June 1880. Ancestry collection 6742, record 5680052 (image 4239790-00651). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Confirmed L. Higginbotham, white, female, 50 or 51, widowed, housekeeper, born South Carolina, parents born South Carolina; N. J. Higginbotham, daughter, 15, born Alabama, father born Georgia, mother born South Carolina. Collection: 1880 United States Federal Census.
S8421860 U.S. census — Northern Division, Randolph County, Alabama, post office Rockdale, page 9, 7 June 1860, dwelling 65: Wm H. Higginbotham household. Ancestry record 17637278. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 28 September 2026; first cited from FamilySearch record 1:1:MHDP-67X. Confirmed Lucinda C., 30, seamstress, born South Carolina, in the household of Wm H. Higginbotham, 35, farmer, born Georgia, with J. F. M., 12, born South Carolina, and C. C., 10, R. L., 8, Alexr, 7, B. D., 3, and E. H., 1, born Alabama. Independent of S812 and S331. The census states no relationships, so Wm H. as her husband is probable, not stated; Nancy Jane's certificate names her father Robert, not William, so this page does not settle her father.
S9601870 United States Federal Census — Township 19 (Rockdale Beat no. 3), Randolph County, Alabama, page 12, lines 9–14 (10 June 1870; post office Wedowee). Ancestry record 12853331. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24 September 2026. Confirmed Dwelling 87: Higginbotham, Lucinda, 40, keeping house, personal estate $300, born South Carolina; Alexander, 13; Benjamin, 12; and Nancy, 6. The children were born in Alabama. Dwelling 88, next door: a Higginbotham, 21, farmer, born South Carolina (the given name reads "Gilber"), and a woman of 20 (given name unclear), born Alabama. The 1870 census has no relationship column. Nancy's mother rests on the 1880 census (S812), where N. J. is L. Higginbotham's daughter; this image is the census page behind the index entry at S841. Collection: 1870 United States Federal Census.
S9951850 United States Federal Census — Beat No. 7, Randolph County, Alabama, page 604, dwelling 758 (November 1850). Ancestry record 16755865. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 28–29 September 2026. Confirmed Wm Higginbotham, 25, farmer, born Georgia; Lucinda C. Higginbotham, 21, born Georgia (a ditto mark); John, 2, and C. C., 1, born Alabama. The index gives her age as 26; the image says 21. The Georgia birthplace is only a ditto under her husband's, and the 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses say South Carolina, so South Carolina is kept.

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