Contents
Whose family are you here for?
Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · Woodrow Willard Caffey
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline654 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople312 cards, by generationWoodrow Willard Caffey
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1227, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
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, added on
13 September 2026, 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.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied 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 evidenceBiological 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 — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA 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.
- Born
- 29 Mar 1917
- Parents
- James Clinton Caffey & Ebber Lou Owens Caffey
- Children
- Johnnie Van Caffey
- Sources
- 3
Research status
Research status: CONFIRMED. Son of James Clinton Caffey and Ebber Lou Owens. Sources: 1930 census, Precinct 6, Travis Co. (FamilySearch HKYY-9PZ): Woodrow, 13, son of J. C. and Ebber Caffey; WWII draft registration 16 Oct 1940 (QL3N-H26K): Woodrow Willard Caffey, b. Salado, Tex., person named James Clinton Caffey; Texas Death Index (JVTJ-CM9): d. 1 Jan 1987, Bastrop Co.; SSDI (J12G-S3K): b. 29 Mar 1917; burial Garfield, Travis Co. (Find a Grave index QV2Z-44K8). Wife (Eula) Irene Etheridge and children not yet in this record. Added to the family tree on Earl’s approval of 4 October 2026. Added 4 October 2026
Life in the order the records give it
Death1917
Woodrow Willard Caffey: born 29 Mar 1917 in Salado, Bell, Texas; died 1 Jan 1987 in Bastrop, Texas
Census1930
In 1930 he was 13, at home with his parents on the Austin–Bastrop Road, Travis County
S1223Census1940
In October 1940 he was a carpenter living at 2211 Haskell Street, Austin
S1225Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Children1949
His son
Johnnie Van Caffey, born 10 October 1949 at Austin, a printer-bookbinder, died after a car accident on 20 November 1979 and was buried at Haynie Chapel Cemetery; Woodrow signed the certificate, so he was living in November 1979
S1226Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: his wife and his other children are not named in this record because they may be living. Know more? Use “Add to this record”.
In the record
Generation 3 — Kristin's grandparents and their siblings
- S12231930 census — J. C. and Ebber Caffey with Woodrow and the twins Harrol and Carrol, Precinct 6, Travis County, Texas. Ancestry, “1930 United States Federal Census (also record 60660157, same page)”, record 60660155. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Travis Co., Precinct 6, ED 227-52, sheet 11A, Austin–Bastrop Road: household of J. C. and Ebber Caffey, with sons Woodrow, 13, and the twins Harrol and Carrol, 5, all born in Texas. ⚠ Already cited on the cards from the FamilySearch index; now read from the image. Ages fit both cards.
- S1225WWII draft registration, serial 1584 — Woodrow Willard Caffey, Austin, 16 October 1940. Ancestry, “U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947”, record 20540567. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Woodrow Willard Caffey, of 2211 Haskell Street, Austin, born at Salado, Texas, a carpenter employed by Walter Johnson; person who will always know his address: his father James Clinton Caffey, 2406 Santa Rita, Austin. ⚠ Already cited on his card from the FamilySearch index; now read from the image. Nothing new on identity.
- S1226Texas death certificate 89512 — Johnnie Van Caffey, died 20 November 1979, Austin. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903–1982”, record 61063257. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Johnnie Van Caffey, born 10 Oct 1949 at Austin, a printer-bookbinder, died 20 Nov 1979 at Austin after a single-car collision; buried 23 Nov 1979 at Haynie Chapel Cemetery. Father Woodrow W. Caffey, who signed as informant. ⚠ Ancestry attached this to Woodrow as his own death certificate; it is his son’s. His mother is named on the certificate but is not published here because she may be living.