My Ragsdale Genealogy Research
by Wayne Alton Ragsdale (Al)

Mar 14,1995
My father, Albert Abner Ragsdale, and brothers and I had talked about his ancestry since about 1986. I had accumulated a few facts and photos but had never pursued finding our grandfather. My father had told me the following:
-His grandma Susan Spears Barnes told him she was 'Dutch,Irish,Indian' (later he remembered she also said 'Black Dutch')
-His father's name was Thomas J.Ragsdale
-His Uncle Will Barnes said Thomas was about 6' tall
-His father had a 'drinking problem'
-His father was probably Cherokee Indian and was born in Okla about 1875-1880
-Albert Abner (he added Albert at about age 16)was born in Sallisaw,Ok as were his older brothers and sisters Hettie,Herman,and Pearlie between 1905-1913
-Thomas had two brothers George and Mally(Mally may have lived in Dardanelle,Ark) and two sisters Martha and Liza(Lizzie or Eliza)
-The Barnes family moved from Alabama to Indian Territory around 1900
-Thomas married Clara Barnes in Sallisaw,Ok about 1904-The Sequoyah Co courthouse burned in 1905,destroying all records there (not too sure about this-a researcher told me in 1998 that it had not burned-I have not pursued this except thru LDS microfilm records, which has none for this time)
-The Barnes and Ragsdale's lived in Sadie township which was about 11 miles west of Sallisaw. 
-He & his siblings were all named by an 'Aunt Meg' Johnson ( I found a midwife  'Aunt May' McGlouthin in a Sallisaw history on microfiche at LDS)
-There was a neighbor named Archie Wilcox
-The Sadie postmistress was Ida Carector
 ***Note-LDS microfiche 6087988 'History of Sequoyah Co,Ok'-in Sadie there was a Noah Cariker who married Sol Atkerson's half-sister. Also a David & Eliza Cariker. Ida is probably related.
 ***Note-1910 Ok census-Soloman Atkerson & wife Nora,David & Louisa Cariker, and John & Ida Cariker are on the next page after Tom & Clara Ragsdale.
-They lived on Ike Copeland's place and he had a son named Anderson
 ***Note-the microfiche noted above had info on an Elijah Copeland from Tenn who had a son,Soloman born in Tenn in 1804. Soloman moved to Vienna,Mo in 1832 where he died in 1873. He had a son,Ike,born in Mo. in 1871. Ike & his brother Dock moved to Sequoyah Co in 1889. Ike married Verena Choate and settled in the Sadie community. They had four children Anderson,Jack,Charlotte, and Polly. Ike died in 1934.
 ***Note-1910 Ok Census,Indian,Seq Co,Sadie twp-William I.Copeland,Verena,Charlotte,James A.,Jack,Polly
 ***Note-'Cherokee Roots,Vol 2' Urena,Anderson,Jack,Charlotte,Polly Copeland registered Dawes/Miller Cherokee rolls
-Hi father 'disappeared' about 1915. His father had either drowned in the Poteau River or was killed in a mining explosion
-His mother Clara Barnes married James Tom Potts about 1918 in either Faulkner or White Co,Ark
About 1989 my father went to Tahlequah,Ok where the Cherokee Nation is now headquartered. They found a Thomas Ragsdale who was registered as 1/2 Cherokee and issued a certificate of Cherokee blood to my father.
About June 1993 I was in Cherokee,NC and found a book, 'Cherokee Roots II,Western Band' which listed this Thomas Ragsdale. I then wrote to Cherokee,NC and got his Dawes and Miller roll applications. In these I found his name was Thomas D.Ragsdale not Thomas J.and his siblings were not the right names. His wife was also Cherokee and was named Lucinda. Based on this, I concluded that he was not my grandfather. He had lived in Warner,Ok which is about 15 miles west of Sadie at about the same time the Barnes & Ragsdale's were living in Sadie township.
Late in 1993 my father and his niece found his father Thomas Ragsdale age 29,white,born Ark,father unknown,mother born Ark, and Clara 22,Hettie 5,Harmon 3,Pearl 1/2 in the 1910 Ok census,Sequoyah Co,Sadie twp. They also found William & Susan Barnes with William,Jim,and Lula in 1900 Indian Territory in what is now Sequoyah Co.
In Jan 1994 I went to the National Archives in Ft.Worth,Tx. I found a John Ragsdale 28,Born Ark in the 1880 Logan Co,Ark census,Delaware twp with Nancy 24 born Ark,father Ky,mother Illinois,Liza 5 born Ark, and George 2 born Ark. There was also a third name which was reased. It looked like it was Thomas J.
 ***Note The 1880 census was July 3 and Thomas J. was born Jul 4. But the census was supposed to only count those born as of June 1. So this must be why his name was erased.
Next I found in the Memphis,Tn and Birmingham,Al libraries that Nancy was still in the same township in 1900,widowed with Thomas J. age 20,Martha age 16,John M. age 8, and Henry B. age 4.
I found her and Henry in 1910 Yell Co,Ark with Van Farris and Liza,her daughter,with their children Noba Jane,Evrit(Earl misspelled)Lee,Henery E.,Rathie M.,and Katie. George and wife Maud were in the same county in Danville with children Hyley,Dorothy,Walter,Carl and George's brother John.
There was no Thomas J.Ragsdale in the 1910 Ark or Tex census.
George & Maud were still in Danville in 1920.
Henry & wife Ivy and his mother ('Miss Martha?' age 75)were in Lamar Co,Tx in 1920. Van,Liza,Earl,Henry Farris and Tom Ragsdale age 38 divorced were also there.
Around June 1994 I found that the LDS Family History Center in Birmingham had more records available.In their IGI microfiche records I found Thomas James Ragsdale,his father John Benjamin Ragsdale,mother Nancy Ann Underwood,his paternal grandparents Banjamin Ragsdale and Caroline Stovall,his maternal grandparents Malachi Underwood and Lueliza Tramwell,his broethers George Washington and John Malachi (Mally?)and his sisters Liza Farris and Martha Elizabeth. The records indicated Martha had married William Underwood,George's wife was Maud Lowery and John Malachi's wife was Annie Bloodseal.
Next I traced back thru census records that Benjamin and Caroline Ragsdale were in Johnson Co,Ark in 1850 living next to William and Pamela Ragsdale. William was born about 1782 in NC. I found him in 1840 Johnson Co,Ark, 1830 Henderson,Tn, and 1820 Hickman,Tn. From the 'Elijah Ragsdale' book by Mrs.Blake Van Leer and June Hart Wester and 'Ragsdale's of America' newsletter by Nona Williams of Calif, I concluded that this William Ragsdale was a son of Benjamin Ragsdale who moved from NC to Williamson Co,Tn about 1807. The 'Elijah Ragsdale' book showed his ancestry back to Godfrey Ragsdale of England.
At this point I started looking for LDS Family History Center records for more positive proof that Thomas James Ragsdale was my grandfather. The records indicated that Henry Everett Farris, son of Van and Liza, had married Alamay McKnight in Lamar Co,Tx between 1920 and 1925. The records indicated that the Ragsdale and Farris families had moved from Ark to Lamar Co,Tx then on to west Tx, ending up in El Paso around 1927. The records also indicated Thomas James Ragsdale died Jan 9,1943 but didn't say where.
Next I found a Family Group Record which had been written around 1978 by Diane Lynn Done,grand-daughter of Alamay Farris . It said that records were in Alamay Farris' or her daughter, Nelda Farrid Done's, possession. I wrote to the El Paso,Tx address given but the letter was returned unopened, 'No forwarding address'. I found thru Compuserve that Alamay Farris had recently lived in El Paso but had died in 1993. I wrote to the Phoenix Genealogy Society who got me in touch with a genealogist (the LDS Temple records from 1936 were from Mesa,Az near Phoenix). She was unable to find any info on heirs of Alamay Farris in the Phoenix area.
I also found thru Social Security death records that Henry Benjamin Ragsdale had died in Tx in 1974. I sent a request to Tx and got a copy of his death record.It indicated he had a son G.B.Ragsdale and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Paris,Lamar Co,Tx.Iwrote them a letter where I found that the son's name was Gentry Ragsdale. I found a Gentry Ragsdale on Compuserve in Brownwood,Tx but no address or phone number. I wrote 4 other Ragsdale's living there and one wrote back telling me he was not related but gave me Gentry's telephone number. When I called Gentry, he only remembered Henry having an older brother George and mother named Ann. She had dide in west Tx but he didn't know when. He didn't remember Tom Ragsdale ever being mentioned.
I also sent to Tx and got a death certificate of Levander (Van) Farris which showed he had died in El Paso in 1949 and was buried in an Evergreen Cemetery there. I wrote to them and they only showed Van and Louisa/Liza buried there, not Nancy Ann ( I later found on her death record her name was mispelled as Ragsdle).
By this time (around New Year's 1995) I had seen every available Ragsdale and Farris microfilm at the Family History Center but still could not find where Thomas James Ragsdale had died. My father had told me at Christmas that his parents had 'separated' and when she moved to Ark about 1915, friends had written her that they thought Tom had died either by drwoning or in the mining explosion. The letters and records which his Uncle Will Barnes had kept had been destroyed by rats in the smokehouse where his cousin's had kept them in Malvern,Ark (late 1999-Daddy says Lillian there may have some things in a dresser drawer).
I looked thru the Cherokee Indian Territory census for 1900 and marriage records for early 1900's but could not find Thomas J.Ragsdale. I found that his mother Nancy Ann had died in 1936 in El Paso,Tx, even though there was no death record. (name was mispelled Ragsdle).I was concvinced that Thomas James Ragsdale was my grandfather but couldn't find any more proof.His age fit from the 1910 Ok census and his was the only Ragsdale family I could find that the names fit. There was no death record in Ark,Tx,Ok,NM,Az,Ca, or Mt (one LDS record on Nancy made me think they may have moved to Mt).I could also not find a divorce record in any of the counties in Ark or Ok near Sallisaw.
I looked thru the 1910 Ok census and it appeared that Tom Ragsdale had not claimed to be Indian. The Indians were listed at the end of each township.I also found Susan,William,Jim,and Lula Barnes in Brent township,east of Sadie.Their neighbor had a 17 year old son named Archibald (Archie that Daddy remembered?)
In early Jan 1995 I was talking to a volunteer at the LDS Family History Center. She suggested that I write Diane Lynn Done thru a 'member contact' form which could be sent to Salt Lake City. I received a call in mid-Feb from her mother,Nelda Sue Farris Lawrence from El Paso,Tx(she had divorced and remarried). She was Alamay Farris' daughter and had family photos and other records, including Tom Ragsdale's death certificate. She said it showed he died in the Veteran's Hosp in Bayard,NM.
In Mar 1995 Nelda called back and said she could not find the death certificate but was going thru Bayard the next week and would get a copy. She also had a picture of Tom Ragsdale with her father Henry Everett Farris and her Uncle Earl 'Pinky' Farris in 1927 at their Mormon baptism in Snyder,Ok. Her father was around 6' tall and Tom Ragsdale was 
slightly shorter. She had notes of her mother showing Gans,Ok then Poteau,Ok the Sallisaw,Ok and on the next line Tom J.Ragsdale. She also said she remembered that Tom had a 'drinking problem' as did her Uncle Pinky. She also remembered the name Clara Barnes somehwere in her mother's notes but couldn't find it.She found it later in the notes of when Nancy Underwood Ragsdale went to the Arizona Temple in Feb 1936 and it said Thomas James Ragsdale married Clari Barnes,they divorced but there was no record of the divorce, but they had been 'separated many years'. There were also handwritten notes showing that Tom J. and Clara had 4 children. No names were mentioned but this 'fits'.
She also sent me a copy of Thomas James Ragsdale's death certificate and also info from a fax from Ft.Bayard showing where he was buried. It also showed his SSN and that he served in WW I for the 358th Brigade,90th Infantry Division. A history of this Division shows that it was formed in 1918 and the members of the 358th were from eastern Ok. Also his gravestone at Ft.Bayard Cemetery says 'Oklahoma Veteran'.
I wrote to SS and got a copy of his SS appl. It showed he was born in Delaware,Logan Co,Ark and his parents were John Benjamin Ragsdale and Nancy Ann Underwood.
I wrote to St.Louis for his military records and it shows he entered from 'Groal,Ok'. The pay he received for mileage home calculated to about 650 miles.I have not been able to find this town but there is a Grove in Delaware Co,Ok in the northeast corner of the state which is about the right distance. He may have moved there after he and Clara separated around 1915.