James Mills? Hiteshew (c.1858-1862)

The only know public record for James Mills? Hiteshew is the 1860 census for Cumberland, Allegany, MD. This record includes the household of James Hiteshew (age 22), ¹⁾ wife Virginia (age 20), and son James (age 2). No child by the name of “James” appears in the relevant census records for 1870 and after, leading to the conclusion that young James died before reaching the age of 12. Finally, according to the 1900 census record, Virginia gave birth to 9 children, which is consistent with James having been her first child.

The only other source of information known at this time are family trees on Ancestry.com showing a birth date of 11.Dec.1858 and a death date of 13.Feb.1862.

This is the only known public record for the young James. Census takers were instructed to record the age of each person as of June 1, 1860, so this census record seems to indicate that young James would have been born after May 1857 but before June 2, 1858. However, this conflicts with family trees on Ancestry.com showing a birth date of 11.Dec.1858.

Finding over a dozen family trees on Ancestry.com, all showing a birth date of 11.Dec.1858, may seem to provide corroboration for the date, but closer examination shows that they all cite one or more other family trees as their information source. Some also cite the 1860 census record, but none cite any other source of information. Ancestry.com makes it very easy to build a family tree by copying from others, so it's not unusual to see information with no known source repeated in many trees. It's usually not possible to determine which Ancestry.com member posted the information first. We can only hope that it was someone who got their information from private family records, and that those records were accurate.

Unfortunately, in this case, the family trees and the census record are somewhat at odds. For 1860, census takers were instructed to record the age of each counted person as of June 1, 1860. If young James had been 2 years old on June 1, 1860, he would have been born after May 1857 but before June 2, 1858. It is not unusual to find minor errors for age and birth date of children, both in census reports and in family records. In this case, both records indicate that young James was born before his parents were officially wed – and it seems a bit more plausible that the wedding sooner rather than later after that birth. So based on limited evidence and some assumptions, we have the following brief biography:

James Mills? Hiteshew was born sometime between 1857 and 1858, possibly 11.Dec.1858, and most likely in Cumberland, Allegany, MD. His parents were James M. Hiteshew and Virginia Louise Grey.

Various family trees on Ancestry.com also show James as having the middle name “Mills.” Again, this information may have been passed down in family conversations or in private records. It's hard to think of any other reason for it appearing in family trees.

James Mills? Hiteshew died sometime before 1870, possibly 13.Feb.1862, and very likely in Cumberland, Allegany, MD. No information is available about cause of death or gravesite.