by Rocky Macy
Celana RUTLEDGE was born on March 1st, 1833 in the state of Tennessee to Thomas C. RUTLEDGE and Angeline GRINDSTAFF. She married Henry Lee NUTT around 1850, probably in Missouri. Celana passed away on April 12th, 1894, in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri.
Celana RUTLEDGE NUTT was my g-g-g-grandmother.
Celana’s date of birth may be off by one year. Her tombstone states that she was born on March 1, 1833, but her obituary in the Neosho Times of April 19th, 1894, says that she died on April 12th at the age of 60 years, one month, and 12 days - which would have put her birth at March 1st, 1834.
While the date of the marriage of Celana to Henry NUTT is uncertain, they were husband and wife by the time the 1850 US Census was taken. That census found them in the household of her parents, Thomas and Angeline RUTLEDGE, in “Jackson and Van Buren” of Newton County, Missouri. Also present in that household was 6-year-old Jacob “GRINESTAFF,” who would have been a relative of Angeline’s, most likely a cousin, nephew, or little brother.
The 1850 census listed Henry’s age as twenty-four and Celana’s as sixteen - another indication that she could have been born in 1834. Their first child, Thomas Benton NUTT, was born in 1850, sometime after the census was taken.
By the time of the 1860 US Census “Celina” (age 25) and Henry (35) were living in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri, along with their first five children: Thomas (10), Angeline (8), Sarah (6), David (4), and “Celina” (1). Also in the household were Mary COPLAND (19) and Penna COPLAND (6/12) whose relationship to Henry and Celana is unknown at this time. The NUTT family surname was misspelled as “WUNTT” in the 1860 census.
The 1870 US Census found “Salina” (age 33) and Henry (40) still in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri, along with six children. (Thomas had married and left home two years earlier in 1868, and their second “child,” Angeline was still at home, unmarried, and pregnant with a son, Thomas Franklin NUTT - my great-grandfather - who was born on September 20th, 1870, after the census data had been collected.)
The children listed in the NUTT household in 1870 were Angeline (18) Sarah E. (16), Jackson (13), “Salina” (10), Evaline (8), and “Phebe” A. (4). (Note: The person who transcribed the 1870 census for Ancestry.com mistakenly read Phoebe’s age as “21” when it actually was “4” and written by the census taker in such a manner as to resemble “21.”) The NUTT family surname was misspelled as “NATT” in the 1870 census.
Celana (age 46) and Henry NUTT (55) were still residing in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri, when the 1880 US Census was taken. At that time six of their children were residing in the household along with five grandchildren. Present in the household were David J. (son, 22), Celana (daughter, 20) Phoebe A. (daughter, 12), Susan L. (daughter, 6), “Henrietta” (daughter, 4) Sarah E. HANKINS (daughter, 28), Elizabeth HANKINS (granddaughter - Sarah’s daughter, 5), Henry HANKINS (grandson - Sarah’s son, 4), Thos. F. NUTT (grandson, - Angeline’s son, 8), William H. LAWS (grandson - Angeline’s son, 6), and Mary LAWS (granddaughter - Angeline’s daughter, 4).
Another likely member of Celana and Henry’s household in 1880 would have been three-or-four-year-old David “Lee” NUTT, the illegitimate son of Celana Celasia NUTT. David “Lee” was born in Neosho on November 2nd, 1876, and may have not been presented to the census taker for the count.
Angeline (NUTT) LAWS’ three children grew up in the home of their maternal grandparents, and it seems likely that David “Lee” NUTT, whose mother, Celana Celasia NUTT, died when he was only ten-years-old, grew up there as well. David “Lee” NUTT who made quite a bit of news as an adult will be profiled separately in this family chronicle.
The children of Celana and Henry NUTT included: Thomas Benton NUTT (1850-1902, married Lucinda Ann BOYD), Angeline NUTT (1852-after 1876, married Isaac N. LAWS), Sarah Elizabeth NUTT (ca. 1854-1891, married Hiram F. HANKINS), David Jackson NUTT (1857-1936, married Ella L. PETERS), Celana Celasia NUTT (1859-1887, married David McClellan SAYERS), Mary Evaline NUTT (1861-1944, Married 1. Moses HARPOOL; and, 2. George Marion YOACHAM), Phoebe Ann NUTT (1866-1954, married Orlando Breese McKNIGHT), Susan S. NUTT (1874-1951, married L.A. FRENCH), and Henryetta NUTT (1880-1928, married 1. William Glen SHELDON; and, 2. Ernest E. ROBERTS).
Celana RUTLEDGE NUTT spent her entire life, from the age of sixteen or seventeen onward, raising children and grandchildren. When she passed away on April 12th, 1894, at least one of her children, Henryetta (aged 13) would have still been living at home. Celana’s obituary ran in the “Neosho Times” on April 19th, 1894. It read as follows:
“Mrs. Celana Nutt, wife of Henry Nutt, died Thursday morning, April 12, and was buried Friday afternoon. She was a daughter of Thomas Rutledge who died at his home near this city a few years ago and who was one of the earliest settlers of the county, and at the time of her death was aged 60 years, 1 month, and 12 days. She leaves a husband and several children, all now of mature years, to mourn the loss of a kind wife and mother.”
Celana is at rest next to Henry at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Neosho,Missouri, the town that was their home for many years. Her parents and numerous friends, neighbors, relatives, and descendants are buried nearby.
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