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William George McAninch (1825-1854) |
by Kathy McAninch, Houston, Texas |
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In writing about William George McAninch, I [Kathy] wish to give credit to an earlier genealogy |
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compiled by Dora Rayworth McAninch who had done extensive research on the family of Elias B. |
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McAninch that lead to clues of the family of William George McAninch. |
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William George McAninch was born in Giles County, Tennessee about 1825. His father was |
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William McAninch. Although Maria Starr was listed as William's wife in the 1850 DeSoto County, |
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Mississippi census, I have come to believe that William's mother's first name is unknown but probably |
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had the last name of Brown, and that Maria was his step-mother and the mother of the children born |
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to William after 1838. William George was the first son of William and <unknown> Brown and lived |
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with his family in Tennessee until about the mid 1830's. It was about this time the Indian lands in |
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northern Mississippi came open to settlement and the William McAninch family were already settled |
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in the southern part of DeSoto County near the Coldwater River and current Tate County before 1838. |
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William George McAninch grew into manhood in Mississippi and met Louisa Jane Nelson. Louisa |
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was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Nelson (maiden_name_unknown). Sarah was born in |
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Alabama about 1831. On Nov. 1, 1849, William George and Louisa Sarah were married in DeSoto |
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County, Mississippi, by W.J. Wise, who was the Justice of the Peace. William George and Louisa |
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started their family while farming in DeSoto County. They lived near Louisa's parents and family in |
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DeSoto County. They had a daughter born in 1853: Rachel L. McAninch. We learn through probate |
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records that William George McAninch was known as George McAninch. |
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From a family story we learn that William George McAninch's life ended suddenly. Apparently an |
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accident occurred while William George was hunting in the fall of 1854. It was especially hard as |
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William George's father William McAninch had died in the spring of 1854. I believe William George |
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McAninch is buried in an unmarked grave in the McAninch cemetery in DeSoto County, Mississippi. |
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Louisa Jane Nelson McAninch eventually met and married Marshall H. Rich. They lived in |
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Chickasaw County, Mississippi. Rachel L. McAninch lived with her mother and stepfather and |
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brothers and sisters. In the 1870 census we find Rachel is reported using her step father's last name |
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[Rich] instead of McAninch. |
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[Editor’s Note:] Three other biographies by Kathy McAninch have appeared in these pages earlier: |
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1. Samuel D. McAninch (1825-1869), Giles County, Tennessee, and Memphis, Shelby County, |
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Tennessee; father of Samuel J. McAninch, born January 16, 1857, in Memphis, Shelby County, |
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Tennessessee. McAninch Family History Newsletter, Vol. II, No. 4, December 1994, page 7. |
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2. Elias Brown McAninch (1829-1890), Giles County, Tennessee, DeSoto County, Mississippi, |
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married Sarah Elizabeth Ross, and moved to Milam County, Texas. |
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McAninch Family History Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 2, February 1996, page 4. |
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3. John F. McAninch (1833-1913), Shelby County, Tennessee, and DeSoto County, Mississippi. |
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McAninch Family History Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 3, August 1995; page 3 |
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McAninch Family History Newsletter Vol. IV, No. 1, February 1996, pg. 6 page 1996-06 |