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 · Catharine Parton
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationCatharine Parton
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, 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
- about 1813
- Sources
- 2
Research status
Research status: PROBABLE — accepted by Earl 28 September 2026 pending more evidence. In the 1850 census of Whitley County, Kentucky, read from the image,
Catharine, 37, born Kentucky, is listed second in Jackson Parton's household, with
China, 14
S844; she was about 23 when China was born. What is weak: the census states no relationships, and no record names her as China's mother
Probable confirm or correct → Evidence: In the 1850 Whitley County, Kentucky, census, read from the image, Catharine, 37, is listed second in Jackson Parton's household with China, 14. Weak or missing: The census states no relationships; her maiden name Sowder rests only on Sowder neighbours, and the tree's 1818 birth and 1896 death are on no record read. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1813
Born about
1813,
Kentucky, by her 1850 age
S844. An online tree makes her Catherine “Snuffer Sowder”, born 28 March 1818 in Whitley County, died 1896 at Glen Rose, Texas: none of that is on a record read. Sowder households, among them Polly Sowder, 66, lived next door in 1850
S844, which makes Sowder plausible but does not prove it
Census1860
🆕 In 1860, probably as
Catherine, 43, born Kentucky, she was in A. J. Pardon's household near Sherman, Grayson County, Texas, with M., 18, John, 12, Sarah E., 9, W. J., 6, and Silvester, 2, and with America A., 21, and David A. Seaton
Probable confirm or correct → S986. Evidence: M. and America A. fit Manuel and America of 1850
S844. Weak: her age rose only six years in ten, so her birth stays about 1813 by 1850. Know more? Use “Add to this record”. added 29 September 2026
Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
In the record
Generation 6 — Kristin's 3rd-great-grandparents
- S8441850 U.S. census — District No. 2, Whitley County, Kentucky, dwelling and family 410: Jackson Parton household, enumerated 12 September 1850. Ancestry collection 8054, record 17561454 (image 4192512_00169). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Probable Jackson Parton, 37, farmer, real estate $300; Catharine, 37; China, 14; America, 12; Rachael, 10; Manuel, 8; Nancy, 6; William, 4, all born Kentucky. Sowder households, among them Polly Sowder, 66, are in the next dwellings. The 1850 census states no relationships. FamilySearch 1:1:M655-9K6 indexes the same page. Collection: 1850 United States Federal Census.
- S9861860 U.S. census — Grayson County, Texas, post office Sherman, page 8, 7 June 1860, dwelling 50. Ancestry record 35313138. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 28 September 2026. Probable A. J. Pardon, 43, farmer, born Kentucky, and Catherine, 43, born Kentucky, with M., 18, John, 12, and Sarah E., 9, born Kentucky, and W. J., 6, and Silvester, 2, born Texas. In the same dwelling: David A. Seaton, 25, born Missouri, and America A., 21, born Kentucky, with John A., 4, and M. E., 2. M., 18, fits Manuel, 8, and America A., 21, fits America, 12, in Jackson Parton's 1850 Whitley County household (S844); the spelling Pardon is also on China's grandson's 1939 certificate (S780). The parents' ages rose only six years between the two censuses, and “A. J.” is not expanded on any record read. The Texas births of W. J. and Silvester place the move from Kentucky about 1851–54. Also indexed as Ancestry record 35313136 (the same image).