Branch Brief · BRANCH PROJECT 002
The Amanda Smith Branch
A citable statement of what this archive currently claims about the Amanda Smith branch, what supports each claim, and what remains unresolved.
Abstract
Scope of this brief
Document the descendant line connecting John and Laura Smith to Amberly R. Carter-Mills, generation by generation, with each link held to its own evidence and no link strengthened because of who stands at the end of it. This brief covers four generation links: John and Laura Tolliver Smith to Amanda Smith; Amanda Smith to Kermit Gordon; Kermit Gordon to Magnolia Gordon-Carter; and Magnolia Gordon-Carter to Amberly R. Carter-Mills. Each link is stated separately and carries its own status. No link inherits confidence from the link above or below it, and none is strengthened because the archive's founder stands at the end of the line.
Research and compilation: Amberly R. Carter-Mills, Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist.
Claims and conclusions
Link by link
Trail A
Amanda → child of John + Laura
Evidence entered
No evidence item has been entered against this claim.
Current conclusion
No conclusion has been published for this link.
Trail B
Kermit → child of Amanda
Evidence entered
No evidence item has been entered against this claim.
Current conclusion
No conclusion has been published for this link.
Trail C
Magnolia → child of Kermit
Evidence entered
No evidence item has been entered against this claim.
Current conclusion
No conclusion has been published for this link.
Trail D
Amberly → child of Magnolia
Evidence entered
No evidence item has been entered against this claim.
Current conclusion
No conclusion has been published for this link.
Standards
How evidence was weighed
Preferred
- · Birth certificate
- · Death certificate
- · Census enumeration
- · Marriage record
- · Social Security application (SS-5)
- · Obituary
- · Funeral program
- · Church record
- · Family Bible
- · Contemporary family documents
Supporting
- · Written family history
- · Oral history
- · Find a Grave
- · WikiTree
- · Genealogy websites
Unsourced online trees are a research lead only. They are never entered as evidence and never move a status.
Living people
Privacy statement for this brief
- No unredacted living-person vital record is public.
- No exact private address appears anywhere on this branch.
- No certificate number appears anywhere on this branch.
- No signature appears; none has been released.
- No private living relative is named beyond the relationship they consented to.
- Amberly's public profile settings reflect her own stated intent as founder.
State of Illinois certificate of birth for Amberly R. Carter-Mills, 23 May 1985, original version. Described from founder testimony; certified copy not yet ordered.
State of Illinois certificate of birth for Amberly R. Carter-Mills, 23 May 1985, amended version. Described from founder testimony; certified copy not yet ordered.
Citation
Cite this brief
Cite this page
Carter-Mills, Amberly R. "Branch Brief 002: The Amanda Smith Branch." BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive. Version not yet assigned. Object BRANCH-BRIEF-002. Accessed 2026-11-08. /branch/amanda-smith/brief.
Attribution: Amberly R. Carter-Mills, Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist.