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
Family TraditionWas Amanda Smith a daughter of John and Laura Smith?
Parent-child relationship between john-smith and amanda-smith, held as a single generation link rather than as part of a lineage assertion.
Evidence entered
- The family history names Amanda Smith among the children of John and Laura Smith. No census line, birth record or death record naming both parents has yet been transcribed into this archive.Bibliographic details pending — family history by Alma Smith Spearman · authored_narrative
Current conclusion
- The family history names Amanda Smith among the children of John and Laura Smith. No census line, birth record or death record naming both parents has yet been transcribed into this archive.Each generation on a descent path carries its own conclusion. No conclusion here inherits strength from the generations above or below it.
Trail B
Under InvestigationWas Kermit Gordon a child of Amanda Smith?
Parent-child relationship between amanda-smith and kermit-gordon, held as a single generation link rather than as part of a lineage assertion.
Evidence entered
- Family knowledge places Kermit Gordon as a child of Amanda Smith. No contemporary record has been entered, so the generation is carried as under verification.Family knowledge supplied by Amberly R. Carter-Mills · authored_narrative
Current conclusion
- Family knowledge places Kermit Gordon as a child of Amanda Smith. No contemporary record has been entered, so the generation is carried as under verification.Each generation on a descent path carries its own conclusion. No conclusion here inherits strength from the generations above or below it.
Trail C
Under InvestigationWas Magnolia Gordon-Carter a child of Kermit Gordon?
Magnolia "Maggie" Carter, born Magnolia Gordon on 25 April 1956, was a child of Kermit Gordon.
Evidence entered
- Family knowledge places a private living descendant as a child of Kermit Gordon. No contemporary record has been entered into the archive.Family knowledge supplied by Amberly R. Carter-Mills · authored_narrative
Current conclusion
- Family knowledge places a private living descendant as a child of Kermit Gordon. No contemporary record has been entered into the archive.Each generation on a descent path carries its own conclusion. No conclusion here inherits strength from the generations above or below it.
Trail D
Family TraditionIs Amberly R. Carter-Mills a child of Magnolia Gordon-Carter?
Amberly R. Carter-Mills, born 23 May 1985, is a child of Magnolia "Maggie" Carter, born Magnolia Gordon.
Evidence entered
- Direct family knowledge of a living descendant. Any vital record supporting this link is held in restricted storage; only a redacted public derivative may ever be displayed.Family knowledge supplied by Amberly R. Carter-Mills · authored_narrative
- An Illinois certificate of birth exists in original and amended form for Amberly R. Carter-Mills and names the mother. The archive has not yet obtained a certified copy, so this record is described rather than cited, and the parent-child link is not upgraded on the strength of a document nobody here has examined.Amended Illinois certificate of birth for Amberly R. Carter-Mills, 23 May 1985 — described derivative, no image published · abstract
Current conclusion
- Direct family knowledge of a living descendant. Any vital record supporting this link is held in restricted storage; only a redacted public derivative may ever be displayed.Each generation on a descent path carries its own conclusion. No conclusion here inherits strength from the generations above or below it.
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 2026-09-24. /branch/amanda-smith/brief.
Attribution: Amberly R. Carter-Mills, Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist.