Inside the research

Evidence Cases

A case is one person's file worked end to end: the family account, the records, the conflicts, the conclusion, and everything still missing. Cases are published only when the evidence trail can be followed in public.

Case 001 · BT-PER-00003

Laura Tolliver Smith

Laura Tolliver Smith was born about 1852 in Copiah County, Mississippi. Surviving post-Civil War records identify her as a formerly enslaved member of the family associated with H. G. D. Brown's Lucky Hit plantation. She later married John Smith and raised a large family. Some details preserved in family history — including a claim that she attended an institution called "Vicksburg College" and the family's relationship with Bishop C. H. Mason — remain subjects of ongoing research.

Under InvestigationUnder InvestigationUnder InvestigationUnder InvestigationUnder InvestigationDocumented

Claims: 7
Sources: 8
Observations: 33
Family accounts: 3

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Attribution

Who is speaking on every page

Source creator: Varies by record — see each source; Who made the original record.
Researcher of record: Amberly R. Carter-Mills — Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist; Located, transcribed, weighed and interpreted the evidence.
Publishing archive: BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive; Holds the object, its identifiers and its revision history.