What we still don't know
The Mystery Lab
Unanswered questions are not omissions in this archive — they are the working surface of the research. Each one records what has been searched and what would settle it.
Featured investigation
Open questions
All investigations
- Open
Choctaw ancestry in Bettie's line
Does the ancestry of Bettie Alexander Taliaferro contain a Choctaw ancestor, or an ancestor from a Choctaw community?
- Open
Shawnee ancestry in Hilliard's line
Does the ancestry of Hilliard Taliaferro contain a Shawnee ancestor, or an ancestor connected with a Shawnee community?
- Open
Is the Hillyard of the 1831 Orange County estate our Hilliard?
Does the boy recorded as Hillyard in Richard H. Taliaferro's 1831 Virginia appraisement become the Hilliard held in the William Q. Taliaferro estate in Mississippi?
- Open
Who were the parents of Hilliard Jr. and Leon M.?
The 1880 census enters Hilliard Jr., 8, and Leon M., 6, as grandsons in the household of Hilliard and Bettie Taliaferro. Which of their children was the parent?
- Active Research
John and Laura's Children
Who were all of John and Laura Smith's children?
- Open
The Smith Homestead
Where was the Smith homestead?
- Active Research
When did George Smith leave Mississippi?
What records bracket George Smith's departure from Copiah County, Mississippi and his arrival in Illinois?
- Open
Who Were the Other Enslaved People in Hilliard's Records?
Who else appears in the Taliaferro estate and related records alongside Hilliard, and can any of them be shown to be his kin?
- Active Research
Two women named Alma Smith
How do the records separate Alma Smith Carthan from Alma Smith Spearman?
- Open
Who was George Smith's wife?
What marriage, census, obituary or death record names George Smith's spouse?
- Open
Taliaferro Plantation Identity
What exactly was the "Taliaferro Plantation" associated with Hilliard's enslavers?
- Open
Is Thomas Taliaferro Hilliard's Son?
A secondary account reportedly states that a Thomas Taliaferro named his father as Hilliard Taliaferro. Is that Hilliard the Hilliard of this archive?
- Open
Who Bought Hilliard?
Who purchased Hilliard in the 1856 sale recorded in the Taliaferro estate settlement?
- Open
Was Peggy Hinz Hilliard's Sister?
Could Peggy Hinz, recorded in the 1870 household context, have been Hilliard's sister?
- Open
Who Was C. A. Talliferro?
Who was the C. A. Talliferro recorded with Hilliard at Spencers Mill in 1884?
- Open
Where Is Hilliard Buried?
Can Hilliard's death date and burial place be documented?
- Open
The Name Alexander
Why was Bettie known as "Alexander"?
- Open
Bettie's Parents
Who were Bettie's parents?
- Open
Bishop C. H. Mason
Can the family's connection to Bishop C. H. Mason be corroborated?
- Open
Hilliard's Parents
Who were Hilliard's parents?