Mystery Photo - J. Z. CACY, General Merchandise Store

[click on photo for full image]

Old photos can provide valuable clues to the mysteries of our family past.  For years, this unlabelled photo has been in the family collection, without knowing who it was referring to in our family tree.

The beginning of a solution to the mystery came as recently as December 2001, when the author began to put this picture together with another one.  The other photo showed two women who were always believed to be sisters, Rhoda and Laura Davis.  However, some vague wording on the back referred to Rhoda as a cousin of Laura, not a sister afterall.  This potentially cleared up one family mystery - there had always appeared to be too many children attributed to Mary Gibson, considering her young age at the time of her death in 1893.  Furthermore, there seemed to be a tie between that photo [to be found in our photo collection, on a separate page] and this one.

Although this is not a great picture, if you look closely, you can see a definite similarity between the young woman standing just to the left of the doorway to the store and to the other picture of Rhoda.  Could this, then, be another Davis family?   If so, who was J. Z. Cacy?  One stroke of good fortune in the ultimate identity is the author figured there couldn't be too many CACYs out there, as he had personally never met anyone with that name before.  Also, how many people have "Z" for a middle initial?

A breakthrough came in December 2001, when the author discovered a newly added family group on his favorite family history Web site, RootsWeb's fabulous World Connect site.   Here the author found reference to a large CACY family migration from Arkansas into Oklahoma, before becoming a state.  Specifically, there was a John Zaddock CACY, whose birth appeared close enough to present the possibility of a marriage partner to our Rhoda.  Unfortunately, this particular person's information on this individual ended with the name and date of birth.

Sure enough, following up with the person submitting this information, the author was provided contacts with a succession of old CACY family descendants in Oklahoma, who confirmed that this John Zaddock CACY had indeed later moved into Oklahoma and had his own store.  Furthermore, his first wife was named Rhoda GLISSON.  OK, great!   So, now we have a Rhoda attached to a J. Z. CACY, but how did this tie into the DAVIS family?

In quick succession, the following discoveries were made:

• The next breakthrough came with the discovery of John and Rhoda CACY on the 1900 U. S. Census in the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory.  This record shows that her place of birth was Texas, that her father was born in Missouri, and that her mother was born in Alabama!  They had two little girls and the author was fortunate enough to find two marriage records for them between 1915 and 1920 in Creek Co., Oklahoma.  So, this was definitely the family related to this photo.
• Then the author discovered a marriage record for J. Z. Cacy and Rhoda CLINE, not GLISSON, as reported by several CACY family researchers.  This was quickly followed by discovery of only one record in the state of Texas between a male CLINE and a female DAVIS - John CLINE and Nancy DAVIS, 29 May 1872 in Cooke County, Texas!
• Then the author made contact with a wonderful lady in Oklahoma, Lora Greer Cacy, who had a great collection of Cacy family memorabilia, including the original of this very same mystery photo.  Her information was this picture was taken in Salpulpa, Creek County, Oklahoma.
• The big breakthrough came with the discovery of John and Rhoda Cacy on the 1910 U. S. Census in Hamilton Twp., Okmulgee Co., Oklahoma with Nancy Elizabeth DAVIS living in the household!  Yes, she was listed by her maiden name as a widow.   The record indicated she had been born in Alabama!

The author's current theory about the family connection is that Rhoda's mother, Nancy Elizabeth DAVIS, is a sister to our Elijah Lee DAVIS, and that we can see the DAVIS family migration from their home in Alabama to the great state of Oklahoma passed through Texas, at least for a time.  Future research will hopefully bear out this theory, although trying to trace the DAVIS family name can be a family history enthusiast's worse nightmare.

For those of you who find similar pictures in your family collection, please bear one thing in mind.  How is it that you are holding it in your hands?  There is a very high probability that there is SOME family connection, otherwise how would have come to possess it?  Don't throw it away!

Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr.   •   Last updated: 11 January 2003

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