Background on Charles R. Stith and his research
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From Harriet Fast Scott, December 2003:
In going through my mother's papers on the Stiths, I cam across a letter from Charles
R. Stith. It read as follows:
County Clerk, Meade
County, Brandenburg, Ky. 26 March 1964.
Dear Sir:
It is with an almost desperate air that I compose this letter as I have exhausted all
means at my disposal in my efforts to locate the parents of my grandfather Mr. Albert F.
Stith (born in Brandenburg, Ky. on 1 Aug 1846). I realize that action such as my request
might enlist most certainly doesn't fall within the purview of your office. However, I
hope that you might find it within your being to at least pass my letter on to someone who
might be able to give me some idea of my grandfather's parents.
In my efforts to uncover his record of birth I purchased microfilm copies of the 1850
census. Even this time consuming task failed to disclose the information I seek.
I am aware of the fact that you don't maintain microfilm files, however, I do entertain
the dim hope that a possible trace or clue might exist somewhere in the records that you
do have. I am also aware of the fact that all states requite reimbursement for file
searches and I am fully prepared for this expense. In my research at the University of
Alabama I ran across an article
published in the William and Mary Quarterly in which a Mrs. Frances Shacklette Fast stated
that a Mrs. Thomas J. Stith, Ekron, Ky., owned a Stith family bible. I obtained a copy of
the names in the bible (from the William and Mary Quarterly) but none corresponded to the
reputed name of my great-grandmother and Albert's mother "Miss Cofer".
I hope this letter doesn't cost you too much of your valuable time and I sincerely
thank you for your kindness.
(signed) Charles R. Stith, Lt. Col. Ret.) 1458 East 13th Ave., Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Perry Lusk (the Meade County Clerk) gave the letter to my mother, the very Frances
Shacklette Fast Charles had found in
the W&MQ. She answered him with full details of Albert F. Stith, b 1846.
He was the son of Buckner Jones Stith and his second wife, Mary Cofer. Buckner was the
son of Richard Stith and Elizabeth Jones whose coming to Kentucky in or about 1804 we will
celebrate next summer. I indexed the Meade County Census
of 1850 may years ago for my mother. Albert was #2 on the list. Subsequent censuses
indicate he was raised by his older sister.