If you missed the first post in this series, you can read it here: RLP Part 1: A Genealogy Do‑Over. In that post, I introduced the Research Like a Pro method developed by Diana Elder, AG, and Nicole Dyer.
I set a specific objective to identify the relationship between Nancy M. Brand, Zachariah N., and Tamzy A. Brand of Tallapoosa County, Alabama. I also summarized the 18 December 1867 deed in which Zachariah and Tamzy sold 60 acres to Nancy in Tallapoosa County.
step 2: research timeline
One of the first things I did after building my research log was to sketch a rough timeline in my notes. Turning that rough sketch into a structured table helped me check for gaps, contradictions, and clustering in Nancy’s records.
Based on her reported ages in multiple censuses, her obituary, and her grave marker, I estimated that Nancy was born sometime between 1842 and 1844 in Georgia. One of the more disappointing parts of this project has been not being able to obtain a copy of her death certificate because Mississippi restricts access to death records to immediate family, which limits the direct evidence available for her birth and parentage.
nancy’s timeline
Below is the working timeline I created for Nancy, combining census, land, marriage, obituary, and burial records into a single view:
| Year/Date | Age | Event | Location | Source Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1842 | 0 | Birth | Georgia | 1 |
| 1850 | 8 | Living with parents Zachariah N. Brand (50) and Fanngy [Tamzy] Brand (50), and siblings | District 741, Macon County, Georgia | 2 |
| 1860 | 18 | Family migrated to Alabama; living with parents Z N Brand (66) and Tamzy Brand (62), and brother Morgan L Brand (26) | Beat 14, Tallapoosa County, Alabama | 3 |
| 18 December 1867 | 25 | Purchased 60 acres from parents Zachariah N. Brand and Tamzy A. Brand for $200 (SE ¼ of SE ¼ and E ½ of NE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 28, Township 23, Range 23 East) | Tallapoosa County, Alabama | 4 |
| 8 February 1869 | 27 | Marriage bond posted with John W. Gammill; $200 bond obligating couple to State of Alabama | Tallapoosa County, Alabama | 5 |
| 8 February 1869 | 27 | Married John W. Gammill | Tallapoosa County, Alabama | 6 |
| 1870 | 26 | Living with husband John Gammel (25), farm laborer with personal estate $100; Nancy keeping house; both unable to read or write; no children in household | Duffeys, Beat 4, Tallapoosa County, Alabama | 7 |
| c. 1874 | 32 | Daughter Tamzy A. V. Gammill born | Mississippi | 8 |
| 1880 | 37 | Living with husband J. W. Gammill (36), farmer, and daughter T. A. V. Gammill (6); mother T. A. Brand (82, widowed) living in household as “mother-in-law” | Neshoba, Neshoba County, Mississippi, ED 53 | 9 |
| 1910 | 65 | Living with husband John W. Gammill; married 41 years; mother of 1 child with 0 children living; able to read and write; parents born in North Carolina | Beat 1, Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, ED 74 | 10 |
| 7 April 1921 | 79 | Died at Old Soldier’s Home; survived by husband J.W. Gammill also residing at Beauvoir; well known in Philadelphia and throughout Neshoba County | Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi | 11 |
| 1921 | 79 | Buried; headstone reads “Mrs N. Gammell, Age 79 Years” | Beauvoir Confederate Cemetery, Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi | 12 |
PATTERNS IN NANCY’S TIMELINE
Even this simple table highlights several patterns. Nancy’s early life appears in Georgia, where the 1850 census shows her as an 8‑year‑old in the household of Zachariah N. Brand and a woman recorded as Tamzy, in District 741, Macon County. By 1860, the family is in Beat 14, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, with Z. M. (Zachariah) Brand, Tamzy, Morgan L. Brand, and Nancy, now age 18, indicating a move from Georgia to Alabama during the 1850s.
The late 1860s cluster several Tallapoosa records together: the 1867 deed in which Zachariah N. and Tamzy A. Brand sold 60 acres to Nancy for 200 dollars, followed by the 1869 marriage bond and marriage to John W. Gammill, and the 1870 census entry for John and Nancy Gammel in Duffeys, Beat 4. Later entries in the 1880 and 1910 Neshoba County, Mississippi, censuses, together with her 1921 obituary and burial at Beauvoir Confederate Cemetery in Biloxi, show that Nancy and John eventually left Alabama and spent decades in Mississippi, where she died at age 79.
1850 U.S. CENSUS, MACON COUNTY, GEORGIA
Nancy first appears by name in the 1850 U.S. census in District 741, Macon County, Georgia, in a household headed by Zachariah N. Brand, age 50, with a woman recorded as Tamzy Brand, age 50, and several children, including Nancy, age 8. In this entry, Nancy is listed as born in Georgia, which establishes an approximate birth year around 1842 and provides an early family context that can be followed forward into Alabama and, later, Mississippi.
This 1850 household composition is important for forming and testing hypotheses. The presence of Zachariah, Tamzy, and a group of younger Brands, including Nancy, positions her within what appears to be a nuclear family unit. However, the census itself does not state relationships. The later appearance of Zachariah and Tamzy with Nancy in Tallapoosa County, and the transfer of land from them to Nancy in 1867, makes it reasonable to treat this 1850 entry as the starting point for exploring a possible parent‑child relationship that the rest of the records must either confirm or refute.
1860 U.S. CENSUS, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
In the 1860 U.S. census,3 Nancy appears in Beat 14, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, in a household headed by Z. N. Brand, age 66, born in North Carolina, with Tamzy Brand, age 62, also born in North Carolina, and Morgan L. Brand, age 26, born in Georgia. Nancy, age 18, is listed in the same household and is recorded as born in Georgia, which links her back to the Macon County family while placing her firmly in Tallapoosa County on the eve of the Civil War.
1867 LAND PURCHASE, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
On 18 December 1867, Tallapoosa County Deed Book P records a transaction in which Zachariah N. Brand and Tamzy A. Brand sold 60 acres of land to Nancy M. Brand for 200 dollars, describing the property as the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter and the east half of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 28, township 23, range 23 east. This deed confirms that Nancy was an adult woman acquiring land in her own name in Tallapoosa County and documents a direct land connection between her and Zachariah and Tamzy.
1869 MARRIAGE BOND & MARRIAGE, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
On 8 February 1869, a Tallapoosa County marriage bond was posted for John W. Gammill and Nancy Brand, obligating John and his surety to the State of Alabama in the amount of 200 dollars on the condition that there was no lawful impediment to their marriage. The bond names both John W. Gammill and Nancy Brand as being of Tallapoosa County, Alabama, firmly placing Nancy there as an unmarried woman shortly after her land purchase and just before her marriage.
1869 MARRIAGE, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
On 8 February 1869, county marriage records show that John W. Gammill and Nancy Brand were lawfully married in Tallapoosa County under the authority of a license issued by the probate judge. This record confirms the date and place of their marriage and ties together the bond and license as part of a single marriage process.
1870 U.S. CENSUS, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
By the 1870 U.S. census, John and Nancy appear as a married couple in Duffeys, Beat 4, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. John Gammel, age 25, born in Alabama, is enumerated as a farm laborer with 100 dollars in personal estate and no real estate. In contrast, Nancy, age 26, born in Georgia, is listed as “keeping house,” with both adults recorded as unable to read or write and no children present in the household.
C. 1874 BIRTH OF T. A. V. GAMMILL, MISSISSIPPI
Around 1874, the couple’s daughter, T. A. V. Gammill, was born in Mississippi, with her approximate birth year and birthplace inferred from later census8 entries that list her as age 6 and born in Mississippi in 1880. This estimated birth information suggests that John and Nancy moved from Alabama to Mississippi sometime between the 1870 census and their daughter’s birth in the mid‑1870s. Her Find a Grave death information is consistent with a mid‑1870s Mississippi birth, reinforcing that John and Nancy moved from Alabama to Mississippi between the 1870 census and her birth.13
1880 U.S. CENSUS, NESHOBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
In the 1880 U.S. census for Neshoba County, Mississippi, the household includes J. W. Gammill, age 36, a farmer born in Alabama; his wife, N. M. Gammill, age 37, keeping house, born in Georgia; and their daughter, T. A. V. Gammill, age 6, born in Mississippi. In the same dwelling, T. A. Brand, age 82, widowed, is listed with the relationship “mother‑in‑law,” recorded as born in North Carolina with both parents born in North Carolina, directly associating Nancy with a woman believed to be Tamzy Brand.
1910 U.S. CENSUS, NESHOBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
By 1910, John W. and Nancy M. Gammill are enumerated in Beat 1, Philadelphia (part), Neshoba County, Mississippi. Nancy, age 65, is reported as born in Georgia with both parents born in North Carolina, is described as married once for 41 years, and is recorded as the mother of one child with no children living. These details help refine her approximate birth year and confirm the loss of their only known child.
1921 OBITUARY, NESHOBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
An obituary published on 14 April 1921 in The Neshoba Democrat reports that “Mrs. N. N. Gammill,” who had lived in Neshoba County for nearly fifty years, died at the Old Soldier’s Home at Biloxi the previous Thursday and was well known in Philadelphia and throughout Neshoba County. The obituary states that she was survived by her husband, J. W. Gammill, who resided at Beauvoir, linking her death to the Confederate home in Harrison County, Mississippi.
1921 BURIAL, BEAUVOIR CONFEDERATE CEMETERY, MISSISSIPPI
A Find a Grave memorial for Mrs. Nancy M. Brand Gammell in Beauvoir Confederate Cemetery at Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi, shows a headstone inscribed “Mrs N. Gammell, Age 79 Years,” with a death year of 1921. The reported age at death of 79, combined with her census ages, supports an estimated birth window in the early 1840s and provides a final resting place for Nancy in the same community where she died.
In the next post, I’ll step back from the timeline and build a Research Like a Pro–style locality guide for the two key places in Nancy’s life, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, and Neshoba County, Mississippi, focusing on the records and jurisdictions most likely to answer the Brand relationship question. Stay tuned and thanks for following along.
source citations
- Birth year estimated from 1910 U.S. census (age 65) and 1921 headstone (age 79 at death)
- 1850 U.S. census, Macon County, Georgia, population schedule, District 741, page 122a (stamped), dwelling 184, family 184, entry for Zachariah N Brand household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Jan 2025), image 7 of 9.
- 1860 U.S. census, Beat 14, Tallapoosa, Alabama, population schedule, page 132, dwelling 1008, family 925, entry for Zachariah N Brand household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 1 Dec 2024), image 7 of 28.
- Tallapoosa County, Alabama, Deed Book P: 102–103, Zachariah N. Brand and Tamzy A. Brand to Nancy M. Brand, deed dated 18 December 1867, recorded 27 November 1868; digital image, “Tallapoosa, Alabama, United States records,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3S7-JSW4-C : accessed 2 December 2025), image 497 of 664.
- Tallapoosa County, Alabama, marriage bond, 1869, John W. Gammill and Nancy Brand, 8 February 1869; imaged in “Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805–1967,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61365/images/TH-1971-25843-2556-44 : accessed 4 December 2025), film 002217415.
- “Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805–1967,” marriage license and bond, 1869, entry for John W. Gammill and Nancy Brand, married 8 February 1869, Tallapoosa County, Alabama; database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 December 2025), image TH-1961-25840-24429-25.
- 1870 U.S. census, Duffeys, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, population schedule, Beat 4, page 19, dwelling 145, family 145, entry for John Gammel household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 December 2025), image 4257740_00165; citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 35.
- Birth year and location inferred from 1880 U.S. census listing daughter as age 6, born in Mississippi.
- 1880 U.S. census, Neshoba, Neshoba County, Mississippi, population schedule, Enumeration District 53, sheet 445B, dwelling 37, family 37, entry for J.W. Gammill household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 December 2025); citing NARA microfilm T9, roll 659.
- 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 1, Philadelphia (part), Enumeration District 74, sheet 13B, dwelling 203, family 214, entry for John W. Gammill household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 December 2025), image 24 of 27; citing NARA microfilm T624, roll 753.
- “Mrs. N. N. Gammill [obituary],” The Neshoba Democrat (Philadelphia, Mississippi), 14 April 1921, page 3, column 1; digital images of newspaper obituaries, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/602481056 : accessed 7 Dec 2025).
- Find a Grave, memorial page for Mrs. Nancy M. Brand Gammell (1842 – 1921), Memorial #27068939; database index with grave marker images, (http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27068939 : accessed 7 December 2025), photo/memorial created by Stephen Ranum (46897796).
- Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110589417/t_ada_v-gammill: accessed December 13, 2025), memorial page for T. Ada V. Gammill (18 Jan 1874–1 Sep 1887), Find a Grave Memorial ID 110589417, citing Cedarlawn Cemetery, Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, USA; Maintained by janine mcquiston (contributor 46941674).
