145Barbara Ricks
Key Facts
Snapshot:housewife in south Georgia
Parents:290Richard Ricks
291___ Herren
Born:12 February 1799
Georgia
Died:7 November 1895
probably Emanuel County, Georgia
Buried:Bethsaida Church cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia
Coordinates: N32.50629 W82.62461

Alleged photograph: On 6 July 2016, Ancestry.com user James Herndon uploaded a black-and-white sketch of a woman alleged to be 145Barbara; the URL is <https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/7313505/person/-1116822713/media/7ff8bee1-db39-49e4-9e8a-5ba8856486d0>. Sadly, James Herndon did not cite a source or explain the image's provenance.

On 26 April 2020, Ancestry.com user Thomas Hanners uploaded a colorized version of the same sketch; the URL is <https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/168117962/person/422180568112/media/cde4dd75-0117-4b45-9eb1-2391d8f37908>. Again, Thomas Hanners did not cite a source or explain the image's provenance.

A very similar image appears in Alice Whitley Smith's book The Thigpen Tribe on an inset page between pages 116 and 117, but again the text doesn't include a proper source citation.

Without a citation or provenance, one can't be sure that the woman depicted is indeed 145Barbara. If you understand the risks, but still want to see the photos anyway, see copies here: James Herndon's, Thomas Hanners'.

145Barbara Ricks was born 12 February 17991 in Georgia2-5 to her parents 290Richard Ricks and 291___ Herren. Proving her parents is mildly complex and requires several records (in particular, an 1850 lawsuit6 and 290Richard's will7), which I've already discussed at length on 290Richard's page, so I refer you there.

145Barbara married 144Melancton Thigpen6 on 20 March 1814.6,8 For more information on their marriage, their lives together, etc., see his profile since that information won't be repeated here.

The 1880 census shows 145Barbara as a widow, still in militia district 395 (map), Emanuel County. I don't know who Sarah Holton was.5


1880: 145Barbara as a widow in militia district 395, Emanuel County. Full page.5

145Barbara and/or the executors of her husband's estate are listed repeatedly in Emanuel County tax digests around the 1880's. A summary of most of these records is below.

Year Real Property Image Links Citation
1878880 acres worth $4401, 29
1879870 acres worth $4351, 210
1880800 acres worth $6001, 211
1881800 acres worth $6001, 212
1883870 acres worth $7001, 213
1884890 acres worth $7001, 214
1885870 acres worth $6001, 215
1886800 acres worth $8001, 216
1887800 acres worth $8001, 217
1890800 acres worth $8251, 218

An 1890 newspaper article mentioned 145Barbara:19


1890: 145Barbara in the newspaper.19

145Barbara died on 7 November 1895 in Emanuel County.1,20 Her obituary was published a few days later:20

She's buried beside her husband in the Bethsaida Church cemetery in Treutlen County, Georgia at coordinates N32.50629 W82.62461. Photos of her headstone and footstone are below.1

Sources Cited:

1: Tombstone of Barbara Thigpen, Bethsaida Church Cemetery, Treutlen County, Georgia at coordinates N32.506294 W82.624607. Photographs taken by 1Bryant Knight, 26 April 2012.

2: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). District 28, Emanuel County, Georgia. Pages 476B and 477A, dwelling 468, family 468, Malancton Thigpen household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 68. Ancestry.com, accessed 16 March 2012. The same record is also available on the Internet Archive: <https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0056unit#page/n481/mode/1up> (page 476B) and <https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0056unit#page/n482/mode/1up> (page 477A).

3: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 395, Emanuel County, Georgia. Page 890, dwelling 124, family 125, Melangton Thigpin household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 120. Ancestry.com, accessed 16 March 2012. The same record is also available on the Internet Archive: <https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu120unit#page/n353/mode/1up>.

4: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Emanuel County, Georgia. Page 357A, dwelling 384, family 384, Mellancon Thigpen household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 148. Ancestry.com, accessed 17 March 2012. The same record is also available on the Internet Archive: <https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu0148unit#page/n721/mode/1up>.

5: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 395, Emanuel County, Georgia. Page 602B, dwelling 47, family 47, Barbary Thigpin household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 145. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/10thcensus0145unit#page/n670/mode/1up>, accessed 12 March 2015.

6: Laurens County, Georgia. Superior Court. Petitions and Writs 1849-1852, pages 492-509. Abstracted in: Allen Thomas, Laurens County, Georgia, Legal Records, Superior Court, 1833-1857 (W. H. Wolfe Associates, 1993), pages 654-655.

7: Laurens County, Georgia. Wills book 2 (1840-1868), pages 15-18, the will of Richard Ricks. FamilySearch, <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30542-7097-89?cc=1999178&wc=9SBD-4WT:267653401,267882901> et seq.

8: Loose papers in the McGriff family surname file, Georgia Archives. Posted on FamilySearch.org (<https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KVLY-55Q> and <https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KVLY-55Q>) by user KatherineWalker42 on 1 September 2023.

9: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1878, militia district 395, T,W,Y page lines 6-8. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1878-1882 / images 126 and 127 of 860), accessed 1 May 2024.

10: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1879, militia district 395, page 5 lines 5-7. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1878-1882 / images 284 and 285 of 860), accessed 1 May 2024.

11: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1880, militia district 395, T,W,Y page lines 13-15. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1878-1882 / images and of 860), accessed 1 May 2024.

12: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1881, militia district 395, T-Y page lines 8-11. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1878-1882 / images 600 and 601 of 860), accessed 1 May 2024.

13: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1883, militia district 395, R-T page line 29. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1883-1887 / images 66 and 67 of 1024), accessed 1 May 2024.

14: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1884, militia district 395, page 6 line 12. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1883-1887 / images 262 and 263 of 1024), accessed 1 May 2024.

15: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1885, militia district 395, page 6 line 17. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1883-1887 / images 460 and 461 of 1024), accessed 1 May 2024.

16: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1886, militia district 395, page 6 line 12. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1883-1887 / images 652 and 653 of 1024), accessed 1 May 2024.

17: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1887, militia district 395, R,S,T page line 39. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1883-1887 / images 842 and 843 of 1024), accessed 1 May 2024.

18: Emanuel County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1890, page 53, militia district 395, line 6, entry for Barbara Thigpen. Ancestry.com (“Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Emanuel / 1890 / images 107 and 108 of 200), accessed 1 May 2024.

19: "Aged People in Laurens," The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), Saturday 6 December 1890, page 3, column 2, about halfway down the page. Newspapers.com, <https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-macon-telegraph-aged-people-in-laure/121106388/>, accessed 20 April 2024.

20: The Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), Monday 11 November 1895, page 6, column 4, about two-thirds of the way down the page. <https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-savannah-morning-news-death-of-barba/121106785/>, accessed 20 April 2024.