18Willie Thigpen, son of 36William M. ("Jack") Thigpen and 37Serena Williams, was born in Laurens County, Georgia on June 20th, some year in the mid-1870's, as explained below.

Problem: Resolved Who are 18Willie's parents, and when was he born? 18Willie's death certificate records his parents' names as "Jack Thigpen" and "Sumey Williams." 1 18Willie's parents as shown on his death certificate1 Records pertaining to 18Willie's siblings demonstrate that "Jack" is a nickname and that 18Willie's father's real name is 36William M. Thigpen.2-4 Further confirmation is in 36William's own obituary, which describes him as "Mr. William Thigpen, better known as 'Uncle Jack'." 5 "Sumey Williams" seems to be an erroneous transcription of 37Serena Williams, whom 36Jack married 22 September 1875.6 According to 18Willie's death certificate, he was born in Laurens County, Georgia on 20 June 1873,1 but the year 1873 seems doubtful since (a) his parents 36Jack and 37Serena married in 1875; (b) census records consistently document his birth as having occurred later in the 1870's, circa 1875,7 1876,8 1877,9 or 187810; and (c) the ~70-year gap between 18Willie's birth (circa 1876) and this record (1945) increases the likelihood of errors.

18Willie married 19Sallie Williams on 4 September 1898.6

1898: 18Willie's and 19Sallie Williams' marriage certificate. Full page.6

By 1910 they had had three children.10

1910: 18Willie's family in militia district 1338 (map), Laurens County, Georgia. Full page.10

By 1920 they had moved east to the Orland area of Treutlen County.9

1920: 18Willie's family in/near Orland, Treutlen County, Georgia. Full page.9

By 1930 most of the children had moved out. 18Willie had moved back to Laurens County. Like earlier censuses, this census describes 18Willie as a farmer. It also notes that 18Willie was literate, but 19Sallie was not.7

1930: 18Willie's family in militia district 1720 (map), Laurens County, Georgia. Full page.7

18Willie and 19Sallie apparently didn't move again: In 1940 they were still living in militia district 1720, in the same house as in 1935, a house that they owned and valued at $300. Notably, they were living next door to their daughter 9Julia and son-in-law 8Bryant. This census shows that 18Willie and 19Sallie both had only completed through the fourth grade. They presumably had retired, since neither of them worked during the week of March 24th-30th or was looking for work.8

1940: 18Willie's family still in militia district 1720. Full page.8

18Willie's grandson Billy Knight (son of 8Bryant) recalled one memory he had about his grandfather:12

Billy: He used to sit out there on the back porch. They had a long porch 'tween the house and the kitchen. And he had over there[?] had them, round columns like that, but it was wood. And he had, he had wrote all over 'em. Done math and all kinds of stuff all over 'em. And [chuckle]. And, uh...

1Bryant: [brief mumble] scribbling type stuff?

Billy: Yeah, he'd be out there. You'd see him out there sometimes just writin', you know.

1Bryant: With like a marker, I guess?

Billy: Like he's keepin' records out there or some'in', I don't know.12

18Willie died on 30 October 1945 at 12:30 PM from lobar pneumonia. His death certificate is copied below.1

18Willie and his wife are buried in the Thigpen cemetery in Laurens County, Georgia, approximately at coordinates N32.45216 W82.70416. Photos of his grave's headstone and footstone are below.13

Sources Cited:

1: Laurens County, Georgia death certificate 20912 for W. M. Thigpen

2: "Marriage at Rockledge," The Dublin Courier-Dispatch (Dublin, Georgia), Thursday 18 April 1901, page 1, column 2. The record reads in part, "Monday evening last at Rockledge, this county, at the residence of Mrs. Jack Thigpen, Rev. O. O. Williams officiating, Mr. Jno. C. McCrimmon of Lothair and Miss Serina Thigpen were united in marriage." Notice that the record implies that Serina's father's name is Jack Thigpen, and consider this fact in relation to Serena's obituary, cited below.

3: "Mrs. Serena M. Rogers," The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), Thursday 2 October 1963, page 13, column 1. This is the obituary of "Mrs. Serena McCrimmon Rogers, 82," who was "the former Serena Victoria Thigpen, the daughter of the late W. M. Thigpen and Mrs. Victoria Williams Thigpen of Laurens County." Notice that her father is described as "W. M. Thigpen," who is almost certainly one and the same as the "Jack Thigpen" named in her marriage announcement, cited above. Unfortunately, the obituary doesn't indicate her father's full name, just his initials, but it provides another clue: It names among Serena's survivors "two brothers, Dan Thigpen and Charlie Thigpen, both of Minter." An earlier census record, cited below, shows a "Daniel Thigpen" living with "Wm Thigpen Sr," so we can be confident that the "W" in "W. M. Thigpen" stands for William.

4: 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Oconee, Militia District 1338, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 110, sheet 2A, dwelling 31, family 31, Wm Thigpen Sr. household. NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 199. Internet Archive, <http://archive.org/stream/13thcensus1910po199unit#page/n336/mode/1up>, accessed 10 October 2021. As explained above in source citation #3, this census listing confirms that the "W" in "W. M. Thigpen" named in Serena's obituary stands for William.

5: "Mr. William Thigpen Died Yesterday: An Esteemed Pioneer Citizen of this Section," The Soperton News (Soperton, Georgia), 27 October 1922, page 1, column 3

6: Laurens County, Georgia. Marriage book I (July 1870 - February 1879), page 167, marriage of William Thigpen and Serena A. Williams. FamilySearch, <https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXV6-X8Y>, accessed 17 December 2014.

7: 1930 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Rockledge, Militia District 1720, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 88-32, sheet 10A, dwelling 184, family 190, Willie Thigpen household. NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 373. Ancestry.com, accessed 17 July 2010. I used Ancestry.com, but the census image is also available on Archive.org: <http://archive.org/stream/georgiacensus00reel373#page/n185/mode/1up>.

8: 1940 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Rockledge, Militia District 1720, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 87-35, sheet 5A, household 92, W. M. Thigpen household. National Archives, <1940census.archives.gov>, accessed 2 April 2012. This image is also available on Familysearch.org at <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-27876-13994-72?cc=2000219&wc=MRB8-1JY:790105601,795238401,798691501,798691502>.

9: 1920 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Orland District, Treutlen County, Georgia. Enumeration district 126, sheet 9A, family 105, Willie M. Thigpen household. NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 280. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/14thcensusofpopu280unit/page/n1121/mode/1up>, accessed 9 October 2021.

10: 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Oconee, Militia District 1338, Laurens County, Georgia. Enumeration district 110, sheet 2B, dwelling 37, family 37, Wm Thigpen Jr household. NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 199. Internet Archive, <http://archive.org/stream/13thcensus1910po199unit#page/n337/mode/1up>, accessed 18 May 2013.

11: Laurens County, Georgia. Marriage book L (1892-1906), page 235, marriage of Mr. Wm Thigpen and Miss Sallie Williams. FamilySearch, <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KXVX-MQD>, accessed 28 April 2013.

12: Interview with Billy Knight (son of 8Bryant), 27 December 2014. A partial transcription of the interview is available.

13: Tombstone of Willie M. and Sallie W. Thigpen, Thigpen Cemetery, Laurens County, Georgia at approximate coordinates N32.45216 W82.70416. Photographs taken by Bryant Knight, 19 July 2010.