Key Facts

Snapshot:	wife of a poor farm laborer
Parents:	70Gilford Bedgood 71Lucinda ___
Born:	circa 1850 Georgia
Last known record:	1880 census Militia district 92 (map), Washington County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

35Tempie Bedgood was born in Georgia1-3 circa 1848.1 Her parents are 70Gilford Bedgood and 71Lucinda ___, judging from census records1-3 and as further explained below.

Problem: Resolved Who are 35Tempie's parents? The available census records strongly imply that 35Tempie's father is 70Gilford, and (albeit with slightly less certainty) that her mother is 71Lucinda ___.1-3 I haven't found a marriage record for 70Gilford Bedgood and 71Lucinda ___. One could argue that 70Gilford may have had another wife before 71Lucinda, and that this hypothetical earlier wife could have been the mother of some of 70Gilford's children. The 1850 census, however, casts much doubt on this hypothesis: As you can see below, in 1850 70Gilford and 71Lucinda were young and had an infant daughter.4 It seems exceedingly unlikely that 70Gilford would've fathered a child, that the child's mother died soon thereafter (probably in her early 20's), and that 70Gilford almost immediately remarried. 1850: 70Gilford Bedgood's family in Washington County, Georgia. Full page.4 Subsequent censuses show that 70Gilford and 71Lucinda remained married for many years.1-3 Therefore, I can conclude with confidence that 71Lucinda was the mother of all of 70Gilford's children.

Problem: Unresolved Is 35Tempie in the 1850 census? As you can see above, in 1850 70Gilford and 71Lucinda had a daughter named "Penop Ann P [Bedgood]," ... but in the 1860 census, 70Gilford doesn't have a daughter named Penelope, Ann, or anything of the sort.1 So what happened to her? Perhaps she had died, and perhaps 35Tempie was born not long after the 1850 census was taken. Alternatively, perhaps the 1850 census-taker simply misheard/miswrote 35Tempie's name, and 1850's "Penop Ann P" is actually one and the same as 1860's "Tempa P."

The 1860 census shows 35Tempie with her parents in Washington County, Georgia.1

1860: 35Tempie's family in Washington County, Georgia. Full page.1

By 1867 70Gilford had moved his family to Jefferson County, Georgia.5 The 1870 census shows them there:

1870: 35Tempie's family in militia district 85 (map), Jefferson County, Georgia. Full page.2

35Tempie married 34John Knight on 2 August 1871.6 For more information about their marriage, their lives together, etc. see his profile since that information won't be repeated here.

As noted in 34John's profile, the 1880 census shows 35Tempie with her family in militia district 92 (map), Washington County, Georgia.3 I have found no further record of her.

Sources Cited:

1: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Washington County, Georgia. Page 261, dwelling 776, family 756, Guilford Bedgood household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 140. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu140unit#page/n263/mode/1up>, accessed 15 October 2021.

2: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 85, Jefferson County, Georgia. Page 142B, dwelling 369, family 431, Gilford Bedford household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 160. HeritageQuest, accessed 6 December 2010. Although I used HeritageQuest, the same record is available on Internet Archive: <http://archive.org/stream/populationschedu0160unit#page/n288/mode/1up>.

3: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 92, Washington County, Georgia. Enumeration district 125, page 258A, dwelling 1, Gilford Bedgood household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 170. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/10thcensus0170unit#page/n718/mode/1up>, accessed 15 October 2021.

4: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 91, Washington County, Georgia. Page 249A, dwelling 686, family 686, G Bedgood household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 87. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0067unix#page/n355/mode/1up>, accessed 15 October 2021.

5: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 106 (Jefferson County Book 4), page 171, entry 30, Guildford Badgood. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869" / Oath Book / Jefferson / 18 / image 740 of 997), accessed 20 May 2012. Although I copied the image from Ancestry.com, the corresponding microfilm reel at the Georgia Archives is microfilm 296/40.

6: Jefferson County, Georgia. White marriage book A (1803-1880), page 505, marriage of Mr. John Knight and Miss Mary T. Bedgood. FamilySearch, <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-21404-28668-60?cc=1927197>, accessed 1 June 2013.