The Rufus Hunt: Another Obit Strengthens the Case

In my quest to prove or disprove that a man who dies in PA in 1934 is one and the same with my 2x Great-Grandfather Rufus Littlejohn, I've been approaching the problem from several angles. I've been researching the PA Rufus' descendants using vital records, census schedules, and obituaries; researching a second Rufus Littlejohn born in South Carolina about the same time that my Rufus was born in that state; and seeing what else I can find about my Rufus' birth family and siblings to see if that opened any doors.

It was that last prong of research that lead to a very helpful finding. 

As you can see on his 1899 marriage certificate to my 2x Great-Grandmother Flora Woods, my Rufus' parents are Strap and Eliza Littlejohn, and he is from Union County, SC.

Jumping back in time to census records from Union County, SC in 1870 and 1880, you can find Rufus with his parents.

1870

1880

Of course, these records also gave me the names of a number of Rufus' siblings: Junius, Jilson, Hamlet, Anna, Franklin, Edward, Henrietta, Eva, King, Butler. Note the head of household for the family immediately below theirs in both years: Emanuel (Manuel) Littlejohn - he's Rufus' brother as well (confirmed via his Death Certificate).

So, I've spent the past few days using online records to dig into the stories of my Rufus' siblings. Lo and behold, I found two obituaries for his brother Edward, who passed 15 July 1923. Note that, as is customary, each names the deceased's surviving family:

Obituary for Edward Littlejohn, published in the Cherokee Times (Gaffney, SC) on 16 July 1923.

Obituary for Edward Littlejohn, published in the Gaffney Ledger (Gaffney, SC) on 17 July 1923.

See our fun fact about Rufus? In 1923, he's living in Cleveland, Ohio! This is supported by a Cleveland, OH City Directory listing from 1922:

How does this help me? It puts my Rufus in a location where I know the PA Rufus had previously spent time. You see, several months ago, I found that the PA Rufus and his wife or partner Jane "Jennie" Alexander had a child together in Cleveland in 1895:

Here's that Rufus in the 1895-96 Cleveland City Directory (he also appears in the 1896-97 Directory, at 582 Broadway):

Is this a smoking gun? Definitely not. But in addition to drawing a geographic connection between these two men - my Rufus and PA Rufus - it also makes it much harder to believe that it's possible the PA Rufus could be the other South Carolina Rufus I have been exploring. That Rufus is living in Limestone, Cherokee County, SC every census year from 1900 to 1930. What are the chances he up and moved to Cleveland, Ohio both in the 1890s and in the 1920s, and returned to South Carolina each time? It's much easier - and more reasonable - to believe that my Rufus moved north from South Carolina and stayed there. In fact, I'll explore this more in my next post.

What do you think? Am I on the right path? Do you know something about Rufus Littlejohn or his family that I should know about? Please share in the Comments section below!