Tom Christian was an early Flat Rock Methodist Church board member in 1903. He was buried in the Flat Rock Historic Cemetery in February 1928. According to his death certificate, we know he was married to Sallie Boyd. His father was Berry Christian, and his mother was Betty Henderson, both born in Georgia.
According to the 1920 census, his mother, Bettie Christian, lived with Tom's family, including his wife, children, and multiple grandchildren. At this time, Bettie is said to be 75 years old. This would put her birth year at 1845.
1920 Census
Interestingly, it is hard to get an accurate birth year when comparing the death certificate with census reports. For example, Tom is of different ages throughout the 30 years of census records that we currently have. In 1900, Tom is 42 and was born in January of 1857. In 1910, he is age 59, and in 1920 he is 60. Tom's death certificate has him living to the age of 73, which means he was born around 1855. The 1900 census lists his birth year as January of 1857.
1900 Census
1910 Census
Based on this evidence, it seems that Tom's mother, Bettie is likely older than 75, making her birth year before 1845. We would like to learn more about Bettie Christian. It seems that Tom and Bettie were both born slaves. Please leave your comments.
