Hi,

I found something interesting in the 1900 census of Crockett County.

There is a Jams W. Nance there>>

Name: Jams w Nance
Home in 1900: Civil District 9, Crockett, Tennessee
Age: 46
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854
Birthplace: Tennessee
Race: Black

Jams w Nance 46 Widowed
Judie L Nance 21 Daughter (this looks Julie to me)
Callie A Nance 19 Daugter

What is interesting about this is that in this same district (James is on page 14, Celia is on page 12) is a Celia Nance living with a white family by the name of Ficks as a servent. Her date of birth matches Allen and Mary's Celia/Selia>>

Name: Celie Nance
Home in 1900: Civil District 9, Crockett, Tennessee
Age: 20
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1880
Birthplace: Tennessee
Relationship to head-of-house: Servant
Race: Black

Now could this James W. Nance be Allen? I think so because in 1880, Allen as a middle Name of J. That J could stand for James. The dates of birth match close. Julie/Judie's date of birth matches and his other daughter, Celia is living close to him as well. Ancestry.com spells his name as Jams but it looks like James to me and the Judie looks like Julie to me. So, it appears that Mary may have been deceased by 1900.

What do you think?

Also, in order to find out who Selia Nance's husband was, you may have to find who the slave holder was (if you have not done so already and if in fact she was a slave) and then research Deeds, Sales, Tax, and other county records.

Hope this Helps,

Tony