SOURCE: 1850 Dade Co., Georgia census (District 21)-"Riley Steadham" and wife, Eliza, were enumerated in the househoold of Julius and Nancy Webb. (Census dated October 1850)

SOURCE: 1850 Laclede Co., MIssouri census (Dist 45)--"William Stidham, Jr." was enumerated as head of household with wife, Mary E. ( Census dated November 1850).

SOURCE: 1860 Pickens Co. Alabama census (Yorkville) . "Willie Steadham" and his wife, Eliza D., and children were enumerated in 1860 in the household of Julius Webb (age 78).

SOURCE for George Riley Stidem: Kristina Hughes (kshughes-at-bellsouth.net), email dated 6/26/2001. In an email to Ashley Cagle posted on the "Descendants of Leonhart Cagle" website (Ancestry.com), Kristina wrote the spelling of his name was George Riley STIDEM in family bible owned by his granddaughter, Myrtle Kirker McIlvoy.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE proving William Riley [538] Stidham of Pickens Co., Alabama and George Riley Stidem of Jackson Co., Arkansas are the same person:

1. William Riley [1232] Stidham, Jr. (son of William Riley [538] Stidham) moved from Alabama to Tuckerman, Jackson Co., Arkansas. His first three children, Edward Cleveland, Etta Mae, and Nettie Ann were born in Tuckerman. After his first wife died in 1890, he moved to Indian Territory (later Oklahoma).

2. Minnie Belle Stidham, the wife of Edward Cleveland ?Edd? Stidham (William Riley Stidham, Jr.?s son), wrote to Jack Stidham in 1975 that her husband?s dad (William Riley Stidham, Jr.) had a half brother, James or Jim Stidham (her husband?s half uncle), and Jim?s mother was Cerena. Jim Stidham had a farm at Floodway or Fludway, southwest of Manila, Arkansas.

3. Family bible owned by Myrtle McIlvoy of Fort Pierce, Florida (daughter of Mary Ann ?Dollie? Stidem) show the parents of Mary Ann Stidem were George Riley Stidem and Serena Cagle of Jackson Co., Arkansas.

4. The 1900 Jackson Co., Arkansas census lists a James Stidam as son of Serene Stidam and brother of Clara, Riley A., and Mary A..

5. James Ernest ?J. E.? Stidem of Marked Tree, Arkansas reported his father, James Jesse ?Jim? Stidem had a sister Clara Stidem, and a brother Bill Stidham (correct spelling) who lived in Oklahoma. Jim Stidem was born 6 Feb 1891 in Tuckerman, Jackson Co., Arkansas, according to his World War I draft registration card. Jim Stidem sharecropped a farm at Whistleville, near Manila, Arkansas (about 2 miles from Fludway).

Notwithstanding the fact William Riley [525] Stidham, Sr. would have been over 60 years old when he had children with Serena Cagle, the above facts are conclusive. Apparently, William Sr. went with his son, William, Jr., from Alabama to Tuckerman, Jackson Co., Alabama about 1880. For some reason, William Riley [538] Stidham, Sr. changed his name to George Riley Stidem when he married Serena Cagle. All of George and Serena?s children went by STIDEM. While living in Tuckerman, William (or George) Riley, Sr. and William Riley, Jr. were both having children at about the same time. About 1890, William, Jr. left Tuckerman and went to Indian Territory. (He would be the Bill Stidham of Oklahoma who J. E. Stidham mentioned.) This may have been about the same time Bill?s father died, for George Riley was not listed with Serena at the time of the 1900 census.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE suggesting William Riley [538] Stidham (aka George Riley Stidem) and William [427b] Stidham Jr. of Laclede Co., Missouri are the same person:

1. William Riley [538] Stidham and William [427b] Stidham Jr. of Laclede Co., Missouri have matching birth dates and birth places.

2. A descendant of William Riley [538] Stidham has an identical Y-chromosome ?fingerprint? as descendants of Samuel [166] Stidham, William [427b] Stidham?s grandfather.

3. His wife, Mary, removed herself from Missouri, along with her daughter, Martha, and a son, Samuel [844] born in 1855, and returned to her home in Marion Co., Tennessee under extenuating circumstances. Her Tennessee descendants tell the story about Mary?s brothers going to Missouri on a troubled mission to bring Mary and children back home.

Here is a plausible scenario (theory) which can point to William [427b] Stidham and William Riley [538] Stidham (aka George Riley Stidem) being the same person: William Stidham lived in Marion Co., Tennessee until he moved on to Missouri with his father in c1850. A few years before moving to Missouri, he married Mary who also lived in Marion County. During this same period, William married or had a relationship with Eliza D. Webb, who also was from Tennessee. He was living with Eliza in October 1850, but had moved to Missouri where he was living with Mary in November 1850. William probably travel back and forth, spending time with both women. In 1849 or 1850, Mary had his first child, Martha. In 1854, Eliza had his child, Francis Marion. In 1855, Mary had his child, Samuel. By 1860, however, Mary left him, returning to Tennessee. William went back to Eliza, now living with her father in Alabama, and they had another child, Eliza J. (b. c1859). Samuel [844] Stidham?s rumored brother, William, was probably William Riley [1232] Stidham, Jr., and William Riley [538] Stidham?s rumored daughter, Martha, was probably Samuel?s sister, Martha Ann [843] Stidham.

RES: "William Stidham, Jr". - 1850, Laclede Co., Missouri.

RES: "William Riley Stidham" - Dade Co., George; Pickens Co., Alabama; by 1862, he was living in the Montgomery, Alabama area where his oldest son was born

RES: "George Riley Stidem" - 1885, Tuckerman, Arkansas..

BIRTHPLACE=Tennessee: 1850 and 1860 census.

BIRTHPLACE=Louisiana: 1900 census enumeration for Serene Stidem wherein her children, Clara, James, Riley and Mary, listed their father's birth place as Louisiana. However, in the 1910 census, Clara, Riley and Mary listed their father's birth place as either the USA, or don't know.

• Married: ABT 1847

1. Martha Ann [843] STIDHAM b: Mar 1849 in Laclede County,Laclede Co.,Missouri
2. Elizabeth [843a] STIDHAM b: ABT 1851
3. Samuel H. [844] STIDHAM b: 15 Aug 1855 in ,,Missouri
4. William [845] STIDHAM disproved b: ABT 1857 in ,,Missouri

• Married: ABT 1850

1. F. M. [1229] STIDHAM b: ABT 1853/1854 in ,,Georgia
2. Francis Marion [1229] STIDHAM challenged b: 23 Apr 1854 in ,,Missouri
3. Nancy Ann [1230] STIDHAM b: ABT 1856 in ,,Alabama
4. Eliza J. [1231] STIDHAM b: ABT 1859/1860 in ,,Alabama
5. William Riley [1232] STIDHAM Jr. b: 20 Aug 1862 in Montgomery,Montgomery Co., Alabama
6. Martha [1233] STIDHAM disproved b: ABT 1864
7. Marion [1234] STIDHAM disproved b: ABT 1866

1. Leigh (Lee)[1234a] STIDHAM (Stidem) b: ABT 1870/1880

• Married: 1888 in Jackson Co., Arkansas
• Note: SOURCE: Family Record Group for William Riley Stidham Sr.,, International Genealogical Index, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FamilySearch.com)

1. Clara [1234b] STIDEM b: ABT 1889 in Jackson Co.,Arkansas
2. James Jesse "Jim" [1235] STIDEM b: 6 Feb 1891 in Tuckerman,Jackson Co.,Arkansas
3. Riley A. [1235a] STIDEM b: ABT 1893 in Jackson Co.,Arkansas
4. Mary Ann "Dollie" [1235b] STIDEM b: 7 Apr 1895 in Bradford, Jackson Co., Arkansas