Mary Emaline, my fourth-great-grandmother, was the first wife of Bartemus Pack (read more about him here). User-created family trees on Ancestry.com listed her maiden name as Hildreth.

On the 1850 census and the 1860 mortality schedule, her name is listed as Mary. On the death certificate of her daughter, Margaret Manda Jane Pack (my third-great-grandmother), her name is listed as Emaline. I am not sure which name she went by the most.

The 1850 census has Mary Emaline married to Bartemus with four children, the oldest being John, born about 1844. This puts her marriage to Bartemus about 1842/1843. I have not located their marriage record. Her age in 1850 was 29, giving her a birth year of 1821 in North Carolina.

The 1860 mortality schedule lists Mary Pack, age 38, died in October 1859 from consumption that lasted a year. Consumption is better known as tuberculous.

From both the 1850 and 1860 census combined, we can tell that Mary Emaline and Bartemus had at least six children:

John P Pack 1844–
Mary Pack 1845–1872
Bartemus Pack 1847–
Margaret Emaline Pack 1849–1881
Margaret Manda Jane Pack 1853–1933
James Carrol Pack 1855–1895

Finding death records of a person’s children can usually help you discover their maiden name. I could only locate Margaret Manda Jane Pack Bullard Barnes’ record. She lists her parents as “Bart Pack” and “Emaline”.

These are the only three records I can find about Mary Emaline. To summarize:

• She was born about 1821 in North Carolina.
• She married Bartemus Pack probably between 1842 – 1843 in Tennessee. (Bartemus was born in Tennessee, so Mary Emaline had already moved there.)
• She had at least six children.
• She died in October 1859. Burial place is unknown.

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DNA – Genetic Genealogy

My great uncle, the brother of my paternal grandmother, took an Ancestry DNA test for me. It’s been very useful in making genealogy discoveries and building out our family tree. I have searched his cousin matches to see if we are related to any Hildreths.

Several matches descend from Hiram Hildreth and Alexander Hildreth. Both were sons of Mary and John Hildreth of De Kalb County, Tennessee. They are shared matches to other known descendants of Mary Emaline.

I would also like to note that it takes A LOT of time and effort to use shared matches and family trees to help connect/verify family tree branches! I often do most of the “leg work” of genealogy myself, going off of as little as someone’s parents or grandparents names. This takes a lot of research to establish their tree and find their connection to my “shared matches” group.

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While I currently don’t have a paper trail to establish Mary Emaline as a Hildreth, I do believe she was due to DNA. She was likely the daughter of John Hildreth and Mary (maiden name unknown), sister of Alexander and Hiram Hildreth.

If you have more information on this family, please email me at downhomegenealogy@gmail.com

Posted May 29, 2018
Last updated July 18, 2020