What happened to Quincy Akers?

Tracking down a man with multiple aliases

Kinfolks subscriber Ricky Cox (author of The Water-Powered Mills of Floyd, Virginia: Illustrated Histories, 1770-2010) contacted me with an interesting mystery to solve. His friend Sam Wade wanted to know what happened to Quincy Akers, Sam’s first cousin once removed.

Here’s the background information I was given:

• Quincy Akers was born out of wedlock to Maude Akers and Henry Wade

• Maude Akers married Lynch Duncan of Floyd County, Virginia

• 21-year-old Quincy was living with his uncle Dexter Akers in Pulaski County, Virginia in 1930

While that is not a lot of information to work with, it ended up being enough.

The Commonwealth of Virginia did not record births between 1896-1911, so if Quincy was born in 1909 (as inferred from the background information), there would not be a birth record for him.

So, I started by looking for Maude Akers in the 1910 census. She was 19 years old and living with her parents in Floyd County, Virginia. Also living in that household was a 9-month-old boy, Henry C. Akers, listed as the son of Maude’s parents.¹

Given the timing of Henry’s birth (1909) and the fact that Maude’s mother was 45 years old and had not given birth to another child in seven years, it would make sense to infer that this child was actually Maude’s son, named after his supposed biological father, Henry Wade.

Maude Akers would marry Wyatt Lynch Duncan on 10 March 1915,² while her son would remain with Maude’s parents.

In the 1920 census, a 9-year-old male named John Q. Akers was living with Maude’s parents, John and Corlinda Akers, and was listed as their grandson.³ This would be the first of his name changes, with “Q” likely the initial for “Quincy.”

An article in the Roanoke Times in 1929 describes Quincy Akers as an alias for Quincy Wade,⁴ providing evidence of another name change. The surname alias is likely another reference to Quincy’s supposed biological father, Henry Wade.

In the 1930 census, Quincy W. Akers was living in Pulaski County, Virginia as a boarder with William D [Dexter] Akers and Daisy M Akers.⁵ Dexter Akers was Quincy’s uncle (a half-brother to Maude Akers). This matches the background information provided.

In 1939, Quincy Wade married Bessie Mitchem in West Virginia.⁶

Quincy Wade appears in both the 1940 and 1950 censuses living with his wife Bessie in McDowell County, West Virginia.⁷⁸ He worked in the coal mining industry.

Quincy Wade died on 02 Oct 1995 in Erie, Ohio,⁹ and is buried at Ridge Hill Memorial Park in Amherst, Ohio.¹⁰

Source: FindAGrave

Quincy J. Wade
Retired coal miner
Quincy J. Wade, 87, of Vermilion died Monday at his daughter’s home after a long illness.
Born in Roanoke, Va., he moved to Gary, W.Va., in 1935 and then to North Ridgeville in 1960. He had lived at his daughter’s home in Vermilion since 1962.
Mr. Wade was a coal miner and a member of the United Mine Workers Union for 35 years before taking medical retirement in 1959.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing, gardening and his pet animals.
Survivors include his daughter, Anita Jewell of Vermilion, with whom he lived; four grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; a brother and two sisters.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 25 years, Bessie Mae, in 1962.

The Chronicle Telegram Newspaper Archives October 3, 1995 Page 18

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1. Year: 1910; Census Place: Indian Valley, Floyd, Virginia; Roll: T624_1628; Page: 5b; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 1375641

2. Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014.

3. 1920; Census Place: Indian Valley, Floyd, Virginia; Roll: T625_1887; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 95

4.  The Roanoke Times; Sun, Jul 07, 1929; Page 19

5. Year: 1930; Census Place: Dublin, Pulaski, Virginia; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0003; FHL microfilm: 2342191

6. Ancestry.com. West Virginia, U.S., Marriages Index, 1785-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

7. Year: 1940; Census Place: Adkin, McDowell, West Virginia; Roll: m-t0627-04421; Page: 29A; Enumeration District: 24-3

8. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Thorpe, McDowell, West Virginia; Roll: 2516; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 24-13

9. Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. Ohio, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2022 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

10. FindAGrave