When Nathaniel Simpson of Stanly County, North Carolina died in 1848, it set off a tragic series of events that would have a devasting effect on his family for generations.

I had researched the Simpsons several years ago, but had not posted on them all due to the controversial findings in some of the lines. I am not a Simpson by blood, however, the family did intermarry with mine twice over, once, possibly luckily and the other, not so fortunate in the least. 

After being recently contcted by someone who had questions on a branch of this family, I circled back, bringing it to the forefront of my memory again and after finding descendants who have not been able to get past about 1930 in their family trees due to lies told over 100 years ago to save face, I decided to take a break from the Mortons and tell the story of the brief and frought life of Tirzah Simpson.

This is the family Nathaniel Simpson left behind in 1850. Not all of them are listed, and his sons were solidly grown men and well on their feet. He left his widow, Sarah, with a houseful of teenaged girls, and one of those girls was his 18 year old daughter, Judith, called Judy.

By 1860, we can begin to see what is happening with this family. Noticeably missing from the family dynamic of 1850, are younger daughters, Sarah and Winny, who actually married, Sarah to Thomas Poplin and Winny to Enoch Poplin, but the older girls were not married. Son, Green Wesley Simpson became a prominent spiritual leader in the community. A good and humble man, he was charitable with both his time and knowledge. He helped settle legal issues of the poor and uneducated members of his community and served in various capacities, including Deacon and Teacher at Rehobeth Methodist Church, just south of the little town of Aquadale.

My own photo of Rehobeth Methodist Church

There are 4 little children who have joined the 1860 household of  widow Sarah White Simpson; Laura J., Nathan A., Susan and James. Those were children of Judy's older sister, Nancy, who has returned to the fold. Nancy was not married. Neither was Judy, who would have been pregnant at this time.

There was a bastardy bond with the the father of Judy Simpsons baseborn child named on it, in the Stanly County Court of Pleas and Quarters records. The man was named as J. P. Lisk.

James P. Lisk was a married man. In 1858, he had married Elizabeth Luther in Montgomery County, and he was on a roll.

By 1860, the young couple are shown in Stanly County with thier little daughter, Ellen. Ellen is 10 months old and J. P. is working as a House Carpenter. After paying his legal and political obligations to County and Country, J. P. Lisk moved to Missouri and away from reminders of the War and his sins. 

The name Tirzah was trending in the area of south central North Carolina and north central South Carolina during these years. It derived from a city mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Joshua and then King Solomon supposedly wrote an ode to the beauty of the place in Song of Songs. It was also the name of a church in Waxhaw, NC, in neighboring Union County, NC near the Sourth Carolina border and meant, as a name, pleasantness, or delight. The nickname for Tirzah was Tirzy or Turzy, and Judith chose this beautiful, obscure name for her only child.

In 1870,  Judy is still living with her mother, Sarah, as is her sister, Delilah, aka "Lillly". 

 Delilah has had 2 children of her own, and also spent her time in court. Her oldest son, George Filmore Simpson, was by James Allen Upchurch, and her younger son, William was by Josiah Pinkney Talbert. Then there is Judith, now 40, with her 11 year old daughter, Turzy, incorrectly transcribed as "Terry".

Judy and Turzy Simpson are the last two names on the page.

Turzy comes up alone in the 1880 census, but she was actually living with her mother, Judy. Grandmother Sarah has disappeared and assumably passed away. Judith, as well, does not live to be 60, and does not show up in the 1900 census, two years later. Their last resting place is unknown, however, they are most likely buried among the oldest graves at Rehobeth, perhaps even those being taken over by the woods, as the barely legible stone of my ancestor, Elizabeth Murray is, barely above ground at the edge of the encroaching forest.

Unlike her mother, Turzy marries. At this point in the story, John Henry Randle takes the lead.

John H. Randle was born on July 10, 1866 in Center  Township in Stanly County to Isham Randle and wife, Caroline Singleton Randle. He came from an old and well respected family from the Allenton/Norwood area where the Rocky River meets the Pee Dee. He was the proud descendant of Virginia Planters. The above excerpt from the 1880 census shows John as a 16 year old in his parents home.

On August 6, 1882, John Henry Randle, son of Isham Randle and Caroline Singleton Randle married 'Tirzy' Simpson, daughter of Judy Simpson and J. P. Lisk. I. W. Snuggs, the Register of Deeds, in error, repeated the name of the bride in place of the mother of the groom. Turzy was not his mother and he did not marry his mother. 

John was 19 and Turzy was 22. It should be noted that J. P. Lisk is noted as dead and Judy Simpson, is at this point still alive. J. P. Lisk was actually alive and well in Dade County, Missouri in 1880. I am not sure if they thought he was dead or if it was just for cover.

At this point, we must interject that Rosa Bell Simpson Deese, the firstborn child of Turzy Simpson, was born on December 26, 1881, eight months prior to the wedding. It appears this was beyond a shotgun wedding. Also, note that Rosa Bell's husband, Henry D. Deese, reported her parents as "John Simpson" and "Tessie Randleman", a reoccuring trend of confusion and entanglement that has prevented descendants of Turzy's children to progress beyond her children in their genealogical searches. Lies and half-truths were invented by persons to disguise the ignominy of illegitamacy or divorce, and Rosa Belle's surviving spouse barely knew who her parents were. John Simpson may have been meant to mean John Randle and Tessy Randleman can be interpreted as an alliteration of Turzy Randle, which her name was, legally, for about 2 or 3 years. It would be 5 years before Turzy would have another child.

In the Spring of 1884, two years after his marriage, John Randle was brought up on a charge of assault and pleaded " No Contest". There was no more prosecution of that case. Reading the information on the following one, several possibilities for the background of this charge could be speculated on, which I will not do.

One can find out a great deal about their ancestors and other members of the community in old court records. Findings can sometimes be informative or even shocking. I can tell you without reservation that it can take your ancestors off their pedestals and put flesh and blood upon their bones. 

In the 19th Century and prior, people stole pigs, burned down their neighbors barns, sold liquour on Sundays and got into scuffles, exhibiting no variance of behavior than court attendees in 2021.

What we find on John and Turzy was that in the Fall Session of Court in the year 1884, in Stanly County, North Carolina, John Randle filed for Divorce from his wife, Turzy Randle. 

 

With the dissolution of the marriage, John H. Randle took with him his name, not only from Turzy, but from the child that had been blamed on him. It's even unclear if John and Turzy had ever resided together after the marriage.

John, still a very young man, went on with his life, and a few years later, in 1888, he married Emma Jane Russell, daughter of  Henry and Sarah Francis "Franky" Rummage Russell.

The firstborn child of this marriage, Henry Thomas Randle, was born on March 14. His death records give the year as 1886, however, his World War I Draft Registration gives the year as 1889, squarely 10 months after the wedding, which I believe is the most likely to be correct. 

Everything appeared to be hunky- dorry through 1900 and 1910. John farmed in Center Township and the family lived on Pee Dee River Road, which I believe may have been what remains as Pee Dee Avenue leaving Norwood.

The marriage brought forth 5 children:

1889 Henry Thomas Randle

1895 Robert Lee Randle

1901 Jennie Mae Randle

1903 Joseph Randle 

1909 Sam McLeod Randle

There were nontypical spaces between the ages of the Randle children. Henry was 20 years older than Sam.

John Randle again decided to end his marriage, this time for different reasons. Although divorce wasn't common around the turn of the century, it did happen and again, John divorced his wife. This time, she and the children kept the name.

1920 finds Emma and her three younger children living in the Pee Dee Community of Montgomery County. Her maritial status is divorced. 

At the same time, John is living alone, right next door, and at 56, working at a sawmill. His marital status is also given as divorced. I wonder if he was living in a "Grandpa House" and still helping raise the younger children.

I've seen several of these structures in the earlier years of my life, small houses built separate, but near the main house, where the mother and children lived, an action taken when spouses could not get along in these old farm families. Most have been torn down today, as they were too close for comfort to the main house to be a workable rental to any but family. 

John, though in midlife, had not given up on love.

In May of 1926,  John H. Randle, 58, married Lillie May McIntyre Martin,  29, daughter of Jesse and Mary McIntyre.

 Lillie is seen in 1920, living with her parents and 3 boys; twins, Pines and Paul, (Jesse Pines Martin and Paul Edward Martin) and younger son, Will, (William Starr Martin, aka Billy).

1930 finds John and Lillie, despite their 30 year age difference, living back in Stanly County, in Norwood, living with her youngest Martin boy and their two year old son, James Thomas Randle. He wouldn't be the last either. Another son, Delmar Asbury Randle, would be born in 1932.

John Henry Randle would pass away on November 9, 1935, at the age of  69, not old for this day and time, but a long life for the era in which he lived. His children, with the exception of Robert, who died at age 21, with an unusual addendum on his death certificate;

Strychnine Poisoning. He took it through mistake thinking it was a purgative -a few hours - accidental not suicide. This was his dying testimony."

Robert was buried at Zion Church in Pee Dee, Montgomery County. John Henry Randle was fittingly buried at Randles Church in Stanly County where he grew up, his patriarchal grounds. His ex-wife, Emma Russell Randle, lived another 4 years past his death, and their children buried her with their father.

But John had left a young widow, with two little boys, aged 7 and 3. I'm not sure how Lilly Mae felt about it, but she stayed on the family farm and is found there with all but her twins in 1940. It is said she lived on Hyatt Bridge Road in Tyson. I don't know where that road is or was. It's no longer in existence.

Lillie lived until 1970, passing away at 74. Her brief obituary stated she was survived by 3 of her 5 sons. She had gone back to use of the name, Martin. Lillie Mae McIntyre Martin Randle was buried at Concord Methodist Church Cemetery in Anson County, just across the Rocky River from Stanly County, in an area known back then as "Wharf", near Ansonville.

But here's the clincher, the above is the obituary for her first husband, Ed Henry Martin, who died in 1967, just a few years  before Lilly mae. You thought she was a widow, didnt you? He was survived by his, wife, Lillie Mae. Some time after the 1940 census, Lillie had went back to her first husband, Ed. 

She had lied in the 1920 census, she was not a widow. In fact, not only was Ed still alive, they were still married. 

She didn't divorce him until 1925, a year before she married John Henry Randle. What a tangled web we weave. No wonder modern descendants have a quandry.

But it's time for Turzy to retake the narrative that has been subsumed by John Henry. There is not much left to tell in her story. She appears in one last census, 1900.

At the bottom of the page and wrought with ink blotches, this is still Turzy Simpson with all of her children, save one. Lum Lee, born later this year, is yet to come. There's a few other galring errors in transcription. First, a 38 year old woman could not have a 64 year old daughter. Mattie was 14. Seond, David is no where near the name of Ferris aks  Parris, her oldest son, and 'Raber', was actuallu Richard Ruben Simpson. William's first name was actulaly William.

So the story turns from that of Turzy to a quick review of her children,. What did they know? What did  they reveal? Or did they know nothing and create this fallacy to cover their 'nonexistant' beginnings?

Rosa Bell

Rosa Bell Simpson was the oldest child of  Tirzy Simpson. At 18, she actually married later that year, of Tirzy's last census, in November of 1900. She married Henry David Deese and his father, Atlas Durgan Deese and Rufus Deese applied for the license. Henry grew up in Stanly County near the Rocky River, just like Rosa, so why did they go to Cabarrus County to get married? 

Rufus Deese might be the key, as he  was already living in Cabarrus County in 1900. Rufus was the son of William Bogan Deese. He had married Margaret Hill, a Great  great Great Aunt of mine, and the Hills had migrated from  the Rocky River area to the Rocky Mount Church area of Cabarrus County. William Bogan Deese was the brother of Atlas Durgan Deese, making henry and Rufus 1st cousins.

But there were other things at play here. The date on the 1900 census of Stanly County, where Tirzah was found with her children, was June 28, 1900, and taken by James A. Huneycutt. Just one week earlier, on June 20, 1900, this grouping was taken in the Provence area of Rowan County, by Stephen A. Earnhardt.

When I first saw this census, I thought this Rosa was a daughter of Laura Simpson, because of the presnse of Bud, (Odum Asberry Simpson and Mamie, who were children of Laura Smpson .Now, Laura Simpson was a 1st coiusin of  of Tirzy Smpson, a daughter of Judith's sister, Nancy.  Both Laura and Turzy were without fathers,but Laura was, for lack of a nicer description, Notorious. 

Third one dwon, James Snider to Mattie Simpson, both of Providence

Then, I came across the marriage certificate for Rosa'as sister Mattie. Mattie was married  in 1906, six years after Rosa is found in the home of W.R. Krider. Mattie's wedding to James lawrence Snider, who was originally from Davidson County, North Carolina, took place in Providence, Rowan County, at the home of W. R. Krider.

Third one down, Place of Marriage, W. R. Krider.

W. R. Krider was involved with the children of  Turzy Simpson, a scary prospect at best, but perhaps he aided in getting them out of Stanly County, away from people who knew them, and into a proper marriage, before the fate befell them, that had befallen their mother and cousins. But who was W. R. Krider?

William Rober t Krider was born in 1850, in Rowan County, NC. His family had removed to Rockwall, Texas, but W. R. returnd to Rowan county. He married Georgia Hudson and settled in Providence, which borders Davidson county on the Yadkin River.

He was a wealthy man related to theSheriff of Rowan County during a time, and appeared to also be a family man, taking good care of his 4 children and ensuring they recieved good educations and a future. He lost several children young, only three reaching adulthood. He did buisness in Spencer and from newspaper accounts, kept busy up and down the Yadkin Railway.  He also participated in illegal activity, suppling illicit liquour to these undergournd honky tonks and houses of ill repute. Bud Smpson, son of Laura Simpson, was suposedly his son, and also in his employ as a rum runer. Well, I'll let the papers explain.

He would bail Laura out, anytime she was in trouble, which was often. Laura was basically a prostitute  in her early years and in her later yeras, just ran a placefwe would call a club; music, alchohol, gambling and wild women. Does W. R. Krider's involvement with the children of Turzy suggest she may have been in the employ of her older cousin? The fact that Turzy escaped any and all bastardy bonds is a little suspicous, given the fact she was the mother of 7 children.

Just a bit more on Krider. 

He got by with alot, and particiapted in grift, but ieventually,Stanly County, not to be influened by his name and money, got him.

So, it appears that for a time, at a minimum, Rosa and Mattie, the two oldest girls, stayed or associated with the Krider family.  He eventually moved to Robersonville in County, and soon thereafter,died, in 1923, to be brought back to Rowan County to be buried..

Rosa Bell, now married, is found next in 1920 in Carthage, Moore County, which seems thererafter, to become the home base for the family. How soon after 1900 did Tirzy die, and what happened to the younger children after that? Did they end up in an orphange or did Krider somehow take them under his arm? Did they live with other members of the Simpson family? I can't find most of them in 1910, and have no answers for these questions.

Rosa and Henry Deese stayed settled in Moore County. She died there in 1964 at the age of 83. The couple had 10 children. 

The 10 were: 1901 Hessie Mae, 1902 Carrie Vivian, 1907 - Jaspar A., 1908 Sunnie Belle Blue, 1909 Craven Lee, 1912 Junia Pines, 1914 Dorothy E., 1915 Roy Lincoln, 1919 Henry Alexander, 1923 Eula Mildred. 

Mattie Quinn

Mattie Quinn Simpson was Tirzy's second born. I've looked at the names of Tirzah's children and grandchildren to see if they had left any hints, but have not yet came up with anything. Quinn was a very odd middle name for a girl in those days, and it is not a name to be found in Stanly County, where they were born. I wonder where she got it.

Mattie was one of the few siblings I was able in 1910. She's the one who married on December 9, 1906 at the home of W. R. Krider, pictured above, man and home. 

Living with her was her younger brother, Ferris S. Simpson, also seen as Parris. Ferris is the oldest of the 4 brothers, he aligns in age with the 'David" in the 1900 census, which was pretty much illegible. They were living in Providence in Rowan County on Miller's Ferry Road. Not far from them was W. R. Krider, their cousin Bud Simpson living with them. Just a few houses away was Bud's wife and son, Pearl Brandon Simpson, living with her parents.

In 1920, her next oldest brother, Richard R. Simpson was living with them. Mattie raised her 3 children in Spencer and Salisbury. They were Lawrence, Marvin and Mildred. When James Lawrence Snider, her husband, died, Mattie remarried to John Archie Hutchins later in life. Her marriage license did not name any parents, as she married in Rowna, and she lived unitl 1976, one year too long to obtain a death certificate online. They are only accessible until 1975. Mattie outlived all of her siblings, passing away at 92.

Minnie Matilda

Minnie was the youngest of Tirzy's three daughter sand the second one married. She was born on  August 10, 1888 and married Jacob "Jake" Motley on May 9, 1905, at the age of 15. Like Rosa, Minnie was married in Cabarrus County.  I wonder about the Cabarrus County link. Not a one of them married or stayed in Stanly County, where they were born.

No parents were listed on Minnies's marriage certificate and on her death certificae, it said 'parents unknown.

Minnie and Jake were rolling stones. They lived in different parts of Cabarrus County, moved over to Mecklenburg County in the Clear Creek area, then  back to Cabarrus. At one point, they were living in Stanfield, in Stanly county, as mentioned in one brother's obituary, but was not there long. In 1930, they were living on Hwy 27, which we know now as the Charlotte Road or, Hwy 24/27.

Minnie and Jake had 8 children, the last two twins, a typical large family for the times. 1905 John James, 1906 Bertha Lillian, 1908 Clarence Randolph, 1910 Ida Virginia, 1912 Walter R., 1914 Minnie Beratrice, 1920 Ruby Lee and Edna Mae.

Minnie passed away on Nov. 27, 1969 in Charlotte, NC.

Ferris S. Parris Simpson

Ferris was the oldest son of Tirzy. We saw him in 1910, living with his sister, Mattie in Rowan County. Ferris was born on June 17, 1891.

In 1912, at age 20, he married Maude Lue Velen Barnhardt in Cabarrus County.  On the marriage listing, he is called "Parris", like he was in the 1910 census. He gave the names of his parents as Ben Simpson and Tuzzer Simpson. I'm led to believe that Tirzy must have passed away soon after the birth of Lum Lee, or even in childbirth, as the boys have but the vaguest recollection of their mothers name and seem to create a fathers' name out of thin air entirely.  Rosa seemed to have remembered that Tirzy had been a 'Randle' for awhile, although she couldn't remember the exact name and gave her father as 'John', perhaps in a "John Doe" fashion, or as a recollection of John Randle.   

Ferris and Maude raised thier family in Cabarrus County. They had 8 children: 1913 Joseph Martin, 1912 Paul Jordan, 1920 Beulah Velene, 1924 Lena F., 1925 Clarence Cornelius, 1927 Zeb Clay, 1937, Eunice J 1936 Pearl R.

Ferris was the second of his siblings to pass away. It appears the influence of W. R. Krider, and thie cousin Bud Simpson, stayed with them for a long time. 

Ferris was 50 years old. His obituary helped to locate the remainng siblings. His suicide note instructed his family to "Bury me close to my mother if you can". I don't believe that happned. Ferris was boruried at Cold Springs Water Lutheran Church in Cabarrus County. It's an old church, but there is no indication that Tirzy was buried there.  Another brothers story that they were raised in Cabrrus County may hold water, howeve. Tirzy could have moved there between 1900 and 1910.

Ferris's Obituary listed Minnie in Spencer, Mattie in Stanfield, Stanly County, and put Rosa in Lake View, South Carolina, where I had had no indication she had ever lived. It aloso listed two brothers, Lum and Rome, in Moore County. I did not know who they were, but I found out. There was another brother, who I had found in 1920 with Mattie, but who was not listed in the obituary. That is because he was the first to pass away.

Richard Ruben Simpson aka "Rich".

Rich escaped the 1910 census, but showed up in 1920 in Rowan County with Mattie and her family. Before that, however, he is in the 1913 City Directory of Spencer. He was 18 at that time.

By age 20, in 1915, he was traveling between Rowan County and Albemarle, in Stanly County where he was arrested for distilling. It appeared that Rich was heading into a life in the family business. Then came the 1918 Draft

Rich's draft notice tells us that he was born in Albemarle, NC, lived in Spencer and was working as a laborer at the Virginia Steel and Iron Works in Spencer.  He was single, stoutly built and of medium height, with Gray eyes and Black hair. War took him places, including Hawaii and Japan. He must have came back a changed man. In 1920, he was living with his sister in Providenece and workng as a laborer at a Lumber Mill. They lived on Long Street in East Spencer.

Rich was a single man, and still making trips back to Stanly. I wonder how much they knew and what they really knew about thier early years.

Then the 1930 census finds him in the Moore County jail, where a number of his siblings had settled.

Life didn't last long for Richard. He married shortly after his release from Jail to Ollie Manus. The marriage produced no children and shortly after, Rich was admitted to the Veterans Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina for Kidney failure. He died there on January 14, 1935 at the age of 38.

Rich was returned to Carthage, Moore County for burial. His death certificate gave his father's name as Ben Simpson and his mother's name as Terzis Reynolds and his birthplace as Salisbury. Remember, this was his widow who had married him four years prior giving the information. Rich knew he was born in Stanly County. 

Ollie came close on Tirzys first name. I'm guessing Reynolds was supposed to be Randle. Who knows where the 'Ben' came from, and of course a man must have taken his father's last name. All these lies that had to be told to create a false narrative of origins.

Rich's Tombstone from Find-A-Grave

Ollie Alma Manus Simpson would remarry and live a long life. From her memorial cames this information:

Ollie Maness Simpson was the daughter of Gainie Andrew Maness (1865-1933) and Nancy Elizabeth Muse Manness (1866-1931). As a young woman during WWI, Ollie Alma was married to Rich R Simpson finding herself living in 1935 in Richland, South Carolina while Rich was admitted to a Veteran's Hospital. After he passed, on December 24, 1942, she married Charles Cleveland Atkins in Greenwood, Lee, North Carolina.

William Jerome "Rome" Simpson

Rome Simpson was the youngest one to show up in the 1900 census, and was the next to youngest child. It is likely Rome and Lum, his younger brother, had no recollections of Tirzy at all.

Born on June 6, 1899, Rome, as he was called, bypassed both the 1910 and 1920 cnesus, however, he did not bypass the draft. At 19, in 1918, he was working for Ralph McDondald as a laborer and gave his nearest relative as his oldest sister, Rosa.

Rome has draft cards for both WWI and WWII. They find him in Carthage, in Moore County, where both oldest sister Rosa, and youngerst brother, Lum lived. At 44, he is married and working for Jim Morgan. He gave his birthplace as Stnly County. They knew they were born in Stanly. Why had Ferris tried to claim he was born in Cabarrus?

On January 23, 1926, at the age of 26, Rome married Miss Georgia Morrison in Moore County.  He gave his parents as John Simpson and  Tussie Simpson. Close. So we had a John, a George, a Ben, a couple of unknowns and now we are back to John.

Rome and Georgia had 5 children: 1926 Pauline Blue, 1927 William Jerome II, aka  "Buddy", 1931 Martin Louis, 1937 Reba Yvonne, 1944 Jame Gardner. 

Rome lived to be 78, spending most of his llife in Moore County, NC.

Lum Lee Simpson

Lum was the last of Tirzy's children. He was not in the 1900 census, as he was not born yet. It's possible Tizy died in childbirth after having Lum. Lum  Lee is an odd name. Lum in the old days, was short for Columbus. I wonder if that is actully what Tirzy named him, or dwas she the one who named him?

We find him first as a married man of 19. Lum and Rome had a lot in common. Both stayed in Moore County, both had WWI and WWII draft notices. Lum was 18 at the start of WWI and 41 at the start of WWII.

Lum was a farmer, unlike his older brothers. His Draft cards gave his birthplace as Stanly County, correctly. And like his brother, Rome, he is described as being of medium hieght and build, with black hair and  brown eyes. 

Lum married Bessie Shileds at the age of 19.

His marriage certficate gives his father as Unknown and his mother as Tirzzie Simpson. 

Lum Lee Simpson, later in life.

He and Bessie had 4 children: 1920 Lee Alexander, 1924 Bertha Mae, 1930 Earl Shields, 1933 Maida.

The children of Tirzy left no hints in the namimg of their children. They mainly stuck to terndy names of the time, like Walter or Bertha. Occasionally, there was a nod to their partners family, as in Earl Shields Simpson, or to themselves, as in Lum's son, Lee Alexander, or Minnie's daughter, Minnie; but none to the Simpson side of the family, no Tirzys', no Judy's, no Nathaniels. 

Lum's death certificate gives his father as George and his mother as unknown, but the informant was his wife, Bessie, who had no first hand knowledge of his days before their marriage. 

In Summary, the descendants of Tirzah Simpson have a right to be confused. Her children gave various names of their father or fathers, or none at all. Records indicate they knew they were born in Stanly County, North Carolina, but other records, like Lum's obituary, claim he was from Cabarrus County. As most of them skipped enumeration on the census in 1910, it may be entirely possible they grew up in a childrens home in that area. 

Ferris requested to be buried near his mother, and was buried in Clear Creek cemetery in Cabarrus County. Had Tirzah moved there before her death? 

The 1900 census on which Tirzy and children was taken in June and her last child, Lum Lee, was born two months later, so she was considerably pregnant when the enumerater came by. Could she have been a widow, of someone of the same last name? Certainly. But no record, or person who would fit, exists. And the variance in father's names given, and the preponderance of "unknown" being given as father, especially in the records when the children were alive, suggests not.

Both Rome and Lum appear in the birth records of Stanly County under the name of John Simpson. Of course these delayed records were given well after the brothers were born. Was there a John Simpson, still living at the time of their birth, Col. John B Simpson.  A not - too- close relative of theirs, I blogged on him in the following post.

The Intriguing Col. John B. Simpson

John B Simpson was born in 1827 and was in his 70's when these children were born. His wife Ursula had passed away around 1900, too. Two facts that might give this theory credence are that John Brantley Simpson did have a reputation as a ladies man, and did have at least one illegitimate child. Secondly, after the death of Ursula, he married Martha Randle, a sister of John H. Randle, whom Tirzy had married. He and Martha had a son, Robert, while John B. was in his 70's. So he was able, available, and the Randle connection is just eery.

Do I believe John was their father? Not really. The proven connection of W. R. Krider lends more weight to the theory of Tirzy having things in common with her cousin Laura.

My hopes in posting is that Tirzy 's many descendants can at least find their way as descendants of Nathaniel Simpson, and possibly, with DNA, discover the father, or fathers of Tirzah's children.

 Early Autumn on the Western border of Stanly County would mean the spicy scent of rotten cotton bolls and ripe soy beans in the air, a tinge of color on the edge of the maple and dogwood trees, with the sweet gums leading the way and crisp mornings leading into warm afternoons, perfect for a young mans frolic and fun, knowing hunting season was soon to be upon him.

Phillip Lambert was no exception. Just 20, and itching to bring home venison to the family table, and rid the families fields of a few more intrusive deer, and maybe a turkey or wild boar or two, Phillip took his gun along with him as went to help his father, Leonard, down at their gin in the old community of Mission, in Stanly County, near the Cabarrus County border

I came across the following newspaper article quite accidentally, while searching for something else entirely. Reading of this Lambert family living in Mission, I instantly knew that they must have belonged somewhere in my family tree, and they certainly did.

Mission is about where family progenitor, Rev. John Lambert, landed when he first arrived in what is now Stanly County around 1820, with all but one of his children and his wife, Piety. This is my paternal family line and pretty much everyone named Lambert in Stanly and the surrounding counties are descended from Rev. John, especially if they have Western Stanly roots.

So, when I attempted to find Phillip, I didn't have to look long, as he was already there, in my family tree, and related in not one, but two ways, of course.

Phillip A. Lambert was the son of John Leonard Lambert, a Confederate Veteran born in 1842, who died in 1921. John Leonard Lambert was my 1st cousin 4 times removed, a son of Nathan Lambert and Polly Tucker Lambert. Nathan was the son of John Lambert, Jr. and a grandson of family progenitor, Rev. John. John Jr. is my line, via his son, William "Buck" Lambert, making Nathan my 3rd Great GrandUncle. Got that?

To add to this melee, Phillip's mother was Syliva Samira Honeycutt, daughter of John Timothy Honeycutt and wife, Sylvia. On her own, Sylvia was my 3rd Great GrandAunt, as I am a direct descendant of her brother, Charles McKinley Honeycutt. It's quite safe to say, Phillip was family. 

Bless his short life, as Phillip only appeared in one census, 1880, as a 4 year old. Leonard Lambert had done really well for himself, success as a farmer had led him to expand his enterprises and become a businessman as well. As one of only two sons, Phillip would have had an ambitious and promising future ahead of him, a very bright future that was cut short due to the instance described in the following article:

Young Phillip A. Lambert was laid to rest in Lambert Family Cemetery Number Two near the community of Red Cross in western Stanly County. 

 Odum Asbury Simpson was the fancy name of a man known much more commonly as "Bud". Bud, sometimes seen as Bud Simpson, and other times as Bud Crider or Krider, was the son of  Laura Simpson of Stanly County. His father was William R. Krider of Rowan County and these two individuals could not have been more different. 

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Detail from the Collet Map of 1770 W. P. Cumming, North Carolina in Maps (Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History, 1966)

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