The term moral insanity was first used  in 1835 by Dr. James Cowles Prichard, a physician, who described it as 'madness consisting in a morbid perversion of the natural feelings, affections, inclinations, temper, habits, moral dispositions and natural impulses, without any remarkable disorder or defect of the interest or knowing and reasoning faculties , and particularly without any insane illusion or hallucinations."

In this post, I will deal with a case of moral insanity.

During a recent conversation with a cousin who is now an author, I made the comment. "You picked the right family", referring to his two published books and two more in the making, based upon our mutual ancestors, who were anything but usual and whose substance and lives are full of stories to be told. Truth be told, every family has a story, if one digs deep enough and wide enough, to find out more about the individuals within the family trees, not just names and dates. 

My last two posts were on members of the Solomon/ Dancy family. Three of the children of the John and Abigail Loyd Dancy family of Iredell County,  married three Solomons from Stanly County. My end goal is to answer certain questions about this family and these three Solomons, who were born in the 1820/1830's.

1) Were the three, John E., Jarrett Thomas and Lucinda G. Solomon siblings, cousins, or otherwise related?

2) If so, who were their parents? Which of the three sons of William and Diana Gordon Solomon who migrated to the Stanly (Montgomery) County area, William, Bennett, Goodwin, did they descend from/ were the children or grandchildren of?

3) How did they make the acquaintance of the Iredell County Dancy's? There were no Dancy's in Stanly County. 

While looking for answers to these questions, I discovered that Lucinda G. Solomon had married William Armstrong Dancy, the oldest son of John and Abigail Dancy. Lucy, as she was called, was the first Solomon to marry a Dancy, in 1848. Lucy was the middle one of the three, in age. John E., the oldest of the three, was next, marrying Will's sister, Eliza C. Dancy, in 1849. And lastly, Jarrett Thomas Dancy, the youngest of the three, married Will and Eliza's younger sister, Margaret, in 1855. We have two clues concerning the two Solomon men. First, John E. Solomon had been ordered in 1841, in the Court of Pleas and Quarters of Stanly County, to be brought to court to be bound out, a system of 'foster care' in the 19th century, so to speak. The court record also noted that he had been living with Edmund W. Lilly at the time. John would have been 17 at the time and this system was used in the case of orphaned or fatherless children.

Before 1850, John had bought and sold land in Stanly County, gotten married, and in 1850, was living in the town of Gold Hill in Rowan County, which is not far from his Stanly County origins. Also, in 1850, Jarrett Thomas Solomon was 14, and living in the home of John Dancy, as if he had been bound to that family, but normally, children who were brought to court to be bound out, were bound to family's who lived in their home county. To be honest, I've not seen the exception, ever. That doesn't mean it never happened, but if it did, it was probably a familial connection, because I know of two young girls who were "half-orphaned' and sent to live with family outside of their home county. In this case, the father had 'went west' and no one really knew if he was dead or alive, and then the mother, who was waiting for his return, passed away. 

The Texas Dancy Brothers, W. E (left) and John C. (right)

Two of the sons of William A. and Lucinda G. Dancy, William E. and John C., had also 'went west', in this case, to Texas. 

William E., was the youngest son of the couple, having a sister younger than he. His aunt, Eliza C. Dancy Solomon and her husband, John E., a childless couple, seem to have taken this one and his family under their wing. There were several land transactions and other instances, that find the two couples together in a somewhat 'parental' stance or situation. 

William had married a girl from Rowan County named Teresa Roxanna Pethel and they became the parents of seven children, the first four having been born in North Carolina, and moved sometime in the later part of 1899 or early part of 1900, to Texas, as daughter, Lucinda Love Dancy, was born in North Carolina on June 10, of 1899, and the family was living in Dallas by July of 1900.

The oldest child of this family was a son, named Elmer Hoover Dancy, sometimes  referred to as "Hoover". 

Hoover had been born August 14, 1891 in Concord, Cabarrus County, NC, a thriving mill town at the time. He was 8 or 9 upon the families removal to Texas. By 1900, cities in the east were fairly modern constructs, although farmers still plowed with mules and would drive the team and wagons to town. Yet, the West was still very much the wild wild West. It could have been a bit of a culture shock, especially to the women and children in the group. Dallas, on the other hand, was already a thriving and burgeoning metropolis by the turn of the century. 

John C. Dancy had went there to practice the trade of a Barber, while William E. Dancy was a carpenter, set to work in all of the building that was being undertaken. Elmer Hoover Dancy appears to have been called 'Hoover', his middle name, as a boy. He was a student in 1900, the oldest of 4 children, followed by Mary L, Leroy S., and Lacy L., the baby 11 months old. Leroy was obviously named for W. E. 's brother Leroy. 

On September 19, 1908, at the young age of 17, Hoover married for the first time to a girl named Mabel Shanks. Mabel, 16, was a Texas girl, daughter of William Henry and Mattie Frazier Shanks. Thus began a series of both happy and tragic events for the teenagers.

On June 8, 1909, nine months after their marriage, Hoover and Mabel welcomed their honeymoon baby, a son they named William Hoover Dancy, aptly named for both of his grandfathers and his father.

Sadly, before the year was over with, on December 17, 1909, Mabel, barely 18 years old, would pass away. Her baby boy was only 6 months old. 

In the 1910 census, taken on April 10, 1910, little William Hoover is shown in the home of his grandparents, with his 18 year old father. Also in the home is Jacob V. Pethel, 75, Teresa Pethel Dancy's father. Many family trees have William as the last child of William Edward and Teresa Dancy, as Teresa was only 37 and still in her childbearing years, but the record clearly states that he was a granchild.

Then tragically, just a month later, on May 16, 1910,  little William Hoover Dancy died of Whooping Cough at 11 months old. This was a load of tragedy to happen to a boy before he's twenty years old. 

Hoover would quickly find another wife, and later that same year, on October 2, 1910, he would marry a girl named Lillie White.

Lillie Mae White was a mere child of 13 when she married the now 19 year old Hoover. The daughter of Hiram and Rosanna White, she had been born in Alabama. 

They settled in a town called Peach, in Wood County, Texas, but life was anything but peachy. A brief history of Peach is included below.

A number of children were born, not all of them named.

Leroy R. Dancy , named for a series of Leroy's in the family, came frist, on August 18, 1911.

Another baby boy was born on September 417, 1913 and died in April of 1914.

William Elmer Dancy was born on September 17, 1913

Raymond Hoover Dancy was born August 19, 1915

Boy born and died in 1917. May have been born dead.

Boy born and died in 1918, also died at birth or shortly after.

The onlly daughter, Dorothy Dell Dancy, was born on January 20, 1919.

There was one other child, born after Dorothy, gender not revealed, buried as "Infant Dancy" in Lousiana.

Hoover's World War I  gives the information that he was born on August 14, 1890 in Concord, NC. He was employed in Sawmilling in Peach, Texas by F. H. Payne. He was of a medium height and weight with blue eyes and 'sandy' hair, referring to a dark blonde or light brown shade. He claimed a wife and two children.

The 1920 census is the only one that shows the family together. Hoover, oddly, is shown as "Charles", which wasn't his name at all. He's 32, Lillie is 23 and the boys are Leroy, 8, Elmer, 6, and Raymond 2. Dorothy wasn't born yet. The family was anything but happy. Hoover was working as a millwright at a Saw Mill. 

At some point, the family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. Did too many folks know them in Peach? Did he have work there? Were there demons to be left behind?

At what point had Hoover gone mad, I wonder? Before or after the war? Had he treated Mabel, just a teen, like he treated Lilly? But mad, out of his mind, paranoid, angry, and hostile, he was.

Hoover Dancy was a dangerous and abusive husband, which leads me to believe his abuse my have led to the death of some, or all of the premature and stillborn babies. 

In April of 1927, Hoover , drunk and dangerous, threw his wife and children out of the house. They found shleter at a tourist camp. Lilly, at some point, had cautiously returned home to attempt to get some of their belongings, bringing her oldest son, Leroy, 16, with her, perhaps for protection. They may have been hoping Hoover was passed out or not at home. He was neither, and attacked Lilly with a kitchen knife, slashing her throat and arm. She was hospitalized and he was jailed.

Lilly, in a classic case of abused spouse syndrome, refused to press charges, but was attempting to get a divorce, which angered Hoover greatly. In a turn of events that seem shocking, Lilly left the children in the hands of her husband, and yet, returned to cook for them everyday. This act led to her demise.

Shreveport. Louisiana, June, 1927

Several different papers reported the shocking "Murder - Suicide", some giving various details. Hoover had written a  letter to his children, indicating that his actions were premeditated. He stated he could not live without Lilly, so they would die together.

From "The Vernon Daily Record", Vernon, Texas June 27, 1927

A Texas newspaper, The Vernon Daily Record, reported that death was not immediate for either spouse, that Hoover was 'dying and that Lilly was in serious condition.

A Louisiana newspaper reported that Hoover was a carpenter, by trade and that he was on parole, or "liberty', as it was called, and that Lilly had filed for divorce. Odd that she would use fidelity, and not abuse, as cause. Perhaps in the twenties, abuse was not a valid reason for divorce.

On his death certificate, Hoover's name was given as 'Elam Hoover Dancy'. He had lived at 3011 Alabama Street in Shreveport. Despite having been described in the newsparers as 'middle-aged',  Hoover was only 38 years, 10 months and 13 days old. He was a Carpenter, and married to Mrs. Lillie Mae Dancy. Born in North Carolina, He was the son of 'Wm Edward' and T. R. Pethel Dancy, both born in North Carolina. The informant was Lee R. Dancy of Dallas, Texas, his brother, not his son or Uncle of the same name. Cause of death was Traumation and Firearm (suicide) and the date was June 27, 1927. He was buried at Forest Park Cemetary.

The Shreveport Times, Shreveport, LA

There must be ghosts in Old Shreveport, because in a macabre twist and discourteous affront to Lillie, both killer and victim were buried in the same grave, per Mad Hoovers wishes, detailed in the note he left for the children. The four surviving children were placed in the custody of Hoover's brother, Gilbert, in Mira, LA.

The couple left four living children and a half dozen deceased ones. Only daughter, Dorothy Dell Dancy, six, witnessed the violence. I wondered how such a volatile and traumatic childhood had affected the Dancy children. 

Great Wagon Road via Wikipedia

In my previous post, I explored the family tree of the three Solomon Brothers who had migrated from Franklin County, North Carolina to the Yadkin Valley, specifically, the area where the Uwharrie River and the Yadkin River join to form the Pee Dee River, in what is now Stanly County, and was then, a part of Montgomery, and before that,  Anson. When did they leave and when did they arrive? Perhaps a look at the land records from both counties can give us some clues.

Green Hill was the publisher and registrar of some of the early deed books in Franklin County.  He also had interactions with some of the Solomon family. There was a marriage between a Peggy Hill and Goodwin Solomon, a younger Goodwin Solomon than the one who left Franklin for Montgomery County, NC, in Tennesee, and I have wondered if Peggy was related to Green Hill and that the family link ran back to Franklin. 

Solomons appear in many records in old Franklin, some of them nominal, as witnesses or such, and I've not included all. Chosing to focus only on ones that I felt offered information, insight, or show a connection with other names, I present a list of pertinent land records that may offer up some clues for a later examination of the possibilties. 

July 24, 1782 Book 5 P. 85 

John Edwards of Montgomery County, NC to William Solomon Jr of Franklin County, NC, for 35 pounds current money the tract of 200 acres whereupon Solomon now lives adjoining Joshua Richards, Jacob Crocker, Collier, Hawkins, and Huckaby. Witnesses: Jacob Crocker and Gaad Pearce.

In the above transaction, we see an early Montgomery County,  North Carolina connection. The Solomon Brothers did not set off randomly. They knew people who were already here. William Jr. here was William the 2nd, not the son who left for Montgomery County. 

November 30, 1784 Book 4 P. 111

William Solomon of Edgecomb County, NC to William Solomon Jr of Franklin County, for 20 pounds current money, a tract of 400 acres in Franklin County on the road adjoining Huckaby and Seawell. Witnesses were Joshua Gordon and Darkis Gordon. 

In the above transaction, we see a transaction between father and son, with Sr. being in Edgecomb still. The Huckaby family were neighbors and close associates. Joshua and Darkis Gordon were members of Deanna Gordon Solomons family. Darkis was a female.

June 9, 1785 Book 5 P 109

William Solomon of Edgecomb County North Carolina, to Durham Hall of Franklin County NC, for 20 pounds..a tract of 100 acres in Franklin County NC, beginning at a white oak on the road, Seawell's line, and adjoining William Solomon Jr, and Seawell. Witnesses: James Ross and John Hall. 

This shows William the first selling land to Durham Hall, a property that borders the land of William II. Durham Hall will sell this property shortly.

September 10, 1789 Book 5 P.105

John Solomon of North Hampton County, NC to Evan Andrews of Franklin County NC, for 20 pounds..a tract of 100 acres in Franklin lying on the waters of Bear Branch adjoining Bustian, Hill and Hall. Signed by Mary Solomon. Witness was Joseph Andreas.

This was John, the brother of William II.

Deed  1061 Book 5 Page124 James Huckaby of Franklin County to Joseph Williams of Wilkes County, Georgia, January 13, 1791, for 400 pounds Virginia currency, two tracts of land in Franklin County, NC. One, 300 acres on the northwest side of Bear Swamp joining Charles Ivey and Wynn (formerly the property of Pearce). Two 153 acres joining William Goodwin, Michajah Davis, Isaac Gorden and Goodwin Solomon, it being part of a tract granted to William Russell bearing the date February 6, 1762. Witnesses were Bennett Hill and W. B. Hill.

In the above deed, we see one of the three brothers, Goodwin Solomon, living on a tract of land that adjoined that of John Huckaby. The Huckabee or Huckaby family was one we know was connected to both the Solomons and McGregor's. They probably migrated to Montgomery County together. Also adjoining the property was the lands of an Isaac Gordon, Gordon being the maiden name of Goodwin's mother, and William Goodwin, who may have also been related at some point back. I also highlighted the name of Micajah Davis, as this was another family the Solomons married into. With the witnesses, we again see the name Hill. 

January 29, 1791 Book 5 P. 107

Durham Hall of Franklin County to John Melton of same for 18 pounds VA. currency a tract of 100 acres beginning at a white oak on the road and adjoining Bell and William Solomon Jr. Witnesses were Jordan Hill and James Ross.

This deed is important to show a connection or neighboring relationship between John Melton and the Solomons. Another will come up soon. John Melton also would migrate to Montgomery County. This is the same tract that William the first had sold to Durham Hall six years prior.

Ramblin' Man, Our State Magazine

Beautiful Yadkin Valley, Our State Magazine

April 7, 1818 Will Stone to George Crowell, 50 acres joining John Kirk and James Watkins, southwest side of Yadkin River, begins at John Kirks Spanish Oak, east of a small branch, joining Samuel Carter, and Bennett Solomon. William Crowell and Bennett Solomon chain carriers. 

By now, it's easy to see that Will Stone was a land prospector, or baron. This may have been the younger Bennett as a chain carrier.

January 1, 1821 Duncan McRae to John Parker, 18 acres joining his own line, began at Bennett Solomon's corner red oak. David Kendall and Newton Howell were chain carriers. Newton Howell became a merchant in Albemarle. One of his sons would marry into the Solomon family. I believe he may have been a son of Thomas Howell. 

June 8, 1826 Duncan McRae to George Kirk, 5 acres joining his own line and that of Thomas Huckabee on the waters of the Yadkin River, includes an island in the Yadkin River, beginning at a water oak at the uppermost end of the island near George Kirks fish traps and joins the lower extremity of the island, with a plat showing land in island joins the "thurrifare" (sic), or the Fayetteville Road. William Solomon and John Marks were chain carriers. 

By this time, the Kirk family are taking over the lands bordering the Yadkin in the Tindallsville area. This William Solomon was Bennett Sr.'s son, not his brother, who married Tabitha Marks, daugther of James Marks and wife Catherine Gunter, who came from Chatham County and settled on Clodfelter Hill. John Marks would have been his brother-in-law. He has his own story coming. William's mother, Ava McGregor Solomon, is now a widow and has gone with some of her younger children to Warren County, Tennesee, where a few of her brothers have already settled. Only William, who took over the ministry when his father died, and his sister, Fanny, who married Jarrett Russell, stayed in this area, that would become Stanly County. 

In the Montgomery County, NC Land Warrants adn Surveys 1833-1950,  there are several deeds involving members of the Carter family of Mountain Creek, all in a row. 

No 4586       108 acres survey on the west side of the Fayetteville Road, joins Mark Jones, George Carter, deceased, Joseph Ingram and Marcus Carter were chain carriers. I've tried to find proof of the parents of Marcus Princeton Carter for years, with no luck Perhaps he was a child of the deceased George Carter. Marcus married my 4th Great Aunt, Nancy Marks Carter and Joseph Ingram married my 3rd Great Aunt, Nancy Baldwin Davis. 

No 4587 Jacob Carter was granted 100 acres between Mountain Creek and Cloverfork Creek, beiginning with his own line and joined the property of William Noble and Samuel Carter. Watson Rigs and BarlettCarter were chain carriers. 

William Noble was one of the Noble family from Noble Mountain which sits just outside Morrow Mountain State Park and north of Mountain Creek, before running into Huckabee Hill. There is Samuel Carter, the known Carter patriarch of the Mountain Creek Carters, and there was also a younger Samuel Carter. And then the name Bartlett. Bartlett was a Franklin County name. There was a Bartlett Huckabee and a Barlett McGregor. I wonder who this guy was? Was he a grandson of Samuel Carter with possibly a McGregor or Huckabee mother?

4588 Jacob Carter Jr.  received a 50 acre grant in 1809 on the waters of Mountain Creek and joined Joshua Carter Sr., Labon Carter and Jacob Carter Sr. Began at a post oak near Labon Carter's corner, near George Stiles, near Chisholms corner. Littleton Fisher and John Carter were chain carriers.

There were several generations of Carters, it seems, living on Mountain Creek, connected to each other, in one big Carterville hive. Yet, look online and you will only see Samuel Carter, who recieved the original grant for his service, having 3 sons. This family was much larger than that, obviously. Who were all of these Carters and how were they connected?

4589 Joshua Carter, Jr.  50 acres on the waters of Mountain Creek, 1809, joins Joshua Carter, Sr., Harris Allen, Boler Allen, and began at the third corner of Joshua Carter, Sr's 25 acre tract. Daniel Shad and Thomas Howell were chain carriers. 

4590 Finally, we have Travis Carter's 100 acres, joined his own line and David Safely's, on the waters of Mountain Creek, joining Labon Carter& David Safely. Bennett Solomon and Henry Carter were chain carriers. 

This one was several years later in 1828, so this was Bennett Solomon Jr. Probably a second generation Henry Carter, as well, and not the son of Samuel. What's interesting is that in 1821, Bennett Solomon Jr. had fathered an illegitmate child with an Elizabeth Carter. Was she a daughter of Labon or Travis? Bennett Jr.'s brother, Willis Lymon Solomon married a lady named Myrick Safely, probably a relation of David. 

The Solomons may have appeared in the Montgomery County Court records, but because of courthouse fires, so many records were lost. But they also appeared in the Court records of Cabarrus County. They had a Cabarrus County connection and may have went there to avoid crossing the river. 

In the Cabarrus County Pleas and Quarters Sessions, on October 17, 1821, Bennett Solomon (Jr.) posted a $200 bond against the charge of a bastardy that he had fathered a child, "begat on the body of Elizabeth Carter."I am searching for more information of Elizabeth Carter and who the child could possibly be. 

Also going on in 1821 was a suit between William Solomon and Joseph and John Reid. This was not my ancestor, Rev. William Soloman, son of Bennett. This was a different William Solomon. Was this his uncle, William Solomon III, or had he already gone west to join his brother, Jordan Solomon, in Lincoln County, Tennesee? This William in the lawsuit had to be the one in the census below, living in Cabarrus County, NC in 1820.

The William Solomon/ Reed brothers lawsuit continued into October Session 1822. William Solomon was also brought up on a peace warrant that year and was discharged from his bond.

Also of interest in these sessions was another bastardy bond, this one between a man named John Baugh. and Eleanor Bruster, a single woman. There was also the case of James Bruster and Culpepper Lee, who was from Anson County. James Bruster was from Cabarrus County, and may have lived in Stanly (Montgomery) for awhile. He was a chain carrier in one of the above deeds with Bennett Solomon, he was the bondsman for marriage of Drury (Drew) Solomon and Eleanor Killough in Cabarrus County and was named as the father of John W. Solomon, son of Nancy Solomon, when John married. Nancy lived in Stanly (Montgomery) county. These are names not yet mentioned, but there will be more on them later. The Brusters tie them all together. 

We know Bennett Solomon married Ava McGregor, daughter of Rev. William McGregor. We know William Solomon married Harty Bridges, daugther of William Bridges of Franklin County, NC, but it's not known at this point who Goodwin Solomon  married.

Back in Franklin, several Solomon marriages were recorded, but none for Goodwin.

Amos Solomon married Sally Porch in 1820.

James Solomon married Milley Upchurch in 1820.

John Solomon married Cressy Wrenn in 1795.

These were cousins of the children of William Solomon II and Deanna Gordon.

Jeremiah Solomon married Betsey Bridges in 1818. His uncle, Jesse Gordon was bondsman.

Jordan Solomon married Martha Davis in 1843. William Solomon was bondsman.

Jeremiah and Jordan were brothers of the three who came to Montgomery. 

Goodwin Solomon was the bondsman for the marriage of Joseph Milton and Abbygal Bass in 1796. But his own marriage in unknown. Joseph Milton also moved to Montgomery County. 

Now, it's time to look at the three brothers separately, with the question in mind, who could have been the progenitor of the three Stanly County Solomons who married the three Iredell County Dancy Solomons?

All of these threes!

In the woods on Marty Road, just east of the town of Fayetteville, in Lincoln County, Tennesee, lies an old abandoned cemetery, not unlike so many more scattered across the southeast, remnants of a people and a past that life has continued on without. This is one of the two Solomon Cemeteries in Lincoln County. Below the frothy ground covered in vines and marked by an assorted of standing, leaning and collapsed markers, some gone forever, lies the bodies, or what is left of them, of William Solomon III and his wife, Harty Bridges Solomon. Most of the other graves are their descendants, or those that married into this family.

The legible stones bear the names of :

William Solomon born July 9, 1785, died June 30, 1845

Harty Solomon born September 22, 1791, died August 23, 1851

Elizabeth Harrison (1787 - 1855)

Mary Louisa Reece, consort of Joel R. Reece (1823-1849) 

Harriett H. Solomon (1820-1852)

Lucinda C. M. Solomon (1822-1852)

William B. Solomon (1850-1852)

There are so many more graves marked by fieldstones, or stones crumbled and buried, some even taken up into trees.

This William Solomon is my 4th Great Uncle.

On March 15, 1909, Josiah Bridges Solomon, then  in his late 70's, wrote a letter to his younger cousin, Frank Solomon, of Soves, Mississippi. This letter was contributed by Joe Max Williams, and kept in the archives of Auburn University. It can be read in its entirety Here .

Much of the information on our, the Franklin County and Stanly/ Montgomery branch of the Solomon family has been gleaned from this letter. Josiah Bridges Solomon was the son of Jeremiah Solomon, the youngest son of my fifth Great Grandparents, William Solomon and wife, Deanna Gordon Solomon (sometimes seen as Diana). Frank, in Mississippi, was the grandson of William Solomon and Harty Bridges Solomon. As the father of William who married Deanna Gordon was also a William, this William was the second (II) and the William who married Harty Bridges was William III. Josiah's middle name was Bridges because William III's brother, Jeremiah, had also married into the Bridges family.

Frank had obviously inquired into his heritage and information on his grandfather, William III.

As Jeremiah was the only son of William II and Deanna to remain in Franklin County, North Carolina, Josiah was going on what he had been told by his parents, for the most part, as many of them had left Franklin County before his birth. He was familiar with his Uncle Luke, who settled in Granville County and had married Mary "Polly" Gordon, a first cousin, daughter of Isaac Gordon, Deanna's brother. They had four children: Burchat, Abby, William and Jordan. Burchat was a female, and the unusual name was taken from a village their ancestors were from in England.

Josiah was also familiar with a few of his aunts, Sarah "Sallie" Solomon, the youngest daughter, had married a more distant cousin named William Solomon, I believe a second or third cousin and had two daughters, Diana or Deanna, who never married and Lucy, who married and moved west.

His aunt Elizabeth, also called Eliza, had married William Judd, and their grandson had married Josiah's sister.

His Aunt Jane, called Jenny, had married Guilford Lewis and he was well familiar with their children, as they were well educated and many made their mark on the world. 

Josiah's mother was Elizabeth Bridges, daughter of Josiah Bridges, who was a brother of William Bridges, who was the father of Harty Bridges, wife of William III and grandmother of Frank, the recipient of the letter. 

Of the three who came to Montgomery County, NC, Josiah knew little, but he did know that three of his uncles were ministers: Bennett, Goodwin and Jordan. Jordan had migrated to Lincoln County, Tennessee and would later move on to DeSoto County, Mississippi. William III would move to Montgomery County, NC with Bennett and Goodwin and then would later join Jordan in Lincoln County, Tennessee. William was the only one of these four who was not a minister. This is his story.

There are no pictures of William Solomon III that I know of, but he had to have been a looker as Josiah Bridges Solomon's mother, Elizabeth Bridges Solomon, had gushed to him as a child that his Uncle William was "the finest looking man she had ever saw."

The first census record William shows up in is the 1810 census of Montgomery County, North Carolina

He is shown as between 26 and 44, he was 25. His wife, Harty, is shown as between 16 and 25. She was 19.

He was living near John Freeman, Peter Davis, Mary Shankle, James Freeman and Jesse McHenry.

There is a male in the home between 10 and 15, this is not their son. I don't know who this is. Perhaps a hired hand. There is a male under ten, perhaps a baby. There is also a woman over 45 in the home. This is not his mother, as his father is still living and they are both in Franklin County. She is not his mothe-in-law, either, as Harty's mother passed away in 1807 and her father will remarry Tabitha Pittman and he lives until 1833.

William buys land in Montgomery County, NC on and along Mountain Creek. His second deed was one for 30 acres, from Will Stone, that joined his own line and Thomas Cox, surveyed on March 31, 1813 by David Cochran. This tract was located on the waters of Mountain Creek beginning at his own corner pine on the side of a hill on the east side of the creek. Chain carriers were Peter Davis and Thomas Nobles. I am not sure how he disposed of the property, but by 1820, he had moved to Lincoln County, Tennesee, following his older brother, Jordan. 

Now, he has three sons, William Calvin, John Rhea Robinson and James Madison Solomon. William and Harty are shown between 26 and 44. He's 35 and she's 29. He has two young slaves, a male and female. The female many have been Rachel, whom he drew from his father's estate in 1818. His nearest neighbors were Jeems and Jones, no familiar names.

Over the next ten years, William III grows his family and his estate considerably. He now has 6 children and 18 slaves. 

In 1833, back in Franklin County, North Carolina, Hary's father, William Braswell Bridges, had passed away.

He had married Harty's mother Nancy Bell, on January 10, 1789 and they had 7 children: Harty, Elizabeth, Celentha, Willis, Willliam, Mary and Henry Bell Bridges.  Nancy Bell Bridges passed away in 1807, and he had married Martha Crump about 1817. He outlived his second wife as well, as she passed away in 1828. He had married his third wife, Tabitha Pittman on February 22, 1830. By the reading of his will, it is evident that he was really fond of the new wife, and he must have had a falling out with his daughter, Harty, before she headed west. To her he left, "one dollar in addition to the property that she has already had." That property, whether it was land or goods, was not named or what sort it was.

In 1840, William is now in his 50's and his plantaion is a village of 35 people. All ten of their children have been born and they have 22 slaves. There's an extra woman in her 30's living with them, perhaps a tutor for the children.

William Soloman III died not make it to the mid-century mark of 1850. He passed away on June 30, 1845. He was buried in the family cemetery, located a few miles east of the town of Fayetteville in Lincoln County, Tennesee. This was the approximate area in which he also had lived. 

William left a will, dated January 16, 1833 and probated on September 18, 1845.

Within, he first requested that his executors gather all debts owed to him, and also to pay any just debts he owed. Second he wanted all of his property "of every deposition" to be left to his wife, Harty and for the maintenance and her and the mainenance and education of his children.

 He named his 9 children. It was 1833, and William would live another 12 years after the  will was written, so the youngest of his 10 had not been born yet. Still, he had written it as if his demise was eminent.  He might have recovered from a severe illness or accident that had him in doubt of his survival. The 9 who had been born he named as William Calvin, John Rhea, James Madison, Mary Louisa, Elizabeth Jane, Augustus Marion, Bennett Franklin and Joseph Hamilton. Later records would show a few of the names a little different, as in John Robinson instead of John Rhea or Benjmain Franklin instead of Bennett Franklin, but this is how they awere listed in the will. 

He made a stipulation in his will that if any children were born after the date of the Will, that they would share in an equal part to their siblings, and there was one, a daughter, who arrived about two years later.

He made a stipulation that is Harty remarried, the portion of the will involving her share of the estate would be null and void and she would only recieve a child's share, which at that time would be one tenth. These sort of stipulations were made, not out of jealousy or cruelty, but because there were unscrupulous men out there who would take advantage of widows and orphans, and would marry a widow, just to take all she had, and then leave her penniless and homeless.

He freed one of his slaves, named Lucy, and her youngest child 'Lucindy', but not others. He required her other three children, Minerva, Dinah and Clinton, to be sold and the profits arising to be used to take care of his children.

He requested that the property of his where his brother, Jordan Solomon lived be sold "on a credit for 12 months and that what I paid for said property together with legal interest and taxes, and other damages I have paid, be deducted out of the price arising from the sale of said property, and the balance, if any, to go to Jordan Solomon and his legal heirs."

He named James Fulton, James Bright, John V. McKinney and Abner Steed as his excetors. 

The Will was dated January 16, 1833. 

Samuel and A J Roseborough were witnesses and it was probated on September 18, 1845.

In the 1850 census, Harty is shown as 60 years old, with children Augustus, 21, Ben 19, Joseph 18 and Lavina, 15, the daughter born after the Will was written. Nancy H Solomon, 15, was the wife of Ben, as they were married in 1849. Henry King was likely an employee, and possibly an in-law of one of her relatives.

She is shown in the Slave Schedules as owning 9 enslaved people.

Harty followed William to the grave on August 23, 1851, and was buried next to him in the family cemetery. She was 60 years old and her last little bird, Lavinia, had just flown the nest

Fayetteville Observer

Dated September 9, 1851, The Fayetteville Observer, of Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennesee, had this to say about her passing :

"Fell asleep in Jesus on Saturday August 23, 1851, Mrs. Harty Solomon consort of the late William Solomon. She was aged 60 years. She was an affectionate and companiable wife, a devoted and self-sacrificing Mother. Long will she be remembered by a large cirle of relations and acquaintance who feel thier loss in (sic) irreparable. She often said she had no desire to live in this world where disease had worn out her natural body. That she was willing to die and be at rest. She died in an unshaken trust that as her mortal trials were passed God would recieve her spirit. She exhorted her children to live as consistent christions. 

The Ten children of Wililam Solomon III and Heary Bridges Solomon were:

1) William Calvin Solomon (21 Dec 1818 - 9 Dec 1880).

The firstbonr, W. C., garnered a life so full of tragedy that he almost had his own post. He was married four times.

He married first on December 21, 1842, at the age of 24, to Miss Lucinda C. Moore, daughter of Thomas and Lucinda "Linny" Bonner Moore. They had a nice family of six children, six boys and six girls:

A) 1843 Mary Louisa Solomon

B) 1845 Lucy Ann Solomon

C) 1847 Francis Elizabeth Solomon

D) 1850  William Augustus Bonner Solomon

E) 1851 James Andrew Buchanon Solomon

F) 1852 Joseph Harrison Solomon

Lucinda died on February 19, 1852, just weeks after the birth of Joseph. This was not the only tragedy that year, oh no, not at all. On January 9, 1852, just a month before Lucinda died, they'd lost their firstborn son, William Bonner Solomon, aged 2, to 

W. C. Solomon had went through three wives in one year. 

Calvin and Susan would have one son, Brice R. Solomon, on September 27, 1853. Susan would die just a few days after the birh of Brice, who had been named for her brother, Brice Rhea, who had died in 1852, a year prior.

Susan died not of childbirth, but of fever. Unusually enough, Brice did not catch his mother's fever. He lived to be two. Susan was buired in the Rhea Family Cemetery in Fayetteville, Lincoln County, TN, with her parents and first husband.

Sadly, all of Susan's daughters died fairly young.

Sarah Glenn McLaughlin married John F Fly on Dec. 12, 1860 and died on July 25, 1861 at the age of 19. She was gifted a lengthy obituary in the Lincoln Journal, which stated she died of Consumption.

Mary Francis McLaughlin lived the longest, making it past 30, but not by much. She married twice, first to a Ganoe and seoncd to a Blakemore, ghaving 2 sons with the first.

Agnes Araminta McLaughlin married on  on May 18, 1865 to John E. Broyles. She died on April 3, 1873 at the age of 328. No children.

Anna B. McLaughlin married on November 7, 1869 to James Moyers. She died on December 7, 1869, just one month later.

Calvin was not a quitter. On August 11, 1854, he married Sarah C. Traver. Sallie, as she was called, had been born in Columbus, Muscogee, Georgia. She was 34 and wasted no time. In 1855, she gave birth  to a son, William Travers Solomon.

Tragedy was not done with the family of William C. Solomon. The fevers again hit the family and the community. He lost two chiildren in one day. Mary Louisa, his oldest daughter, aged 12, died of scarlet fever.and little Joseph Thomas, aged 4, died of Thyphoid pneumonia, after surviving the death of his mother at 8 days old. Then on July 20th, less than a month later, Brice R. Solomon, his only child with Susan Rhea, died at aged two, after surviving the death of his mother sonn after his birth.

There was also a chancery suit that year involving W. C. and his brothers.

The Joyner - Solomon Sisters

Have you ever tasted any pull-apart bread? If you haven't, you're missing out. It's a cheezy, garlicy, festive indulgence into carbohydrate heaven.  I've included the recipe from The Pioneer Woman, in case you haven't. The name sounding rather ancestry-like and all.

• 1. 1Preheat the oven to 350. Slicing just to the bottom but not through the bottom of the loaf, cut 3/4-inch thick parallel slices. Rotate the bread 45 degrees and repeat the slices, creating a diamond pattern in the loaf.
  2. 2Spread the pesto in between the bread slices. Fill the grooves with mozzarella. Spray a piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray and wrap it around the loaf. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.
  3. 3Remove the bread from the foil and return to the sheet tray. Increase the oven to broil. Broil just until the cheese is bubbling and the top is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

So what does Pull Apart Bread have to do with genealogy, or the family I have been posting on for the past few weeks, the Solomons? My reasoning is because, to correct the massive merging and layovers and confusion in the cousins and descendants and nephews of Rev. Bennett Solomon and Ava McGregor, its like working with pull-apart bread. To untangle the absolute mess that online trees have made of this 5-headed montstor called "Bennett Solomon, Jr.", I first must pull apart the looser strings of later generations until this massive, entangled ball of string is untangled. 

No, Bennett Solomon Jr. did not have 10 wives. He did not die 5 times in 5 different places. There were obviously multiple Bennett Solomons of the latter ages, and not all of them were direct descendants of Bennett and Ava.

Frederick K. Solomon

So to begin this journey, I am starting with Frederick. Why? Because he is a Frederick, and not a Bennett. Because I know he was born on October 10, 1842 in Tennessee and died on November 16, 1912 in Jackson, Missouri. Because I know he married Nancy Catherine Yates on April 15, 1868 in Dade County, Missiouri, and because he named his very firstborn son, Bennett. He also had some other interesting names for his children, like Willis. In various family trees, he has been given two different men and two different women for parents. So, Frederick K. Solomon, who's your Daddy?

The confusion comes in with two different men with similar names. There was Bennett Solomon who married Nora Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Eldridge Parker of Montgomery (Stanly County), North Carolina. Then there was a William Bennett Solomon who married Anna Carlilse Morton. There was also a third Bennett Solomon who married Mahaley Dearman on October 14, 1823 in Grainger County, Tennesee. There was a William Bennett Solomon who lived in Lincoln County, Tennesee, whose wife is named Dorinda.  Don't get me started on the 4 different marriages in Lincoln County, Tennesee to 4 different women by Bennett Solomons during the late 1840's through the 1860's. Some of those, I'm sure, were repeat offenders. 

The confusion began, I am sure, with the fact that in 1830, there is only one Bennett Solomon in the census records of the United States.This one in Montgomery County, NC. 

This shows a man in his 30's, with a wife in the same age group. They have a large family of young children, from all appearances. There are 3 boys and 1 girl between the ages of 5 and 9. There are 2 boys and 1 girl under 5. That must have been a busy, buzzy household with all of those little mouths to feed.

Ten years later, in 1840, there is no more Bennett Solomon in Montgomery County, instead, we have two in Warren County, Tennessee, where Ava McGregor Solomon took her younger children to live near her brothers om Caney Creek in Warren County, Tennessee. In the above census record, we see what looks like a married couple in their 40's. There is one young man in his twenties, perhaps an oldest son who has now hit 20, or almost. The ages checked were not always dead on the money. There's another boy between 15 and 19, one more between 10 and 14, another between 5 and 9 and one under 5. There's a girl between 15 and 19 and one between 5 and 9. If this is the same family as in 1830, and I believe that it was, while they have gained three children in the last decade, they also lost about 3 as well. Sadly, that happened, far too often in those days. They couldn't run the baby to the ER when the childhood maladies came along. Sometimes a disease could wipe out half the family. The parents also had to work very hard just to keep food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. Sometimes parents had practices that were normal or usual in their days, that would be considered neglectful today. Toddlers falling into fires were not unheard of. Accidents involving horses were common. With lack of bridges, drowning occured while trying to cross rivers and streams. I will never get over an old newspaper story I read about from the late 19th century, where a mother had laid an infant on a pallett, or blanket, while she worked in the garden and the baby had been eaten by a pig. I can't remember if it was a wild boar or a domesticated pig that had escaped from a pen. She had ran over and tried in vain to get the infant away from the pig, but to no avail. It was too late.

This was not the only Bennett Solomon in Warren County, however. There was another Bennett Solomon in Warren County. This one was in his twenties, with an apparent wife in the same age group. There were two little girls under 5 in the home, too. This Bennett is living near a Benjamin Morton, and that fact is important, too. 

Ava McGregor is not listed in the 1840 census, but she was there and in 1850, she is back as head of her own household.

1840 is also the first census that Willis Lymon Solomon, a son of Bennett and Ava, shows up in in the census records. Wills is in his twenties and has a wife, Myrick Safely Solomon. The Safely's are mentioned in Montgomery County deeds, as neighbors of and in conjunction with, the Solomons and McGregors. Some off them joined in the migrations to Warren County. There are no children in the home, but there is a woman in her 60's. So there is Ava, living with Willis, or vice versa, and there are her slaves, brought with her from North Carolina. Also on the same page with Willis are several of his brother-in-laws. There's George Bullens who married Martha, Henry Russell who married Molly and Sam Turner, where no adult  male is in the home, so this must be Mrs. Turner, or rather, his sister Jane. There are also a number Mauzy's or Mosey's and on the next page,  a Micajah Mauzy, who married his sister, Sarah. There is also an Asa Hill, who might be a Green Hill descendant and next to Willis, a Solomon Mauzy, which makes me wonder if that is a coincidence, or was there another Mauzy/ Solomon connection way back.

There is a fourth Solomon who appears in the 1840 census of Warren Couny.

That is Henry Solomon. Henry is a very young man, in his 20's, but as his wife is between 15 and 19, he's probably on the lower end of that. They have a son under 5, probably a baby. Now, Henry doesn't live near the others, but quite a distance down the page is William McGregor, Jr., Ava's brother, so the same community. 

So, I will stop right there with this train of thought and return to the subject of Frederick K. Solomon.

Frederick K. and Nancy Yates Solomon family about 1891-1893. Front row l to r: Hardin (1886), F. K (1842), Nancy (1849), Bennett (1869), Mollie (1882) Back row: Jame (1878), Willis (1875), Thomas (1871).

Why Frederick? I chose Frederick primarily because of the number and level of DNA matches I have to his descendants. I have matches at the same level as my matches to others of Bennett and Ava McGregor Solomon's descendants who stem from siblings of my Rev. William Solomon. I also have that same level to descendants of some of his siblings.

The reason this is so important is that people have multiple Bennett Solomon Jr's as sons of Bennett and Ava. I don't believe they named four or five sons the same name, and they didn't. Some were nephews, even Great nephews, I have matches there, two,  but the centimorgans and segments drop. That tells me the relationship is more distant. The connection is not with my 4th Great Grandparents, Bennett and Ava, but probably with my 5th Great Grandparents, William II and Deanna Gordon Solomon. I  say 'probably' because I want you, whomever may be reading this, to keep in mind, some of my posts contain my theories. I will post facts and evidence when I find it, but sometimes records can not be found. They are lost to time and the memories of people who have long left this existence. DNA is the one science left to us after the courthouses have burned. That and coincidence, the habit of being in the right place at the right time, and the naming patterns of children. When I say, "I believe or it's possible", that is my theorizing.

Frederick K. Solomon fell out of the sky. What I mean by that is that he first shows up in records as a full grown man, agend 27, married, and already a father, in 1870.  He is farming in the community of Center, post office Greenfield, in Dade County, Missouri. He was born in Tennessee. Family records have him being born in Warren County, Tennessee.

Now, we do have information on Frederick K. Solomon before 1870, as his was the generation that served in the Civil War. I don't want to explore his entire, unique, military career, but a number of essential facts can be gleaned from these records.

First, is that he was drafted from Benton County, Missouri

Second is that he suffered from epilepsy. Frederick was in the the 8th Missouri Calvary, i the Union Army,  and had spent most of his military career in the hospital at Springfield, Missouri. The document also gives some valuable personal information. It states he was born in "Farren County, Tennessee". There was no such place. Type it in Google and you will get "Warren". He was 26 years of age, six feet tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and dark hair. He had been unfit for duty 60 days. 

"This soldier to my knowledge had occasional bouts of epilepsy during the last year, at present they occur of once per week,. Intellect - much impaired", wrote Dr. E. A. Clark, Surgeon,  Little Rock General Hospital, in  Arkansas on January 18, 1864.

In an earlier document, September 1, 1861, Frederick was declared "non compos mentis", which meant incompetent, or not in his right mind.

So we know Frederick K Solomon was born in 1843 in Warren County, Tennessee. We he was living in Benton County, Missouri when he enlisted. Although I haven't gotten to that part yet, Frederick lived long enough to have a death certificate. From that document we know his father was named Bennett Solomon. The question is which Bennett.

So, to find the answer, I looked for a Bennett Solomon in 1860 in Benton County, Missouri. And, I found him.

The issue is, Frederick is not living in the home with the rest of the family. He would d have been a teenager, so he may have been off working for a neighbor, or away  at schoool, or knowing of his medical condition, maybe away at a hospital. 

This Bennett was born in North Carolina in 1812, or around. His wife Anna, was a Morton by birth. Some have him merged with the Bennett  born in 1797. Ages can be off, I've seen it countless times, but there are other reasons why Bennett 1812 and Bennett 1797 can't be the same person. The main reaons being that Bennett 1797 is shown in Lincoln County, Tennesee where Jordan and William III had migrated to, in 1850. He has no wife living with him, and I will get to that in a later post. Bennett 1812 and Anna Morton were married well before 1850, they have the children to prove it. If this was the same man, where was Anna? Also, though some of the children have the same names, like Bennett and  Mary, the family just does not match. 

Another factor is the DNA one. The siblings of Frederick Solomon in Thru-lines that I match the descendants of at the highter centimorgan count are daughters of this Bennett and Anna Morton Solomon. It is my belief, that Bennett 1812 was the Bennett with four people in his household in 1840 and that Bennett 1797 was the one with 9. I also believe that this one was the son of  Bennett Sr. and Ava McGregor Solomon. Add to that the possibility that Anna was somehow related to another ancestor of mine, Rev. Samuel P. Morton, who it was recorded, had attended The Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church as a young man. He was a member of the Badin area Mortons, for lack of a better term, and Bennett Solomon Sr. had preached at the Mouth of the Uharrrie Baptist Church after the death of his father-in-law, Rev. William McGregor. 

Bennet Solomon Sr. was not an old man when he passed away in 1818, he was only 45, and Ava  was younger. She would have been only 34 when this Bennett was born.

Bennett 1812 didn't die as an old man, either. He passed away in 1862 at the age of 50. 

In 1868, in Dade County, Missouri, Frederick married Nancy Yates, daughter of Fanning Yayrs. By the 1870 census, they were still in Dade with a newborn son named Bennett.

Below is the location of Dade County, Missouri.

At the same time, his widowed mother was still in Benton County.

1880 finds the family farming with 4 young sons. Only daughter, Mollie, and last child,  would complete the family. By 1900, they had relocated to Cedar County, Missouri, just one up from Dade.

This residence was brief, however, because by 1908, they are found in Marshall County, Missouri, which was several counties north. I have found no explanation as to why they kept moving.

Nancy Yates Solomon would pass away in 1908.

Fred showed his gratitude, publicly, for those who would assist with her during illness and death.

Fred did not let this tragedy stop him, however. Two years after the death of Nancy, he would marry, at 66, for companionship to a 58 year old widow named Mary M. Brown. This year found him in the town of Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, where he would remain.

Earlier that year, she is seen in the census as a boarder. Mary was a practical nurse, and in the 1920 census, she is back working at that profession, reason being, she was again widowed. 

Frederick K. Solomon died on November 16, 1912, of heart failure, brought on by chronic nephritis. He was 70 years old. 

The six children of Frederick Solomon and Nancy Yates Solomon were:

A) Bennett C. Solomon born 1869. Married twice, one son. Died in 1942 in Los Angeles, California.

B) Thomas Solomon, born in 1871. Never married. 

Thomas died in 1921, of sepsis, at the age of 49 in Marshall. He was buried at Ridge Park with his parents. He had worked as a laborer. I get a feeling he may have inherited his father's illness.

C) Willis Frederick Solomon was born in 1875. He married once and had 5 children, three who lived to adulthood.

He lived for awhile in Kansas, but returned to Sedalia, Missouri. He lost his wife in 1948. Willis died in 1954 at the age of 79.

D) James Richard Solomon was born in Cedarville, Missouri in 1878. He married twice and had a child with each wife. 

His second wife was the sister of Willis's wife and a widow. He helped raise her son. He died in 1946 in Abilene, Kansas at 67. 

E) Mary E. "Mollie "  Solomon was born in 1882. She married Roswell N. Bailey.  One daughter. 

They lived most of the time in Saint Louis, however, she died at the age of 51, of bronchial pneumonia, in Saline, where she married.

F) Hardin Wesley,"Hardy" Solomon was born in 1888. The youngest child, he had an interesting story. 

In 1906, he was working with his father in a grocery store. He was in love and wanted to marry, but had disappeared. The above article is important in another way, because it mentions his aunt, Mary Bristow. Mary Adeline Solomon Bristow was the oldest child of Bennett 1812, and Anna Morton Solomon. She was in the 1860 census. This cinches the theory that Bennett 1812 was the correct father of Frederick K. Solomon. 

In 1911, Hardy is in Nehama County, Kansas and, married Elva Beck. Two years later, they have a son, Lawrence. 

In 1915, in the Kansas State Census, the young family is still in Nehama in a town called "Home". 

But in 1917, on his draft card, he's in Gentry County, Missouri and claims to be single. In the 1920 census, he's farming in the town of Dallas, Hamilton County, Missouri, and claims to be single. In 1930, he claims to be widowed and is working as a Farm Laborer in Gentry, Gentry County, Missouri. 

His wife is very much alive and is living with their son and her father. Hardy is assumed or declared dead in 1935 and two years later, Elva remarried. 

Hardy made a final disappearing act. It is not known exactly when or where he died or where he is buried. I want to find him. 

A rendering of the Old Philadelphia Meeting House in Warren County, which still stands. Smyrna may have looked very similar at its inception.

Old Smyrna Church once sat just six miles outside the town of McMinnville in Warren County, Tennesee. Now all that remains is the cemetery.  The austere location was once the destination for a  number of my North Carolina relatives, including my Fourth Great Grandmother, Ava McGregor Solomon, most of her children, several of her siblings, and other Carolina neighbors and relations.

The names echo the land records of my McGregor ancestors, and those who were chain carriers, or whose land bordered that of my family. Moses and Sarah Curtis had followed the Solomons and McGregors all the way from Franklin County, North Carolina to the banks of the Pee Dee River in then Montgomery, North Carolina. In Old Smyrna lies Chesley Curtis (1795-1866 and Margarite Curtis (1824-1903). It's not a streach of the imagination to guess who their forebearers were. M. B.Bullen is actually my 4th Great Aunt, Ava and Bennett's daughter. Then there are all of the McGregors, Ava's brothers, Ezekial, Willis and William Jr. and their children and grandchildren. The Wares are another family who followed the McGregors from counties east. Two McGregors married two Wares. The Martins descend from an early member of the Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church, the congregation founded by Ava's father, the old Scott Baptist preacher, William. 

David Safely is another name that comes up as having had adjoining property to the McGregors and Solomons in the Morrow Mountain area of Stanly (Montgomery) County, NC. David actually migrated with them to Warren County, although he is not listed in this group. Other Safelys, relatives, are listed. Ava and Bennett's son, Willis Lymon Solomon, married Myrick Safely. Then, of course, we have Ava. The transcriber incorrectly recorded her name as "Amy" Solomon, wife of Bennett Solomon. Her name was Ava, and she spawned lots of granddaughters and great granddaughters with her beautiful name.

"A Scottish Lass' by John Faed

The name "Avie Ann", given to a daughter, is one of the means I've used to "pull apart" the children of Bennett and Ava McGregor Solomon from the other Solomons, especially the Bennetts, as there were several. Bennett's brothers were very fond of him, as several named sons for him. There may have been a Bennett back in the family tree somewhere as well, where his name had came from to start with. The names of the children of Bennett and Ava are well recorded. The problems lie with people trying to connect their ancestor of the same name as children of Bennett and Ava. They did not have 4 sons named Bennett, or two named William or even a Henry. They did not have a Henry. Henry was their nephew and great-nephew, not a son.

For a quick background, Bennett Solomon was one of the sons of William Solomon II and wife Deanna Gordon of Franklin County, North Carolina. The Solomons had come from Virginia and were of British origin, probably descendants of the Sephardic Jews who had settled there in the 1250's. The Gordons were Scotts. 

Ava McGregor was the daughter of Rev. William McGregor and his wife Sarah, maybe Flowers, maybe Cortland. Her father had migrated from Scotland and is one of my most recent immigrant ancestors. He was a primitive Baptist minister and is first seen in Bute and Northampton Counties of North Carolina. The part of Bute he was in became Franklin. He was first a member of the Fishing Creek Congregation in Franklin County and preached with the Kehukee Baptist Association. He migrated to the Yadkin/ Pee Dee River area and founded The Mouth of the Uwharrie Church. He was then part of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association.

Bennett Solomon first shows up in the Montgomery County records in 1800 as a chain carrier, along with Willis McGregor, for a purchase of property by Rev. William McGregor from a John Neal. Willis was a son of Rev. McGregor. Rev. McGregor was here years before that. His first land grant was on Attaway Creek, which is in Stanly County, but it was recorded in Anson County, as the year was 1778, the year before Montgomery was cut from Anson and decades before Stanly was cut from Montgomery in 1841.

Bennett shows up in the 1810 census with a family of 9. He and Ava are both shown as being between 26 and 44. They have two daughters between 10 and 15 and three under 10. They have two sons under 10.

The neighbors in this listing, above Bennett are 3 Huckabees (Huckaby), two Thomas's and a William. Listed directly below him is Moses Curtis (asa Curtice), then Thomas Cox (asa Cocks), Barlett Huckabee, James Cox, John Kirk, Esquire, Sam Smith, 3 Biles, Isaac, Thomas and Alex and lastly, Davis Shad.

After the death of his father-in-law, Rev. McGregor, Bennett takes up the ministry of The Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church. He represents the church at Association Meetings and as the Association grows and many other churches are formed and joined, Bennett Solomon, in conjunction with lauded minister, Elder John Culpepper, found the Pee Dee Association.

Bennett recieves 3 land grants within Montgomery County, NC.

In 1809, he received 100 acres that joined his own line and that of Samuel Carter. I believe this was probably Samuel Carter Jr, or Samuel Carter the younger. It began at a poplar on the line of his brother, Goodwin Solomon, met George Crowell's corner, met Samuel Carter's corner and then ran with Samuel Carter's line. Chain Carriers were Samuel Carter and John Bruster. John Bruster lived in Cabarrus County and his interactions with both the Montgmery County and the Cabarrus County Solomons ties them together.

In 1814, he received a small grant of 5 acres on the southwest side of the Yadkin River that included an island called 'The Island Stand"and a rock called 'the Sluse rock', that joined the lands of William McGregor, deceased. James Milton and Moses Curtis were chain carriers. The Milton/Melton family (they were one and the same) was another that the Solomons were in close association with, both in counties east and in Montgomery. 

In 1815, he recieved 25 acres on the southwest side of the Yadkin River adjoining Moses Curtis and 'McGregor's Old Place', that included a steep hollow. James Melton and James Freeman were witnesses.

After 1817, Bennett Solomon disappears from church records. Family tradition holds that he became ill, and died within the year. He was only 44 years old. Because of the three courthouse fires in Montgomery County, we don't know if there was a Will or other document. Again, family tradition holds that he was buried in the family cemetery within the confines of  Morrow Mountain State Park. 

In the interim, someone has decided he made it to Tennessee with Ava and has placed a fake memorial to him there online. There is no evidence of this. There were two Bennett Solomons in Warren County at some point or another. Both were decades younger than Bennett. Ava went there as a widow.

Ava settled alongside her brothers and other relatives in Warren County, in central Tennesee. In the 1830 census, she is living right alongside of Ezekial, who was also a minister. They settled along Caney Creek.

In the Godspeeds' History of Warren County, of the Collins River and Caney Creek, it states:

"Collins River is the main stream of the county. This stream rises in Grundy County, passes near McMinnville, just below he town recieves the waters of Barren Fork, and empties into Caney Fork."

In the "History of Head of Collins River Church (Warren County, Tennesee) " it is recorded, 

" A church called the "Head of Collins River' entered the Stockton Valley Association in 1810...they reported a membership of 12...later reported a membership of 20.. at that time (1813), they were dismissed to join the Caney Fork Association". 

In 1808 Collins River Baptist was represented by William McGregor (Jr), Jacob Hawkins and M. Douglas. 

In 1810; Jesse Dodson, John Cunningham and William McGregorr.

In 1812; William Mitchell, John Cunningham and William McGregor.

In 1813; Jesse Dodson and William McGregor.

Also included in this text is the following paragraph:

"William McGregor, a Baptisit minister from Montgomery County, North Carolina was the father of three sons who settled along the Collins River in Warren County, Tennesee, early in the 19th century. The sons were William (Jr.), Ezekial and Willis."

Ava is not the head of household in 1840, but she appears to be living with her son, Willis L. Solomon.

In 1850, Ava is again head of her own household, at age 71, but living next to Willis and oldest daughter, Martha is just down the page. 

Ava died on October 5, 1857 in Irving College, Warren County, Tennesee. Her date of birth was 10 September 1778.

The Children of Bennett and Ava McGregor Solomon

The Tennesee family records of the Solomon family hold that the oldest daughter of  Bennett and Ava was named 'Tehony" or "Tehonia". She may have died as child, as I can't find any record of her. She was born in the 1790's and Ava would have been very young, but girls married early in those days, especially in rural areas. 

2) Martha B. "Patsy" Solomon Bullen was born January 20, 1799 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. She married George W. Bullen of Montgomery County, NC. 

In 1830, George (with family), is seen living still in Montgomery County. Neighbors were lots of Carters, Fry's and Laytons. By 1840, they were in Warren County, living near Ava and Willis Solomon.

Martha died on September 14, 1850, after being shown in the 1850 census with her family. She was buried at New Smyrna. 

George and Martha had the following children:

A) 1820 Hixy Bullen (m Carroll Parks)

B) 1823 William or Willis Bullen 

C) 1826 Wiley Solomon Bullen (m Buthire Masey/Mauzy)

D) 1832 Mary J. Bullen (m Thomas J. Parks)

E) 1834 John Bullen (m Zilla B.Brown) was a Railroad man and traveled greatly.

F) 1842 Frances Jane Bullen (m Jonathan Burton) settled in Iowa.

3) Rev. William Solomon was born on February 8, 1801. He married Tabitha Solomon, daughter of James Marks and Catherine Gunter Marks about 1823.

'Billy' took up the torch of the ministry from his father and grandfather and was a Baptist minister, mentioned in the record of several Churches along the eastern border of the county.  He served as a county clerk for Stanly County and performed many weddings. 

Rev. Solomon was a conscientious objector to the Civil War and protested and preached against it, angering the local authorities. Despite his age and objections, they attempted to force him into service, finally subsiding to hire him as nurse and minister to the sick and the POW's in Salisbury, where he was allowed to tend to their spiritual needs. Two of his sons served in the War. Only one came home.

Rev. William Solomon lived off the Swift Island Ferry Road. His neighbors were Brittain Huckabee, Truxton Kirk, Washington Thompson, David Laton and John Mauldin in 1850. Some of the same surnames with the addition of Joseph Morton Jr. in 1860. In 1870, his neighbors were B. H. Huckabee, J. F. Marks and Nancy Marks, relatives of Tabitha, James Mauldin, son-in-law, W. S. Solomon, son and W. R. Laton.

Rev. William Solomon died on Jan 1, 1874, at the age of 72.  He was buried in one of the two Solomon family cemeteries. Both are near the intersection of Valley Drive and Stony Gap Road with Highway 25/27 outside the town of Albemarle, NC. This area is under highway construction and it is feared one or both of these cemeteries have been damaged or plowed under in the road construction. 

The inscription on his tombstone is, or was, "Rev. William Solomon was born Jany 10 1801  Lived as a consistent member of the Baptist Church for about 50 years. Died Jany 1 1874."

Tabitha Marks Solomon outlived her husband by nearly 2 decades. After his death, she followed her youngest two children to Richmond County, where they had gone in pursuit of work in the Cotton Mills. She died on May 28, 1891 and is buried in the Scottish Cemetery there.

William and Tabitha Marks Solomon were the parents of:

A) Martha Ann Solomon (1825-1889) Married Franklin Allen Laton. Buried in Laton Cemetery, Stanly County, NC.

B) Jane Catherine (1829- aft 1860) Never married. Buried in Solomon family cemetery in Stanly County, NC. 

C) William Sidney Solomon (1836-1904) Married Rebecca Ann Thompson. Served in Civil War. Made it back home.

D) Thomas F. Solomon (1838-1864) Buried at Point Lookout, Maryland, victim of Civil War.

E) Mary Roxanne Solomon (1840-1912) aka Mary Catherine. Married John Martin Rummage. Moved to Cabarrus County, NC. 

F) Margaret Winifred Solomon (1845-1910) Married James Duncan Mauldin. Writers second Great Grandparents. They had 5 children: Ava (also seen as Eva) Janette "Nettie's, Floratine Rose "Tine", Walter Jonah, Minnie Lee, Mary L. "Babe" Mauldin. Only son, Jonah, was my Grandma's Daddy. Margaret and Duncan died within days of each other and we're buried together.

G) Eliza R. Solomon (1848-1907) Married John Wooley Simpson. Moved to Richmond County, NC.

H) George Washington Solomon (1850- 1903) Married Martha J. Ussery. Moved to Richmond County, NC. G. W. took care of his mother, Tabby, after his father's death. There may have been a familial draw to Richmond, as Martha had family there. 

I) John M. Solomon (1857-1857). Died at 6 months old. Buried in Solomon family cemetery. Could also be a grandson as William Sidney Solomon 's first known child was born two years later. I put him as a son as Sidney was supposedly not married yet. 

The names of William and Tabitha's children-in-law matched the names of their neighbors over the years. 

4) Frances 'Fanny' Solomon was born December 1, 1800. Married Jarrett Russell (1793-1854), son of Aaron and Lizla Russell. Fanny died on November 29, 1875 at the age of 72. She and Jarrett were buried at the Russell Family cemetery on top of Clodfelter Ridge in the shadow of Morrow Mountain, up the road from the old Marks lands. She and William were the only two to stay in North Carolina.

Their children were:

A) George W. Russell (1810-1862). Married Jane Mann. No children. Adopted/ Raised George Russell Murray. I have strong genetic links to the descendants of George Russell Murray, one of whom I have had lots of communication with over the years. I believe he was the son of my Second Great Granduncle, John Murray, who died in 1849 according to the Anson County Argus.  John's wife's name is unknown, unless it was the Martha who married a Boone in 1851 and moved to Allegheny County. 

The coincidence of the name seems too much to be one. I wonder if perhaps there was an unknown Russell daughter who had married John Murray and George Russell Murray was her brothers namesake. He had daughters named Flora and Dora, typical of Scottish heritage. We had pondered that possibility.

B) McGlemery "Mack" Russell (1819-1892). Married Araminta "Minty" Morton. Several children. Met Eunice Ann 'Nicey' Lowder. One son outside of marriage. Attended Mountain Creek Primitive Baptist Church.

C) Arenna Russell (1820-1870). Married Allen A. Carter. He killed a neighbor after an argument and took off to Arkansas. Twelve years later, he was returned for trial. I've blogged on the case. Arenna died in Arkansas. 

D) Rev. William Washington Russell (1820-1898) Married Priscilla (MNU). Lived in New London for the most part. Began at Kendalls Church, near his brother, George. I had attempted a lengthy post on W. W. Russell due to his interesting life and the fact that people kept merging W. W. and his brother, George W. , into one person, due to the fact that he is at times seen as "Washington". George was a Grocer in the Kendall Valley and as he died fairly young, I've never seen what his "W" stood for. Since he was a McGregor /Solomon descendant, it may have been Willis. Neither W. W. or G. W had children, per se. but W. W. was kicked out of Kendall Valley Church for an illicit relationship with the young wife of Bennett Russell, Emmaline Sell. He repented and later founded a church in the town of Albemarle. He and his wife, "Prissy" are buried at the New London town cemetery. I will, one day, attemped the post again. It was accidentaly deleted.

E) Ava Ann Russell (1827- ?) Married John L. Pennington. Avy lived in Stanly County and died between 1878 and 1880, most likely. She was alive and living in New Salem, Union County, when her daughter, Mary F. married D. F. Hill in 1878. Her husband lost his life in the Civil War.

F) Farlina Russell (1827-1880) Married Thomas Franklin Hopkins. Raised their 10 children in Harris Township.

G) Bennett Lee Russell (1832-1905) Married Emaline Sell. Civil War Vet. Buried in the New London Town Cemetery. There are several mysteries and inconsistencies involving Bennett. Four children.

 H) James Solomon Russell ( 1828-1891) Married 1st) Lucinda 'Lucy' McLester. 7 children: William Jarrett, Noah, Avy Francis, Margaret Ann, Elizabeth Beedie, Mary Jane, Sophronia. Married 2nd)  Holly Louise Luticia Hudson Corzine Russell. Buried at Big Lick.

I)  Caroline B. Russell (1833-1882) Married 1st in 1853, Samuel D. Austin with whom she had 6 children. Married Lewis Carter in 1867, with whom she had 3 children. Buried in the Thompson Family Cemetery in New London.

6) Jane Solomon was born about 1805. She married Robert H. 'Sam' Turner. She was widowed young and died in Dekalb County, Tennesee. Three children:

A) 1821 Samuel Turner. Lived in Warren County.

B) 1830 Avy Anna Turner. Married James C Mitchell. Lived in Dekalb County, died in Bean Station, Grainger, Tennesee in May of 1880.

C) 1832 Bennett Solomon Turner. Married Margaret A. Martin. Settled in DeKalb County and died there in 1915 at the age of 82.

7) Sarah Solomon was born about 1806. Married Hardy "Hardin" Solomon, also born in Montgomery County, North Carolina. They lived and died in McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee.

A) Willis Norwood Russell (1816-1870) Married 1st Mary Adeline Massey, Married 2nd Vienna Massey. Civil War Vet. 

B) Mary Ellen Russell (1828-1870) Married Thomas Edward Boatright. Died in Dekalb County, Tennessee after 1870.

C) Noah Jefferson Russell (1833- after 1870) Married Sarah Deck, moved to Kentucky.

D) Mary Frances aka 'Fanny' Russell (1834-1900) Married James B. Holland. Died in Arkansas.

E) Jemima Russell (1836 - after 1900). Married Thomas Newby. Last recorded in Warren County Tennessee.

F) Margaret Isabel "Ibby' Russell (1839-1923. Married William Holder, 3 children. Married Isaac Keel.

G) William Hiram Russell (1840-1909) Married Mary Caroline Patterson, 8 children. Died in Warren County Tennessee.

H) Malvina Russell (1842- 1870's) Married Joseph Yarborough Smith. One child. Died in Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee.

I) Stacy J. Russell (1844- March 21 1900) Married Zion Rodgers. Two children. Died in Waco, Sedgwick County, Kansas.

J) Rev. Melvin Washington Russell (1845-1914. Married Barthenia Isabell Brown 11 children. Married late to Mary Caroline Patterson Russell, his brother:s widow. 

K) Napoleon Nathan Russell (1848-1880) Married Jennie. One daughter Teresa. Worked as an Agent. Died in NYC.

L) Jehu Russell (1851- ?) and 

M) John Russell (1860-? ) are seen in the 1860 census and no more. Assumed to have died as children. 

7) Mary 'Polly' Solomon was born on October 20, 1808 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. She married Micajah Massey/Mazey in 1835 in Warren County, Tennessee.  They had 4 children. She died on November 18, ,1890 in Cannon County, Tennessee. 

A) Dorothea Massey  (1836-1916) Married Neptoline Jackson Blue. Raised family in Cannon County Tennessee. Buried at Blue Hill, Warren County, Tennessee. 

B) Harriet Massey was born March 27, 1835. Married James Knox Polk Jones. They had 12 children. They were in Arkansas in 1870, in Missouri by 1880. They hit the Oregon Trail and several later children were born in Oregon. They were in Washington State by 1900. She died on January 12, 1917 in Clark County, Washington at the age of 72.

C) William White "Buck" Masey was born on January 2, 1843. He married Margaret J. Young om January 3, 1867. Seven children. He died November 26, 1893 at Short Mountain, Cannon County, Tennessee.

D) Louisa A. Masey was born July 5, 1844 in Warren County Tennessee. She married Ezekiel J. Young in 1869, two years after her brother Buck married his sister. They had 3 children and she died May 15, 1902 I'm Warren County Tennessee at the age of 58.

8) Willis Lymon Solomon was born Christmas Day, 1809 in Montgomery County North Carolina. He married Myrick Safely, daughter of Jesse "Dock" Safely and Martha Phatha (pronounced 'Faith-uh), Stiles. The Safelys had followed the Solomons and McGregor's from Montgomery County, North Carolina and the Stiles may have followed all the way from Franklin County.

The family of Willis Solomon is the reason there are no families named Solomon in Warren County who descend from these early settlers. Bennett and Ava had three sons who grew up, and lots of daughters. One they left in North Carolina, one who migrated away from Warren and Willis, who was the only son to stay in Warren and raise his family. He, too, had a family of mostly daughters, but very few grandchildren, and none were Solomons.

Willis  Lymon Solomon died on June 18, 1877 in Warren County at the age of  67. Myrick Safely Solomon lived to see the 20th Century. She stayed in the family home with her two unmarried daughters, Nancy and Faitha.

She died on December 22, 1908, at the age of 93.

The children wo Willsi and Myrick were:

A) Nancy Solomon, born 2 December 1840, never married. She died on Feb. 6, 1920 in Warren County at age 79.

B) Harry (probably officially Henry) was born in 1841 and died as a child.

C) Bennett Jason Solomon was born on Sept. 14, 1842. He died on February 3, 1863 in the Civil War. He was not married. His tombstone states "Killed at Fort Donaldson     In Defense of the South    He was faithful till death  His remains still lie there". He was 20 years old.

D) Ava Solomon was born on Nov. 29, 1844 She married Monroe Marion Smith and had 4  sons, Jesse, Everette, Arthur and Orville. She died on June 12, 1896 at Irving College, Warren County, TN.

E) Faitha Solomon (1847-1917) Never married and lived in Warren County until her death at age 69.

F) Mary Emelina "Mira" Solomon (1854-1887) Married John Wesley Nunley and became the mother of 7 children; Jason Solomon Nunley, Margaret Paralee Nunley, Myrick Lillian Nunley, Nancy Ellen Nunley, Jonah Elster Nunley and Mary E. Nunley. Tragically, she died at the young age of 35 with young children.

G) Cora Solomon was born in Warren County in 1858. She never married and moved to Chattanooga. 

Tombstone of Willis Lymon Solomon

9) Bennett Solomon II was born about 1812. He is in Warren County, Tennessee in 1840 and in Benton County, Missouri by 1860. He married Anna Carlyle Morton ( 1813-1912). From Civil War records, it appears he was court-martialed and executed for desertion in 1862 during the Civil War. The papers are barely legible.

After his death, Anna moved the family to Saline County, Missouri, where most of them remained. Anna passed away in the town of Marshall, Saline County, Missouri on May 19, 1912, at the age of 98.

They were the parents of nine children: 

A) Mary Adeline Solomon (1840-1926). Married Benjamin Robert Bristow. 6 children.

B) Frederick K Solomon (1842-1912) like his father, also a Civil War soldier. Married Nancy Catherine Yates in 1868, six children. Married Mary M. Brown in 1910.

Frederick Solomon Family.

C) Esther Emma Solomon (1849-1899) Married John Hardeman Green. No children.

D) Ava Carlyle Solomon (1850-1922). Married Jefferson Frank Morton. 7 children. Died in Saline County.

E) John Wesley Solomon (1852-1913). Married Mary Elizabeth Green. 3 sons.

F) William Solomon (1854-1884) Never married. Decidede to become a part of the Old West.  Died in Colorado of a Pistol Shot. Buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. 

Mortality Schedule

G) Lydia Solomon (1856-1875). Died at age 19 in Saline County. Unmarried.

H) Martha Ann "Mattie" Solomon (1858-1935). Married Rufus Penn Anthony. 4 children.

Obituary for Rufus Anthony

9) Hixey Solomon was born April 22 1814 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. Married Charles Hutchinson in 1838 in Warren County, Tennesee. They moved first to Van Buren County, Tennesee, the to Smithville in Dekalb County, then to Woodbury in Cannon County. Hixey died on April 11, 1885 in Warren County, but was taken to Dekalb County for burial. She had 4 children.

Below map shows the proximity of Warren, Dekalb, Cannon and Van Buren Counties in Tennessee. 

A) Melissa H. Hutchinson b 1839. Never married.

B) Avy Hutchinson (1842-1922) Married Bernard Napolean Hicks. Lived in DeKalb County. Eight children: Sarah Jane, Perry Green, Lizzie Izora, Bernard Napolean Jr., Sophia Delia, Connie, Loula Etta, Cleveland Pascal.

C) Nancy A. Hutchinson (1846-1869) Married Alexander Irvin Underhill. Died after the birth of her only son, Charles Wesley Underhill, who lived with her parents as a child. Her husband lived a long an interesting life and had a large family.

D) Lewis Hutchinson was born in 1849, died as a child.

All of the children and grandchildren of William and Bennett Solomon have been accounted for. So what about all of the 'loose strings', the Solomons that remain?  There was one brother left - Goodwin.

 In the later years of the psychodelic 1960's and the early years of the turbulent 1970's, lived a generation of children too young to be hippies and too old to be what folks now call Gen Xers, the last of the Feral Children. We benefited from the fashion trends and wore Go Go boots and miniskirts covered in large day-glo flowers to our first day of second grade. Elvis and The Beattles were our Momma's music. We never realized the beauty of those old Fords and Chevrolets we road in, without a seatbelt I might add, until much later, and the best of those beauties were now classics.

We were the generation of the Osmonds and Jacksons. The watched Saturday morning cartoons and The Monkees, and The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Eight years old, holding a bulky black cassett player, I knew that Jeremiah was a Bullfrog and some fella rode a poor horse through the desert that he didn't even name.

But one of my favorite songs was "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", one of the hits of the large Morman Family of singing brothers, with the large toothy smiles. It featured Wayne, Jay and Merrill, and was taken from an earlier version of a lesser known artist. The song began"

"The road is long, with many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where, who knows where But I'm strong, strong enough to carry him He ain't heavy, he's my brother."

My journey into determining the descendancy of the first several generations of Solomons of the three sons of  William Solomon Jr. and wife Deanna Gordon Solomon of Franklin County, North Carolina, who wandered westward in the earliest decades of the 19th century, driven by a few of them, to spread the gospel, has been a long road with many a winding turn. As such, it has been important to look at each and every one of them, to pull apart those who we know were attached to each other, from those we don't. In the process, I've found the errors of others who have been trying to do the same thing. Not saying mine are not errors, too. In my last post on Bennett Solomon Jr., whom I have to identify by the year of this birth (1797) and the name of his wife (Nora Elizabeth Parker), I listed the names of the children who are known to be his, and the ones that some family trees have included to be his, that may or may not have been. 

This Bennett was the oldest of a group I call "All the Little Bennett's", or those that followed and were younger than the original Rev. Bennett Solomon who married Ava McGregor. The oringinal Bennett did not have 7 sons named Bennett, let me get that out of the way, so it's been a journey to determine which Bennett was which. There were the second generation Bennetts and the third generation Bennetts. The third was the easiest to determine, because it was easier to determine who their parents were, because many of them had death certificates and other records. The second generation, not so much. 

Bennett Jr. was not the son of  Bennett Sr. Bennett Sr had a son who was with his mother and most of this siblings in Warren County, Tennesee when Bennett Jr. was still in Montgomery County, North Carolina. Bennett II, as I call him, was born in 1812, fifteen years later than Bennett Jr. Bennett Sr. married Ava McGregor, daughter of Rev. William McGregor. Bennett II gave his children McGregor names. Bennett Jr. was not a McGregor. Bennett Jr did move to Warren County, Tennesee by 1840 and to Lincoln County, Tennesee by 1850, where William III and Jordan Solomon, sons of William II and Deana Gordson, his Uncles, I believe, had already settled. 

But there was yet another Bennett, not the son of Rev. Bennett, or the son of William III or even the son of Bennett Jr, as he had one, Bennett Sanford Solomon. I call him Bennett of Hardin, (as he would remove there) who married Elizabeth Parr.

Now, who could be the father of 'Yet another Bennett"? Why,William and Jr were not the only Solomons in Lincoln County. There was Jordan.

In the recollections of Josiah Bridges Solomon of Franklin County, Tennesee, in a letter to his younger cousin, Frank Solomon of Tennesee,dated March 5, 1909, on the Solomon family heritage and that of Josiah's uncle and Frank's grandfather, William Solomon II who married Harty Bridges, it is stated that Jordan Solomon was a minister who went west to preach the gospel, 

"first in Franklin and then in Fayetteville in Lincoln County (Tennesee)'. 

Franklin in this case did not mean Franklin County, North Carolina, but the town of Franklin in Williamson County, Tennesee, south of Nashville.. Fayetteville also referred to a town in Lincoln County, Tennesee and not North Carolina.

Jordan was first referred to in his father's will. William Solomon II said, "Item, I give unto my son Jordon Solomon a negroe boy now in his possession by the name of Dick to him and his heirs forever."

William Solomon Jr. , April 16, 1814.

Jordon first shows up in the 1800 census in Wake County, NC. He may have been there to preach, or to be ordained to preach. Like the others, he was a Baptist. 

He was a very young man at this time, between 16 and 25, and it looks like he may have had two of his younger brothers with him, probably William, and maybe even Jeremiah. This is why I have a feeling they may have been attending school there.

By 1805, he's listed on a tax list in Williamson County, Tennesee. This must have been when he was preaching in Franklin, Tennesee.

Soon thereafter, in 1809, he meets his bride, Miss Sallie Wisener.  Sarah aka 'Sallie' was the daughter of Lt. Col. Henry Wisener and wife, Margaret 'Peggy' Adams. Lt. Colonel Wisener was a Revolutionary War Patriot who hailed from Rockingham County, NC. He had relocated his family to middle Tennesee, by 1804, with a band  of other settlers from Rockingham County. 

Jordan and Sallie were married on March 25, 1809, in Williamson County. A year later, their first child, a girl, Elvalena, was born.

Historic House in Williamson County, Tennesee

Jordan would preach in Franklin for a little under a decade. Neither the Wiseners or the Solomons appear in an 1810 census. Williamson may have been without one, but they both appear in 1820, the Wiseners in Williamson and the Solomons in Lincoln, County, Tennesee, where they will remain.

The 1820 census shows a family of two adults and 5 children.

Ten years later, the family size has increased to 11. Jordan is shown as a man in his 50's and Sallie must have been the woman in her 40's. The names of all of them are unknown. There were perhaps some older children who moved away, or some who passed away young, before their father's death. As a note, Jordon's brother, William, who is shown in Lincoln County by then, has 27 slaves and Jordon has none. William was a planter, Jordan a mininster.

Rev. Bennett Solomon died between 1832 and 1840. Some say 1835, but he left no will and no tombstone has been located, so I believe that is just a 'midway estimate'. He would have been in his late 60's or early 70's.

In 1840, Sarah Wisener Solomon is the head of household with a family of 

By 1850, both Sarah and Jordan had passed on.  

The known children of Jordan and Sarah Wisener Solomon were:

1) Elvalena, or ' Mary Elvalena'  sometimes seen as Alvalena or Evalena. Elvalena was born between 1810 and 1814. She married first and unknown Moore and to this marriage was born one son, Sgt. William Henderson Moore.

Sgt Moore was born March 6, 1836 in Mulberry, Lincoln County, Mississippi. He married Martha Woodson Criner on October 22, 1865, in Madison County, Alabama, where the war had taken him.

They settled in Madison County, Alabama, had four children and kept a detailed family Bible.

A) Claradean Moore (1866-1944) never married.

B) Elvalena Moore (1868-1948) Married a Jones.

C) Nannie Ena Moore (1871-1900) Married a Latham

D) William Woodson Moore (1875-1875) died as a child. 

Elvalena married Claiborne Harris on August 21, 1847 in Lincoln County, Tennesee. They had 3 children: Sarah Isabella, Wyatt and Eliza. In 1850, they are shown in Lincoln County and only Sarah has been born.

In 1860,. Elvalena is alone in Smith County, Tennesee, with the three children. She's on the argriculture schedule as owning 150 acres worth $2000. She is in the slave schedules as owning 4 slaves. 

I can find Elvalena no more. I don't know what happened to her during the War.

2) William Martin Solomon was born on January 19, 1811 in Lincoln County, Tennessee. On February 21, 1839, he married Martha 'Marty' Mitchell, at the age of 28, in Madison County, Alabama, which is where Elvalena's oldest son also settled.

But William M. and his family would move on to the town of Homer, in Claiborne Parrish, Louisiana, where William is shown working as a carpenter. Living with them was their three children, Harriet, William F. and Sarah. Also his mother-in-law, Nancy Mitchell. 

Martha would pass away in the next few years of unknown reasons. 

William would remarry to Louise Culthbertson from Georgia. In 1870, they were still in Claiborne and William was still working as a carpenter. Two more children joined the fold. 

After this, William ould make a big move up the river for work, in Indiana He would not return home. 

Louisa would remain in Louisiana with the children. She is shown as a widow in 1880.

Louisa would live another decade and passed away on August 18, 1890 in Pineville, Rapids, Louisiana. at the age of 62. Some of her family had her portrait made just before she died. Sixty- two in 1890 and 62 in 2023 are certainly very different things.

The family of William Martin Solomon

William the carpenter, had managed to insert himself into the lives of two pretty interesting women. 

Martha Mitchell, his first wife, was the daughter of Paul Mitchell and Nancy Seward and they were old Virginians. She was the granddaughter of Revolutionary War Veteran Reaps Mitchell and wife, Susanna Rives.

William was not her first husband. She had first married Robert H. Moody on November 1, 1832. He was 26 and she was 24. They had one daughter, Harriett Newell Moody, who was born on August 19. 1833. So the Harriett in the 1850 census with William was not his daughter, but his step-daughter. 

Harriet ends up marriying a John Richard Whitley or Whitbey, in Claiborne Parrish and they had 4 children, whom they raised in Arkanasas and retired to Sabine,Texas, where they passed away.

Robert H. Moody died young, just a rew years after the marriage, in 1835, and Martha married again, in January of the next year, to Neal B Rose. Major Neal Buchanan Rose was quite a bit older than Martha. He was born in Caswell County, NC and married in Orange County to a Polly Rainey. He moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee and then on to Alabama Territory. In 1830, he was living in Huntsville, married the young widow in January and passed away a month and 7 days later. Things that make you go hmmm.

I found this description of Major Neal Buchanon Rose and his first wife, Mary 'Polly' Rainey Rose.

From the book “Alexander Rose of Person County, NC and His Descendants”

 “In 1818 and again 1822 a Mrs. Anne Royal visited Huntsville and wrote a number of letters describing the town and its people. The letters were published later in the Huntsville paper. The following excerpts are of interest to us here:

            ‘…Major Rose, another of the heroes, is a Scotch gentleman, but a Tennessee soldier. You have not to look very deep for the qualities of his mind. It is plainly depicted in his fine open countenance, and soft blue eyes. He is a middle aged man, of portly size, and acted in the quartermaster’s department in the late war. This man, from the land of Wallace and Bruce, was in high favor with General Jackson; and his labors in procuring supplies for the army were unequalled by any thing in history. He rode from the seat of war to Huntsville, very often, without sleep or rest! proceeding night and day express; when one horse would give out he would press another… Major Rose is the merriest soul in the world. He is nothing but frolic and fun. He and Mrs. Rose have often called, and nothing pleases me better than his broad Scotch face. He is a merchant, and generally drops in in the evening, to take a game of backgammon with Talbot, the landlord….’

 

            ‘Huntsville Feb 22, 1822. I board with Major Rose, the merry old veteran mentioned some time back. He has met with a dreadful reverse of fortune since I first saw him. He was then one of the first merchants in the place, but was overwhelmed in the general wreck which prostrated so many of our merchants. But the Major is as merry as ever; keeps a tavern and boarding house; amuses himself with a pet crow; and sings “Jerry go nimble”. Mrs. Rose too bears her misfortunes like a philosopher. She is a mild sensible woman, and the most benevolent of her sex….’ “

Not difficult to imagine Martha being taken with him despite his age.

Martha married William Martin Solomon after the death of her second (possibly third) husband. Together they had two children;

William F. Solomon was born in 1839, married Missouri Cooper and raised two daughters in Macon , Georgia. He died in 1911.

Sarah Ann Solomon was born on October 24, 1843 in DeSoto County, Mississippi and died on July 18, 1852 in Claiborne, Louisiana.

With Louisa Jane Culthbertson Solomon, he had

Robert D. Solomon, born June 1, 1856, died May 3, 1936 in Rapides, Louisana, Never married. Buried near his Momma.

Louisa Jane Solomon Jowers (1855-1947) Married Joshua John Jowers and had 6 children. Died in Polk County, Texas.

Laura Frances  Solomon Cooper (1857-1933) Married John Wesley Cooper - 1 son, Married William Washington Brewster.

Jordan Gerald Solomon (1862-1848) Died in Camp County, Texas. Married May Adeline "Addie"  Whittington. Four children.

James McGrady Solomon (1865-1946) Died in Dallas, Texas. Married Luna Mann, 2 children.

3) Bennett Solomon (yes another one) was born on January 25, 1820 in Lincoln County, Tennessee.In 1844 he married Elizabeth Parr, daughter of Zebulon Cleburn Parr and wife, Jane C. Cole Parr. The 1850 census shows them in Lincoln County, living right next door to Elizabeth's family. The are 25 and 26 at this time with a 5 year old son 'Mosy' (John Moses Solomon) and a two year old daughter, Sarah Jane.

By 1860, they have gained 2 more sons, James and Jackson (Andrew Jackson). 

Elizabeth dies in 1866 and is buried in her family plot. Bennett moves his familty to Hardin County, Tennessee and on October 17, 1868, he married a young girl named Martha Tidwell. He has three more children with her.

In 1870, He's living in Savannah, Hardin County with Martha, just 18, his two youngest with Elizabeth, James and Andrew, and his first daughter with Martha, Harriet.

The marriage was not a happy one. Maybe Martha was just too young for him, or either, he was just too taken with Laura.  1880 brought some changes.

First, we find that Martha has moved back in with her family. She's living with her brother, Sylvester Tidwell, her mother, Delilah, and at 27, her three daughters with Bennett, Harriet, 10, Nancy Alice 5, and that mess of a name is Artemisia, age 2,  which was trending in that area at the time. 

Bennett, however, had married a third time to Louisa F. Fondren on June 1, 1880. He's shown in the 1880 census with Louisa and his 7 year old son, Lewis William Lewis Solomon) who would have had to have been Martha's child, due to his date of birth. We can assume he divorced Martha. 

Benn would live another 7 years and pass away on September 3, 1887 at 67. He was buried at Campground Church Cemetery, Savannah, Hardin County, Tennessee. 

His Find-a-Grave memorial is incorrect in that they have him mixed up with his cousin. Bennett Sanford Solomon is an 11 year old living with his father, Bennett Jr. in 1850 when this Bennett is already married with two children. This Bennett is never shown with the middle initial "S". The other is. This family really confused people with all of the repetitive naming. He was married three times and had 8 children: John Moses, Sarah Jane, James, Andrew Jackson, Harriet D. A., Nancy Alice, William Lewis and Artemisia.

4) Jordan C. Solomon was born in 1824 in Lincoln County Tennessee. In 1846, at the age of 21, he enlisted in the army and served in the Mexican American War.

On May 24, 1847, he married Harriet Jane Britt in DeSoto County Mississippi. 

He must have had a thing for Harriets because on October 27, 1850, he married a second time to Harriet Rachel Boggs. I can be assumed that Harriet Britt Solomon passed away.

Harriet Boggs was the daughter of George C and Rachel Berry Boggs. She was the mother of all of the children

In 1860, we see Jordan  and Harriett with their three oldest sons,  Alfonzo, Thomas J. and James Buster. It must be noted that there were neighbors  in the area with the surname 'Buster', so he could have been named for an individual. Also living with them was William and Sarah Solomon Roberts, most likely his sister, and their daughter, Nancy. 

Jordan settled his family in the town of Cache, in Lawrence County, Arkansas. 

They stayed  there until at least 1869. Tradition is that Jordan Clay Solomon died there, but there is also evidence that he may have joined the Texas Rangers. He was only 45 and there is a record of a Jordan Solomon in the Texas Rangers in 1871. Still, like could be short in those days in Arkansaw and Texas.

Harriett returned to Savannah, in Hardin County, Tennesee, with her children. She wasn't the only widow in my family tree who had to return home from Arkansas after a tragedy durng the turbulent 1860's.

By 1880, the bulk of the family had moved to Henderson County, Tennessee, where Harriett would pass away before 1900.  The children were: 

1) James B. Solomon b 1852. I have my doubts about this one. More research is required.

2) Alfozo Lafayette Solomon (1853-1910. Married Susan Todd, 8 children, Worked as a farmer in Decatur County, Tennessee.

3) Thomas Jefferson Solomon (1858-1943) Married Mary Emily Carringotn, 5 children. Settled in Texas, died in Lamar County.

4) Sarah Rachel Solomon "Sallie" (1861-1928) Married Joseph E. Todd, brother of Susn. Had 4 children and remiened in Henderson County, Tennesee.

5) Mary Elizabeth Solomon (1863-1921) Married Gordentia Waite Lenderman (no, that's not a typo). Raised 4 children in Marshall County, Mississippi.

6) Jordan Clay Solomon II (1866-1899) Married Alice Lucins. No Known children. Jordan became a cowboy and an outlaw. Arrested in  McLennon, Texas and Tarrant, Texas. Last known place of existence was serving a ten year sentence in Huntsville, Texas.

7) Moses Morris (or Mars) Solomon was born in 1869 in Lawrence County, Arkansas. He may have been born after the death of his father. . He married Rose and had one son Homer, in Arkansas. After he lost them both, he moved to Sutter, California and worked as a merchant and a laborer and equite a bit. He went to Hawaii, London and Philadelphia.  He died in Sutter in 1937 at 68.

Other possible children of Rev. Jordan Solomon:

1815 Gordon Solomon married Lena Harriett Walker . Jordan's mother was a Gordon and they were in the right county, Lincoln County, Tennesee.

1818 Henry Wisener Solomon , died in Peabody Kansas. Sarah's father was named Henry Wisener.

1820-1825 Elizabeth Deanna Solomon married Edward A Brown on June 6, 1844 in Lincoln County, Tennesee, the same day  Lena Harriett Walker Solomon married her second husband, Mr. Helms.

1828 Margaret Peggy Solomon Married D. H. Tally. Died in 1900 in Marshall County, Tennesee.

1832 Rufus Solomon. Was living with Harriett Solomon Helms, widow of Gordon in 1850. Too old to be a son.

1836 Sarah R Solomon. Married William Roberts. Was living with William Martin Solomon, a known son of Jordan.

1837 Jeremiah Solomon . Died as a child. Buried in the family cemetery in Lincoln County, Tennesee. Possibly born posthumously.