Winfield Ford

Occupation:

Farmer

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
J. F. Ramsey	43
Ramsey	33
Ella Ramsey	11
Lizzie Ramsey	10
Willie Ramsey	3
Sam L. Ramsey	6m

Frank farmed just outside the borders of the then fledgling town of Albemarle, North Carolina. The area would now be considered part of Albemarle.

After her husbands demise, Joyce Ann would sell her property and along with an inheritance from her father, who passed away in 1899, bought a house on South Main Street between Salisbury and Spencer, in Rowan County. There, her children worked in the textile mills and Joicy took in boarders to stay afloat.

The above map shows the exact spot that Joicy Ann relocated her family to, following some of her siblings to Salisbury.

Name:	Mrs Joicy Ramsey
Gender:	Female
Residence Year:	1907
Street address:	728 s Main
Residence Place:	Salisbury; Spencer, North Carolina, USA
Publication Title:	Salisbury, North Carolina, City Directory, 1907

Name:

Joicie Ramsay
[Joieu A Ramsay]

Age:

Birth Date:

May 1847

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Widowed

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother: number of living children:

Mother: How many children:

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Joicie Ramsay	53
Ella J Ramsay	30
Elizabeth S Ramsay	30
Samuel S Ramsay	20
Charlie Ramsay	3/12
James P Redvine	48
Maddie Redvine	11
John Eddleman	30
Adam Norton	31
Dennis Myrick	18

The 1900 census shows Joicy living with 3 of her children, her brother and niece and 3 boarders. Her daughter Lizzie also had her oldest child, son Charlie by that time as well.

Daughter Willie Mae, however was not in the picture. She had probably followed her mother, siblings and uncles to Rowan County, as she married in that county in 1898.

Name:	Willie May Ramsay
Gender:	Female
Spouse:	William R Smith
Spouse Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	2 Aug 1898
Marriage County:	Rowan
Marriage State:	North Carolina

William Robert Smith was the son of James C Smith and Mary A Pendley Smith from Burke County, NC.

William R Smith and Willie Mae Ramsey Smith with son Robert Harold Smith

ame:

William R Smith
[Willson R Smith]

Age:

Birth Date:

Oct 1876

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Willie * Smith

Marriage Year:

1899

Years Married:

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
William R Smith	23
Willie * Smith	22
Nessie Smith	11/12

By 1900, their first child, Nessie was born, and William R. was working along with much of Willie's family in the Cotton Mill. He did not prefer that profession, however, and most of his life was spent as a barber.

Name:

William R Smith

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1878

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1910:

High Point Ward 4, Guilford, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Willie Smith

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

The High Point Enterprise
(High Point, North Carolina)3 January 1919 • Page 5

Household Members:

Name	Age
William R Smith	32
Willie Smith	30
Nessie Smith	10
Clyde Smith	8
James Smith	0 [8/12]
Harrison Dorsett	22
Lizzie Dorsett	19
Clarance Ritchie	21

By 1910, the family would relocate to High Point, in Guilford County, and William was established as Barber in his own shop. Two more children, sons Clyde and James had joined the family, and taking a clue from his in-laws, the Smiths took in boarders.

Name:	William R Smith
Gender:	Male
Residence Year:	1913
Street address:	403 Mangum av
Residence Place:	High Point, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Barber
Spouse:	Willie M Smith
Publication Title:	High Point, North Carolina, City Directory, 1913

Tragedy would strike in the death of oldest son Clyde Ramsey in 1919.

Name:	Clyde Smith
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Age:	17
Birth Date:	18 Nov 1901
Birth Place:	Rowan, North Carolina, United States
Death Date:	4 Jan 1919
Death Location:	High Point, Guilford
Father's Name:	Will R Smith
Mother's name:	Willie May Ramsey

The High Point Enterprise
(High Point, North Carolina)4 January 1919 • Page 1

Name:

Willie Smith

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1889

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1920:

High Point Ward 4, Guilford, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Wife

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Will R Smith

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Will R Smith	42
Willie Smith	31
Nessie Smith	19
James Smith	9
Harold Smith	6

The 1920 census would include their fourth child, Robert Harold Smith. Soon afterwards, on July 18, 1921, fifth and last child, son William David Smith, was born.

Name:	Willie Mae Smith
Gender:	Female
Residence Year:	1921
Street address:	409 e Russell
Residence Place:	High Point, North Carolina, USA
Spouse:	William R Smith
Publication Title:	High Point, North Carolina, City Directory, 1921

Then, again, tragedy would strike. In 1926, Willie Mae Ramsey Smith would die of TB.

Name:	Mrs. Willie May Smith [Mrs. Willie May Ramsey]
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	49 Years 3 Months
Birth Date:	abt 1877
Birth Place:	Stanly, New York, United States
Death Date:	28 Nov 1926
Death Location:	High Point, Guilford
Spouse's Name:	Will R Smith
Father's Name:	Frank Ramsey
Mother's name:	Joyce Redwine

The transcriber made an error on this one. The actual document say "NC" not "NY". Stanly County is not in New York.

A House on Farris Ave. in High Point, where William R. Smith would reside.

William R Smith would remarry in 1927 to Lottie Elmo Barber from Reidsville, to help him raise his young sons. Daughter Nessie would marry mortician, Arnold Koonce about 1922.

Nessie I Smith Koonce

Ella Jane Ramsey

Ella Jane Ramsey never married and would remain with her mother at the South Main Street Boarding House for the remainder of her life, and worked in a Cotton Mill as a Weaver.

Name:	Miss Ella Ramsey
Gender:	Female
Residence Year:	1913
Residence Place:	Salisbury; Spencer, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Weaver
Publication Title:	Salisbury, North Carolina, City Directory, 1913

She only outlived her mother by 5 years, and passed away in 1935 of TB at the age of 66.

ame:	Ella Jane Ramsey
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	66
Birth Date:	28 Nov 1869
Birth Place:	Stanley, North Carolina, United States
Death Date:	17 Dec 1935
Death Location:	Salisbury, Rowan
Father's Name:	Franklin Ramsey
Mother's name:	Joyce Redwine

Sarah Elizabeth Ramsey lived in the boarding house with her family until her marriage in 1910. She had a son, Charlie, who is shown as a Ramsey in his first two census records.

Name:

Elizabeth S Ramsay

Age:

Birth Date:

Mar 1870

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Daughter

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Joicie Ramsay

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Joicie Ramsay	53
Ella J Ramsay	30
Elizabeth S Ramsay	30
Samuel S Ramsay	20
Charlie Ramsay	3/12
James P Redvine	48
Maddie Redvine	11
John Eddleman	30
Adam Norton	31
Dennis Myrick	18

View

Shortly after the 1910 cenus, on August 14, 1910 at the age of 40, she married Peagram Albert Surratt, originally from Davidson County, who had migrated to Texas for a number decades.

Name:

Elzabeth Ramsay

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1876

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1910:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Daughter

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Joicy A Ramsay

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Joicy A Ramsay	62
Ella J Ramsay	36
Elzabeth Ramsay	34
Charlie Ramsay	10

Afterwards, Charlie Ramsey would be shown as Charlie Surratt.

Pegram A. Surratt was born April 23, 1867, during the early years of Reconstruction. He was the son of Richard L. Surratt and Mary Margaret Earnhardt Surratt of the Jackson Hill Community in Davidson County.

Jackson Hill Church relocated and restored at Denton Farm Park

ame:

Pegram Surratt

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1866

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Jackson Hill, Davidson, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Son

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Name:

Richard Surratt

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Margaret Surratt

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Works On Farm

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Richard Surratt	60
Margaret Surratt	55
Ida Surratt	21
Roby Surratt	16
Pegram Surratt	14
Lindsay Surratt	12

Originally, P. A. Surratt had tried his hand at being a merchant in the bustling Railroad Town of Salisbury, North Carolina.

After a devastating fire with no insurance, he decided to find greener pastures than the verdant green ones of Southern Davidson County, and relocated to Texas. The 1900 census would find him in McKinley, Collins County, Texas boarding with a Harrison family and working as a Teamster. Other teamsters lived there too, with a number of dressmakers. P. A. Surratt, however, did not marry while a young man in Texas.

ame:

P A Surratt
[P A Stirratt]

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

McKinney, Collin, Texas

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Boarder

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

Kentucky

Mother's Birthplace:

Kentucky

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Jas G Harrison	39
Rebecca T Harrison	38
Nina O Harrison	12
Ella May Harrison	7
Jim Webb Harrison	3
Chas Bernard	20
Chas Turuntine	25
Nora Elmore	24
Lillie Elmore	22
Effie Elmore	16
Chas Barner
Wiley Feese
P A Surratt

According to the papers, he visited home often and also worked in Virginia in those days. Several little mentions were made in
The Dispatch
(Lexington, North Carolina) of his visits.
In the 1910 Census, he was living in Fort Worth and working as a Carpenter in the Building industry.

Name:

Pegrom A Surratt
[Petrana A Surratt]
[Pegroma G Surratt]

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1868

Birthplace:

Texas

Home in 1910:

Fort Worth Ward 13, Tarrant, Texas

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Pegrom A Surratt	42
Ray Neagle	15

One particular visit in 1897 must have been particularly interesting. Perhaps he stayed in the boarding house of Mrs Joicy Ann Ramsey and her daughters, while visiting family in Salisbury and met the charming Lizzie.

The Dispatch
(Lexington, North Carolina)14 April 1897 • Page 4

Name:	Pegrim Surratt
Residence Year:	1909
Street address:	ns Gandy 1 blk of Sycamore creek Glenwood
Residence Place:	Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Occupation:	Hog Raiser
Publication Title:	Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1909

By 1909, Pegram A. Surratt switched careers from being a carpenter to being a Hog Farmer. After the 1910 census, we know he made another crucial visit to North Carolina.

Name:	Pegram A Surratt
Gender:	Male
Spouse:	Lizzie Ramsey
Spouse Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	14 Aug 1910
Marriage County:	Rowan
Marriage State:	North Carolina

After the marriage, the Surratts, with young Charlie, returned to Texas and back to the hogs.

Name:	Pegrim A Surratt
Residence Year:	1911
Street address:	ns Gandy 1 blk w of Sycamore creek XT
Residence Place:	Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Occupation:	Hog Raiser
Publication Title:	Fort Worth, Texas, City Directory, 1911

Pegram and Lizzie only had one daughter after their 1910 marriage. Ida Mae Surratt, named probably for her fathers older sister, was born on August 27, 1911, a year after her parents marriage, in Fort Worth, Texas. Her mother was 41 and her father 44. There advanced age was probably the reason for the small family of 4.

Lizzie, who had spent most of her formative years in town, was a city girl, perhaps, and maybe, most of all was homesick for family. At any rate, by 1920, she had convinced Pegram to try his hand merchanting again and the family had moved in with Lizzie's mother at the boarding house, located between Salisbury and Spencer.

Name:

Lizzie Surratt
[Lizzie Ramsay]

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1872

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1920:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Wife

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Pigram A Surratt

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Joysia Ramsay

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Pigram A Surratt	51
Lizzie Surratt	48
Joysia Ramsay	72
Ella Ramsay	47
Charlie Surratt	19
Ida M Surratt	8
William Lippard	24
Claud Lippard	22
John Eddleman	50
Badge Ballard	33

Name:	Peg-Ram A Surratt
Gender:	Male
Residence Year:	1928
Street address:	828 s Main
Residence Place:	Salisbury; Spencer, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Grocer
Spouse:	Elizabeth Surratt
Publication Title:	Salisbury, North Carolina, City Directory, 1928

Pegram was listed in the business directories as a Grocer and Lizzie as a grocery clerk.

317 S. Shaver Street today, just 2 blocks from where P. A. and Lizzie ran a Grocery store. It is described as being in the middle of the Brooklyn South Square Historic District. This house was there at the time.

Name:	P A Surratt
Residence Year:	1928
Street address:	501 s Shaver
Residence Place:	Salisbury; Spencer, North Carolina, USA
Publication Title:	Salisbury, North Carolina, City Directory, 1928

The fountain in downtown Salisbury.

P. A. and Lizzie and their two children were a thriving, middle class family in Salisbury during the roaring twenties and into the 1930's.

Name:

Sarah E Sarratt
[Sarah E Ramsay]

Gender:

Female

Birth Year:

abt 1871

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Race:

White

Home in 1930:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Map of Home:

Marital Status:

Married

Relation to Head of House:

Daughter

Spouse's Name:

Pegram A Sarratt

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Joyce A Ramsay

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Joyce A Ramsay	82
Ella J Ramsay	61 [51]
Pegram A Sarratt	62
Sarah E Sarratt	59
Badge C Ballard	40
John Eddleman	55

By 1930, both children had moved out of the house and Lizzie and her husband were still in the boarding house with her mother, sister and boarders Mr. Ballard, and Mr. Eddleman.

Charles Basil Surratt worked at Salisbury Mills while he lived at the boarding house with his family. He married Ethel Carpenter in 1924. He had registered for service in WWI and in WWII. By 1930, his two oldest daughters were born.

Name:

Charles B Surratt

Gender:

Male

Birth Year:

abt 1900

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Race:

White

Home in 1930:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Map of Home:

Marital Status:

Married

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Spouse's Name:

Ethel L Surratt

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Charles B Surratt	30
Ethel L Surratt	28
Mary E Surratt	5
Alice J Surratt	2

Name:	Charles Bazel Surratt
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Relationship:	Self (Head)
Birth Date:	13 Feb 1900
Birth Place:	Salisbury, North Carolina
Residence:	Bessemer City, Gaston, North Carolina, USA
Registration Year:	1942

Charlie and his family remained in Salisbury until at least 1935. He took up truck driving and relocated to Bessamer City in Gaston County, North Carolina, where he raised 3 daughters and passed away in 1966.

Name:

Charles B Surratt

Age:

Estimated birth year:

abt 1900

Gender:

Male

Race:

White

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Marital Status:

Married

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Home in 1940:

Bessemer City, Gaston, North Carolina

Map of Home in 1940:

Inferred Residence in 1935:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Residence in 1935:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Resident on farm in 1935:

Sheet Number:

Number of Household in Order of Visitation:

148

Occupation:

Truck Driver

House Owned or Rented:

Rented

Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:

Attended School or College:

Highest Grade Completed:

Elementary school, 8th grade

Duration of Unemployment:

Class of Worker:

Wage or salary worker in Government work

Weeks Worked in 1939:

Income:

510

Income Other Sources:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Charles B Surratt	40
Etta H Surratt	38
Mary E Surratt	15
Joyce A Surratt	12
M Jean Surratt	6

Charlie and Ethel had 3 daughers: Mary Elizabeth, Alice Joyce and Norma Jean.

Sister Ida Mae married Whitney "Whit" Kluttz in 1933. They would also have 3 children: Sarah Craige Klutz, William Glenn Klutz and Doris Sue Kluttz.

Ida passed away in 1991 and her husband in 2000.

DA KLUTTZ: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Greensboro News & Record (NC) - Saturday, February 23, 1991

Deceased Name: IDA KLUTTZ

SALISBURY - Ida Mae Surratt Kluttz, 79, of 3120 Dunn's Mountain Road died Friday at Lutheran Nursing Home.

Funeral will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Union Lutheran Church, of which she was a member. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, she was a retired sales clerk.

Surviving are husband, Whitney Kluttz; daughters, Mrs. Sarah Holshouser of Spencer, Doris Kluttz of Rockwell; son, Glenn Kluttz of Spartanburg; five grandchildren.

The family will be at Lyerly Funeral Home 7-9 p.m. today.

Memorial contributions may be made to Union Lutheran Church, 4770 Bringle Ferry Road, Salisbury, N.C. 28146, or to Lutheran Nursing Home, 820 Klumac Road, Salisbury, N.C. 28144.

Whitney 'Whit' Kluttz: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Salisbury Post (NC) - Tuesday, September 19, 2000

Deceased Name: Whitney 'Whit' Kluttz

The funeral will be Wednesday for Whitney 'Whit' William Kluttz, who died Sunday (Sept. 17, 2000) at Rowan Regional Medical Center after a month of serious illness.

Born Oct. 10, 1908, in Rowan County, Mr. Kluttz was a son of the late David Alexander and Augustus Craige Kluttz. He was educated in the Rowan County schools.

Retired from Martin Marietta Stone Co., he had earlier worked for Southern Railway. He was a member of Union Lutheran Church, Agner-Efird Sunday school class and Good Timers Club.

His wife, Ida Mae Surratt Kluttz, died Feb. 22, 1991.

Survivors include son Glenn Kluttz, Spartanburg, S.C.; daughters Sarah Holshouser, Spencer, and Doris Kluttz, Rockwell; sister Nannie Terleton, Salisbury; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. Wednesday, Union Lutheran Church, conducted by the Rev. Darrell Norris, pastor, and the Rev. C.P. Fisher. Members of the Agner-Efird Sunday school class will be seated as a group. Burial in family plot in the church cemetery.

Visitation: 7-8:30 tonight, Lyerly Funeral Home. At other times the family will be at the home of daughter Sarah Holshouser, Spencer.

Memorials: Union Lutheran Church, Fellowship Building Fund, 4770 Bringle Ferry Road, Salisbury, NC 28146.

Samuel Lee Ramsey:

Name:

Samuel S Ramsay

Age:

Birth Date:

Dec 1879

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Son

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Joicie Ramsay

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Joicie Ramsay	53
Ella J Ramsay	30
Elizabeth S Ramsay	30
Samuel S Ramsay	20
Charlie Ramsay	3/12
James P Redvine	48
Maddie Redvine	11
John Eddleman	30
Adam Norton	31
Dennis Myrick	18

Samuel Lee Ramsey was the only son of Frank and Joicey. He was obviously named for grandfather, Samuel Ramsey of Stanly County. Born on Christmas day in 1879, Sam was only 3 years old when his father passed away. He appears in the 1900 census with his mother, sisters, Uncle J P Redwine, cousin Maddie and nephew Charlie, but married later that year.

Name:	Samuel L Ramsay
Gender:	Male
Spouse:	Jeneva Loflin
Spouse Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	1 Sep 1900
Marriage County:	Rowan
Marriage State:	North Carolina

He married Geneva Loflin from the southern part of Davidson County.

By 1910, they were the proud parents of 4 children.

Name:

Samuel S Ramsay

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1882

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1910:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Genevia Ramsay

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Samuel S Ramsay	28
Genevia Ramsay	27 [37]
Coy R Ramsay	7
Frank T Ramsay	5
Ruth D Ramsay	4
Fred Ramsay	2

Sam and Geneva lived a simple, cotton mill existance.

Name:	Samuel L Ramsey
Gender:	Male
Residence Year:	1913
Street address:	40 Same
Residence Place:	Salisbury; Spencer, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:	Spinner
Spouse:	Geneva Ramsey
Publication Title:	Salisbury, North Carolina, City Directory, 1913

Samuel Lee Ramsey died at the young age of 46 in Salisbury. He was found dead on his porch and cause of death could not be determined. Geneva never remarried and lived a long life, passing in 1973 with 2 of her 4 children surviving.

Name:	Mr Sam L Ramsey
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Age:	46
Birth Date:	25 Dec 1879
Birth Place:	North Carolina, United States
Death Date:	31 Aug 1926
Death Location:	Salisbury, Rowan
Spouse's Name:	Geneva Ramsey
Father's Name:	Franklin Ramsey
Mother's name:	Joice Bedwine

Name:

Geneva V Ramsey
[Fanua V Ramsey]

Gender:

Female

Birth Year:

abt 1881

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Race:

White

Home in 1930:

Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina

Map of Home:

Marital Status:

Widowed

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Geneva V Ramsey	49
Ruth O Ramsey	23
Frank T Ramsey	25
Fred J Ramsey	21
Louise E Ramsey	17

The children of Samuel Ramsey and wife Geneva Loflin Ramsey were:

Coy Ray Ramsey 1903-1957
Frank Thomas Ramsey 1905- 1966
Ruth O Ramsey Davis 1906 - 1989
Fred James Ramsey 1909 - 1986

The Louise E Ramsey shown in the above census, was not a daughter, but Louise E. Odell Ramsey, the young wife of Fred J Ramsey.

↧

The Demise of Neddy Davis

July 25, 2014, 3:16 am

≫ Next: William Riley Ramsey and the Trail to Burke County

≪ Previous: The Children of Frank Ramsey

Raleigh Christian Advocate
(Raleigh, North Carolina)15 November 1882 • Page 6

I love it when I am looking for one thing and accidentally come across a gem like the above obituary of my Great, Great (a number of these) Uncle Edward Winfield "Neddy" Davis.

E. W. Davis was the third son of Job Davis and the seventh child of Sarah Winfield Howell Davis. He was also the second sheriff of Stanly County and very active in county affairs during his lifetime. He was a notoriously eligible bachelor and did not marry until he was 56 years old to Miss Rebecca Hathcock. There were 3 Davis children born prior to his death: Sarah Hortense Davis (Stewart), Thomas A. Davis and John T. Davis. (I still have questions about J. T. who is sometimes seen as John T. Crump, Jr. and his mothers second husband was....John T. Crump, Sr.).

There are some signs in E. W. Davis's legal papers that suggested that he could be a tough character and a ruthless businessman. But there are many more that suggest his strength, charitable nature and compassion. At any rate, he was a notable character and a noble man, and upon the death of his older brother Henry, and even prior to that, upon Henry's fall from grace as a judge, Major and county leader to an alchoholic, he took over and oversaw the welfare of Henry's wife/widow and children. My great-great grandfather, Horton H. Davis, lived with his uncle during his teens and later returned the favor and saw to the affairs of his uncles widow and young children after his demise.

Edward Winfield Davis was born December 3, 1811 and died October 30, 1882. I never knew a cause of death, but as he was in his later years, it did not seem relevant. I am glad I was able to discover a cause of death for other researchers.

↧

William Riley Ramsey and the Trail to Burke County

August 2, 2014, 7:16 am

≫ Next: The RunAway Mule and Mr. Hinson, Christmas 1898

≪ Previous: The Demise of Neddy Davis

William Riley Ramsey was the oldest son of Samuel Ramsey and Rebecca Helms Ramsey. He was born in Anson County, North Carolina around 1824, and grew up in Stanly County, along the Rocky River in the Southern part of the county and died about 1865, or definitely between 1864 and 1870, in probably Caldwell or Burke counties of North Carolina. His story is a solemn one.

1868 Map of Caldwell County

Name:

William Ramsey

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1827

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1850:

Smiths, Stanly, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Family Number:

640

Household Members:

Name	Age
Samuel Ramsey	53
Rebecca Ramsey	53
William Ramsey	23
Jane Ramsey	17
Thomas Ramsey	16
Franklin Ramsey	14
Gilliam Ramsey	13

The 1850 census finds his as a young man of 23 still living in the home of his parents, in the Smiths township of Stanly County, along with young siblings Jane Louisa, James Thomas, John Franklin and Gilliam O. Ramsey.

Shortly afterwards, he must have taken a wife, Elizabeth, as his oldest child, Solomon, is born May 15, 1860. The 1860 census shows William, Elizabeth and most of their children.

Name:

William R Ramsey

Age in 1860:

Birth Year:

abt 1825

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1860:

Stanly, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Albemarle

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
William R Ramsey	35
Elizabeth Ramsey	31
Solomon R Ramsey	9
George S Ramsey	7
Becky E Ramsey	4
Allen Ramsey	2
John C Ramsey	1/12
Ailsey Gilbert	23
Mary Gilbert	8/12

These were Solomon, George Samuel, Rebecca Elizabeth, James Allen, and John Calvin. Mr. Gilbert and his infant daughter were boarders only, as far as I know.

And then came the War.

Name:	William Riley Ramsey
Residence:	Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, North Carolina
Occupation:	Mechanic
Age at Enlistment:	36
Enlistment Date:	29 May 1861
Rank at enlistment:	Private
Enlistment Place:	Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
State Served:	North Carolina
Service Record:	Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 7th Infantry Regiment on 29 May 1861.
Birth Date:	abt 1825
Sources:	North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster

Keeping William Riley Ramsey, who married Elizabeth and was the son of Samuel Ramsey and William Riley Ramsey, who married Lavina Barbara Springer and was the brother of Samuel Ramsey was very difficult, especially considering they were only a few years in age difference.

William the brother, however, remained in Stanly County and then by 1880 had moved to the Deweese community in neighboring Cabarrus County.

In following the military career of William Riley Ramsey, son of Samuel, we could determine which records were his by his occupation, as a mechanic, and also by the course of actions he took, and the ailments he sufferered.

Richmond

Wife Elizabeth likely waited patiently for his return in Stanly County. He enlisted on May 29, 1861. Son William Owen Ramsey was born on July 12, 1862 in Stanly County.

Muster Roll on Fold3

The Muster Rolls for 1862 state that William R. Ramsey was at Camp Alamance on June 20, 1861. He was in Captain Junius Hill's no 6 Regiment.

He was 36 years old and born in Anson County, North Carolina, Occupation: Mechanic. Description as 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

Enrolled for active service in Charlotte on May 29 by J. L. Hill. Mustered in at Camp Alamance on June 20 "for the War" by J. G. Martin.

By the Sept. and Oct. 1861 muster, he was listed as "present" but "sick in hospital".

By the Nov and Dec. 1861 muster, a Major Cameron counted him as "Present".

In Jan. and Feb. of 1862, a Major Boon counted him as "Present".

In March and April of 1862, a Major Rodman recorded his as 'sick in camp'.

In May and June of 1862, Major Rodman recorded "Present. Half months pay forfeited by sentence of court martial."

Did he sneak home during this time?

In July to October 1862, a Captain Hughes recorded him as "Absent. In hospital sick".

In Jan and February of 1863, Captain Hughes was still recording him as "Absent...Hospital...Sick."

In March and April of 1863, Captain Hughes recorded, "Deserted from Hospital".

In May and June of 1863, Captain Hughes recorded, "Absent. Insane Asylum".

In July and August of 1863, Captain Hughes recorded, "Absent, Insane Asylum at Raleigh".

In Sept. and October of 1863, Captain Hughes gave a little more information. "Absent. Sent to Richmond in August of 1862. Now at Insane Asylum in Raleigh, NC. "

Nov and October of 1863 held the same information.

January and February of 1864 gave new information from Capt. Hughes, "Sent to hospital at Richmond."

By May and June of 1864, he had been transferred back from Richmond, Virginia to the Insane Asylum in Raleigh again, and was still there in July and August of 1864.

On the September and October 1864 muster it was recorded, "Deserted from Insane Asylum in Raleigh".

So what happened to William Riley Ramsey when he escaped from the asylum in Raleigh on his second trip?

Where did he go?

The one thing that is known is that he found his family. Did he meet with them in the dead of the night in Stanly County and whisk them away to the mountains, or did he hide in the foothills near Lenoir or Morganton and have his family travel into western North Carolina to meet him?

Map of Caldwell County 1878

The youngest two children of William Riley Ramsey and wife Elizabeth were William Owen Ramsey, who was born July 12, 1862, which means he was concieved in the early fall of 1861, after his father had mustered in to the service. So it appears, Mr. Ramsey had a habit of slipping home, perhaps. William is said in family records to have been born in Stanly County. It is the birth of the youngest daughter, Maggie, that proves he made it back to Elizabeth after his escape from the Raleigh asylum in 1864.

Maggie Ramsey Clark's records have her being born in November of 1864 in Caldwell County.


Name:	Maggie Clork [Maggie Ramsay]
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	56
Birth Date:	10 Nov 1864
Birth Place:	Caldwell, North Carolina, United States
Death Date:	11 Jun 1921
Death Location:	Highland, Catawba
Spouse's Name:	J S Clork
Father's Name:	Ramsay
Mother's name:	Elizabeth Helins

View original

Oral family history states that William Riley Ramsey died in the year 1865 of measles. He might have contracted these during his stay at the hospital. It is unknown where he is buried.

It certainly appears that W. R. Ramsey was not cut out for war. He had a history of illness and a bitter love for family that had him risk all to get back to them before he perished. What brought him to the insane asylum? Was the tragedy and gore he saw around him too much to handle? Or was it an invented illness in order to get off the battlefield long enough to lie in wait until he saw his chance to escape.

What is known is that he did not appear with his wife and children in the 1870 census of Burke County.

Name:

Elizabeth Ramsey

Age in 1870:

Birth Year:

abt 1829

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1870:

Lovelady, Burke, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Post Office:

Morganton

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Ramsey	41
Soloman A Ramsey	20
George S Ramsey	18
Rebecca E Ramsey	13
James A Ramsey	12
John C Ramsey	9
William O Ramsey	7
Margaret Ramsey	5

And from here, the story continues with the family.

There seems to be two trains of thought on the maiden name of Elizabeth Ramsey. Somehow, some descendants have came up with the name of Elizabeth Arrowood. Others contend that her maiden name was Helms. I am sticking with the camp that her maiden name was Helms, even thought that was also the maiden name of William's mother, Rebecca Helms Ramsey. The preponderance of evidence points to her maiden name being Helms. Perhaps William and Elizabeth were cousins. That was not unheard of.

Birth:	May 10, 1830 Stanly County North Carolina, USA
Death:	Jun. 17, 1906 Burke County North Carolina, USA
Elizabeth Arrowood Ramsey was the wife of William Riley Ramsey. At the age of 36 William joined the Confederate Army in NC. He served until he had a nervous breakdown & was sent to a mental hospital he left/escaped from this faculity & must have returned home because Elizabeth gave birth to another child & later following the end of the war William is said to have died of Measles. Elizabeth went to the US Pension Office to make a claim on William's service in the CSA. We have no record where William is buried, however most of his family is buried in Stanley County, NC & Elizabeth is buried in Burke County, NC>

Burial: Enon Baptist Church Cemetery Morganton Burke County North Carolina, USA
Created by: Mac Ramsey Record added: Dec 28, 2009

The above is the Find-a-grave entry for Ellizabeth Ramsey. This person has her listed as an Arrowood. Looking at the records of the children of William Riley Ramsey and Ellizabeth tell another story.

In 1879, Elizabeth is granted a widow's pension for William's Civil War Service.

Elizabeth Ramsey- Civil War Persion

Name:

Elizabeth Ramsey

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1830

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Lovelady, Burke, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Self (Head)

Marital Status:

Widowed

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Farming

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Ramsey	50
Soloman A. Ramsey	27
George S. Ramsey	25
James A. Ramsey	20
John C. Ramsey	18
Margaret Ramsey	15

1880 found Elizabeth maintaining a farm, easily, with the help of her 4 adult sons. Two of the children from the 1870 census are missing from the household.

Name:

Wm Poleet

Birth Date:

1857

Age:

Spouse's Name:

Rebeca Ramsey

Spouse's Birth Date:

1856

Spouse's Age:

Event Date:

05 Oct 1879

Event Place:

The prior year, daughter Rebecca had married William Alberta Powe. After her death, Mr. Powe remarried, and that was not a wise choice.

Name:

Elizabeth Ramsey

Age:

Birth Date:

May 1830

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Lovelady, Burke, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Widowed

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother: number of living children:

Mother: How many children:

Occupation:

Neighbors:

The North-Carolinian
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)23 December 1854 • Page 3

Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Ramsey	70

In 1900, Elizabeth is shown as alone in her own household, but is living right next door to sons John Calvin and James.

She is shown as the mother of 8 children, 5 living. I only know the identity of 7. Two of the children who passed away before their mother was William Owen and Rebecca Ramsey Powe.

According to Owens tribute on Find-a-grave, he was originally buried in the North Catawba area of Burke, Caldwell counties. The family moved, and his mother had his grave relocated. He lived to be 13 years old.
William Owen Ramsey

Birth:	Jul. 12, 1862
Death:	Jul. 6, 1875

After settling in Burke County, the Ramsey's lived in the community of Drexel. Most of them are buried at Enon Baptist Church. Owen was the only son buried at the old homeplace.

Drexel was known for its furniture industry.

Elizabeth Ramsey died June 17, 1906. She is buried with her other sons and daughter Rebecca at Enon. The next posts will be concerning the children of William Riley Ramsey and the case for the maiden name of Elizabeth.

So, what brought the Ramsey's to Burke and Caldwell Counties, NC? It appears that the records of youngest daughter Maggie are the biggest giveaway to the the trail of the Ramsey's. Maggie was born in Caldwell County on November 10, 1864. William Riley Ramsey was reported as missing from the Insane Asylum in Raleigh by September of 1864. The information had to have been on a delay, as he would have had to had made it to his family far before then.

The known children of William Riley Ramsey and Elizabeth (possibly Helms or Arrowood) Ramsey were:

1850 Solomon A. Ramsey
1851 George Samuel Ramsey
1857 Rebecca Elizabeth Ramsey Powe
1858 James Allen Ramsey
1860 John Calvin Ramsey
1862 William Owen Ramsey
1864 Margaret Ramsey Clark

The missing child most likely died very young and did not make the census records. He or she may have been born during the 6 year gap between George and Becky and is probably buried in Stanly County, maybe in the old Saint Martin's Lutheran Church cemetery with grandfather Samuel Ramsey.

↧

The RunAway Mule and Mr. Hinson, Christmas 1898

August 17, 2014, 5:34 am

≫ Next: Finding a Small Gem: The Methodist Circuit

≪ Previous: William Riley Ramsey and the Trail to Burke County

I love browsing through old newspapers. It's interesting seeing how public opinion changes, while human nature does not.

The following "obituary" was printed in the "The Morning Post", a Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper on December 25, 1898. I'm always scanning for things pertaining to Stanly County.

This type of article would never appear in a modern newspaper due to our 'sue-happy' society. Survivors of Mr. Hinson would not want the truth of his departure to be publicized, but 117 years ago, truth was not suppressed due to the fear of retaliation for defamation of character. Back in the day, they figured ones behavior spoke for itself.

I'm featuring it for his descendants, of which I am not one,for knowledge of his cause of death and perhaps the date as well. So, if you are a descendant of a Mr. Hinson, who you know died in 1898, or who does not show up in the 1900 census and you've been trying to find out why, he may be this poor unfortunate Stanly County native who fell off a mule.

The Morning Post
(Raleigh, North Carolina)25 December 1898 • Page 2

↧

Finding a Small Gem: The Methodist Circuit

August 17, 2014, 9:03 am

≫ Next: A New Search Toy

≪ Previous: The RunAway Mule and Mr. Hinson, Christmas 1898

The problem in making hundreds of copies of all manners of things I might find useful in my research is at some point, sometimes, I may have forgotten where the information came from. For instance, I may have copied the cover page, but then the contents get shuffled, in say, my daughter cleaning out the back seat of the car, so she can load it with friends and dumping my research in the trunk.

Not everyone in my family treasures all of my diligence and hard work in information gathering as I do, in fact none of them do. I take heart in the fact that one day, when age sets in, they might. Right now, they live only in the present. No regard for the future. No regard for the past. The eldest of them are starting to have regard for the future, as the paths of their lives unfold before them. I am blessed to have had 4. Such a perfect number, two sons and two daughters. A large family for this day and age, but I could imagine no less. My sons have a brother, my daughters have a sister and the all have each other, and my hopes are that at least one of them, if not all of them, at some point, will treasure the past and perserve and respect all the work and memories preserved, by myself, my maternal grandfather, and my Dad. With me getting it honest on both sides, there's bound to be one of them who has that gene.

But in all that, the following gem is something I pulled out from the trunk. I know I found it among records found in the Margaret Johnson Heritage Room.

There were two pages. As the first page was an article written by Rev. I. L. Sharpe, I am going to assume the entire compilation is due to him. The initials "I. L.", stands for Ivey Lawrence Sharpe. The Hill's Albemarle (Stanly County, NC) City Directory, 1951 gives Rev. Sharpe's location and occupation as the pastor of Badin Methodist Church. He must have also been a lover of history.

Methodism is close to my heart, as I have discovered that one branch of my family history has ties to it back to its origins. The Davis, Winfields, Howells, Floyds, Freemans, Tillmans, Ledbetters, Penningtons, Fieldings and related families that came down from Southside Virginia to settle along the Yadkin / PeeDee and Rocky Rivers were among these. While there were Scotch-Irish coming in from the Rowan area and Highland Scotch coming in from the East and the Sandhills through the Moore/Montgomery area, and probably first, the Germans coming in from the Cabarrus area where some of the first settled along Dutch Buffalo Creek, very near Stanly, there were a small tingent of these Welsh/English descended Methodist Episcopal settlers who followed the Great Wagon Road into the Yadkin Valley and the ones from whom I descend settled near the forks of the Yadkin and Rocky Rivers, many owning land both on the Anson and Montgomery (later Stanly) side, as the Rocky, a small river, was not a great challenge to cross.

Job Davis, my Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather and indomitable brick wall, for whom my blog is named, showed a great interest in Methodism, as shown in his estate records and the large collection of books on the subject. He and his wife were at least members of the Hay Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina, established in 1832, which is now the Hay Street United Methodist Church. The following is from their site explaining their long and impressive history:

History of Hay Street United Methodist Church

Job had bought a "Summer House", a brick townhouse on Hay Street, after two of his stepsons, Jordan and John W. Howell, had moved to the growing business center in order to become businessmen instead of farmers or planters. Evidence exists that Job ensured the education of both his stepsons as well as his own 4 sons, as they all show proof of a good educational background for the time. While oldest stepson, Peter Howell, became a gentleman farmer, collecting piece by piece, all of the land that had belonged to his father, Richard Howell and to his namesake Grandfather, Peter Howell. Only sister in the bunch, Charlotte, who like a long list of descendants of Charlotte Freeman Winfield, was named for her grandmother, married a Methodist Minister, Rev. Levi Stancill, and they migrated to Newton County, Georgia. Job and Sarah kept the summer house for 23 years, until they likely got too old and feeble to travel that long distance for Sarah to visit her absentee sons, at which time he sold the house to one of them.

The following excerpt is from the article titled "Stanly County Methodism" by Rev. I. L. Sharpe.

"The Story of the Development of our Nation, as well as our State, in the main is the Story of the development of of Church and Religious Life......"

"The first settlers in this area were likely to be Germans. The Lutheran, and Reform Churches are among the oldest in this section of our State. The Scotch-Irish came possibly a little later, and with them came the Primitive Baptist Church. Shortly afterwards, or about the same time, the people called Methodists, made their way along the Yadkin River territory. Officially, the Methodists came in 1780, when the Yadkin Circuit was formed. The first Methodist Preacher was Rev. Andrew Yeargen. He found 21 Methodists in all this Region, without a minister, and without churches. But he went to work, visiting the few scattered families found along the meandering Yadkin River. We have came a long way since that far-off day, ....."

Following this was a list of the Methodist Churches in the area, and the year they were organized. The total of the present (at that time) listing was 34.

Randall 1813 Norwood (Center) 1825 Stony Hill 1826
Salem 1844 Loves Chapel 1849 Wesley Chapel 1850
Central 1852 Bethel 1853 Rehobeth 1854
Cedar Grove (McSwain's Grove) 1859 Love's Grove 1860

Friendship 1870 Mt Zion 1879 Palestine 1880
Mt. Tabor 1884 House Grove 1911 Oak Grove 1885
New London (Bilesville) 1889 First Street (Century) 1900 Main St. 1909
Green Memorial 1906 Bethany 1912 Porter 1913
Oakboro 1914 Badin 1919 Tabernacle 1922
Union Chapel 1925 Richfield 1929 Pfeiffer Chapel 1940
Parkway 1948 Locust 1959 Bethesday 1951
Matton's Grove..... (he gives no date for Matton's Grove, but it is a very old and established church. According to their own history on their website, it was first organized in 1868.)
History of Matton's Grove UMC

Continuing with Rev. Sharpe's essay, the following were a list of disbanded Methodist Churches:

Former Methodist Churches

Providence (disbanded 1901)
Swift Island 1895
Palmerville - merged with Badin
Zoar - merged with Union Chapel
Bethesda -no record of deed - merged with Union Chapel
Big Lick - merged with Oakboro 1883

There may have been more, but these were according to Rev. Sharpe's research. I separated the churchs established before "The War" and after the war with a line, as these congregations were of two separate personalities. Churches were all over in the 1800's, as travel was more difficult than it is today and as is today, different groups within a church may have had a disagreement between themselves and one groups would branch off into a new one. Others combined as their attendance became low, with other similar churches. I've heard of several congregations during these years being decimated due to a large group of them deciding to migrate west together, leaving behind the aged and infirm, or those with children too young to travel, and the congregations left behind having to fold. That said, many an abandoned "family" graveyard, may have been accompanied by a "Meeting House", as the one mentioned in Job Davis's will, circa 1852.

Rev. Ivey mentioned that the Methodist Circuit was established in 1780. Peter Winfield and his in-laws, the Robinsons, (Drury, James and etc. married to Mary and Martha Winfield, his nieces), the Meanleys (Richard and Keziah Freeman Meanley) and the Freemans (brothers of his wife Charlotte Freeman) and possibly some Marshalls arrived here circa 1785. Job Davis and his attachment, the Floyds, Tillmans and others, possibly Ledbetters, Penningtons and Ezells, arrived about a decade later. The Howells were already here, as early as 1765.

Winfield Road was an old Stanly County road, only a portion of it, near the town of Aquadale, is still in existence. According to old road records, it was once a long and well-traveled road. It began in Albemarle and wound down past the old abandoned, but still in good conditon, Rehobeth Church and along part of what is now, probably Old Davis Road and crossed what is now woods and scrub and a road no longer, to the old Ford. It picks up, still in existence, in Anson County. An old map from right after the Revolution, shows the location of Colson's Mill, where a Revolutionary skirmish, or battle took place, and just west of it, down the Rocky, the location of "Winfield's Ford". Winfield's Ford and Davis Ford, I am nearly 100% certain, are the same Ford. Location belies it, as also that Job Davis and sons continued on their portion of Peter Winfield's estate after his death in 1802, and Job's subsequent marriage to his daughter Sarah, the widow of Richard Howell, who died the same year as his father-in-law, just at a later date, as shown by his mention in land records.

I had never known of, or heard mention of, a congregation known as "Winfield's" until the article by Rev. Sharpe. Perhaps it was only a gathering of the Winfield and associated families, maybe a few neighbors, and could have been held in an informal meeting house, or possibly in just their 'dwelling house'. But the discovery is a gem indeed. There is no doubt about which family it was, as Peter was the only Winfield to stay in the Stanly/Montgomery/Anson county area, along with his 4 children: Edward, who married Susanna Lee and was known as "Esquire" in his later years; Sarah, married Richard Howell and second, Job Davis; Jemima, who married Griffin Nash and Ancena, who married first, James Morrison and second Thomas Avett.

Descendants of Peter Howell were involved in the establishment of Rehobeth and also in the establishment of Concord United Methodist Church, just across the river in Anson County. Due to the establishment of the properties of Peter's son-in-laws, I've been able to establish the range and approximate location of his former properties and plantations. From south of Rocky River Springs, to the Old Davis Road section along the Rocky River, and along "Plank Road", where the Benjamin Franklin Davis lands lay, inherited from Henry Davis, Job's oldest son, to the Howell Road, Kendall Road area of Anson near Concord UMC church, which was deaded by Griffin Nash, son-in-law of Peter Winfield and other descendants.

His in-law, Drury Robertson, was one of the first owners of the Rocky River springs properties, as evidenced by mentions in deeds located in Marlboro County, South Carolina, where Drury Robertson Jr and wife, Mary Winfield Robertson, settled along with the sibling combinations of James Robertson (this surname is also seen as Robinson and other variations) and wife Martha Winfield Robertson and their brothers, Joel and John B. Winfield, sister Dorothy Winfield Walker and husband James Robley Walker, and stepsiblings, Booth Robertson and Robertson Carloss. (Peter's brother Joshua, who remained in Virginia, first married Charlotte Freeman Winfield's sister Jemima Freeman and second the widow Rebecca Thrower Carloss, daughter of Hezekiah Thrower and widow of Archeous Carloss. Some of his children evidentally migrated along with their uncle Peter, as evidenced by appearance in the Anson cemsus of 1790, and then before the 1800 census, to Marlboro County around the Bennettsville area. Drury Robertson Sr., remained in Anson County and died there and Drury Robertson Jr. in Marlboro County, SC became a Senator and his daughter, to whom he left properties around Rocky River in Montgomery County and also the springs in Anson (later Richmond) married an Ellerbe.

And now for my treasure:

This listing of the 1807 Methodist Circuit lists contributions by Congregations along the circuit. The mention of "Creoles", and "Lowries" suggest these congregations may have been in present day Robeson County or possibly even Richmond or Marlboro. Typed over is the word "Winfield" and followed by the word Mills with a contribution of $1.50 and $2.25. Perhaps this was in the area of a Mill that was operated once by Winfields and later by someone else. Or else, a Congregation known as mainly a family of Mills. Threadgills and Lanes Creek were definitely Anson County Congregations, in the northern part, near Ansonville, Burnsville and not far off the Rocky River. P. Randles, Stony Hill and J. Randles, were no doubt "Peter Randal'ls and John Randall's and Stony Hill, the locations of which are now in Stanly County, Stony Hill being near Morrow Mountain State Park, John Randall's, the current location of Randall's Church and Peter Randall's, uncertain, but likely along "Ugly Creek" near the Rocky River, due to land records. Peter's daughter Martha, married Jordan Howell, brother of Richard Howell, Sarah Winfield's first husband.

But below Lane's Creek and above P. Randall's is mentioned the Winfield Congregation. This was five years after Peter's death, so no doubt head by Edward Winfield, only son and his wife, Susanna Lee Winfield, and five children, Arthur Freeman Winfield, who served in the War of 1812, married Mary Louis Burroughs, daughter of Bryan Burroughs and Sallie Waddell, and later migrated to Perry County, Alabama; Eliza M. Winfield, who married William Lilly, had two known children and died young, in her twenties; John Winfield, who married Eliza Beard, daughter of Michael Beard of Rowan, and late in life migrated to Pope County, Arkansas, Peter Winfield II, who married Mary "Polly" Goldston, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Goldston (Ghoulston, Gholston) and Lydia Waddell Goldston. He died in 1830 and left two sons. His widow married the Rev. John R. Barber and most of this family is buried at Brown Creek Church near Burnsville, Anson County. All Anson County Winfields are descended from his son John Peter Winfield who died in the Civil War leaving a widow and four young sons. JP's brother William, died of typhoid, and childless and is buried at Brown Creek.

Youngest son Milton Winfield owned property and had estate records in both Anson and Stanly Counties. He married Mary Ann Pickler, daughter of John Davis Pickler and Barbara McMakins Pickler. (I've often wondered if Jane Davis, who was also from Virginia and married John Pickler the first, was related to Job.) Milton died childless and his widow, Mary Ann Pickler Winfield became the second wife of Milton's first cousin, Marriott Freeman Davis. M. F Davis and Mary Ann did not have any children. He only had son Millard F. Davis by first wife, Elizabeth Turner,daughter of Bedith Broadway Turner and and a daughter Rebeth who died at 18 months old not long after her mother.

There may have been neighbors in this congregation. Perhaps Lees, or Marshalls, or Kendalls or Poplins. Or relatives like Threadgills or Davis's or Nashes. The treasure is finding there was a Congregation known as "Winfield" along this Stanly/Anson Methodist Circuit in the long-ago year of 1807.

↧

A New Search Toy

August 17, 2014, 9:43 am

≫ Next: My Fascination with the Trading Ford

≪ Previous: Finding a Small Gem: The Methodist Circuit

Archive Grid

The above link is to the Archive Grid, a new Search site that I've discovered and am exploring with rabid enthusiasm. In a resource like this, you never know what you are going to discover.

ARCHIVEGRID

You can pick a state and it will list a large number of archive sites and the information you can access there.

For North Carolina, the list includes several university libraries including Duke, Appalachian-The Belk Library, The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Baker and Taylor-which is a music collection, the Mint Museum Library and Archives, North Carolina State Archives, all of the State University Archives, The Outer Banks History Center, The State Library of North Carolina, Salem College, Wake Forest and most locally, Pfeiffer University- The Margaret Fisher Floyd Archives and Collections.

There are so many magical discoveries to be discovered in Archives. The secret is knowing where to look and what to ask for.

↧

My Fascination with the Trading Ford

August 17, 2014, 11:07 am

≫ Next: A Brief Tale of Two Job's

≪ Previous: A New Search Toy

The above postcard is a photo of the old Mill near Trading Ford, which was one of the earliest settlements in this part of the state, located on the Yadkin River between present day Rowan and Davidson Counties in North Carolina. It was called "St. John's" and was owned during the time of the Civil War by Peter Hairston, of whom and whose family, owned great portions of Rowan, Davie and Davidson counties and in particular the massive plantation that was Coolemee. A few of the Hairston plantations still exist and are maintained. One particularly lovely one is located off of Hwy 801 going from Davie into Davidson.

Mr. Fred Morgan

As of recent, I have been enraptured by the books and writings of a local Stanly County journalist, legend Fred Morgan. Morgan worked for the local newspaper, The Stanly News and Press, known affectionately as "The SNAP". He was also an astute observer of human behavior, a collector of colorful characters and a seeker of local folklore. He was attracted to ghost stories, and tales of unusual happenings. His many books include some of these stories, names mostly changed to protect the guilty, but on a historical level, he occasionally mentioned folks who did indeed exist. Like Boss Kennedy, who saw a ghost along a wagon road. John Boss Kennedy was an actual Stanly County/Union County resident. Another was Tom Marks, whom Mr. Morgan referred to as "The King of the Narrows" and as a known moonshiner.

I am a direct Marks descendant and Tom Marks was a relative, although I do not exactly know how. I believe he might have been either a brother or a cousin of my Great, Great, Great Grandmother Tabitha Marks Solomon. I can't find any significant research done on the Marks family and there are two lines of thought on Tabitha's maiden name. I stick with the Marks line of research for two reasons. One: because of the thick connection between her husband, the Rev. William Solomon and the Marks families in legal transactions and through other sources, like the store ledge of Daniel Freeman which shows William Solomon on multiple occasions, making purchases with or for members of the Marks family, particularly Benjamin F. Marks. Two: Simply because of a gut feeling. It just feels right. I feel the connection. And this takes me back to Fred Morgan.

In several of his stories, he mentions following a road or ending up in a place because of a gut-feeling or perhaps a physic lead or an other-worldly leader. I simply call it genetic memory.

It's been proven that elephants have genetic memory. If they can, why not higher developed species, such as humans.

It's this psychic connection, or genetic memory that keeps me connected to Trading Ford. The first time I drove Long Ferry Road from Davidson County to Rowan, going through Spencer to Salisbury and following I 85, but staying off of that God-forsaken highway, I came to an area where I was overtaken by a feeling of digress. Eerily taken back to another era, a feeling like I'd been there before, when I never had. Like a portal, emotionally and psychically to the past. Of course, I never left my vehicle physically or mentally. It was just a feeling. But something draws me there.

At the time, I did not know I was at Trading Ford, but after I crossed, and arrived in Rowan, there were signs that cleared the air and I knew I was in the general location of the old community.

Piedmont Wanderings Blogspot: Trading Ford

The above site gives a marvelous history of the area of Trading ford, complete with maps, and tracts of the families who lived around it. Wondering what bit of genetic memory might lead me back to the connection I feel with Trading Ford, I've settled on it having to be the Russells.

My Russell line comes from the same branch of my family as does the Marks line.

Martha Margaret Russell (1848 - 1903) married Frank Washington Mauldin (1850 - 1925). They were the parents of Wincy Ann Mauldin who married Walter Jonah Mauldin. Jonah was the grandson of Tabitha Marks Solomon. Jonah and Wincy were the parents of my maternal grandmother.

Martha is the daughter of Aaron G. Russell, son of Asa Russell, son of Aaron Russell, which is as far back as I can go with that. Aaron (abt 1770 - 1844) left a will in Stanly County. He was born in North Carolina.Could he be a son or descendant or relative of the Jane Russell seen in the early land records around Trading Ford, a neighbor of James Kennedy? We know the Davidson/Rowan county Kennedy's made it down to Stanly County (and Anson/Union). The above mentioned Boss Kennedy was a grandson of theirs.

The tingles I get crossing Trading Ford says its a possibility. Thank you Mr. Morgan for allowing me acknowledged access to my genetic memory.

↧

A Brief Tale of Two Job's

August 18, 2014, 2:51 am

≫ Next: Blessed Home, a Very Old Song

≪ Previous: My Fascination with the Trading Ford

Out of the four sons of Job Davis, there were two that named sons for their father, Henry and James, the two who had the most children. Marriott F. Davis, the youngest son, only had one son of his own, Millard. The next to the youngest, Edward W. "Ned" Davis, married late in life and had two sons, Thomas A. and John T. Davis.

Both of the Job's show up in the 1850 census. Neither of them show up in the 1860 census.

James M. Davis's son Job was the oldest. His middle initial is shown as "P".

Name:

Job P Davis

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1835

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1850:

Ross, Stanly, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Family Number:

792

Household Members:

Name	Age
James Davis	42
Roena Davis	37
Charlotte Davis	19
Jno Davis	18
Job P Davis	15
William Davis	13
Catharine Davis	11
George Davis	9
David D Davis	7
James W Davis	5
Aranah Davis	3
Sarah E Davis	2
Arena Davis	0

Henry's Job is just a toddler in 1850, and is not shown with a middle name.

Name:

Job Davis

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1848

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1850:

Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Family Number:

947

Household Members:

Name	Age
Henry Davis	42
Martha Davis	33
Sarah Davis	13
Nancy Davis	12
Hampton Davis	10
Mary Davis	8
Martha Davis	5
Aughton Davis	4
Job Davis	2

I finally have a definate answer to what happened to one of the Job's.

Stanly County, Job Pinkney Davis, age 20. This, of course, was the son of James Davis, who was noted as 15 in the 1850 census. Now we know when he died, (the column is headed "Died") and what the middle initial stood for.

As for Henry's Job, a history of the Palmers (Henry's second wife Martha, was a Palmer) tells that they believe he went to Mississippi with one of his sisters. And indeed, it appears that he may have.

In the 1880 Census, a "Jobe Davis" from North Carolina, of the approximately correct age, shows up in the census of Bright Corner, Carroll County, Mississippi.

Name:

Jobe Davis

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1850

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Bright Corner, Carroll, Mississippi

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Day Hand

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Jobe Davis	30

But what cinches it, is not shown in this view. Jobe is actually recorded in household number 131, along with 25 year old James O Wall and his 25 year old wife Offelia. In household number 130, is James O's father, James, with 5 more of his children, his wife already having passed away.

What makes this significant is that James Wall married Nancy Baldwin Davis, Job's oldest sister, in 1859 and they relocated to Carroll County, Mississippi. She was not his first wife, but the five children shown with Mr. Wall in 1880, were hers. It would make perfect sense that the Job Davis living with the Wall's in 1880 was their nephew/cousin. But where was he in 1860 and 1870?

It is very clear that James Wall and family did not go to Mississippi alone, but in a pack. In the 1860 census of Carroll County, they are neighbored by North Carolinians with Anson County surnames: Threadgill, Streeter, and Turner. But Henry's son Job is not the only son missing from Henry's household in 1860. Horton H. Davis, who definately survived, is not there either. Did they follow their sister to Mississippi and one return?

So what really became of Henry's Job?

Enough lookin' and maybe one day, I will find him too.

↧

Blessed Home, a Very Old Song

August 29, 2014, 8:11 am

≫ Next: The Caprons

≪ Previous: A Brief Tale of Two Job's

There are many people all over the nation, and even eventually, all over the world, who have roots that lead back to our little area of North Carolina.

Edisto River

Our history was affected by several waves of migration that took place during the 19th Century for various reasons: land grants, wars, exhausted farmland, fortune, or the endless search for good bottom land. Many people, devastated by the after-effects of the Civil War went west to attempt a 'start-over', others moved south and west in order to escape debts, crimes, or bad memories. Others had hopes of something better, bigger, brighter. But from the beginning of the settling of the Americas by people from other lands, there has alway been those two groups. One sibling will head west, another will stay where they are. That is how the west was won, and also how the east remained populated.

Among the families that moved west off the Rocky River, from the linked counties of Stanly and Anson, were the related families of the Howells, Lisenbys' and Threadgills. Several of these relatives and neighbors would migrate together,imagine a wagon train, and would remain together after settlement, a fairly insular congregation for the first and second generations, leading to modern people who live there and have several, not just one, links back to the same area of North Carolina in their family tree.

DNA and genealogy have led me to meet several wonderful and interesting distant (in miles as well as family trees) cousins. One of these persons is my dear cousin Gene, with whom I communicate regularly. We are both Winfield descendants. While I am descended from Sarah Winfields second husband, Job Davis, Gene descends from her first husband Richard Howell.

One of her ancestors, Holden Stokes Lisenby, wrote the following hymn during his migration to Alabama in 1857.

Blessed Home by Holden Stokes Lisenby

or

Blessed Home by Holden Stokes Lisenby

Holden Stokes Lisenby was born October 14, 1814 in Anson County.

He was the son of Thomas Lisenby and Rhoda Green Lisenby.

In 1837, he would marry Rebecca Threadgill, born March 13,1822, daughter of Randall Threadgill and Martha Lothrap Threadgill (or Lowthorp, etc. This name is spelled multiple ways and I also have a Lowthorp/Lathrop/etc. in my line).

This marriage would produce 8 offspring:

1838 William Fletcher Lisenby
1841 Martha Asbury Lisenby
1842 Elisha Green Lisenby
1843 Matilda J Lisenby
1847 Elizabeth Minerva Lisenby
1850 James Franklin Lisenby
1852 Winfield Scott Lisenby
1856 Mary Ann Lisenby

The family would migrate to Alabama in 1857. The 1860 census was the last census that Rebecca Threadgill Lisenby would appear in.

Name:

H S Lisenbe
[H S Lisenby]

Age in 1860:

Birth Year:

abt 1815

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1860:

Township 13 Range 4 East, Marengo, Alabama

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Hampden

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
H S Lisenbe	45
Rebecca Lisenbe	38
Martha A Lisenbe	19
E G Lisenbe	17
Elizabeth M Lisenbe	14
James F Lisenbe	10
Winfield S Lisenbe	8
Mary A Lisenbe	4
Thos Threadgill	21

In 1865, Holden Stokes Lisenby would marry Margaret R. Henley, who was born either in Georgia or Alabama. This marriage would produce 3 children:

1866 John E. Lisenby
1872 Adophus M. Lisenby
1873 Anna Jordan Lisenby

Name:

Holden S. Lisenbe

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1815

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Pineville, Marengo, Alabama

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Self (Head)

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Margaret Lisenbe

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Farmer

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Holden S. Lisenbe	65
Margaret Lisenbe	46
John E. Lisenbe	13
Adolph Lisenbe	8
Anna S. Lisenbe	7

Holden S. Lisenby would also survive his second wife. The 1900 census finds him living with son John.

Name:

Holton S Lisenby
[Holton S Lisenbe]
[Holton E Lisenby]

Age:

Birth Date:

Oct 1814

Birthplace:

Alabama

Home in 1900:

Pineville, Marengo, Alabama

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Father

Marital Status:

Married

Marriage Year:

1864

Years Married:

Father's Birthplace:

Alabama

Mother's Birthplace:

Alabama

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
John Lisenby	33
Julia A Lisenby	28
Jerre H Lisenby	10
Ruth E Lisenby	4
John B Lisenby	2
Holton S Lisenby	85
Adolphus M Lisenby	29

Mr. H.S. Lisenby passed away on May 7, 1908 in Marengo, Alabama. His beautiful hymn, composed on the long trip from Anson County, NC to Marengo County, Alabama, survives him.

His daughter Martha Asbury Lisenby would marry John Floyd Howell, another Anson County native who migrated West. John Floyd Howell was the son of Peter Howell and Elizabeth Floyd Howell, who farmed in the Cedar Hill area of Anson County, just south of Norwood and just across the Rocky River from Stanly County, near Concord Church. Peter Howell was the oldest son of Sarah Winfield by her first husband Richard Howell and was the stepson of Job Davis. Elizabeth "Betsy" Floyd was the daughter of Josiah Floyd (III) and wife Mary Tillman Floyd, with whom Job Davis would migrate from the Mecklenburg / Brunswick County area of Virginia, to the Rocky River/ Yadkin /PeeDee area of Anson/Montgomery/Stanly County area of North Carolina in 1794.

My cousin Gene, an octogenarian, is the granddaughter of this couple. While her ancestors were among those who migrated West, mine are among the ones who stayed put.

With improvements and discoveries in DNA continuing, and research materials being continually made accessible online, the vast family connections across America will continue to be linked and distant family members able to find each other and share information.

And beautiful discoveries, like this heartfelt hymn by a devout traveler may yet come to light.

↧

The Caprons

September 12, 2014, 7:36 am

≫ Next: The Early Life of John F. Capron

≪ Previous: Blessed Home, a Very Old Song

I recently gained a renewed interest in the Howell family and decided to look down a few avenues I've not dwelt among lately. Following the children of Peter Howell, oldest son of Great (x) Grandmother Sarah "Sallie" Winfield Howell Davis, I'd mostly concentrated on his sons, and not on the daughters.

Several of Peter's daughter did not marry, as evidence in their selling of their share of Peter's estate in the late 1860's and early 1870's. (See Anson County Deeds )

One daughter, Julia A. Howell, did marry however, and a small delegate of descendants remain today.

Julia married an impressive Northern gentleman, John F or K Capron probably around 1859 or 1860. Julia is living with her parents in the 1850 census, and in the 1860 census, she has married Mr. Capron, nearly two decades her elder, and is living right next to her parents in Anson County in the Cedar Hill community.

Name:

John Capron

Age in 1860:

Birth Year:

abt 1806

Birthplace:

New Hampshire

Home in 1860:

Cedar Hill, Anson, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Ansonville

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
John Capron	54
Julia Capron	35

John F Capron is listed as a Carriage Maker with a personal property value of $250. Other neighbors include John F. Kendall, a physcian and Woodson and Sally Davis Crump, Sally being Julia's first cousin.

John F. Capron may have had a previous family. That part I've not discovered yet. Family trees have him as the son of Silas Capron and Sylvia Foster Capron, who were born in Massachusetts and moved to New Hampshire to raise their families. I'm not sure I agree with those trees, as that couple seems a little young to have been the parents of John K. Capron, who was born in 1806.

John F Capron may have came to North Carolina with the Capron Water Wheel Company, who is shown in deed in Cumberland County purchasing a site from David Kivett and Sons. Capron was not a Carolina surname. Julia's uncles, John W. Howell and Jordan Howell were businessmen in Fayetteville, a thriving market town of the era, and may have been the link between the middle-aged Mr. Capron and their 'old maid' niece, Julia, now in her 30's.

Searching old newspapers, I found this court notice, that shows John F. Capron may have been in Davidson County before coming to Anson and Stanly County.

Western Carolinian
(Salisbury, North Carolina)13 January 1834 • Page 4

By 1870, John K and Julia had become the parents of three sons:

Name:

J K Capson
[J K Capron]

Age in 1870:

Birth Year:

abt 1805

Birthplace:

New Hampshire

Home in 1870:

Harris, Stanly, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Albemarle

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
J K Capson	65
Julia Capson	46
Howell Capson	8
John Capson	4
Edward Capson	2

Peter Howell Capron, was the oldest, named for his grandfather, Peter Howell. John was next, born about 1866 and Edward Orford Capron was the youngest, born about 1868. Having married late helped the Caprons become a very small family for the times.

J K Capron and family had moved to the Harris community of Stanly County by this time, and he was listed as a mechanic. Neighbors included Ritchies, Penningtons, Cranfords and Biles. It looks like the location may have been in or near the modern town of New London.

The only deed involving the Caprons in Anson County was one dated 1871 in which J F Capron and wife Julia sell to James E. Howell, her brother, their share of the inheritance of the their father, Peter Howell's estate, a tract on the Rocky River, in Anson, from the Caprons of Stanly County, adjoining the lands of Dr. John S. Kendall, John Wall and others. "Known more particularly as the Howell lands, where Peter Howell, late of Anson, lived and died and containing 500 acres more or less."

In Stanly County, J. F. Capron was more involved in land transactions.

On October 16, 1868, John F. "of Anson" bought a tract of land from Daniel Freeman, "all my interest, being one half in the tract of land known as the John Stokes land." Neighbors to this tract of land mentioned were Travis Carter, Jarrett Russel and Thomas Rice.

On January 4, 1871 is a very interesting transaction from Book 7 Page 270 of the Stanly County, North Carolina deeds: "This Indenture between... John Tyson, Jr. Administrator of Peter Howell....undivided three hundred acres of land lately belonging to the intestate Peter Howell known as the John Stokes (or Stoker) tract.....John F Capron became the last and highest bidder...lying in Stanly County on the waters of Mountain Creek....Jarrett Russel's line, Lewis Carters line...Thomas Rices line... Sounds like the same tract of land mentioned above.

The next document, dated May 10, 1875 involves P. W. Melton and J. F. Capron.

P.W. Melton in this deed would have to be Preston Wooley Melton, son of Joseph D. Melton, the shoemaker. Joseph D Melton lived long and left a long and mysterious trail. I've been working on finding information on this gentleman for awhile and he was quite the charactor and the oldest son of John Melton Sr. of Granville and then later Montgomery/Stanly County.

P. W. was one of the 'middle' children of Joseph and later on in life migrated to Arkansas, where he died. The younger P. W. Melton, or Milton, as the spellings continually crossed, was the son of his younger brother William, who lived with P. W. for awhile in his early adulthood, and the nephew P.W. was Preston William.

This document was the mortgage or collateral loan of a "Spring Wagon" to J. F. Capron, by P.W. Melton. Perhaps in payment for mechanical work done, or a wagon built.

On August 1, 1877, Moses Dry declares himself to J. F. Capron and as collateral offers up a gray mare and a hay wagon.

On June 6, 1876 J. F. Capron and wife sell 10 acres on the "Clover Fork of Long Creek" adjoining Russells' to E. C. Morgan.

On January 12, 1882, J. F. Capron and wife Julia sell to G. W. Bowers, 25 acres containing a drain and adjoining George Jenkins, N J Russell and J L Kearns.

On Sept. 13, 1884 J. F. Capron and wife Julia sell to George Jenkins 34 1/2 acres on Long Branch, adjoining Lewis Carter.

On January 14, 1887, perhaps feeling death closing in on him, John F. Capron began selling off his property. He sells a tract of land to G.W. Jenkins, adjoining G. W. Jenkins, Giles Bowers, J. F. Capron and others, 10 acres of land.

By July of 1887, J. F. Capron was becoming weak, ill and feeble. He would have been about 81. For the incidental sum of $1.00 J. F. Capron gave to J. D. Stoker his property "on the east side of Cloverfork Creek and the West side of Long Branch" bordering Richard Morris, Eleazor Coggins, Lewis Carter and others, 'known as the John Stokes lands'. In exchange, J. D. Stoker " shall keep, maintain and support the said J. F. Capron during the remainder of his natural life in a good and comfortable manner, suitable to his degree and condition in life and shall well and truly furnish him all necessary and proper food, clothing and medicine and other necessary attention and assistance, as long as the said John F. Capron shall live and also the said J. D. Stoker shall furnish and erect at the proper place, three tombstones to be at least three feet high and good Marble with proper engravings, whereon one for Julia Capron, wife of John F. Capron, one for Fletcher Capron, his son, now deceased and one for the said John F. Capron, after his death. And if the said J. D. Stoker shall fail to perform the conditions above, then this deed to be null and void.

It was witnessed by T. J. Jerome and registered on July 9, 1887.

By naming son Fletcher as already deceased, it might be assumed that Peter Howell Capron and Edward Orford Capron might still be alive and that "Fletcher" would be John Capron, Jr. and the "F" in both middle names standing for Fletcher.

Name:

John F. Copson
[John F. Capron]

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1806

Birthplace:

New Hampshire

Home in 1880:

Harris, Stanly, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Self (Head)

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Julia A. Copson

Father's Birthplace:

New Hampshire

Mother's Birthplace:

New Hampshire

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Maintenace Mechanic

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
John F. Copson	74
Julia A. Copson	50
Peter H. Copson	18
John Copson	14
Edward Copson	10

In the 1880 census, John F. Capron was seen as a Maintenance Mechanic with 3 young sons. Howell in 1870 is now "Peter H.", letting us know his name was Peter Howell Capron for Julia's father.

The reason John F. Capron did not sign his property over to either of his two surving sons was that the entire family was, and had been sick for sometime. Perhaps with thyphoid fever or some other malady of the time.

The Concord Times
(Concord, North Carolina)8 April 1886 • Page 3

This sick in April of 1886 and assigning all of his property over to a friend in July of 1887, John F. Capron probably expired not long after that. The one of his 3 sons that did survive the illness however, was Edward O. Capron. His own obituary explains a bit of when the remainder of his family may have died.

The Enterprise
(Albemarle, North Carolina)5 April 1906 • Page 1

According to the 1906 Stanly Enterprise, April 5 edition, the Capron family all died within the month of March and suggests that John F. and Julia may have had at least two daughters in addition to their 3 sons, who did not show up in a census.

Edward O. Capron did not remain in Stanly County, but his name appeared in some deeds prior to his removal. He apparently first moved to Anson County, in the area of his Howell grandparents home, after his parents death.

On January 7, 1891, J D Stoker and wife R. E. Stoker of Stanly, the family who took care of John F. Capron in his old age sells to E. O. Capron a tract of land in Harris township in Stanly County, adjoining Giles Coggins, G. W. Jenkins and J. D. Stoker, on Long Branch containing 80 1/2 acres, which was part of the property John F. Capron had sold to them for the nominal fee of $1.00, they sold back to his son for $100. A considerable profit for the time.

On the same day, E. O. Capron of Stanly County, for $300, sell sto J D Stoker, a tract of land adjoining the lands of John Howell, W. W. Rusell and Nathan Thompson, located in Harris Township on Cloverfork Creek, containing 80 1/2 acres. It appears a 161 acre tract may have been split in half.

The last Stanly County deed involving E. O. Capron, dated February 9, 1899, was from E. O. Capron and wife Annie to George M Tolbert, land on Long Branch adjoining G. W. Jenkins, Z. Coggins and J. D Stoker and Nathan Thompson, containing 80 1/2 acres.

There are no more deeds involving the Capron family in Stanly County.

To follow the only surving child of Julia Howell from here, we have to go back to the Howell family and the Threadgills, a related family.

Edward O. Capron married Annie Lenora Threadgill in 1893. She was the daughter of Patrick Randolph Threadgill and wife Lucy Carolina Gray. Annie was interestingly enough born in Mississippi and the couple were married in Virginia

Patrick Threadgill was a member of the Howell family, however. He was the son of Thomas and Martha Threadgill and his mother was widowed young, remarrying to Richard Howell the second, a brother of Julia Howell Capron, Edward O's mother, making Patrick Richard's stepson and Edward and Annie stepcousins.

Before picking up with the Threadgills and Edward and his family, it is to be noted that although he relocated with Patrick Threadgill and family to Pacolet Mills in South Carolina and the rest of his family is buried there, Edward O. Capron is buried at the Concord United Methodist Church Cemetery in the old Cedar Hill Community in Anson County. This church was built on the old Peter Winfield plantation, Edwards Great-Great Grandfather. He is the only Capron listed among the readable tombstones.

E. O. Caperon

Due to this fact, it is my belief that Edward was brought back to be buried with his parents and siblings. It makes no sense that he would be transported back up to North Carolina for no reason. Did Mr. Stoker actually buy the nice marble tombstones that J. F. Capron requested to mark his grave and those of wife Julia and son Fletcher? Or not? Were the locations of these graves lost after E.O Capron was buried?

I believe that Peter Howell and wife Elizabeth were probably buried in this cemetery as well. There are a large number of unreadable tombstones and no longer marked graves in this ancient cemetery.

Concord United Methodist Church Cemetery

Concord United Methodist Church Cemetery

It also would make the most sense that John F. Capron and wife Julia, along with sons Peter Howell Capron and John Fletcher Capron, Jr. and possibly some young daughters, are buried there too, all possibly dying in March, the month of doom for Caprons.

↧

The Early Life of John F. Capron

September 16, 2014, 12:37 pm

≫ Next: More on the Early Days of John F. Capron

≪ Previous: The Caprons

When John F. Capron first shows up in the 1860 census of Anson County, newly married to wife Julia Howell, my ggggg-Aunt, and living next to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Peter and Betsy Floyd Howell, he was not a young man. In his 54th year of life and a skilled mechanic and carriage maker, I knew there had to be a story, or at least a trace of him concerning the first 50 years of his life.

I started with a hint I found in the Western Carolinian from 1833, a newspaper of Salisbury, North Carolina.

Western Carolinian
(Salisbury, North Carolina)13 January 1834 • Page 4

This placed John F Capron in Davidson County, North Carolina, prior to his arrival in Anson, by a few decades. Capron being a rare name, and extremely rare in North Carolina, the assurance that this was our John F. Capron is pretty certain and complete.

It also appears that he was having goods shipped in to Wilmington and bringing them up through Fayetteville, where he may have encounter the Howell brothers.

So I went to Davidson County to look for traces of this much traveled gentleman from New Hampshire who had married into the family.

He was there but for a brief time, but he had made his mark.

I have not yet had the opportunity to scour through the land records of Davidson County, yet, but I will, as I feel there is more to discover concerning Mr. John F. Capron, but this is what I uncovered in the Circuit Court records:

First appearance: Date: Feb. 19, 1831

John F. Capron vs. William K. Smith No. 11 Original attachment levied on land. In this case, on motion, it is ordered by the court that publication be made for 3 weeks successively in the Greensboro Patriot published in Greensborough (their spelling, not mine), for the defendant to appear at the next term of this court and plead or replevy (again, their word, not mine), otherwise an order for the sale of said lands will be made in favor of the plaintiff in this action.
Item image

As this case was dated 1831 and the above ad was dated 1833, Mr. Capron was in pursuit of Mr. Smith, who had left the county, for some time.

By the next year, John F. Capron had apparently established himself in the trusts of the powers that were in Davidson County.

Second mention: "Constables appointed for 1832"

John F. Capron was appointed Constable for the ensuing year. He gave bond with Charles Hoover, William Sullivan and David Huffman, his securities, in $4000. He was approved and he qualified according to the law.

Of important mention in the this same list was also this entry:

Allen Newsome was appointed Constable for the ensuing year. He gave bond with Wm Varner, Wm Cox, John W. Thomas, James Adderton, Mathew Varner and William Ward.

Allen Newsome married Charlotte Howell, daughter of Jordan Howell and a first cousin of John F. Capron's future wife Julia. It seems that the two daughters of Jordan Howell, Charlotte and Clarrissa, had came to live with their grandmother, Sarah Winfield Howell Davis, after the death of their father, in Fayetteville, because they both married men from this part of North Carolina, Charlotte marrying Allen Newsome, of Southern Davidson County and Clarrissa marrying Jeremiah Broadaway whose family was Rocky River neighbor of Sarah and Job. Their brother remained in Fayetteville, an apprentice of his fathers business partner, Paris Tillinghast, and removed later with the Tillinghast family to Columbus County, Georgia.

The next entry was a total shock, a young man, John F. Capron had apparently fullfilled his passions.

Thursday morning, November the 15th. 1832

State vs John F. Capron No. 6 Bastardy Sally Grimes, prosecutor. In this case on motion, judgement nisi for $24 was awarded against the defendant. The first year's allowance for the maintenance of a baseborn child begotten upon the body of the prosecutor, Sally Grimes of which said child the said John F. Capron stands charged as the reputed father.

Thursday morning, February 14, 1833 Gotlieb Grimes vs John F. Capron
Pleas general issue, accord and satisfaction....finds all issues in favor of the defendant.

These two clues led to research on Gotlieb Grimes and Sarah or Sally Grimes. I found them and curious as to whether this child lived or died, discovered she lived, her name being Rosanna E. Grimes and she grew up, married and had her own family. More on her later.

Later in 1833:

John F. Capron vs Benjamin Saunders
3 casas. Jonas Myers, who was bail for the defendant Benjamin Saunders, came into open court and surrendered the said Saunders in discharge of himself from bail. Saunders ordered into the hands of the sheriff.

August sessions 1833

John F Capron vs Benjamin Saunders, principal John W. Thomas, Jonas Myers bail. Again a surrender of bail and Saunders posting his own bond.

February 13, 1834

John F. Capron vs William K Smith and Timothy Chamberlain
Original attachment levied on land. It was acknowledged that the advertisement, one of which is seen above, was made. The land was ordered to be sold by the sheriff after the advertisement and sheriff fees paid, the balance to go to John F. Capron.

May 1834 John F Capron vs Smith and Chamberlain again.

Friday morning February 1835

Clerk's office vs John F. Capron
In this case on motion, it is ordered by the court that the sheriff have leave to make his return on said executions as last term.

And this is the last court case involving John F. Capron in Davidson County.

Old Church in Sumter County, Alabama

Name:	John F. Capron
Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	30 Sep 1839
Marriage Place:	, Sumter, Alabama
Spouse:	Matilda C. Johnston

By fall of 1839, John F. Capron is in Sumter, Alabama, perhaps traveling with other Davidson County residents, perhaps alone on business. Here he meets his first wife, Matilda C. Johnston, who I believe was the daughter of a William Johnston.

Oddly though, John shows up alone in the 1840 census. Perhaps his wife was still at home.

Name:	John F Capron
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	Sumter, Alabama
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:	1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	1
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	1

In the land records, there are listed 2 transactions involving him. I have not yet recieved these documents. One involves him and a company called Johnson & Tubb. Perhaps this was his father-in-laws business. Another was between him and William Jennings.

Warsaw, Sumter, Alabama

45	Capron	John	Johnson & Tubb		H	629
45	Capron	John F.	Jennings	William et al	H	700
	He must have acquired a piece of land in Alabama, as his name, misspelled, shows up in the 1850 tax list. But he was not there.
Name of Parties Assessed, page in volume party appears on CAPSON, John F., 23:		Assessment of Taxes on Real Estate in the County of Sumter for the year 1850

He does not appear in the 1850 census of Sumter County, Alabama. John has been on the move again. He has became a miner 49er'.

Home in 1850:

Yuba, California

Gender:

Male

Family Number:

460

Household Members:

Name	Age
Francis Reed	22
James Atwell	37
Eliza Jane Flinn	12
Mary Ann Flinn	10
Nancy Flinn	8
Robert Flinner	5
Samuel Florie	5
John S Capron	25
Mardecia McKinley	49
Edward Stillward	24
J Daniely	29
Seth F Sanger	21
James H Hopkins	21

He shows up in a list of "Miners" in 1850 Yuba, California.

The message boards from genealogy.com are now read only. No more information can be added. However, I found an otherwise anonymous gentleman by the name of "Rick" had posed this question about our John F. Capron that added a little more information about him while in Califorinia. In a City Directory, he was listed as a Carpenter, although the census has him as a miner.

"Can anyone give me some information on this John F Capron, I found him in the 1850 San Francisco, California City directory he was listed as a Carpenter, he could have lived at Green and Stockton, or worked for a Green and Stockton." Posted by "Rick".

The above is the page from the 1850 San Francisco City Directory. Green and Stockton appeared to be a company that invested in the building of the quickly growing town, rather than in the direct pursuit of gold.

The death of Matilda Capron cements the fact that John F. Capron in Alabama was the same one in California, despite the fact that Matilda was not listed in the 1850 census with him and that the middle initial was improperly transcribed, that miner John "S" Capron was actually John "F" Capron. Not only is her spouse listed, also that fact that she was born in Alabama. This is our Matilda C. Johnston Capron.

The Sad History of the Yerba Buena Cemetery in San Francisco

Yerba Buena Cemetery was one of the oldest in the city, established during the Gold Rush boom in 1850 and closed in 1871. It was the first city-sanctioned cemetery in SF, and many bodies from unofficial cemeteries in Russian Hill, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill were moved here after neighbors complained of the unsanitary situation. Located below the original SF Public Library building, all of the bodies were supposedly moved to other cemeteries when it was closed. But when construction began to remodel the library into the Asian Art Museum in 2001, there were some unexpected discoveries - 18 skeletons, 25 feet in from the sidewalk and 13 feet below ground, all dating from the mid to late 1800s.
from "http://www.7x7.com/arts-culture/dark-history-san-franciscos-cemeteries#/0"
San Francisco 1849

Not Frisco...Yerba Buena Cemetery

Perhaps it was the death of his wife that brough John F. Capron back to North Carolina. Perhaps he wanted to reconnect with his daughter, Rosanna Grimes Burkhart. Perhaps he had a business opportunity. Or perhaps it was something to do with the death of John W. Howell, an old business partner. For whatever reason, he arrived in North Carolina in time to join his second bride, Julia Howell in the 1860 census. And with her and in North Carolina, he remained.

Next, to explore the families of his children who survived long enough to have their own families: Rosanna E. Grimes Burkhart and Edward O. Capron.

↧

More on the Early Days of John F. Capron

September 23, 2014, 7:50 am

≫ Next: An Amazing Discovery: The Brooms

≪ Previous: The Early Life of John F. Capron

I'm still trying to discover more of the early life of John F. Capron. He was not John Foster Capron, who served in the Civil War and seemed to remain in New Hampshire. That much I have determined. In this quest, I have discovered a very interesting fact, that I believe, amazingly, is still our John F. Capron, simply because he disappears from one area and reappears in another, and the time frames work in sequence. There are no overlaps.

What I would really like to find out is where he was in 1830, or what household he may have been in. 1831 is the year of his first appearance in the court records of Davidson County, North Carolina. He is suing for debts owed against a William K Smith and a Timothy Chamberlain. The ad does mention that William K Smith does not or no longer lives in the county. Attempting to discover who these two men were have proven unfruitful. William K Smith is too common of a name to claim with any accuracy, but one does appear in Davidson County in the nearest census, which would have be the 1830 census. Two Timothy Chamberlains do show up in the 1830 census, but one is in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and the other in Camden, North Carolina.

There is a William Smith, no middle initial, in Davidson County in 1830, so that could possibly be the William K. Smith in debt to John F. Capron in 1831.

Name:	William Smith
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	Davidson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	4
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	4

With no real luck there, I turned to the names of the men mentioned, whose property adjoined that of Mr. Smith. One of them was a Johnson, Clinton Johnson, a carriage maker, born about 1798. It could be of some consequence that John F. Capron's first wife was a Johnson or Johnston. Did he meet her in Alabama or did he travel with members of her family from NC to Alabama and marry her there?

A "statement of significance" concerning historical houses in Davidson County lists "The Shadrach Lambeth House", which is located "east of Thomasville in the northeast corner of Davidson County, where Randolph, Guilford and Davidson Counties intersect". This area near Thomasville is the same area of the county, known as "Imbley", where the Grimes family was settled, particularly Sally Grimes and her children, the mother of John F. Caprons oldest know child, Rosanna. The other "neighbor" of William K Smith was an Imbler, which I will delve into shortly.

From the nc.edu site, and excellent article on many of the founding families of this area of Davidson County. Mentioned is the Grimes family, along with Sheriff Kennedy, who is mentioned often in the same court dates of John F. Caprons appearances. A branch of this same Kennedy family had migrated prior to this date into Stanly County. Also mentioned are the Moffitts, who had connections with the Winfield family. Were either of these families known to or by John F. Capron at this time?

http://ils.unc.edu/nclibs/davidson/beftvl.htm

The Lambeth house is described as being built for "either Clinton Johnson, a local coachmaker or Shadrach Lambeth, a prosperous farmer and physcian." The 1850 census describes Johnson as a coachmaker, so we have our first "adjoiner" in the proper location.

The other 'adjoiner', John Imbler, came from a family I've not discovered a great deal on, except for the fact that they were Germans who immigrated from Pennsylvania by the mid to late 1700's to "Rowan" County, which may have in the part of Rowan, that became Davidson, in the area of Davidson County that by the mid 1800's, became known as "Imbley" for this family. The name of Imbler was also spelled Embler and probably evolved by 'country folk mispronounciation' into Imbley.

Grimes Mill

The community of Imbley was in and later became known as the township of Conrad Hill and was a mining area. As the family of John F. Capron's daughter and her mother Sarah "Sally" Grimes Sullivan, all settled and lived in this exact area, it is not a stretch to assume that most likely, this is the area of Davidson County, John F. Capron lived in while in Davidson County during the 1830's. It was located east of Lexington and just south of Thomasville and north of Denton and Silver Hill Township.

The Conrad Hill area was concerned with mining and John F. Capron himself seems concerned with mining himself as he was first in this area, then later followed the miners west to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, although he is listed in the San Francisco 1850 City Directory as a carpenter. His ending days after marrying Julia Howell was spent near Bilesville in Stanly County, which was also a mining district during the time he lived there. He held a noticeable interest in mining.

What bothers me is the fact that to have had someone indebted to him enough to have undertaken the time consuming task of suing for this individuals resources and to have had the time to develop a relationship with Sally Grimes long enough to have impregnated her and fathered a child born in 1831, he should have also been in the area by 1830. As he is not in the 1830 census of Rowan or Davidson County that I can find, he would have had to have been boarding within the household of a Head of Household.

Conrad Hill Mine Information
Did he arrive to the area with family or friends from New Hampshire? Who was John connected to in Davidson County? And then, why, apparently, did he remove to South Carolina (most likely) and then Alabama?

The last court entry for John F. Capron in Davidson County is shown as:

Friday morning February 1835

Clerk's office vs John F. Capron
In this case on motion, it is ordered by the court that the sheriff have leave to make his return on said executions as last term.

He does not reappear until his marriage to Matilda C. Johnson in 1839 in Sumter County, Alabama. Did he leave Davidson in 1835 and join the military in South Carolina by 1836? I believe so. There is not another possible Capron who was lingering in South Carolina traceable in this time. The "F" corroborates it. Lt. John F. Capron must be our John F. Capron. So after 1835, he drifted south to South Carolina, possibly following another mining interest or growing town.

Fold3 contains his military record as a South Carolina Volunteer. He served in the Indian Wars under Andy Jackson. His service year being 1836 and this earned him a piece of property, in apparently, Sumter County, Alabama.

Full Name:: John F Capron 1

Edit

Other Service 1

Rank:: Corporal 1
Military Unit:: South Carolina Vols, Capt A.C. Jones, Col Goodwin 1
Rejected:: FALSE 1
Service Year:: 1836 1
State:: South Carolina 1
Warrant Number:: 55-120-60557 1

"Twenty Brave Men"
By Jackson Walker
Hampshire County, West Virginia, Spring 1756
National Guard Heritage Series

General D J Clinch mentions him in a report as a Leut. Capron:

After the war, was his settlement in Alabama singular or arbitrary or did he follow family, perhaps in-laws.

The area around Thomasville, in North Carolina, was heavily settled with Johnsons, along with Emblers, Becks, Hedricks, Grimes and Burkharts. Could John F. Capron have migrated south along with the family of his future wife Matilda, who he would marry in Alabama and who would sadly pass away in San Francisco?

Obviously, I have much more to discover about this interesting gent.

Name:	Matilda C. Johnston
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	30 Sep 1839
Marriage Place:	, Sumter, Alabama
Spouse:	John F. Capron
FHL Film Number:	1293884

Name:	Mathilda Capron
Age at Death:	30
Birth Place:	Warsaw Alabama
Death Date:	abt 1851
Burial Date:	20 May 1851
Burial Place:	San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Funeral Home:	N. Gray & Co. Funeral Records
Funeral Place:	San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Record Type:	Index
Source Reference:	1850-1854

↧

An Amazing Discovery: The Brooms

October 19, 2014, 10:46 am

≫ Next: Looking for Martha Byrum

≪ Previous: More on the Early Days of John F. Capron

I often am researching a very different family from the one I may be posting about, due to waiting on information or documents to arrive in the mail.

The current object of my research is Gilson Broom. Born in Union County, he eventually made his way to Stanly and appeared on an amazing document of whom the likes I have not seen. I decided to find out who the individuals mentioned in this document were in an off-chance that I might discover more about the individual the document primarily concerned.

In that document, several times over, was the mention of Mr. Gilson Broom, and in the research of Mr. Gilson Broom, I came upon this fabulous newspaper article from The Monroe Journal, dated January 16, 1912. I am quite certain I am a descendant of the Union County Fincher and Broom families, although I have not yet found any absolute proof. I know that Frederick Fincher Starnes, who spent his early years and even into his first marriage and the birth of his oldest children, in Union County, was one of my second Great-Grandfathers. He lived his most productive years in Cabarrus County, moved after his second marriage to Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, had land just over the state line on a "Rocky River Road" in Lancaster County, SC and even possibly have been born in Georgia.

Frederick Fincher Starnes married a lady named Mary Louise. There is an older lady living in their home named Martha Byram, Bynam or Broom assigned as his mother-in-law. So Mary Louise, my second Great-Grandmother, may have been a Broom. The name is not altogether legible in the original document. Fincher, as F. F Starnes's middle name, could have been a maternal maiden name passed down the family line, either mother or grandmother or other, and the Finchers were prevalent in Union County in the early days.

Mentioned in the following article are definate ancestors of mine, and many other Stanly County citizens who benefited from these early settlers on the Rocky River which became the Stanly/Union/Anson/Cabarrus counties lines. One of those was Tilman Helms, a direct ancestor of mine.

This article is a gem. Enjoy. I hope someone can find beneficial information from it.
Amazing story of the broom family

↧

Looking for Martha Byrum

October 24, 2014, 5:42 am

≫ Next: The Byram Record of Mystery

≪ Previous: An Amazing Discovery: The Brooms

Margaret Arleavis "Leavy" Starnes Lemmonds was my second Great-Grandmother. I have only seen photos of her as a very old woman. She went by the name of "Leavy" and I've seen her name spelled multiple ways: Arleavis, Oleavy, Levey, Leavie, etc. I believe her name, originally, was probably meant to have been "Olivia", as that name ran thick in the early Starnes family, but in the desparate days of the later half of the 19th century when names like Eliza became "Leezor" and such, Olivia, at best, became Leavy.

I found Leavy's mother's name in various documents, to be Mary Louise Byrum. That surname is also bothersome. It could be Byram, Byrum, Bynum, or even "Barren" in various interpretations.

The death certificates of her children who lived long enough verify that. Thomas Mellon Starnes 1936 death certificate lists his mother's name as "Mary Byrums". The one for Frederick Layfayette "Fate" Starnes declares his mother as "Mary Brooms", informant, his son Silas Grier Starnes. Della Starnes McAnulty's death certificate names her mother as "Mary Barren". I have not been able to locate the death certificate for oldest daughter, Sarah Alice Starnes Linker, in either Cabarrus or Mecklenburg counties, but her obituary claims she passed away in Mecklenburg County while visiting her daughter and was buried at Rocky River Presbyterian Church in Cabarrus County, where she was a member.

Also buried at Rocky River Presbyterian Church with Mary Louis Byram Starnes are her children who died young:

Martha Ann Starnes, age 11, September 9 1865 to March 18, 1877.
Georgia Ann Starnes, age 7, January 9, 1873 to August 4, 1880.

Oldest son and first child to pass away was John H. Starnes, age 9, born May 1, 1858 in Union County and died December 9, 1867 in Cabarrus County and is buried in a small cemetery, which was probably a neighbors family.

The other child who lived long enough to obtain a death certificate (which began around 1912, a little earlier or later in some counties), was my very own Great, Great-Grandmother Leavy. I located her tombstone and although she passed away in 1939, I have not located her death certificate. She may have been hospitalized in another county.

This makes Mary Louise Byrum my 3rd Great-Grandmother.

The 1880 census takes me back one more generation. In it, a 70 year old Martha Byrum is listed as the Mother-in-Law of F. F. Starnes, my 3rd Great-Grandfather, meaning she was the mother of Mary Louise Byrum Starnes.

Name:

Martha Byram

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1810

Birthplace:

South Carolina

Home in 1880:

Rocky River, Cabarrus, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Mother-in-law

Marital Status:

Widowed

Father's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Boarding

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
F.F. Starns	51
Mary L. Starns	43
Margaret A. Starns	23
Thomas M. Starns	19
Dalphia A. Starns	10
Georgia A. Starns	7
Fredrick L. Starns	5
Dasie L. Starns	2
Martha Byram	70

This makes Martha (maiden name yet unknown) Byrum or Byram my 4th Great-Grandmother. But who was she?

This census tells us she was born in South Carolina about 1810, that she is a widow in 1880, and that both of her parents were born in South Carolina. Her daughter, Mary L., on the other hand, was born in North Carolina about 1837, her mother being born in South Carolina, and her father in North Carolina.

And at this point, this is about all of the information I have on the mysterious Martha Byrum.

Being alive in 1880, it seems I should be able to find her in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records. She may have been missed in one, or even two, but all? This puts Martha as my lady of mystery. What was her maiden name? Who and when did she marry? Where was she from 1850 until 1880, this South Carolina born lady. It seems likely that she may have been from either Lancaster or York Counties, and may have lived in Union County at some point.

A girl fitting the correct initials for Mary L Byrum, who married F. F. Starnes, shows up in the 1850 census of Union County, NC, not very far from where Fred Starnes Sr. (actually about the 4th or 5th in a long line of Frederick Starnes), Frederick Fincher Starnes father, is living. She is the right age, 14. I am almost sure this is my Mary Louise, but then, who are the other folks in the household? If I can find out more about them, perhaps I can solve one more mystery in the family tree.

Name:

Mary L Byrom

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1836

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1850:

Union, North Carolina

Gender:

Female

Family Number:

956

Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Byrom	33
Mary L Byrom	14
Mary Byrom	70
Ephraim Starner	28

↧

The Byram Record of Mystery

October 26, 2014, 7:17 pm

≫ Next: The Eligible Bachelor

≪ Previous: Looking for Martha Byrum

Name:

Elizabeth Byrom

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1817

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1850:

Union, North Carolina

Gender:

Female

Family Number:

956

Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Byrom	33
Mary L Byrom	14
Mary Byrom	70
Ephraim Starner	28

This is the record that is driving me crazy. The 14 year old, Mary L Byram, who is seen living very close to her future in-laws, Fred Jr. and Elizabeth Starnes, is my third Great-Grandmother. While Elizabeth Byram/Byrum/Byrom, at 33, is old enough to be her mother, the 1880 census shows a Martha Byrum whose occupation was "boarding" and who was born in South Carolina in 1810, as being her mother, naming her as F. F. Starnes mother-in-law. Then there is 70 year old Mary Byram.

As the name Byram had multiple spellings, I am going to remain with Byram, as I believe it the most likely version in my line.

The farmer, Ephraim Starnes, who was living with them, can be traced with some accuracy. He married Nancy E Holden and had 4 children, Doctor Franklin Starnes, John Robert "Bob" Starnes, Susan J Starnes and Susan Starnes Craig, before he died in Elmira Prison, New York, in 1865, during the course of the Civil War.

I am posting this record in hopes that some Byram/Byrum researcher or family member, knows who these ladies are. Was Elizabeth a widow? Was Mary her Mother-in-law? Was Elizabeth actually the same person as Martha and the age wrong. (If the 1880 census was accurate, Martha would have been 40 in 1850).

Does anybody out there know anything at all about the Byram/Byrum/Bynum family?

↧

The Eligible Bachelor

November 10, 2014, 2:56 am

≫ Next: The Descendants of Ephraim Starnes

≪ Previous: The Byram Record of Mystery

Oral family stories are a terrific way to pull the younger generation into their ancestorial web. Sometimes, however, they may have been embellished during the many tellings, like a game of "pass the secret". Often, they can not be backed up by fact. At any rate, they do add a bit of color and humanity to the hard facts, old documents and tombstones that create genealogy.

The following story was told to me by an unrelated person and it was so cute, I wanted to pass it on.

A young man by the name of Robert was returning home from college in about the year 1904. He arrived in the piedmont area of North Carolina to Salisbury by train, and found it bustling and busy, full of trade and activity. From there, he hired a horse and buggy to transport him home to the small town, several miles away, where his family was one of the type considered " big fish in a small pond".

Coming along the road near town, he was brought back to how beautiful it was, seeing the church spires from a hill and the courthouse atop the rolling hills like a beacon home. His fate in life was to take over his father's mercantile business. First, to join as a partner, but then eventually, to take it over. Because of his families clout in town and his education, he was considered a very eligible bachelor.

That was not the first thing on his mind, however, but it was obviously on the minds of his parents, and several young women in town.

His father had warned him to not pay any attention to the local county farmgirls coming into town on backs of wagons.

His wife was to be one of class and education, from one of the better families in town. There was a large difference in manners and distinction between the girls who were raised out along the creeks and dusty roads of the county, and those raised around and among the blocks of the small town.

He found his hometown in state of major growth, store buildings going up where old backyard gardens existed in his boyhood, industry growing up near and around the new train tracks, homes going up behind the older established Victorians that lined the streets in town, one of which was his.

He considered his choices among those he grew up with and did not find any of them suitable. There were the daughters of competing merchants, another of a lawyer friend of his father. The family who ran the grand hotel on the corner had a bevy of available daughters whose gruff father's low brows and bullish nose did nothing to add beauty to the faces of his offspring.

Robert's mother soon became frustrated with trying to arrange matches between her single son and the young ladies of the town.

But one day, Robert saw a young woman he had known of, but never considered, as she had been just a child when he had left, and she lived far out in the county. She came into town, not in a rough wagon, but in a surry.

Robert went to his father first, with his intentions to court the young woman. She was the youngest daughter of what had been one of the counties richest men. Mr. V. had survived the Civil War well, and had previous invested in timber and gold mines and land, afterwards buying properties from those who could no longer afford them. He had survived three wives and had passed in the mid 1890's, leaving 7 surving children. He had one by the first wife, 4 by the second and 2, Oscar and Olivia by the last.

There had been 5 more: twins by the first wife, that perished with the mother and all three buried together in the family plot. There was another by the second wife that did not make his first birthday, two that had made it to 7 and 9 and both succombed to typhoid fever. The death that had hurt the old planter and investor the most was that of one of his older sons. The young man had drowned in the creek during a storm, trying to cross to call the doctor for his ailing young stepmother.

It was said that the young man was too close to his stepmother, indeed, he loved her, not as a mother, but as an admirer, she being only 2 years his elder. The father, being jealous, sent his son on the dangerous mission. The son, being in love, went for his stepmothers benefit, not that of his father. Both would die in the interim.

The rumor around town was that the youngest child, Olivia, may have actually been the daughter of the son and not the father. However, no proof was ever made or found to that effect.

In 1904, Olivia was in the care of and under the guardianship of her brother-in-law, J. T, husband of her eldest sister Mary. On this particular day, she arrived in town with them on a visit to visit brother J. P. who had taken up a real estate and investing business in town, and occupied their deceased father's former town house, a hillside Victorian, while J. T. and Mary lived on the property in the county that was part of the old plantation.

Robert's father was not opposed to the idea of his son courting the lovely young lady, but knew that she was hardly more than a child, even in that year and time.

J. T. , her brother-in-law, benefiting financially from her trustfund and guardianship denied the young man's request to court the 15 year old.

But Robert would not be discouraged. For 6 more years he warded off the advances of young women from surrounding towns, among the others from his own.

On Olivia's 21st birthday, he was not to be denied. The two lovers met down at the fully constructed train station and rode off to South Carolina, where they were married without incident. They returned to town, where Robert returned to his retail business. But within 5 years, Robert would move the business and his young family to Salisbury.

It is said an educated young woman from a considerable town south of Robert's hometown mourned herself to death at the loss of his availability, as becoming his wife had been her one goal in life. Such an eligible bachelor.

↧

The Descendants of Ephraim Starnes

November 13, 2014, 7:17 am

≫ Next: The Dower of Motlina Starnes

≪ Previous: The Eligible Bachelor

In my previous post, titled "Ephraim Starnes", my focus was his connection to a William Byram, who might be my ancestor, but I neglected to explain much about the descendants of Ephraim Starnes, for the benefit of those who are descended from him.

To have been someone who perished in the Civil War, Ephraim really does not have that many descendants, not as many as others of his era.

Pvt Ephraim Starnes

Ephraim Starnes was born about 1822 in the section of Mecklenburg County, NC, that became Union County in 1842. Family researchers have him pegged as being the son of Charles and Elizabeth Starnes, however, this is something I've not looked into, so I can't testify as to it's authenticity.

Indeed, the Rev. Charles Starnes was the ministered who performed the ceremony to marry Ephraim Starnes and his wife Nancy E. Holden, daughter of Samuel Holden.

The Monroe Journal link. Ephraim's marriage listing.

Name:	Ephram Starnes
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Spouse:	Nancy Holden
Spouse Gender:	Female
Spouse Race:	White
Marriage Date:	1859
Marriage County:	Union
Marriage State:	North Carolina

Ephraim and Nancy would have four children:

1) August 22, 1855 John Robertson Starnes
2) January 25, 1857 Doctor Franklin Starnes (Doctor being the name, not a title. Sometimes seen as David.
3) April 12, 1864 Susan Jane Starnes
4) December, 1865 Sarah Ardine "Denie" Starnes

Ephraim Starnes passed away on January 12, 1865 at Elmira Prison Camp in New York. The tale of his widow and fatherless children echo of many of the times.

Pvt Ephraim Starnes

Residence: Union Co,NC. Enlistment age-43

Enlisted: Sep 24,1863 at Union Co,NC.

Mustered into Co "H" 30th NC Infantry. Died of disease while a POW at Elmira Prison,NY.

Listed:
POW May 12,1864 at Spotsylvania C.H.,VA.
Confined May 18,1864 at Point Lookout,MD.
Transferred Aug 10,1864 to Elmira Prison,NY.

Above information from "Find-a-Grave.com"

John Robertson Starnes

Born 1855 and shows up first in the 1860 census with his parents and younger brother.

Name:

John R Starnes

Age in 1860:

Birth Year:

abt 1856

Home in 1860:

Union, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Monroe

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Ephreim Starnes	35
Nancy Starnes	35
John R Starnes	4
Or Franklin Starnes	1

The family is not to be found in the 1870 census and in 1871, Sixteen year old "Bob" marries Hannah Melton, age 18, daughter of John and Emmaline Montgomery Melton.

Name:

Robertson Sterns

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1857

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Buford, Union, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Son

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Hannah Sterns

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Nancy Sterns

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Farms

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Nancy Sterns	49
Robertson Sterns	23
Hannah Sterns	22
Mary Sterns	5m
Sarah A. Sterns	16
Susan Sterns	19

The 1880 census show him living in his mother's household with his wife, firstborn daughter, Mary and his two younger sisters, Susan and Sarah.

Household Members:

Name	Age
J Bob Starnes	48
Hanna L Starnes	46
Thomas H Starnes	18
Maggie Starnes	13
Blanch Starnes	10
Bob L Starnes	6
Mary A Knight	20
Joe Knight	22
Andrew Bowers	19

By 1900, the family has relocated to Gill's Creek in Lancaster County, South Carolina. In additon to Bob and Hannah, chidren Thomas, Maggie, Blanch, and Bob Lee Starnes, along with oldest daughter Mary A. and her husband Joe Knight. Andrew Bowers is a boarder.

John R Starnes	53
Hannah Starnes	52
Lee Starnes	18
Lilian E Starnes	8
Joe C Knight	30
Almetta Knight	26
Carlton Knight	8
Joe Knight	0

In 1910, Bob and Hannah have Lee and Lillian left at home, along with oldest daughter, Mary Almetta, husband Joe and 2 sons.

Name:

Bob Starnes
[Bab Starnes]
[Bob Stevens]

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1855

Birthplace:

South Carolina

Home in 1920:

Rock Hill, York, South Carolina

Street:

Aragon Mill Village

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

Hannah Starnes

Father's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Occupation:

Card room

Industry:

Cotton Mill

Employment Field:

Wage or Salary

Home Owned or Rented:

Rent

Naturalization Status:

Naturalized

Able to Read:

Yes

Able to Write:

Yes

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Bob Starnes	65
Hannah Starnes	60
Lillian Starnes	18

By 1920, the family had moved from Gill's Creek in Lancaster County, SC to Rock Hill in York County, SC. Bob is working in the card room of a Cotton Mill and only Lillian is left at home.

Name:

Robert Stornes
[Robert Starnes]

Gender:

Male

Birth Year:

abt 1857

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Race:

White

Home in 1930:

Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Map of Home:

Marital Status:

Married

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Spouse's Name:

Hanah Stornes

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:
Education:
Military service:
Rent/home value:
Age at first marriage:
Parents' birthplace

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Robert Stornes	73
Hanah Stornes	73
John Carpenter	27
Lillian Carpenter	27

The 1930 census was Bob's last. The family has returned to Gill's Creek by 1935 and Bob's profession is listed as "farmer" and his family as farm labor. His son-in-law, John Carpenter and daughter Lillian are in the household. According to the records, Bob died in Rock Hill, York County, NC and was taken back to Gill's Creek to be buried. He died on March 23, 1936 at the age of 86.

John and Hannah Melton Starnes had 7 children:

1) Mary Almetta Starnes Knight (1879-1962) Married Joseph Cecil Knigth. Died in Morganton, Burke County, NC of bronchiopnuemonia. Buried in Gill's Creek, Lancaster, SC. 3 sons, Carlton B., Joseph Cecil, and James.

2) William Phillip Starnes (1880-1949) Married Floy Morrow. 9 Children: Connie Lewis, Irene Leclair, Helen Inez, Virginia Lee, Floy Morrow, Mary, Harry Pratt, Talmadge, Elizabeth.

3) Thomas Frank Starnes (1882-1949) Died of TB. Spouse unknown.

4)Margaret "Maggie" Starnes Threatt (1887-1965) Married Oscar H. Threatt. 8 Children: Theodore Roosevelt, Velma E. , Katie Lee, Clyborn, Maybelle, Ruth, Robert Lloyd and Margaret Elizabeth "Bettie".

5) Blanche Starnes Knight (1890-1979) Married James Hunter Knight. 8 Children: J. Edgar, Callie E (a son), Cletus Britton, Hazel H (also a son), Bertha, O V (a son, died as an infant), Dorothy Doris Lee, James Blanche (a son).

6) Robert "Bob Lee" Starnes (1894-1980) Married Lula Mae McManus. 5 Children: Ruth Aretta (died young), Lucille, Hubert Ordway, Sybil, Robert Lawton.

7) Lillian Oneda Starnes Carpenter (1901-1994) Married John William Carpenter. 3 Children: Robert Ray, Nancy, Jerry Ann (son).

Doctor (or David) Franklin Starnes

Born in 1857 and first shows up in the 1860 census with his parents and older brother. "Or" is a transcription error. The actual document shows "Dr". Doctor was a common Christian or first name in the later half of the 19th century as children were named for the doctor who aided in their delivery, oftentimes saving their lives, and sometimes with little or no compensation. Not certain who Doctor Franklin, the original, may have been.

Name:

Or Franklin Starnes

Age in 1860:

Birth Year:

abt 1859

Home in 1860:

Union, North Carolina

Gender:

Male

Post Office:

Monroe

Value of real estate:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Ephreim Starnes	35
Nancy Starnes	35
John R Starnes	4
Or Franklin Starnes	1

He married Margaret Louise Plyler in 1880 and shows up with her in the 1880 census. Maggie was the daughter of Doctor Henderson "Doc B" Plyer and Mary Isabella Caskey Plyler.

Name:

Franklin Starns

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1858

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Waxhaw, Lancaster, South Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Self (Head)

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

M ... Starns

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Occupation:

Farm Laborer

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Franklin Starns	22
M ... Starns	22

In 1910, the family is living in Waxhaw, Lancaster County, SC.

Household Members:

Name	Age
Doctor F Staines	54
Margret L Staines	52
Clyde J Staines Jr.	25
Walter A Staines	22
Hazle H Staines	20
Fredrick Staines	18
Asilee Staines	15
Lula Staines	13

By 1920, Maggie has passed and D. F. Starnes is living with his daughter.

Name:

D F St?Rnes
[D F Sternes]
[D F Starnes]

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1858

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1920:

Waxhaw, Lancaster, South Carolina

House Number:

Farm

Race:

White

Gender:

Male

Relation to Head of House:

Father-in-law

Marital Status:

Married

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Occupation:

Farmer

Industry:

General Farm

Employment Field:

Own Account

Able to Read:

Yes

Able to Write:

Yes

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
E N Courtney	31
Lula Courtney	22
Clelia Courtney	5
Louise Courtney	3 [3 1/12]
E N Courtney	0 [2/12]
D F St?Rnes	62

Doctor Franklin and Maggie Starnes family

D. F. Starnes died on October 25, 1925 in Monroe, NC, but made his home and raised his family in the Van Wyke community, Lancaster County, SC.

He and Maggie raised 7 children:

1) Doctor Barber Starnes (1882-1940)

2) Clyde J Starnes (1885-1952)

3) Walter Alexander Starnes (1887-1944)

4)Hazel Henry Starnes (1889-1958)

5)Frederick "Fred" Franklin Starnes (1892-1960)

6) Azilee Starnes Herring (1894-1964)

7) Lula Blanche Starnes Courtney (1895-1966) Married Ernest Nebraska Courtney. 2 sons: Earnest Newton and Dock Bernard.

Sarah Ardene "Denie" Starnes Craig

Records show Denie as being born in December of 1865 or even 1866.

She first shows up in the 1880 census with her mother, sister Susan, brother John R. and his young family.

Name:

Sarah A. Sterns

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1864

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1880:

Buford, Union, North Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Daughter

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Nancy Sterns

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and Dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Nancy Sterns	49
Robertson Sterns	23
Hannah Sterns	22
Mary Sterns	5m
Sarah A. Sterns	16
Susan Sterns	19

In 1882, at the age of 17, Sarah Ardene married George W. Craig.

By the 1900 census, their 4 children were born.

Name:

Sarah A Craig

Age:

Birth Date:

Oct 1864

Birthplace:

South Carolina

Home in 1900:

Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Wife

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

George W Craig

Marriage Year:

1882

Years Married:

Father's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Mother: number of living children:

Mother: How many children:

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
George W Craig	43
Sarah A Craig	35
Judge A Craig	13
John R Craig	11
Lonny L Craig	9
Thomas H Craig	5

The 1910 census leads to a bit of confusion. Son John Robert Craig is listed twice, once ahead of his brothers, then again, ahead of his wife and daughter.

Name:

Denie Craig

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1869

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1910:

Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Wife

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

George Craig

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
George Craig	54
Denie Craig	41
Juddie Craig	23
Robert Craig	22
Lonnie Craig	17
Hasel Craig	14
Robert Craig	22
Perine Craig	22
Sulie Craig	3

By 1920, George and Denie had an empty nest.

Name:

Sarah A Craig

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1868

Birthplace:

South Carolina

Home in 1920:

Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Street:

Brooklyn Street

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Wife

Marital Status:

Married

Spouse's Name:

George W Craig

Father's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

South Carolina

Able to Read:

Yes

Able to Write:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
George W Craig	64
Sarah A Craig	52

By 1930, Sarah Ardene was living in the home of her son Hazel. Hazel was a very common name for sons amongst this family. I have not tracked the source of the first Hazel. There is a Hazeltine Starnes in the Starnes family tree, born on 1858 in Rowan County. Perhaps there is a connection to an earlier male Hazel or Hazeltine Starnes in this family line.

Sarah Ardene Starnes died on Feb 23, 1936 in York County, South Carolina. She and George W. Craig had 4 sons.

1)Judson (or Judge) Allen Craig (1886-1956)

2) John Robert Craig (named for uncle?) (1888-1962) Married Perine "Perry" Adams

3) Lonnie Lee Craig (1890-1917) Died at age 26 of pellagra.

4) Thomas Hazel Craig (1894-1950)

Susan Jane Starnes

Susan or "Susie" was the most difficult of the family to trace. She was born on April 12, 1864. The dates of birth of both Starnes daughters are a bit of a mystery. According to the military records of Ephraim Starnes, he was imprisoned a month after the birth of Susie, having enlisted on September 24, 1863, he left Nancy just a few months pregnant with Susan Jane. Her younger sister, Sarah Ardene Starnes was born 11 months after Ephraims death.

Her first appearance was in the 1880 census, listed above in her siblings profiles as a teenager.

By 1900, she has had two children, her only two, and is living with her mother Nancy, the last census that Nancy appears in. A mystery couple are also listed in the home, possibly boarders.

Name:

Susan J Sturnes
[Susan J Starnes]

Age:

Birth Date:

Apr 1870

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1900:

Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Daughter

Marital Status:

Single

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's name:

Nancy E Sturnes

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother: number of living children:

Mother: How many children:

Occupation:

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Nancy E Sturnes	65
Susan J Sturnes	30
Ray Sturnes	12
Nannie H Sturnes	8
Thomas E Estudy	45
Mary A Estudy	45

The 1910 Starnes is nearly wholly incorrect, but with research, I figured it out.

Name:

Susan Starnes

Age in 1910:

Birth Year:

abt 1868

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1910:

Cane Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Widowed

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Susan Starnes	42
Hoy Starnes	22
Nettie Starnes	20
Pearl Starnes	1
David Starnes	18
Nannie Starnes	16 [10]
J D Starnes	2

Hoy is her son Hoyt Edgar Starnes, Nettie is his wife Jeanetta and Pearl is their oldest daughter and this group were Starnse. David is not a son, but a son-in-law and his last name was Deese. Nannie is daughter Nannie Helen Starnes and their oldest son J D Dees. J D became and important tool in linking this family altogether.

Name:

Susie Thomas
[Susie Karnes]
[Susie Storner]

Age:

Birth Year:

abt 1867

Birthplace:

North Carolina

Home in 1920:

Cane Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina

Street:

Midway Street

Race:

White

Gender:

Female

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Marital Status:

Widowed
[Widow]

Father's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace:

North Carolina

Able to Read:

Yes

Able to Write:

Yes

Neighbors:

Household Members:

Name	Age
Susie Thomas	53
Otis Thomas	31
Nettie Thomas	29
Pearl Thomas	11
Foster Thomas	8
Louise Thomas	6
Margie Thomas	3 [3 4/12]
Lonnie Thomas	1 [1 10/12]
J D Dees	10
Mary Belle Dees	7
Hellen Dees	2 [2 10/12]
Emil Bullman	28
Pearl Bullman	18
Dexter Roads	37
Ada Green	40

I don't believe I would have been able to find either Susan or Hoyt in the 1920 census if it were not for J D Dees and his sisters. In finding him, and his two younger sisters, I looked up and noticed that the names of the children in the "Thomas" family matched the names of their first cousins, their Uncle Hoyt Edgar Starnes, and his wife Nettie. And certainly, their mother was named Nettie. Then, J D and his sibling were listed as grandchildren of "Susie Thomas"...could it be Susan? So, I went directly to the original document. And there it was, it said "Starnes" and "Otis" was actually "Hoyt". The census taker had overlined the "T" and "A" in Starnes, and nearly obliterated the "S". The only clear part of the name was the "nes" at the end, and in the barely legible script, the transcriber must have thought he or she saw "Thomas". The transcribers are not from the area and thus, not familiar with the common names of the locality. It's always a benefit to help correct these errors if you are sifting through the scanned originals and know the local family names are incorrect, like "Belt" for "Belk" or "Stames" for "Starnes". It doesn't change them completely, it just gives the next researcher another option and if they are searching for the name in its correct spelling, it will pop up as a possibiltiy.

So, in 1920, Susan J Starnes is living in the community of Cane Creek on Midway Road. She is listed as a widow despite having never married. This must be confusing to those trying to climb up the family tree. Families often bent the truth in order to save face in those days. The truth is that nowhere are the names of her children's father or father listed in documents. She can read and write and she is taking in boarders, as well as raising her daughters 3 children. Hoyt and his wife Nettie are working in the Cotton Mill. Their children Pearl, Foster and Louise, along with his sister Nannie Helen's two older children, J D and Maybelle, are attending school. Margie is only 3 and Lonnie only a year old, and the youngest Deese, Helen, only 2.

Of the boarders, Emil Bullman is a Carpenter, while his wife does not work. Dexter Rhodes is a Contractor, building homes, and Ada Green works in the cotton mill.

In fact, nearly the entirety of Ephraim Starnes descendant were Cotton Mill workers between the late 1800's and the 1940's. This industry sustained them, and in the case of many of them, may also have shorten their lives.

Cane Creek was in and about the city of Lancaster and Midway dead south of it.

Susan Jane Starnes would not live long past this last census. She died on July 12, 1924 of pulminary TB. Her son, H. E. Starnes was the informant, and had the names of his grandparents correct. She was 60 years, 7 months and 10 days old. Bass Furniture Company was the undertaker. It was not unusual for those who built househole furniture to also build caskets in those days, and they went all the way into undertaking at the same time.

The above is just a few examples of this trade that would be considered bizarre today.

Hoyt Edgar Starnes, only son of Susan, married Jeanetty Estelle Rorie, daughter of Robert James and Laura Miller Rorie, of Chesterfield, South Carolina.

His 1918 Draft Registration shows him as being Short in stature, of medium build, with dark hair and dark eyes, having a wife, 4 children and a mother in his care.

Hoyt and Nettie had the following children:

1) 1908 - 2002 Pearl Lee Starnes, Married Earnest George Ivey.

2) 1911 - 1997 Willie Foster Starnes. Married Lillian Mae Culberson

3) 1913 - 1997 Louise Janie Starnes. Married Elva Easton Thomas

4) 1917-1910 Marjorie Helen Starnes aka "Margie". Married 1st: Thomas C. Dixon. Married 2nd Harvey Keller.

5) Lonnie Lee Starnes 1918 - 1997. Married 1st Nannie Doris Holemsback. Married 2nd Tiny Florence Tew.

6) 1921 - 1993 Melton Hoyt Starnes. Married Lula Frances Clayton.

Name:

Hoy E Stames

Respondent:

Yes

Age:

Estimated Birth Year:

abt 1886

Gender:

Male

Race:

White

Birthplace:

South Carolina

Marital Status:

Married

Relation to Head of House:

Head

Home in 1940:

Faucette, Alamance, North Carolina

Map of Home in 1940:

Street:

Hopedale Road

Farm:

Inferred Residence in 1935:

Faucette, Alamance, North Carolina

Residence in 1935:

Same House

Sheet Number:

30A

Number of Household in Order of Visitation:

503

Occupation:

Section Hand

House Owned or Rented:

Owned

Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:

300

Attended School or College:

Highest Grade Completed:

Elementary school, 5th grade

Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:

Class of Worker:

Wage or salary worker in private work

Weeks Worked in 1939:

Income:

240

Income Other Sources:

Neighbors: