Tabby was born on January 12, 1805 in Chartham County, North Carolina to James Marks and Catherine "Caty" Gunter. The Marks family research is ongoing, but we know that Tabitha was the granddaughter of Isham Gunter of Chatham County, due to the mention of her mother in his will.
John and James Marks, presumed brothers, married Mary and Catherine Gunter, daughters of Isham Gunter. James is shown in the 1820 census of Chatham County, so sometime soon after that, the family migrated down to settle in what was then Montgomery County, along the Yadkin/PeeDee River.
James settled upon a hill between Morrow Mountain and Stony Mountain, from what we can ascertain, and died before 1830, as his wife is shown there as the head of household, presumably a widow. His brother John was in Stanly/Montgomery Counties until at least 1838, when he signed a petition to separate the county of Montgomery into two, with the river as a dividing line. His wife, Mary, for unknown reasons, appears to have remained in Chatham County.
| Name: | Caty Mairs [Caty Morris] [Katy Marks] [Cty Marks] |
|---|---|
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State): | Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: | 1 Thomas |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: | 1 Benjamin |
| Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: | 1 Elias |
| Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: | 1 Nancy |
| Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59: | 1 Caty |
| Free White Persons - Under 20: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: | 1 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 5 |
| Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): | 5 |
John had one son to remain in this area, William "Buck" Marks. James and Caty (Katie), had 5 known children:
1805-1891 Tabitha - married Rev. William Solomon
1808-1889 Elias - married Judith Allen
1810-1847 Benjamin F. - married Avey (or Evie) McGregor
1818-1865 Thomas - married Nancy A. Carter
1822-1913 Nancy -married Marcus Princeton Carter
| Name: | Will Solomon |
|---|---|
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State): | Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: | 1 Will |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: | 2 Martha Ann & Jane Caroline |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: | 1 Tabby |
| 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 |
Tabitha is not listed with her mother in 1830, because she is already married and mother to two little girls. Tabitha married in about 1823 to Rev. William Solomon, son of Rev. Bennett Solomon and Ava McGregor Solomon.
Daniel Freeman was a local merchant. When Montgomery was one county, his store was located in the County Seat of Lawrenceville in East PeeDee. When the counties were divided in 1841, he relocated to the new County Seat of Albemarle in West Pee Dee, now called Stanly County. He kept ledgers. The above page is from one of those ledgers showing William Solomon making a purchase for E. Marks. E. Marks was probably the oldest of Tabitha's 3 younger brothers, Elias Marks.
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| Roads through Chatham into Moore, and to Montgomery there after, circa late 1700's. By the 1840's, it appears that only the younger generation of Marks remained. |
Tabitha's brother, Benjamin Franklin Marks, migrated to Tennesee with some of the Huckabees and McGregors. He had married into the family of Tabitha's mother-in-law. Her other 3 siblings remained in Stanly County.
| Name: | Wm Soloman [William Solomon] [Wm Solomon] |
|---|---|
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State): | West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: | 1 Henry Thomas |
| Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: | 1 William Sidney |
| Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: | 1 William Sr. |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: | 1 Mary Catherine |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: | 1 Jane Caroline |
| Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: | 1 Martha Ann |
| Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: | 1 Tabitha |
| Persons Employed in Agriculture: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20: | 5 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 7 |
| Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: | 7 |
By 1840, William and Tabitha are in their 30's and their family has increased to 5 children.
From the Lawrenceville Freeman Ledge, Catherine Marks, mother of Tabitha and William Solomon, making a purchase at the same time in 1832. He probably accompanied her across the river.
William Solomon making a purchase for "B." Marks of a Hoe. Probably Ben Marks, his brother-in-law.
| Name: | William Solomon | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender: | Male | ||||||||||||||||||
| Age: | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1802 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1850: | Freemans, Stanly, North Carolina, USA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Line Number: | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 121 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 122 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Household Members: |
|
1850 is the first year the children and women are mentioned by name. Oldest daughter Martha has married Franklin Allen Laton. Two new little girls have joined the family, Margaret W and Eliza R.
| Name: | William Solomon | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 55 | ||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1805 | ||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | ||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1860: | Stanly, North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||
| Post Office: | Albemarle | ||||||||||||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 225 | ||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 225 | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Farmer | ||||||||||||||||
| Real Estate Value: | 250 | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal Estate Value: | 900 | ||||||||||||||||
| Household Members: |
|
By 1860, the Solomans are in their 50's. Tabitha has had her last child at age 42, a son George W. Solomon.
The Civil War stuck and changed the lives of everyone in the lovely Pee Dee Valley. William Sidney Solomon, Sr., a minister and long in the tooth was not in the way or mind to join the battle. There were "issues" with him. At his age, he was assigned first to the Home Guard and then later, especially because of his spiritual leadership, he was assigned as a Prison Guard in Salisbury.
| Name: | William S. Solomon |
|---|---|
| Side: | Confederate |
| Regiment State/Origin: | North Carolina |
| Regiment: | Howard's Company, North Carolina Prison Guards |
| Rank In: | Private |
| Rank Out: | Private |
Tabitha would have been home with her younger children.
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| From the History of Badin Baptist (Ebenezer) Church |
By 1870, the Solomons are in their 60's and only youngest daughter, Eliza is home and remains single.
| Name: | William Solomon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in 1870: | 68 | ||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1802 | ||||||||
| Birthplace: | North Carolina | ||||||||
| Dwelling Number: | 103 | ||||||||
| Home in 1870: | Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina | ||||||||
| Race: | White | ||||||||
| Gender: | Male | ||||||||
| Post Office: | Albemarle | ||||||||
| Occupation: | Farmer | ||||||||
| Male Citizen over 21: | Y | ||||||||
| Personal Estate Value: | 100 | ||||||||
| Inferred Spouse: | Tobitha Solomon | ||||||||
| Inferred Children: | Eliza Solomon | ||||||||
| Household Members: |
|
She won't remain so long, as she marries John Simpson, son of Isaac and Lucy Simpson on July 23, 1871.
Rev. William Solomon performed several marriages and other services until his dying day, which was not long to come after the 1870 census. His graveyard is just off of Stony Gap Road, in a pasture. What a sad way for this devout ancestor to be honored. It was not they way it was intended when he was buried.
On the above map, right above the ending of the word "Albemarle" is an intersection. In the Southeastern corner of the map, it says Will Lowder. Across the road, if says William Palmer farm. Up the road was the Old Ingram mine. This map is many decades after the passing of Rev. Soloman, it also crams a great deal of space together, so the distance is much more than it appears in this map. That intersection is the intersection of Highway 24/27, Valley Drive and Stony Gap road. That intersecton indicates the area where the Solomon family had settled. At one time 24/27 was known as the Swift Island Road or Swift Island Ferry Road. While Rev. Solomon is buried on the Stony Gap side of the intersection, the main Soloman Family Cemetery was on the Valley Drive side of the cemetery. His grandfather's cemetery, that of Rev William McGregor, is located within Morrow Mountain State Park. It is thought that is where his father, Rev. Bennett Solomon, is also buried. At the same time, the grave of James Marks, the father of Tabitha Marks, is said to be up Vallley Drive and turn toward the river onto Clodfelter Road, seen on the map as the Grovestone Estate.
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| William Solomon a founding member of Ebenezer Baptist |
'Rev. William Solomon was born Jan. the 10 1801 Lived a Consistent Member of the Baptist Church for about 50 years Died January the 1 1874." It was adorned with ivy carvings and the artwork of an unknown artist, typical of others in this area, I've heard called "Laton Stones". Perhaps the artist was a Laton.
Tabitha, now a widow, would follow her 2 younger children, Eliza R. Solomon Simpson and George W. Solomon, who married Martha Ussery, to Richmond County, North Carolina. Several other young Stanly County families would relocate to this area. Richmond was at the precipice of the industrial revolution. She is buried in the old Scottish cemetery there, along with her children, Eliza and George, their spouses, and some of her grandchildren.
Her stones says, "Tabitha Wife of Rev W Solomon Born Jan 12 1805, Died May 28 1891.
She died as she lived a Christian."
Happy Mother's Day Grandma Tabby.