The Daisy's

Daisy's are simply, my favorite flower, but I've discovered there were also a number of Daisy's in my family tree, albeit indirectly. I had a great aunt, a great-great aunt and a great, great, great aunt named Daisy.

The name increased in popularity in the days following the Civil War and reconstruction. Possibly names with a happy connotation, like those of flowers, were given to children as a sign of hope for a positive future.

The biggest bouquet of Daisy's seemed to be born between 1880 and 1920. It brings to mind a bright-eyed, pretty girl. The Daisy's in my family tree did not live long lives.

Daisy Starnes Herrin



This is the marriage license of Daisy Starnes Herrin. Daisy lived to be 30. She was the  youngest daughter of Frederick Fincher Starnes and Mary Louise Byrum Starnes. The L. in her name may have stood for Louise, her mother's middle name. She married  Joseph Marshall Herrin at the tender age of 16.

After their marriage, these two seemed to have fallen off the map. While dates of death are recorded, I have not been able to determine where they are buried, if Joseph M. Herrin remarried after Daisy's death, or if they had any children.
The Larcey L Starnes who witnessed their marriage was probably Daisy's sister "Leavy" Starnes, who was my great-great grandmother. 

Daisy Foster


The above is the death certificate for Daisy Hill Foster. She was the daughter of William Mathew Hill and Sarah Jane Hooks Hill and sister of my great-grand mother Lottie Hill. Lottie would marry the nephew of the first Daisy, Daisy L. Starnes Herrin.

Daisy Hill Foster also lived a relatively short life. She was born on June 16, 1891 and died July 20, 1927 , suddenly, her death certificate states, of acute dilation of the heart. This condition can affect younger persons and often appears with no previous symptoms and can be caused by infectious, toxic or metabolic agents. Daisy may have came in contact with one of the many viruses that circulated in those days untreated, or she may have been employed in an industry unaware or unconcerned with the effects of toxic chemicals used in productions on their human workforce.

Daisy Hill married Henry Durant Foster and become the mother of 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. Both of her sons died as young children. Woodsley died at the age of 3 months, suddenly, of no apparent reason, possibly crib death. Charles Lee died at age 4 of bronchial pneumonia, he possibly had contracted an influenza virus or any other plague that  killed many children in the early part of the 20th century. Oldest daugther May, born in 1909, survived the ailments of her  younger brother Charles, who was born in 1911, and grew up to marry R. E. Daniels. She had two children and died at the young age of 28 of acute nephritis, which probably began as strep throat.

Third born child, Frances Louise Foster, was the only child who lived to old age. She married Leonard Wade, had several children before receiving a divorce, moved to Palm Beach Florida, but eventually returned to North Carolina and died while living in Denton, Davidson County, at the age of 83 in 1996. 

Daisy Burris

Daisy Burris was the daughter of  my great-grandmother, Lottie Hill and Duncan Burris. She was my grandmother's half-sister. This little Daisy did not grace us with her presence upon the earth for very long. She died at the tender age of 7 months of Lobar pneumonia. She was the niece of Daisy Hill Foster and was probably named for her aunt. 

Daisy was a name that brings to mind springtime, sunshine and happy days. The Daisy's in my family tree did not live very long lives. Whether they were happy, short lives, would be a matter of opinion. Like a spring time daisy, they graced us for a brief time with their existence and beauty, and then they were forever gone.