Searching for Lawrenceville

I have been fascinated with the lost and ancient civilization of Lawrenceville ever since discovering that several of my direct ancestors lived, visited and did business there.

Lawrenceville was at one time the County Seat of Montgomery County, North Carolina, when it included Stanly County. It was located in "East Pee Dee", or the current Montgomery side of the river, and the risks and encumbrances of crossing the river for business, court and other reasons, prompted the split of the one county into two, creating Stanly.


Below are a few mentions of Lawrenceville and its citizens from the Carolina Observer, out of Rowan county:

 13 Feb 1823, issue

10. Montgomery County NC Court of Equity Fall Term 1822. Alfred Randle vs. Parham Kirk and others. "James Hodges and wife Tempy are to appear at the nest Supperior Court at the Court house in Lawrenceville.

25 Dec 1832
171. William Allen vs. John B. Billingsly. John B. Billingsly does not live within the state.

2 Jun 1835, issue
201. Montgomery County NC P & Q Sessions, 1835. Priscilla Hancock vs. Ethelred Clemmons and wife Betsy, Spencer New and wife Sally, Wily Harris amd wife Nancy, John Andrews and wife Patsey, Wiley Scarborough and wife Lucy, Kenneth Hearne and wife Tabitha, Wilson Scarborough and wife Piety, Elisha, Frances and Eli Jancock, Heirs at law of John Hancock Deceased. All out of state.

20 Jan 1825, issue
43. Lawrenceville, Montgomery County NC, 5 Jan 1825. Announcement of Letters of Administration on the estate of Andrew Wade, Esq. by Edward Legrand.

3 Dec 1835, issue
202. Montgomery County NC P & Q Sessions, Daniel Freeman vs. Richmond Billingsly. Original attachment levied on defendants interest in a tract of land in which Christian Billingsly now lives.

28 Apr 1836, issue

According to resources, the original town plat was dated 1817, and the streets and lots were laid out in a grid system. A post office was established in 1818 and county movers and shakers began to build homes and businesses and settle there. Local politians, peace officers, county officials, businessmen and craftsmen and their families made up the populace. 

An estimate of the average population of Lawrenceville was 500, not much for a town today, but in those days of a much smaller population, and scattered villages, 500 was a sizeable community. 

Lawrenceville was located along Woodrun Creek and far enough from the Yadkin/Pee Dee River to avoid the fate of its predecessor across the river, Tindallsville, which had suffered an epidemic of Yellow Fever due to its proximity to water.  The old Fayetteville to Morganton market road ran through the village and off toward the ferry acoss the Pee Dee. The road ran off course and intertwined with todays' 24/27 from Albemarle to Troy and beyond, which in its present coarse is East of the village location and the old road.

One of the merchants who had settled in Lawrenceville was Daniel Freeman, whose ledger of that time, his customers and their purchases survive. In the old plat map, drawn up by Lockey Simmons and certified by Edmund F. Lillly, two of the major players in the area at that time, the town is mention as bordering "a stake in Henry Freeman's line". Daniel Freeman would relocate to the newly formed county of Stanly and to its new county seat of Albemarle. His contributions to Albemarle's origins were invaluable. Others of the citizenry would locate to the new Montgomery County seat, Troy, a more central location when the counties were separated.

Knowing that several members of the Freeman family of  Southside Virginia migrated here at the same time as my direct ancestors, Peter and Charlotte Freeman Winfield, I wonder if any attempts have ever been made to connect these Freemans, as I know she had a brother named Henry and that there were both Daniels and Henry's in the family tree. Her father was Arthur Freeman and her mother Agnes Stokes Freeman and both the Stokes and Freeman families left their marks in the early settlement of the Rowan/Stanly/Montgomery/Anson/Davidson/Randolph county areas.

A biography of Edmund Deberry states that he was born in Lawrenceville, Montgomery County in 1787, was educated at High Shoals, and served as a US Senator from North Carolina for three terms, 1829-1831, 1838 - 1845, and 1849 - 1851. He retired to his plantation in Pee Dee Township and is buried in the family cemetery near Mount Gilead. Lawrenceville did not exist in 1787, but Edmund Deberry did own property there, and perhaps lived there. His plantation still exists, is beautifully maintained and occupied. It is near the communities of PeeDee and Wadeville, not far from Mount Gilead, and not close enough to Lawrenceville to have been considered a part of it.

The remains of the village are difficult to be detected by the untrained eye and are scattered across a pretty large area. Recently, my daughter and I attempted to find the remains during a hike from the trailhead that leads to the old location. 

Bear with me in the following photos. The terrain is not as observable in these shots as they are with the naked eye.  The above indentations and trenches in the earth are an old road bed. It was on a determined route to or through the town. Due to the level spots and rock piles around we found at this location, we were pretty sure we had arrived in Lawrenceville. 

Another shot of the road, this time going up the hill. This may or may not have been the original Morganton to Fayetteville road. Due to the direction it was coming from and heading toward, and its proximity to the modern highway that follows pretty much the same coarse, I would bet that it is. 

Leveled off spots and the location and growth of the vegetation belie old home places or building locations. This area was near the road. These old places make for good camping areas and sadly, modern day campers make use of the old chimney remains to set up campfires. These rocks could have once formed a chimney to a house or the foundation posts of a store. But there was definitely some man-made structure once located here. 

An old and well-used creek crossing. There appears to have once been a bridge or some other structure located here, due to the arrangement of the rocks. I would not be surprised if it was once the location of a mill. 

Another overgrown area around a former structural location. 

The sun eerily shining through the trees over the ghosts of homestead passed. 

This is another one of those shots, where it is hard to tell by the picture, what you can more readily observe with the eye. This was evidently a dug-out area made to be flat, where some small house or structure was located, maybe a barn or storage shed. 

A chimney stood here and the trees and other foliage took over. There was one area where the rocks appeared like tombstones in an old and abandoned cemetery. I don't know, but it could possibly have been, as the town was occupied from at least 1817 to 1842, and I am sure not all families abandoned it immediately. The Cochrans were the last known family to have owned the land and they donated it, not too long ago, to the National Forest Service. 

In this shot "signs of man" are more easily seen. A possible homesite or business, not far from the old wagon rut. 

Another area that speaks of human habitation. Piles of rocks and obvious use by campers. But the area is leveled and shows signs of a building site. 

At some areas, campers have not relocated the moss covered piles of rocks that used to be chimneys or footings to a wooden structure. 

Here a narrower road veres off the "Main Road" and past several possible homesites. This is a very hilly area and most of the homeplaces were on leveled off spots and very near a creek. This one appears to have maybe been one of the created "gridded" streets as appears on the plat. 

Another possible building location just 'down the street' from the above lane. 

Again, campers have taken the remains of Lawrenceville to make campfires on top of old homesites. 

From this angle, looking toward the center of the photo, I hope the reader can envision the cabin that sat here. 

The ghosts of Lawrenceville and the old Morganton to Fayetteville road say goodbye in the twinkling of the setting sun, as the road leads into emptiness, forests and infinity. 

One day soon, I hope to walk the entire trail, but on this day, we had constraints of responsibilities and the setting sun. Rangers have before taken groups on hiking tours of this beautiful and historic area. I hope they schedule another soon. I'll be there. 

The Complimentary Obituary of Sarah Elizabeth Winfield Howell Davis

My Fourth Great-Grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Winfield Howell Davis, known affectionately as Sallie, was born on Feb 7, 1773 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. She arrived in what was then Anson County, North Carolina, in the area near the forks of the Rocky and Yadkin/PeeDee rivers, in the mid-1780's, with her parents, 3 siblings, and other Southside Virginia Methodist Episcopals, most of them related to the Winfield or Freemans in some manner. Some of the family would migrate on to Marlboro County, South Carolina, just across the state line, a decade or later.

She was the daughter of Peter Winfield, born in 1745 in Sussex County, Virginia, youngest son of Edward Wingfield and Mary Harris Wingfield and grandson of Jarvis Wingfield. Her mother was Charlotte Freeman, daughter of Arthur Freeman and Agnes Stokes (daughter of Sylvanus Stokes).
Her siblings were:

Edward Winfield 1766 - 1836 married Sussanah Lee
Ancena Winfield 1771- Uncertain, married 1) James Morrison 2) Thomas Avett
Jemina Winfield  1780- between 1840 & 1850, married Griffin Nash

In early Anson, 17 year old Sally would meet Richard Howell, who had connections to the Randall and Jordan families who had arrived in the area possibly twenty years prior. They would marry in 1790 and become the parents of 4 children. Those children were:

1) Peter Howell 1794-1866 married Elizabeth Floyd, daughter of Josiah and Mary Tillman Floyd.
2) Jordan Howell 1796-1835 married Mrs. Hannah Handy maiden name possibly Hall, who later married Shipman Jones of Cumberland County, NC.
3) John Winfield Howell 1799-1854, married Clarrisa Harlow Phelps Pearce, widow of Nathan Pearce, possibly married to Carolina Allen, prior to marriage with the widow Pearce.
4) Charlotte 1800-1877 married Rev. Levi Stancill

Richard Howell passed away in 1802, sometime shortly after the death of his father-in-law, Peter Winfield. In 1804, Sallie would married Job Davis, who was also born in 1773 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia  and migrated to the same area about 1794 in the accompaniment of the Josiah and Mary Tillman Floyd family.  They were married in Marlboro County, South Carolina by Joel Winfield, Ordinary and Clerk, Sallies' cousin. This marriage would also produce 4 children:

1) Henry Davis 1806- 1865 married 1) Sarah Kendall 2) Martha Palmer
2) James M. Davis 1808- 1883 married Rowena Lee
3) Edward Winfield Davis 1811 - 1882 married Rebecca Hathcock
4) Marriott Freeman Davis 1815 - 1885 married 1) Elizabeth Turner 2) Mary Ann Pickler Winfield, widow of his cousin Milton Winfield.

Sallie would survive her second husband by about 4 years.



The Southern Christian Advocate was a newspaper published in South Carolina in the 1800's, that was the official publication of the Methodist conferences in many of the Southern States.

The August 21, 1856 issue gave the following obituary for Grandma Sallie:

Mrs. Sarah Davis - formerly Winfield - was born in Meclenburg Co., (sic), Va., Feb. 7 ,1773 and died in Stanley (sic) Co., N.C. July 10, in the 83rd year of her age.  Joined the M. E. Church when 13 years old. About 1790 she married Richard Howell, and was left a widow in 1802. She married a second time in 1804, to Job Davis, and a second time was left a widow in 1833 (incorrect as Job passed away in 1852), mother of 8 children, two of whom have died in the faith, and the rest, but one, are members of the church. 

The two children who predeceased her where Jordan Howell and John W. Howell. And the one who was no longer "In the Faith", had to be my direct ancestor, Henry Davis, as he was in and out of court with problems by the time his mother had passed away. Jim, E. W., M. F. , Charlotte and Peter, were continually devout and pious.

We remember you Grandma Sallie, and your 242nd birthday.

The Nurse

When you think of nurses during the Civil War, you probably imagine a scene like this:



But when it comes to my 3rd Great-Grandfather, Thomas Alexander Mauldin, I am fairly certain the scene did not look like that.

I haven't spent a great deal of time in my family tree, because it has been done, and a book written, by my diligent and entertaining distant cousin, Ervin Mauldin of Norwood, NC. I thought, there really isn't any research to do, because its all there already. All  I have to do is look in the book.

But when it came to my post, Bits and Pieces of Men, I realized I didn't really know my Mauldin ancestors involvement in that important time in American History.

So I turned to the best source I've found for information of that kind, Fold3.

And there, I found the Civil War records of my double-ancestor, Thomas Mauldin. And what I found was intriguing.

First, let me explain the 'double ancestor' comment. My maternal grandmother was named Annie Maude Mauldin. She was the daughter of Jonah and Wincie Ann Mauldin. Wincie's maiden name was Mauldin. My grandmother often said her mother was born a Mauldin, she married a Mauldin and when he died she married another Mauldin. And this was true.

Walter Jonah Mauldin was the son of James Duncan Mauldin born 1842, died 1909.
Wincie Ann Mauldin was the daughter of Frank Washington Mauldin, born 1850, died 1925.

Jonah and Wincie were married December 29, 1900. Jonah died in 1930 and Wincie then married James Williams Mauldin, son of Franklin Mannasseh Mauldin.

Jonah and Wincie Mauldin and family. My grandmother was the girl in between her parents.

James Duncan Mauldin and Frank Washington Mauldin were both the sons of Thomas Alexander Mauldin and wife Mary "Polly" Blalock, meaning, they were brothers and Jonah and Wincie first cousins. First cousin marriages were not unusual in small towns and country communities during this time, whether in the North or the South, East or West. Many family trees reveal this common secret.

James Duncan Mauldin married Margaret W. Solomon, daughter of Rev. William S. Solomon and wife Tabitha Marks, and Frank Washington Mauldin married Martha Margaret Russell, daughter of Aaron Russell and wife Senith or "Sena" Elizabeth Swaim Russell.


The following information is in a folder on Fold3:

Thomas Mauldin, Private Co. K, 28th regiment, North Carolina Troops

April 8, 1864

During M fitness for field service is detailed for Hosp. or other light duty. 

April 13, 1864

Refer'd to Surgeon Hancock in chg Jackson Hospital for assignment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muster Roll

Thomas Maulding
Pvt. Company K, 28th Reg't NC Calvary
Enlisted: Sept 10, 1863

Where: Albemarle
By Whom: Col. Simpson
Period: War

Absent
Detail Service Richmond, VA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thos Moulden
Private  28  NC  

Appears on a report of Paroles given prisoners of War by DM Evans

May 1, 1865
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roll of Prisoners of War captured in Hospitals, Richmond, Va. 

Where captured: Richmond, Virginia   April 3, 1865

Paroled May 3, 1865

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jackson Hospital, Richmond, VA    List of Employees

Thomas Mauldlin, Co K  28th Regt NC T

Attached to Hospital: April 13, 1864
When detailed: April 8, 1864

By Whom: GENERAL LEE

Now, wait a minute! General Lee? As in General Robert E Lee?  THE GENERAL LEE?

No way...Yes way....G, G, G Grandpa Mauldin was assigned to duty by General Lee. Wow. Just Wow.

Jackson Hospital, Richmond, Virginia

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later installments would show that Thomas Mauldin was employed as a Nurse.

On Christmas Eve, 1864, Thomas Mauldin is issued a Passport from Jackson Hospital, Richmond, VA. Destination:Stanly County. 

Then later, on a Return slip of "Medical Officers, Hospital Stewards, Detailed Men and Attendants on Duty, for August of 1864, Thomas Mauldin has returned to Jackson Hospital and assigned again as a Nurse. 

Thomas Alexander Mauldin shows up in 4 census records:

1850, Harris Township, Stanly County, where he is listed as a miner, living near Howell Parker and David Biles, which places him in the present New London area.

NAME:	Thomas Mauldin
AGE:	28
BIRTH YEAR:	abt 1822
BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
HOME IN 1850:	Harris, Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:	Male
FAMILY NUMBER:	292
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:	NAME AGE Thomas Mauldin 28 Mary Mauldin 27 James Mauldin 7 Martha Mauldin 2 Mary Mauldin 1

1860, now a farmer, living near Samuel Lilly, Almond Boysworth and some Kirks. This places him on the Yadkin/PeeDee, near the area of Swift Island or between there and Stony Hill Church. 

NAME:	Thomas Maulden
AGE IN 1860:	40
BIRTH YEAR:	abt 1820
BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
HOME IN 1860:	Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:	Male
POST OFFICE:	Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:	View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:	NAME AGE Thomas Maulden 40 Mary Maulden 38 James D Maulden 18 Martha J Maulden 13 Mary A Maulden 11 Washington Maulden 10 Laura Maulden 8 Nancy Maulden 7 Leny Maulden 5 William Maulden 3 Henry Maulden 1

1870, still a farmer, living near Kirks, Forrests and David Melton. Probably the same spot as 1870. Definitely the Swift Island/ "Rest" (Now River Haven) area. 

NAME:	Thos Maulden
AGE IN 1870:	50
BIRTH YEAR:	abt 1820
BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
HOME IN 1870:	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina
RACE:	White
GENDER:	Male
POST OFFICE:	Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:	View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:	NAME AGE Thos Maulden 50 Mary Maulden 47 Mintie Maulden 31 Mary Maulden 21 Laura Maulden 18 Nancy Maulden 15 William Maulden 13 Henry Maulden 12 Lancy Maulden 11 Thomas Maulden 7 Mary Maulden 41

1880, now a Carpenter, The family has crossed the river to the Montgomery side, but staying near it in the Pee Dee area. All the children have grown up and left the nest, but grandson James lives with them.

NAME:	Thomas Maldin
AGE:	56
BIRTH YEAR:	abt 1824
BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
HOME IN 1880:	Pee Dee, Montgomery, North Carolina
RACE:	White
GENDER:	Male
RELATION TO HEAD OF HOUSE:	Self (Head)
MARITAL STATUS:	Married
SPOUSE'S NAME:	Mary Maldin
FATHER'S BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
MOTHER'S BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
NEIGHBORS:	View others on page
OCCUPATION:	Carpenter
CANNOT READ/WRITE: BLIND: DEAF AND DUMB: OTHERWISE DISABLED: IDIOTIC OR INSANE:	View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:	NAME AGE Thomas Maldin 56 Mary Maldin 50 James Maldin 4

It is not known when Thomas died, but before the 1900 census. His place of burial is unknown as well, whether in Stanly or Montgomery. I may try to find some sort of information on this, but it may be impossible.

In "Ye Mauldins" by Ervin Mauldin, he has included this information on Thomas Alexander Mauldin. "Thomas Alexander Mauldin was the second son of James and Mary Smith Mauldin, born in 1822. He helped his father farm until he married Mary Polly Blalock, daughter of William David Blalock and Martha Dennis. Thomas continued to farm until he moved to North Albemarle township where he went to work in the gold mine. He worked there until just before 1880, then moved to Montgomery County, NC."   

"There Mary Blalock Mauldin died before 1882, when he applied for a marriage license to wed Mary E. Blalock of Montgomery County. They were married in 1885.......The Montgomery County Blalock records state they are both buried in Sharon Cemetery, Mt. Gilead, NC. The second Mary E. was the daughter of Simeon and Harriett Williams Blalock. "

"Thomas was ordered by the court of Stanly County to go to service. At that time Thomas had a wife and eleven children. Shortly after he joined the regiment in Virginia, the 28th fought with Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Chancelorville. It fought at Gettysburg, where it took part in Pickett's charge. It fought with Lee at Mine Run and at Spotsylvania Courthouse and made its final assault on Petersburg. Thomas Mauldin was in the same company as his brother James Mauldin, Jr. He was assigned to the hospital in Virginia as a nurse. He was judged unfit for fighting. Orders signed by General Robert E Lee. 

Just Like Us

The Civil War is the first that we really have actual images of that have survived and can give an actual visual impression of.  Most of us have a very limited opinion and imagery of this time, but the more I delve into it, the more I am fascinated by the actuality of it.

We have heard of the battles, the commanders, the causes, the flags, the strategies and the results, but it is the people that intrigue me. The flesh and blood, just like us human beings that were caught up in this earth-shattering event that nearly tore our country in half, and effected every ancestor of any American who had one arrive here prior to this time. The faces tell the tales. Of people just like us.

The above Union soldier had his "Swag" going on. His cockiness comes across in his photo.



Belle Boyd, a confederate spy. Attractive and tempting, she was considered successful in her operations and aims. She reminds me a little of a young Susan Sarandon.


Frances Hook, one of over 400 documented women who fought in the Civil War. Some entered under the guise of being male. Others wore a partial uniform and did not disguise their femininity, like Frances.


A pretty young Civil War nurse. She reminds me of a young girl I know today.



A Civil War pin-up girl. No, Mae West and Betty Grable were not the first pinup girls that wooed men on through a War. No, they were not considered proper for Antebellum ladies, but there were always those young widows,  fatherless girls, and disenfranchised misses who "had to do what they had to do".

Another female soldier. They took all of the same risks that the men did. It was reported that there were two unidentified female bodies found dead at the Battle of Gettysburg, both Confederate. Why they fought would be as varied as who they were. Perhaps they could not bear to be away from their husband, fiance, brothers or father. Perhaps they had nowhere to go or nothing to do when the men in their families marched off to war. Maybe they posed as male soldiers because they needed the money.

Don't this guy look a little like the kid you just ran into at the Speedy Mart?



Another chick, this one in Union garb. She had a bit of a flair going on, didn't she?

Edmund Ruffin. He was 65 years old when he joined the Confederate Army in Virginia. At first glance, he looks a little like a Native American. I don't know his genetics, however, he was known as a Virginian planter, and a agriculturalist. His studies and findings on soil conservation and use would peg him as "The Father of Soil Chemistry". He is also identified as one of 3 people who may have fired the first shot at Fort Sumter. He was a supporter of states rights and left Virginia and joined the Palmetto Guards in South Carolina.


Civil War doctor, Mary Edwards Walker.

General Eli S. Parker. He was a Seneca Indian and was appointed by U. S. Grant as Commissioner of Indian affairs.





Another Native American who fought in the Civil War.


Parker with his daughter. She shows little of her Native American heritage. The family passed into the European-American community.

Many Native Americans married into African-American families as well as families of Caucasian-European descent. As a result, Native Americans could range in appearance to a broad spectrum of phenotypes.


A very young soldier. This war took in young boys, old men, women, and actually anybody who would pick up a gun and fight.

I believe I just saw this handsome young man skateboarding down by the YMCA. Looks a little bit like Justin Bieber.

A Civil War soldier and Native American Scout.



Below, the First Louisiana Native Guard. Enough Said.



Next, another team of Soldiers that would not normally come to mind.


These two young friends liked to show off their weaponry like most teenaged boys. However, the times and era make this photo highly unusual. They are identified as Sgt. Andrew Martin Chandler and Silas Chandler.


This soldier likely has an interesting family tree.

As does this gentleman. Both appear to be multi-racial. It is unknown how they would identify or be identified, in a census record, say.


The above photo is of Nate Love, who was also know as Deadwood Dick. A Civil War vet, he would become a Cowboy of reknown in the old West after the war. He was born in 1854 and died in 1921. He had some Swagger in his pose, too.


Soldiers were often family men, like the below unidentified Union soldier and his daughter.




The following soldier had a very young bride. I wonder if he made it through the war to come back home to her.




This fellow was obviously a musician, and posing with his wife and daughters.


Sometimes entire families of brothers would enlist, often with their father as well.




What became of these poor children? Did daddy come home?








And the brotherly bonds would last a lifetime.

And in time, the wounds of the scarred country, would begin to heal.


These were not unrelated persons in an ancient, unrelevant time. They were people....just like us.



Below, a Civil War era family that followed their father into war.