Job's Children: The Children of Ghosts: The Story of Lee and Judy.

From Passion for the Past

Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if the Civil War had never happened? Not the ending of the inhuman and brutish policies that it held in place, but if slavery and the other policies in dissent, had been resolved, disolved and changed for the best, without a War and the massive death and destruction that had come with it. Yes, there would have been changes and readjustments, and possibly changes in governance and probably a great deal of oversight, but if the South had not lost most of her men, if a generation of children had not grown up fatherless and an entire region had not been left devastated, with starvation, crops rotting in the fields and desparate widows taking desparate measures to feed their children, or being attacked and taken advantage of.

One of the phenomena rising from what really happened, I find far too often while researching families who lived, and died, in the middle and later 19th century, is that of people claiming deceased fathers on their marriage certificates and marriage licenses, who died, years, not months, before the person ever breathed life. Widows impregnated by the literal ghosts of their husbands who had died of the atrocious diseases that abound among the troops, or had bled out on a distant battlefield.

Of course, we knew this was not possible. There had to have been other events in play. Yet, there's that 1934 death certificate with the name of the mother's husband, who died in 1862, on the certificate of the child born in 1869. The worst of it, is that it appears the same way in all these family trees, repetitively, one copying another, no one hesitating to do the math or ask themselves, how did this happen? And if you try to notify them of the error, oh how dare you! How could you possibly demean Great Great Grandma by suggesting something so crass and common? "That did not happen back then".

Except that - it did.

Lee Hathcock was my 3rd Great Granduncle. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Hathcock and Nancy Ann Burris and the brother of Obedience "Beadie" Hathcock Burris, my 3rd Great Grandmother. Lee was born on August 25, 1835, which put him in the prime target age of a soldier.

Name	Lee Haithcock
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	15
Birth Date	abt 1835
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Attended School	Yes
Line Number	40
Dwelling Number	902
Family Number	907

Household members
Name	Age
Benjamin Haithcock	48
Mosby Haithcock	20
Gracey Haithcock	17
Lee Haithcock	15
Benjamin Haithcock	11
Mary A Haithcock	9
Sarah M Haithcock	2

Lee was born into a typically large farm family of the day with lots of daughters and a repectible spattering of sons. His mother, Nancy, died when he was still a young boy. In 1840, his father is shown as a widower with his youngest children, his mother having passed in 1849.

Beside of the Blalocks lived McCamie Willis and his wife, Obedience Burris Willis. The Willis's never had children of their own, but they had taken in Obedience's mtoher, Judith Burris, my 5th Great Grandmother, Beada L. Hathcock, Obedience's namesake neice and my 3rd Great Grandmother, and had raised a boy named Solomon, then 18, after the court had removed him from car of Solomon Burris, the 1st, Obedience's father and Judith's husband, after the couple had grown too aged. Solomon was the illegitimate son of Jane Murray, the sister of another one of my third great grandmothers and Obedience's brother, Joshua Christian Burris, not only one of my fourth Great Grandfathers, but also my 4th Great Granduncle several times over. I know, creepy isn't it, but this was my family.

Keep this family group in mind for future reference.

Lee was probably named for his uncle, Lee Hathcock, who was 37 years his senior and who had settled in Cabarrus County, NC. The surname, Hathcock, is seen in various other spellings, mostly Heathcock, but I will used Hathcock, which is how our particular line is most often seen in these parts.

On September 15, 1853, at the age of 18, Lee Hathcock married Martha Judith Coley, age 19, daughter of Nathan Coley and Nancy Vickers Coley. They had three little boys in rapid succession, as was common for the day.

1855 Adam Franklin Hathcock

1858 Daniel M. Hathcock

1859 William Whitson Hathcock

In 1860, the young family is listed right above his father's in the census.

Name	Lee Heathtock
Age	25
Birth Year	abt 1835
Gender	Male
Race	White
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	1087
Family Number	1102
Occupation	Farmer
Personal Estate Value	60
Inferred Spouse	Judieth Heathtock
Inferred Child	Adam Heathtock; Danil Heathtock; William Heathtock

Household members
Name	Age
Lee Heathtock	25
Judieth Heathtock	24
Adam Heathtock	5
Danil Heathtock
William Heathtock	1

The Hathcocks would have one more son, Levi, born in 1862, and then it would happen, The War.

Lee Hathcock enlisted on March 25, 1862 as a Private in Company H, 42nd Infantry with a number of other Stanly County men. He was 26 years old. His service didn't last long. He died on October 1, 1862, of disease in Petersburg, Virginia. Disease took as many, if not more, men than battle. North Carolina was particulary hit hard. If I'm not mistaken, North Carolina lost more men than any other state.

Name	Lee Hathcock
Enlistment Age	26
Birth Date	abt 1836
Enlistment Date	25 Mar 1862
Enlistment Place	Stanly County, North Carolina
Enlistment Rank	Private
Muster Date	10 May 1862
Muster Place	North Carolina
Muster Company	H
Muster Regiment	42nd Infantry
Muster Regiment Type	Infantry
Muster Information	Enlisted
Muster Out Date	1 Oct 1862
Muster Out Place	Petersburg, Virginia
Muster Out Information	died disease
Side of War	Confederacy
Survived War?	No
Residence Place	Stanly County, North Carolina
Notes	1862-08-09 Deserted
Title	North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster

We don't know if Judy was pregnant with Levi, or if she was left with a newborn and three other little men.

Name	Lee Hathcock
Gender	Male
Birth Date	25 Aug 1835
Birth Place	Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America
Death Date	1 Oct 1862
Death Place	Petersburg, Fauquier County, Virginia, United States of America
Cemetery	Commie Willis Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place	Oakboro, Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America

Lee's body was returned home for burial. He was buried in the McCamie Willis cemetery in Red Cross, near Oakboro.

Judy was left with 4 small boys, one of them an infant. She lived near her in-laws, who probably helped as best they could in those trying days. She also applied for a widow's pension, to help ensure the survival of her young family.

What happened next? Why the Ghost of husbands past, of course.

Judy Hathcock, in 1870, is shown with all of her sons, and an extra, 1 year old Mack, as joined the group. Her older sons, even down to 8 year old Levi, were probably helping run the farm, for survival.

Mack Luther Hathcock was born on April 10, 1869, the son of Lee Hathcock and Judy Coley Hathcock, some claim. Really? I mean 1862 to 1869? A seven year pregnancy. Umm, you might not be a Hathcock.

Others descendants, more skilled in math, have attached the above explanation to their family tree. Mack may have been a little olive -skinned, and I believe I may have an answer for that, but he was no "Full-blooded Catawba Indian", and he wasn't left on his mother's doorstep by a warring Catawba, or a stork, or any other imaginary friend.

There does exist a legal, plausible, logical and collaborative record of how Mack Hathcock came to be seven years beyond his "fathers" decease.

Recall the family living next to McCamie Willis and his family of borders, which included a young man named Solomon?

"State of North Carolina, Stanly County

Know all men by these Presents , That we, Solomon Burris or Murray and Mycamma Willis are held and firmly bound and by these presents bind our homesteads into the said State of North Carolina in the sum of two hundred dollars current money, to be paid to said State; and....dated this 20th day of September, 1869. The condition of the above Obligation is such, That if the above bounden Solomon Burris or Murray, the reputed father of a base-born child, begot on the body of Judy Hathcock, a single woman of said County, shall keep the said County of Stanly indemnified from all costs and charges in and about the maintenance of said child; and perform every order of the Court of said County, relative to the said child; then this Obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Signed, Sealed and Acknowledged

In the Presence of

Solomon Burroughs (Seal)

his

M. C. (X) Willis (Seal)

Mark

The above transcription is of a document called a Bastardy Bond. As horrible as it sounds, it was actually an archaic form of child support used in the 17th to 19th centuries, and at least into the earliest years of the 20th.

One must step back and look at the climate and mores of the day, to understand it a little better. Women had little power, no vote, few options in those days. She had to be connected to a man, a father, a husband, a brother, some man, or her chances of survival were slim. A woman was not looked at as being able to support a child on her own, even though Judy seemed capable of doing so with her first four. She had her widows pension. She had her small farm. The County, however, wanted to ensure, this child, born to a widow years after her husband's death, and the baby, would not be a financial burden on the county.

The bond held the father, Solomon "Burris or Murray", financially responsible for the child, at least until the child was old enough to be "bound out", or appreciated to learn a trade, to an intact family, typically at about 7 to 10 years old. Some of these situations were pretty good for the child, especially if they were bound out to family, a Grandparent, an Uncle, or even, an older sibling. Sometimes, as in foster homes today, the situation was cruel and abusive. Tales were told of children being "worked to death".

Solomon knew of those tales and knew he was one of the lucky ones. Why was his name shown as "Murray or Burris"? It's because his mother was Jane Murray and his father was Joshua Christian Burris, who was married to Sarah Springer, not Jane Murray. So Solomon had inherited some character traits from his own father. McCamie Willis, his uncle by marriage, who had raised him like a father, stood as bondsman for Solomon in this legal proceeding.

Solomon must have first been placed with his namesake grandfather, Revolutionary War Veteran, Solomon Burris, Sr. , while Stanly was still part of Montgomery. Those records were destroyed. But in the earliest court records of Stanly County, founded in 1841, his elderly grandfather was ordered to bring him to court to be bound out. Afterwards, he had grown up with McCamie Willis, who was married to his Aunt Obedience Burris Willis.

The next time we see Judith Coley Hathcock is in the 1880 census. From the neighbors, it appears they are living in the same place as in 1870. She is living with her son William Whittson Hathcock and his young bride, Johannah. Mack is now 11 years old..

Tombstone of Judy Hathcock from Find-a-Grave

Judith Coley Hathcock spent her last 20 years, living among her surviving sons. Her last years were with her youngest son, Mack Luther. She passed away on March 8, 1900 in Sanford, Lee County, North Carolina and was buried at the Center United Methodist Church Cemetery. Mack and his family were found in Moore County four months later on the 1900 census.

Mack Hathcock and family as a young man.

The Five Sons of Martha Judith Coley Hathcock were:

1) Adam Franklin Hathcock born about 1855. Married: 23 March 1876 in Stanly County to Judith Elizabeth Whitley, daughter of Alexander Davidson Whitley and wife, Mary Ann Burris. One child: Samantha Macedious Hathcock Linker. Died around 1877, def. before 1880. Cause of death unknown. Widow remarried to James Martin Barbee in 1881 and had two more children.

2) Daniel Monroe Hathcock born February 14, 1853, according to death certificate, however, in the two census records, where he appeared as a child and a teen, he was two years behind Adam. Adam's two census records and his marriage liscense give him a birth year of 1855. Dan was 3 in 1860 and 12 in 1870, 21 in 1880 and 21 when he got married in 1878. Very fluid, but I believe a birth year of 1878 is more accurate. He married on March 7, 1878 to Elizabeth Rosenclontz Thompson, daughter of John and Ellen Rosencrantz, a young widow. Four children were born to this marriage, William, Octie, Etta and Perry. Daniel was a farmer during the early part of his marriage, had moved to Concord, Cabarrus County in 1898, and afterwards worked in Government Service. He moved his family to Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee by 1900. There he worked for the Government until at least 1920. He lost his wife sometime between 1920 and 1930. She was likely related to the German Rosecranz family who had land grants in Stanly County in 1845 on Meadow Creek, and applied for naturalization in Stanly around 1848. A few of them married local ladies in Stanly and Cabarrus Counties, but they left few records. It's unknown when Betty died, or where she was buried. There's no record of which Thompson she married, too.

In old age, Daniel moved in with his daughter, Etta Hathcock Norris. They lived in Hillsboro, Florida. He worked as a night watchman then, and was there in 1930 & 1940. By 1942, Daniel had returned to Tennessee with his son, Perry, in the town of Daisy, Hamilton County. He died there on October 27, 1942, buried at the Johnson Cemetery in Daisy.

3) William Whittson Hathcock was born on January 19, 1859. He married Johanna Francis Yow, daughter of Moses and Winny Yow, about 1880. They lived in Furrs Township, Stanly County, until the turn of the century, and then moved to the Bethel Church area of Cabarrus County.

Will and Johanna were a farming family and as such, had a large number of children. The 9 known children were Mary E., Martha A , Joseph P., Adaline, William S., Fillmore, Emma, Rettie Bell and Julia E.

Johanna died in 1932, at the age of 71.

William died January 28, 1948 , at the age of 89. They are buried at Loves Grove Methodist Church in Stanfield, Stanly County, NC.

4) M. Levi Hathcock was born in 1862, the year his father died. He moved to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC, where he married Mary Elizabeth "Molly" McCall, daughter of William and Mary, on November 12, 1884. There were two daughters, Odie, Bertha Mae. Levi died before 1900. Mollie lived until 1926 and supported her family as a Seamstress in Charlotte. She's buried at Providence Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

5) Mack Luther Hathcock was born April 10, 1869. He married Mary Louise Smith on September 19, 1889. He moved to Lee County, and Moore County, before settling down in Franklinville, Randolph County, a unique and picturesque little Uwharrie town. There, they farmed and raised a large family of nine children; Hurley Edmond, Cora Ann, Frankie E., Bessie Mae, Riley Anderson, Rose Ella, Mattie Wadsworth, Hugh G. and Minnie Bell.