Everyone who has began researching their family tree has come upon the old adage of "everyone has two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, sixteen great great grandparents", and so on. Of course, this speaks only to our biological inheritance. Many of us, like myself, because of death or divorce and remarriages, can have more, or less, parents and grandparents, that we claim, or not. Life is complicated. But in the forests of genetic heritage, only grow those biological trees and when it comes to my fourth and fifth Great Grandparents, my own family tree is lacking.
My personal goal, one of them, is to completely fill out my family tree to the fifth Great Grandparents generations. I have achieved this down all lines, except two. I have two third Great Grandfathers, both with the anonymous given name of "John", a name so common that it literally is the name given to any unknown male, until their proper identity is discovered, "John Doe". These two Third Great Grandfathers of mine were John Hooks and John Faulkner, both from Anson County, North Carolina.
But that's not the only reason I have fewer fourth great grandparents than I should. The other reason is endogamy. My maternal Grandmother's two Grandfathers were brothers. Her parents were first cousins. So I have the required 16 Second Great Grandparents, but advance up a generation, when I should have 32, I only have 30, because two are the same couple.
Rising to the fourth Great Grandparent level, I then only have 58, when I should have 64, yet that's not entirely accurate. There are still those who are the same, a repeat, but the others existed, I just don't know who they are. I'm working on that, however. These are the four parents of the two 3rd Great Grandfathers, whose parents remain nameless. Oddly, I know their wives parents and grandparents. I state "oddly", because it's usually more difficult to trace the lines of female ancestors, due to the dominance and predominance of men in records, and the fact that women's surnames often changed, sometimes more than once.
Stepping up to five Greats, it gets even worse, because my paternal Grandfather is descended from four different siblings who were children of a Revolutionary War Soldier named Solomon Burris, and his wife, Judith (nee Taylor, supposedly). Grandpa's mother was a Burris, and his father's mother was a Burris. Keep climbing his tree, and you will find two more separate Burris lines. At the fourth level, four of my Great Grandparents are siblings, so at the fifth level, when those four lines merge into one couple, there's a pedigree collapse. Yes, I'm somewhat inbred, but it's not uncommon in the least. Many small communities were built by a few large families that would intermarry for generations. Even when they moved to other places, they still seemed to stick with the group from home they traveled with, at least for a generation or two.
This is just an odd post in which I want to take a brief look at my 58 known Fourth Great Grandparents, or the 29 couples that compromise them. I am hoping to connect to anyone who is also descendants of any of them.
The list starts straight up the paternal line and will carry over couple by couple into my maternal line.
1) John Lambert Jr. and Mary Margaret Almond. Both were born about 1800 in North Carolina. John was born July 10, 1800, in Johnston County, NC and traveled with his parents and most of his family, to the Mission area of Stanly County, NC, near the Cabarrus County line. They arrived by the early 1820's if not a few years before. He was the son of a Baptist minister named Rev. John Lambert and his wife, Piety, also seen as "Phida". John Jr. continued in the Baptist faith and was third of about 10 children.
Mary Almond was the daughter of John Richard and Nancy Powell Almond. She was born either in Montgomery (Stanly) or Cabarrus County, North Carolina, either in 1799 or early 1800. Her family had arrived decades before her husband's, so it can be safely assumed they married here. They had a dozen children, the first about 1820, which leads credence to the theory that the Lamberts arrived in Montgomery County before 1820. The 1820 census for Montgomery is missing. Mary died between 1870 and 1880. John died May 24, 1880. I descend from their son William "Buck" Lambert, born in 1824.
2) Hezekiah Herrin and Amelia Hatley. I share a large number of matches descended from this couple. They had 8 children together. Hezekiah was born in North Carolina around 1794. I've not gone in depth on the Herrins yet, as it had been done, but he was the son of an Alexander Herrin and Nancy Wadsworth. He is thought to have been born in the western part of what is now Stanly County. His wife Milly was from Chatham County and moved here with her family, the daughter of Hardy Hatley and Isabel Foreman, born about 1792. They first show up in Montgomery County in the 1830 census. The Herrin's Grove area near the Cabarrus County line, not far from Mount Pleasant is where they settled. I'm descended from their daughter Delphia Matilda Talitha Herrin, (1826-1880) who married Buck Lambert.
3) Taylor Burris and Nancy Morton. Taylor was one of the four children of Solomon and Judith Burris found among my 4th Great Grandparents. His tombstone is shown above. Born December 28, 1784, probably in what is now Stanly County, according to the Burris Family Bible. He married Nancy Morton, probably in Montgomery County (Stanly). A statement written by Craven C. Burris, a grandson of Taylor and at some point, a President of Wingate College, reported that Taylor died in Surrey County, NC while visiting his Mother's (Judith Taylor Burris) , people. He was buried at the foot of Pilot Mountain after drowning while attempting to cross a creek. Nancy Morton was born about 1784, also here, and they married in the early 1800's, their first child born in 1804. They were the parents of 4 sons and 2 daughters. Nancy was the daughter of William Carr Morton and Lucy Taylor. It's likely they were related through the Taylors, but not too closely. I descend through their son , Solomon, named for his grandfather.
4) Joseph Calvin Morton and Margaret "Peggy" Hatley. By now, a pattern begins to appear. It's easy to envision a small group of farm families in a very rural area, having a large number of children, that intermarried with their neighbors. The Mortons were no exception. And yes, we just left one Morton branch. Joseph Calvin Morton was born on February 24, 1801, his family just coming up from Anson County. He was the son of Ezekiel Morton and Elizabeth Brumbalow, both families being very early arrivals to Anson County. Ezekiel was a son of the previously mentioned William Carr Morton, making him a sister of Nancy. He lived in Almond Township and died on October 19, 1889, being buried at the old Wiggins Cemetery, as was Peggy.
Joseph Calvin Morton married Margaret Hatley, known as Peggy, on February 17, 1824. She was the daughter of John Hatley and Elizabeth Oldham. Yes, this was the second mention of a Hatley in my family tree. Hardy Hatley, father of Amelia Hatley Herrin, and John Hatley, Jr., father of Peggy, were supposedly brothers, (Going on someone else's research here), sons of John Hatley Sr. and Martha Hardy. The family hailed from Chatham County, NC. The Mortons had a whooping 16 children from one mother. Peggy was 17 when Elizabeth was born in 1824 and 45 when Alfred was born in 1852. They lost 4 sons to the Civil War, and one just a few years after from injuries incurred then. Another son, Joseph H. Morton, died at 22, before the War began. Still, an enormous number of Stanly, and surrounding counties, contain descendants of this couple, and others all over the country and even the world. I descend from their firstborn, Elizabeth, who married Solomon Burris (III), son of Taylor.
5) Solomon Burris, Jr. and Sarah Jane Morgan. Yes, there's that name again, Burris. Don't say I didn't warn you. This Solomon was born on August 14, 1800 in the Big Lick area of what is now Stanly County and passed away in the same place on November 4, 1873. He was the son of Solomon, Sr. and Judith Taylor, and the brother of the afore mentioned Taylor. He married Sara Jane Morgan about 1820. They became the parents of six children. Sara Jane, called Sallie, brings a little dash of fresh blood to the scene. She was born on January 31, 1799, in Anson County, NC, the daughter of Mark Morgan and Mary "Polly" Greene. Mark, a son of Goin or 'Goings' Morgan, lived along the Rocky River, on the Stanly/Anson line, near present day Union County, too. His people were Welsh Anglicans, who had came through Virginia to the eastern counties of North Carolina, particularly Onslow, before arrival to the Rocky River area. His wife was the daughter of Gideon Greene, an early arrival to Anson County, and also from counties east. It's possible Sarah, one of the older children, was born in Northampton. She died in Stanly County, NC on September 2, 1864, and was buried at the Solomon Burris Burial Ground near Red Cross. I'm descended from their son Gideon Greene Burris (1831-1898).
6) Benjamin Franklin Hathcock and Nancy Ann Burris. The Hathcocks were another family that intermarried multiple times within the Burris, Almond, Hatley, Morton and other western Stanly/Cabarrus line families. Benjamin was a Jr. and his family came to this area from Brunswick County, Virginia.There's a lot of connections between the families of Southside Virginia and those in the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina. Inconsistencies abound in this family. Benjamin outlived Nancy and remarried after her death to a Catherine Yow. Children are attributed to the second wife who belong to Nancy, not that Catherine didn't raise a bunch of children, not only her stepchildren, but later in his life, Ben raised a number of his grandchildren, especially after the devastation of the Civil War, with the help of Catherine. I now feel compelled to 'straighten out' this entanglement. There are too many people who have children attributed to the wrong parents, grandchildren listed as children and children attributed to Catherine that were not hers. Benjamin F. Hathcock was born on February 3, 1802 and died on June 12, 1884 in Cabarrus County. Being a Jr., he is often confused with his father of the same name, who lived an incredibly long life. Nancy Burris is yet another child of Solomon and Judith Burris. Called Ann Hathcock in her father's will, she was the mother of 9 children. Her dates of birth and death are unknown, but it is estimated that she was born around 1804 and married around 1822. Some give her year of death as 1879, but Benjamin is shown alone in 1850, and she is no where to be found, so I believe her year of death to be more about 1849. Her last child, Sarah Malissa Hathcock, was born in 1848. I descend from their daughter, Obedience Hathcock who married Gideon Greene Burris, her first cousin.
7) John and Sylvia Honeycutt. John Honeycutt, (1803-1878), is one of those ancestors I feel like I've found a lot of information on him, personally, but can't get past, and suppose I never will. Even in the earliest years of this area, there were a lot of Huneycutts/Honeycutts, and still are. They followed the same flow as many other families that settled here, from counties east. Any proof of who his parents were seems to have disolved. Some have his father as Drury, but I don't know.. The names of his children, although he named them liberally, give no hints. I do believe that a few of the Honeycutts who lived very near him and are close in age to him, are probably his siblings. John was buried at Liberty Hill Baptist Church, a congregation he donated the land to for the church to be built and was founded by Rev. John Lambert, one of my other ancestors.
Of his wife, Sylvia, I know even less. She was born about 1810 and died around 1890. John had a close relationship with a woman named Fanny Robbins, widow of Isham Robbins, and her children. She's old enough to be the mother of one of them and was the daughter of George Whitley II. Her full name was Francis Caroline "Fanny" Whitley Robbins and John and Sylvia seem to have named their firstborn child, a daughter, Francis Caroline Huneycutt, for her. I have researched the Robbins and some who migrated west, and I do have a genetic connection to some of them. On the other hand, John and Sylvia had a few children who lived long enough to have death certificates, but only one has been found, and although it's not very legible, it seems to give Sylvia's maiden name as "Cagle", and they did have neighbors who were Cagles. I am related to the Cagles down another family line, so DNA won't help me, specifically, in this case, solve this mystery. Maybe someone who doesn't have other Cagle connections can solve this mystery one day using DNA, or find the missing death certificates of the two sons who should have had them. John and Sylvia had 12 children. I descend from their son, Charles McKinley Honeycutt, known as either "C. M." or "Kin".
8) Joshua Christian Burris and Susanna Honeycutt. I know you are getting tired of seeing the name "Burris" by now. I know it, I know it, but this is the last one, I promise. The last fourth Great Grandparent at any rate, and this guy was a character, a real lothario. This couple is different from all the previous ones, they were not married. Joshua Christian Burris, Sr., as he had a son of the same name who could not have been more like his father if he tried, was born on June 4, 1790. I'll give you three guesses on who his parents were and the first two don't count. Joshua was obviously named after his grandfather, Joshua Burris, father of Solomon Burris, the first.
Ol Josh must have been quite the looker in his younger days, because he certainly had a way with the ladies, especially those in my family tree. He had a wife! Her name was Sarah Springer, and they married about 1807. Josh and Sarah had ten children together between 1808 and 1830. Sarah is not my ancestor. Josh had at least 3 mistresses. One was Barbara Starnes, with whom he had a son. Another was Jane "Jincy" Murray, sister of my 3rd Great Grandmother Priscilla Murray Aldridge. Josh had three children with Jincy, one of them was Solomon Murray/Burris, an interesting man who was raised by Joshua's sister Obedience and her husband McCamie Willis, after the courts took him out of the home of his Grandfather, old Solomon Burris the Revolutionary War soldier. This Solomon would grow up to be a troubled young man and have relationships/marriages with a few of his cousins, and finally move towards the coast of NC, where he appears to have had a normal life. Lastly, we have Susan Honeycutt, with whom he had 4 children. We'll get to her in a minute. His namesake son Joshua Christian Jr., also maintained at least three families. He had a legal wife, Rachel Lowder, with whom he had 10 children and two mistresses, Susanna Whitley, with whom he had 5 children and Franky Honeycutt, with whom he had 9. Almost like the Mormon sect on the TV show "Sister wives".
Susanna Honeycutt was born about 1805. She was taken to court on multiple occasions for having children out of wedlock. She had four by Joshua C. Burris, Mary Anna in 1833, Joshua in 1835, John in 1836 and Sylvia in 1842. She was probably the mother of Fanny, born in 1846, by Solomon F. Robbins.
Susanna died before 1880. She lived on the property of John Honeycutt, my ancestor in Couple #7. He seems to have taken care of her. They were just a few years apart in age. I believe them to have been siblings, due to the close relationship. Her oldest daughter, Mary Anna, was bound out to John and Sylvia Honeycutt and they raised her, with her biological mother living in a cabin on the property. Mary Anna would grow up to marry John's son Charles McKinley Honeycutt. They were Third Great Grandparents. First cousins? Very likely.
The next grouping of couples are a more traditional, and not so interrelated bunch. We're moving from the ancestors of my paternal Grandfather to those of my paternal Grandmother. Thank God for her and her out-of-county, diverse genes. My Dad was a highly intelligent and handsome man. He passed those traits on to his sons, one of them a member of Mensa. I'm the black sheep of the family.
9) William Thomas Lemmons and Margaret C. McCoy. William T. Lemmond or Lemmons, was born on April 5, 1791, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Both his father, John Lemmond, and grandfather, William Marr "Billy" Lemmond, were Patriots during the Revolutionary War. The father of his mother, Martha Query, also a John, was a signer of the Mecklenburg County Declaration of Independence. His paternal grandmother was a Buchanan. You get the picture, these families were part of the Hornets Nest. William Thomas Lemmond married Margaret C McCoy on November 8, 1815 in Mecklenburg County. The Lemmond were of Irish descent and the McCoys were Scotts. Margaret was the daughter of John McCoy, another Patriot and Signer. Her mother was Catherine Alexander and her father's mother was also an Alexander. These both sprang from the prominent Alexander family of Mecklenburg County who also held major roles in the Revolution. All in all, my grandmother ,and myself, descend from 5 signers of the Mecklenburg County Declaration of Independence, which predated the National Declaration by a year. I descend from their son, John Q. Lemmonds, one of 9 children.
10) John Work Means and Margaret McKamie Wilson. John Work Means was born in 1798 in Gaffney, Spartanburg County, South Carolina. His father was another one of those Mecklenburg County Hornets who eventually had to leave the state. His mother, Isabella Catherine Work was from Iredell County, from British lines, who had moved to Rowan County early in its inception. John married Margaret McCamie Wilson on May 27, 1822 in Cabarrus County, a fortuitous union. Margaret had a sterling Patriotic pedigree. Her father was the Rev. John McCamie Wilson, of whom I've found a great deal of information in the Carolina annuals, he the son of John Wilson and Margaret McKamie Alexander, for whom his daughter was named. Another Patriot grouping and another Alexander. John Wilson was British and his wife a member of the Alexander/Wallace clan that migrated down from Maryland. Rev. John McCamie Wilson traveled far and near and when in Morganton, one of the first settled towns in the western part of the state, he came upon the very Patriotic Erwin family, meeting the beautiful daughter of Alexander Erwin, named Mary, but known as "Pretty Polly". He married her and returned to his home in Mecklenburg County. They settled in the part of Mecklenburg that became Cabarrus, where Margaret was born. Among their 7 children was Harriett Catherine Means who married John Q. Lemmonds.
11) Frederick Starnes and Sarah Fincher.
This is where my German roots come in. There were a lot of Fredericks in the Starnes family, beginning with a German immigrant named Frederick Stearns, who migrated from the Northern states, through Virginia, where the family had some encounters with Daniel Boone and crew, before arrival to the part of Mecklenburg County that became Union, where this particular Frederick was born in 1805. I sometimes call him Fred IV, because he was the son of Frederick III and Magdalena "Motlina" Klein, of another German family. This Frederick III was the son of Captain John Starnes, of the Revolutionary War who fought at Kings Mountain. There were other Frederick 3's. Fred 4 married Sarah Fincher, a Preacher's daughter. Sarah was the daughter of Rev. William Fincher and Mary Jane Grace. They followed Rev. Fincher down to Monticello, Georgia, where he went to preach for awhile, and this is where their son, Frederick Fincher Starnes, my 3rd Great Grandfather, was born. Sally, as she was called, died young, and Fred would remarry to an Elizabeth Thompson. They settled in Union County, and Fred would eventually follow his children to Cabarrus County, where F.F. became a successful business man and large landowner. Fred IV died sometime after 1880, probably in Cabarrus County. He had 5 children by Sarah Fincher and 9 by Betty Thompson. I'm descended from Frederick Fincher Starnes.
12) William Byrum and Martha Pfifer
William Byrum was born about 1795 in Mecklenburg County, NC. He was the son of another William Byrum and Mary Sanders. He seems to have had a first wife by whom he had a son named Robert. Martha Pfifer was of Swiss lineage. She was the daughter of Joseph Pfifer and Judith Meredith. Her husband died a young man before 1850. He may have been buried at Rocky River Presbyterian Church, where his wife and daughter are. Martha was a member of Rocky River Presbyterian and lived out her life with her daughter, Mary Louise Byrum Starnes and son-in-law F.F. Starnes. There are mentions of her in the church records. She was born in South Carolina, and the family lived along the Union, NC - Lancaster County, SC border during the middle 19th century. Martha died in 1887 at the age of 77, in Cabarrus County. I descend from their daughter, Mary Louise Byrum Starnes.
13) Julius Walter Hill and Mary Hudson
Julius Hill was from Anson County, on the south side of the Rocky River. He was born on January 10, 1802, to John Hill and wife Mary Patsy Yates. After his father died, his mother married Moe Evans Smith. Julius was married twice, first to Mary Hudson and second to Margaret Peggy Harwood. I descend from his son, William, who was a child of the first wife. Mary Hudson was the daughter of Joachim Hudson and Margretha Martin. They came from Prince George County, Virginia to Anson County, NC. Mary died on February 10, 1836 and was buried in the Hill Family Cemetery in the Fairview Community of Union County.
Julius Hill died October 18, 1876, and was buried at Rocky Mount Baptist Church in Anson County.
14) Samuel Ramsey and Rebecca Helms
Samuel Ramsey was born in 1799, and grew up in the Burnsville area of Anson County. His father was Starkey "Stark" Ramsey. Stark had a wife called "Lisha" in his later years, who may or may not have been Samuels mother, she was a little young to have been the older childrens mother, but not impossible. DNA research suggests she may have been a Lisenby.
Samuel would marry Rebecca Helms, daughter of Tillman Helms and Mary Elizabeth Presley, Mary's parents were Thomas Presley or Preslar and Sarah Lee Culpeper. Thomas was the son of German immigrants Andreas Preslar and wife, Antje Wells. These were also the ancestors of Elvis Presley.
Samuel Ramsey and Rebecca Helms would relocate North of the Rocky River and settle in the Saint Martin Lutheran Church area north of Oakboro and south of Albemarle. They would have 9 children. Samuel died in 1865 and Rebecca in 1870. They are buried at Saint Martins Lutheran Church. I am descended from their daughter, Obedience, who married William Hill.
15 Daniel Hooks and Ann Abshire
With this couple, proceed with caution. It is all speculation at this point, and remains unproven. Recall, I mentioned 3rd Great Grandfather John Hooks as a brick wall. Several people have Daniel Hooks in family trees as his father, with no real proof. It just seems like he was there, this older Hooks, in Anson, and then these younger Hooks appear. There definitely was a Daniel Hooks, and he seemed to be in association with others from counties east who also relocated to Anson or nearby counties, so he deserved a peek. He might have been born in Johnston County, and lived for awhile in Wake, before buying property in Anson, from John Boggan, in 1799. He married Ann (also seen as Nancy) Abshire or Abshire in Anson. She was the daughter of Joshua Abshire, a veteran of the War of 1812, who also claimed to have served in the Revolutionary War. He lived a very long life. While Joshua is recorded as white in the 1850 census, his military records describe him as a free person of color. I am a genetic match to his descendants who all seem to identify as white. His wife seems to have been white. He may have been a mixed race individual, possibly European with either Indigenous or African or both. I was recently contacted by a descendant of his son Alfred, with whom I share DNA in a 4th to 6th cousin range. She was surprised to discover Joshua was not white, because she is. She felt Alfred was not his son. Alfred was his executor and named in his will as his son. There are a lot of generations between Joshua and his living descendants, a lot of water under the bridge, so to speak. His genes have been white washed. If this couple are John's ancestors, a few things make sense, like John's wife, and Eleanor Hooks who married William G. Kennedy who moved from Davidson County to Stanly being John's sister.
16) Thomas Carpenter and Elizabeth "Betsy" Broadway. Thomas Carpenter was born in 1802, the oldest son of James Ludwell Carpenter and Obedience Broadway. Ludwell was the son of John Carpenter and Elizabeth Upchurch, who moved westward from the Wake/ Johnston County border with Elizabeth's father, Benjamin Upchurch, to Anson/Montgomery County. Thomas was the first of an enormous household of children. His mother had 11, and when she died, his father remarried Eleanor McIntyre and had 8 more.
Both the Carpenters and Broadways lived near the Anson/Stanly (formerly Montgomery) line. Thomas would marry Elizabeth "Betsy" Broadway, his cousin. Betsy was born about 1804 in Anson County, daughter of William and Mary Broadway. Her mother-in-law was the daughter of Nicholas and Gracey Broadway. The two were related, not exactly how, I'm unsure, but definitely related as all the north Anson Broadways were one family. Thomas died in 1877 at the age of 75, but Betsy lived until 1905. I descend from their oldest daughter, Obedience Carpenter, who married John Hooks.
This concludes the grouping of my father's ancestor's.
The next couple begins the grouping of my Mother's ancestors.
17) Job Davis and Sarah Elizabeth Winfield. This was the couple that started me on my genealogical journey. Due to living with my maternal grandparents for a period, as a child, while my father was in service, and then after they divorced, I learned much about the Davis family, up to Job, but not beyond. He was born on April 10, 1775, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. He had arrived to the Rocky River area of southern Stanly and northern Anson with the Josiah and Mary Tillman Floyd family, among others, at the age of 19. He married Sarah Winfield Howell, widow of Richard Howell, in 1804. She had 4 young children. Sarah Winfield was also born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia in 1775, two months younger than Job. I have no doubt they knew each other as children. Sarah was the daughter of Peter Winfield and Charlotte Freeman Winfield, who had arrived to Anson about a decade prior, with several relatives, and the Marshalls and Robertsons among others. I know her family line back to England. I can't tell you who Jobs parents were. There are theories. I believe he was a grandchild of Henry Davis and Mary Marriott, whose children ended up in Mecklenburg and Brunswick Counties of Virginia, as was Mary Tillman Floyd. Sarah's uncle, Joshua Winfield, remained in Virginia and became a guardian to some of Henry Davis' youngest children upon his death. James Taylor, Mary Tillman Floyds stepfather, was guardian of others. It just makes sense. Job and Sarah were Methodist Episcopal. They had a summer house in Fayetteville on Hay Street and belonged to Hay Street Methodist Episcopal Church. I It was deeded to one of Sarah's sons by her first husband who had moved to Fayetteville a few years before they passed away, which Job did in 1852 and Sarah in 1856. I descend from the oldest of their four sons together, Henry Davis.
18) James Palmer and Martha "Patsy" Atkins James Palmer's family arrived in Montgomery County from Maryland, just as the land was beginning to be settled. His father Johns name is seen among the earliest of land divisions along Long Creek, which is now part of Stanly, among names, some who moved along, and are no longer found among these hills. These Palmers had arrived to Maryland from New York and they were part of that Quaker group of Palmers that became very populous in New York and the Bronx. James was born on January 27, 1786 to John and his wife, Janice Tamar. Not much is known about her family What is known was mostly garnered from DAR records, she was from South Carolina and also a Quaker.
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| James and Patsy Palmer |
James married Patsy Atkins in 1806, who was born in 1784. He then fought in the War of 1812. James died on May 21, 1873 and Patsy on July 18, 1879. They are buried at Kendalls Valley Baptist Church outside of New London.
It is known that they lived along the old Salisbury to Fayetteville Market Road and their house sat at the former location of the County Home, whose building still existed until my teens, I recall seeing it. They had 8 children, 7 daughters and one son. I am descended from their daughter, Martha, who was Henry Davis's second wife.
19) Caleb Aldridge and Rebecca Louise Cagle Caleb Aldridge was born about 1794 in either Anson or Mecklenburg Counties of North Carolina. He was a Jr., son of Caleb Aldridge Sr. and possibly Sally Wright or Harvey. His family had came up from Fairfield, South Carolina. As a young man, he had relocated to Stewart County, Tennessee with his brother, Clement. He had returned to this area by 1820 and settled near his father. Caleb lived near the Rocky River Springs area, like most of my mother's family, in Tyson Township. Caleb married Rebecca Louise Cagle. The local Cagle family sprang from a German immigrant named Leonard (or Leonhart) Kegel, one of the Palatines who settled in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties. She is supposedly the daughter of George and Rebecca Cagle. Rebecca was a very popular name for girls among the Kegel/Cagle family and Rebecca Cagle Aldridge is often confused with the Rebecca Cagle who married George Whitley.
Concerning her death, their son-in-law, Green Wesley Simpson, a teacher and religious leader of the Rehobeth Church and Rocky River (Aquadale area) community, wrote in his journal, "Rebecca Arledge, the wife of Caleb Arledge departed this life on Saturday night, the 8th of November 1856......she was of time heard praising God on her deathbed...." After Rebecca's death, Caleb remarried to Elizabeth Osborne Bullard. There were only two sons, Henry Garner and Josiah, I descend from them both, but only Henry genetically. They also adopted a little girl named Margaret Jane Ross, an illegitimate daughter of Polly Ross according to early Stanly County Court Records. Family rumour had it that Polly's children were fathered by Benjamin Murray. Green Wesley Simpson married Margaret (Ross) Aldridge. Caleb died about 1870 and it is pretty certain both he and Rebecca are buried at Rehobeth, but in a grave where the stones have collapsed or no longer legible. The stone for Elizabeth Osborne Aldridge does remain. I descend from oldest son Henry Garner Aldridge, sometimes seen as Henry Garner David Aldridge.
20) Jesse Murray and Anna Elizabeth Bass Jesse Murray arrived in Anson County by 1820 and relocated north of the Rocky River near its junction with Long Creek by 1830. He was born in either Orange or Chatham County, the son of Benjamin and Jane Pearce Murray. He is mentioned in his mother's will with two sisters. He was in Chatham in 1810. This family is a complicated one. His daughter who married Garner Aldridge is mentioned in the Aldridge family history as being an 'Indian'. It's a little more complicated than that. The Pearces and Murrays trace back to Gouldstown, a settlement in Cumberland County, New Jersey and a close-knit community of multiple ethnicities that intermarried within a few family names, mostly Gould, Pierce and Murray. The Goulds began with Elizabeth Fenwick, granddaughter of John Fenwick, Quaker proprietor of the Salem Tenth. She married a West Indies sailor of African descent and their son Benjamin began the settlement with his Finnish wife. The Murray's were the mixed children of a Scottish Murray and Leni Lenape mother who married a Swedish wife and settled in Gouldstown. The Pierce family began with two brothers from the West Indies who had arrived via ship to New Jersey and married two Dutch sisters by the name of Van Aca. There were a few other families that would also incorporate into the mix, but by that time, Jesse's line had moved south into Virginia. What did he look like? The individuals varied, they were described as 'mulattos and many of them can't be told from whites'. So Jesse was accepted as white, but may have been of an olive or darker complexion that most of his neighbors, so that they suspected Indian mix, which was also true. He married Anna Elizabeth Bass, daughter of Richard Washington Bass and Sarah McKinie, in 1798 in Granville County. There was a family of 10, possibly 11, children. Elizabeth was born in Wayne County and like Jesse, her family tree was complex. She is among the members of the Bass family who are descended from John Bass and his wife, Keziah, who was a member of the Nansemond tribe. Several current Haliwa- Saponi descend from this Bass family and I know myself and one of my cousins are DNA matches to the Nansemond Bass DNA group and are members.
Jesse is buried on his family farm in a cemetery atop a hill that is now in the middle of a Cornfield overlooking Long Creek. His date of death is incorrect on the tombstone, erected by two of his grandsons. He signed the petition in 1838 to divide Montgomery County into two counties, but his widow is found alone in 1840, so he must have died between 1838 and 1840. Elizabeth died in 1856 and was buried at Rehobeth Church. I descend from their daughter, Priscilla. Most of the Murray children intermarried with their neighbors of European descent, with the exception of Mariah, who had 7 children with Henry Wilkerson, who was of African descent. Priscilla married Henry Garner Aldridge, but after his death, in the Civil War, she had a last child whose father was "Croatan", or what we now refer to as Lumbee.
21) Thomas Threadgill and Mary Turner This couple was not married. Mary Turner was the daughter of James Turner and Susanna Axum of Anson County. Her parents originated in Southhampton County, Virginia, who had moved south to Edgecomb County, North Carolina, before arriving in Anson. The journey to discover this family's roots was long and trepidatious. Mary had a son, just one, she named George Washington Turner. Other descendants of G.W. had him hitched to the wrong post. I researched that family up and down and he just wasn't in it. I did find him living with two single ladies, Mary and Martha and looking into them, discovered that they were the daughters of James Turner, who left a will and deeds and was concerned about his grandson 'Washington', son of daughter, Mary, and his future. So I found him. Martha eventually married after she inherited property, but Mary did not. Who was his father? It took DNA to find that out. From DNA matching descendants of a friend of Mary's brothers who had followed them to Alabama, to matching a man whose mother had lived with Mary's brother-in-law as a Ward when he was a child, who gave the names of his parents, to a distant cousin who did a Y-DNA test for me, it has been determined that Mary's baby daddy was a man named Thomas Threadgill. Fortunately for us, the Threadgills were already a very well researched family with lots of men who had taken DNA Y-Dna testing. This particular Thomas was born on December 30, 1814 in Anson County, son of James and Nancy Gray Threadgill. The Threadgill family is of British origin, as were the Turners. Tom was a character. He married Lucy Caroline Gray, no doubt a relative, and had 5 children. One of those children, a son named Benjamin Franklin Threadgill, married Betty Turner, daughter of G.W. Turner, probably without the knowledge that she was his half-niece.Thomas also had two sons by Julia Axom without the benefit of marriage, and then George W. Turner with Mary. Mary was born in 1805 and died in 1881. She lived out her last years with her son. They attended and were buried at Red Hill Baptist Church in Anson County, NC. Thomas C. "Cobe" Threadgill died in 1853. I descend from their son George Washington Turner.
22) Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton and Vashita Callaway. Rev. SP Morton is one of those ancestors that I know quite a bit about without knowing who exactly his parents were. He was born November 23, 1805 along the Yadkin River, just north of where the current town of Badin sits. Family Trees attribute Sammy to a James Morton and wife Elizabeth Summers or Sumerow, and he certainly did live near James and James's sons William and John and was with them as they all relocated to the southern end of the county to Davids Creek, just above Norwood, where Sammy helped establish a church. However, Sammy, albeit a simple man, was schooled enough to serve as an early clerk of the newly established County of Stanly and newly minted town of Albemarle, at their inception. Due to that service, a mini-biography dedicated to him, including a photo of him as a young man, was written by someone who actually knew him, in an early history of the County for the newspapers. In this, while it was told where the house he grew up in was still standing at the time, visible from Ebenezer Church, and that his father died, name not given, when Sammy was about 19, and that Sammy took over the care of his younger siblings, Hannah Morton Fowlkes or Faulks, Elizabeth Jennings Fesperman, Margaret "Peggy" B Morton Faulks, and George Crogin "Pim" Morton, who took over as Clerk when Sammy left to concentrate on the ministry, before George moved on to Missouri. I believe their father was a Stephen Morton, who appears in a few early census records, living near James, and in several deeds. He disappears about the right time, before Sammy turned 20, and both Sammy and Margaret named their firstborn sons, Stephen Ferdinand (Morton and Faulks).
Samuel Parsons Morton was a Baptist Minister, growing up and being led by Rev Job Callaway, Rev. William McGregor, Rev. Bennett Solomon, all direct ancestors of mine, and Rev. John Culpeper, also a relative of mine. He was an itinerant minister, and preached at Baptist Meeting Houses far and wide, but more often at Kendalls, Ebenezer, David's Creek, in Stanly, and Rocky River and Red Hill in Anson.
Sammy married Vashita "Vashita" Callaway about 1825. She was born November 27, 1812 in what is now Stanly County, and was only about 14 or 15 when married. Vashti was the daughter of Job Callaway, son of Isaac Callaway and Elizabeth Arnold, and Susannah Martisha Randle, daughter of Colby Randle and Leticia "Letty" Elmore. These connections to the Randle/Randall, Elmore and Arnold/Arundel Plantation families that left Brunswick County, Virginia for the Pee Dee River area and were among it's earliest settlers. They link back to the same named families of Southern Maryland and the Northern Neck of Virginia. Vashti and Sammy had 9 children. She passed away on October 27, 1846, and was buried in a Callaway Family Cemetery that was displaced during the damning of the Yadkin - Pee Dee River. Her grave was relocated to one of the Graveyard Islands near Old Whitney. Samuel Parsons Morton remarried on November 12, 1848, to Lucy Martin Ingram, daughter of Kinchen Martin and Chloe Hough Martin and widow of Isham Ingram. Sammy, called "Crying Sammy Morton" for his emphatic and zealous orations, lived his last years near Ansonville in Anson County. He buried his second wife, Lucy, before Christmas of 1882 and moved in with his daughter, Elizabeth Wincy Turner and her family. He joined Lucy in the cemetery at Red Hill Baptist Church on June 18, 1887. I descend from Elizabeth Wincy Morton who married George Washington Turner.
* On a side note, I've been looking into whether or not there was a connection between the Harris Township (northeastern Stanly County) and the Almond Township, (southwestern Stanly) Mortons, who came up from Anson County. I don't believe they were related, unless very, very far back. My parents shared no DNA whatsoever, at any rate.
23) Unknown Faulkner and wife/partner of Unknown Faulkner. This is a placeholder for the parents of John Faulkner of Anson County (1802-1877). In research, I ruled out that he was the son of those usually assigned to him, but that he was related. I also discovered a missing generation, an Asa, son of Asa, that people had skipped, because he died a young man of about 30, leaving his wife, Susan, a widow by 1850. My 3rd Great Grandfather, John, was married twice, and I discovered the identity of his first wife. Descendants of his sons Golden and Azariah, by his first wife, and Constantine, by his second wife, have taken Y-DNA tests. These have been able to prove that our line are descendants of the Francis Faulkner who came from Maryland long before John was born, and most, relocated to Kentucky and some to Alabama. They are our kin, but we don't know the exact link to them, between Francis and John. As a whole, the Faulkner's are said to have arrived to Medievil England for France and the name an old French word for Falconer, or keeper of Falcons.
Falconer
24) Erasmus Preslar and Nancy Jane Webster. This is another umarried couple. Due to the kindness, and love of my fifth Great Grandfather, Elias Preslar, for the illegitimate children borne of his deceased son, Erasmus, I was able to figure this one out. Erasmus died a young man, and barely appeared in records beyond his father's Will. Erasmus was probably born around 1799 and died before 1835. He was the son of Elias Preslar Sr. and Nancy Jane Martin. Both families lived in the area near Red Hill Baptist Church. This discovery took me on a very interesting journey. Nancy Webster, also mentioned in the Will of Elias Preslar as Erasmus 'baby Momma's, was born about 1800 in Anson County. Her sister Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Webster, married Erasmus's brother, Elias Preslar, Jr. There was another sister, at least, Susan, who married Robin Broadway. Nancy had about 5 children. She followed her sister and brother- in-law to Scott County, Mississippi, where she met a Blacksmith named Enoch Parrott or Perrett. Nancy was the daughter of Jesse Webster and Holly Tomlinson. Her mother died in Anson and her father also migrated to Mississippi, as did her oldest son, Calvin. Nancy married Enoch and had three more children. She left her daughters in Anson, as they were adults, more or less, and had taken her two younger sons to Mississippi as they were teenagers, and they may not have been Preslars. DNA affirms her older children were. Nancy died in Simpson County, Mississippi in 1866. Her husband, Enoch, died in 1863. A little extra something about Enoch Perrett. In the 1860 census he was labeled as "mulatto" and a number of his descendants call that as an error. It was not. A number of court cases and petitions involving Enoch are on record in Simpson County. He was described as a "yellow man" or mulatto, a blacksmith and "very useful" citizen. Over 50 people petitioned for Enoch to be taxed and treated with the same rights as other free people. He owned slaves. It was mentioned that both of his wives,(second one Nancy). There's been prudent speculation that he was the son of a Perrett who was a Mariner and that his mother was from the West Indies. Our history was more 'colorful' than people were led to believe. I descend from Erasmus Preslar and Nancy Websters daughter, Susan Webster, who married John Faulkner.
That concludes the ancestors of my maternal grandfather. Up next, the ancestors of my maternal grandmother.
Be prepared to see the name Mauldin often. While my paternal Grandfathers ancestors were mostly from Western Stanly and the Cabarrus border, my paternal grandmother's from Mecklenburg County and it's Union and Cabarrus borders, and my maternal grandfathers from both sides of the Rocky River, Stanly and Anson, my maternal grandmothers pulled strongly from Montgomery and Chatham Counties and into the eastern part of Stanly County.
25and 26) James O. Mauldin and Mary A. Smith
James O. Mauldin was born May 20, 1795 in Chatham County, North Carolina. He was the son of Clayborne Mauldin and Sarah Dowd Mauldin. The surname is found spelled various ways in olden days from Malden to Maulding. I will stick to the current spelling from my area. It's a Brittish name meaning Monument Hill.Clayborne was very close to his father-in-law, Conner Dowd, a wealthy, indurstrious man with land in three counties, who tried to remain neutral during the Revolution and in doing so, was fined greatly during the years that followed. That may have been the reason his descendants drifted away. James Mauldin probably married in Montgomery County, NC. His wife's name was Mary, and it has been passed down that her maiden name was Smith. A distant cousin wrote a book about the family and that is where this originated. The book suggests her father was George Smith, while others suggest a John David Smith. I don't agree with either, but haven't really proven my theories on that, although I have posted about my genetic connections to a branch of Smiths in Eastern Montgomery County that I have been exploring. James had a brother named Benjamin, who drifted this way with him. They were supposedly twins. James and Mary settled on Jacob's Creek to raise their nine children, with a predonderance of sons. I descend from their son Thomas Alexander Mauldin, twice, as my great grandparents were first cousins. This is why James and Mary appear twice in my list of 4ths. This makes my Mauldin DNA stronger than normal and matches show as more closely related than they actually are. James Mauldin died in 1847, at the age of 52 and Mary carried on, raising her children until about 1865. There are several mysteries that still hang over the family just waiting to be solved. Longetivity did not run in this family. Among the siblings, many didn't make it to 40. Thomas, my line, made it to 49 and Parham made it to 1877, age 38, but several brothers were lost in the Civil War and the two sisters died in their 30's.The names and marriages among these siblings suggest a relationship with a different branch of Smiths, and the Ross familyl.
27 and 28) William David Blalock and Martha 'Patsy' Dennis This family also appears twice in my 4th Great Grandparents as since Thomas Alexander Mauldin appears twice as my third Great Grandfather, so does his wife, Mary 'Polly' Blalock. This is another family I've not done much research on, because it had already 'been done'. Lots of Blalock descendants have worked on this line, and in places folks are in discord, because theories have been a little sketchy. However, it seems the Blalocks followed a common flow from Virginia (Hanover and Louisa Counties) into northern North Carolina (Wake and Johnston), before some of them moved westward to the Yadkin Pee Dee area. William David Blalock, born in 1793, was a Jr., son of William David Blalock born in 1776 and his wife Mary Evelyn Staton. Born in Granville, Jr., along with his family, arrived here before 1800. His first wife was Nicey Rummage, daughter of George Rummage and wife, a Simpson, and the had a few children, one being William David III. They really loved that name, and it makes records very confusing. Soon after Nicey's death, on April 15, 1813, he married his second wife, Patsy Dennis, daugther of Andrew Dennis and wife, Martha, who lived in Montgomery County on the eastern side of the river. The Dennis's were an Irish strain from Pennsylvania who were early arrivals to the Uwharries. David Blalock served in the War of 1812. He passed away in 1872. His sister, Francis, who married a Dennis, testified for Patsy to get a Widow's Pension from his service. Jr. and Patsy had a large family of about 13 children. Patsy lived a very long life, passing away around October 4, 1883. I descend from their daughter, Polly, who married Thomas A. Mauldin.
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8 Oct 1883 Wilmington, North Carolina |
29) Bennett Solomon and Ava McGregor Bennett Solomon was born in 1773 in Franklin County, North Carolina. He and two of his brothers, Goodwin and William Jr. would travel west to the Yadkin/Uwharrie area before the turn of the century (1800), They were sons of William Solomon, Sr. and Deanna Gordon. William Jr. would keep migrating to the west, while Bennett and Goodwin would stay in Montgomery County, NC. Bennett was a Primitive Baptist minister. Around 1790, he married Ava McGregor. Ava was the daughter of a Primitive Baptist Minister, Rev. William McGregor, whom Bennett may have had tutelage under. Rev. McGregor was from Scotland and came to the Carolina's, living in the eastern counties of Edgecombe, Northhampton and Franklin, where he was ordained, before coming to Montgomery, where he founded The Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church, the precurser for Stony Hill Baptist, which is still an active congregation. They lived within the area which is now part of Morrow Mountain State Park. Bennett was active in the Sandy Creek Association, out of Randolph County. He died a fairly young man, at 45, in 1818. Ava would outlive him and migrate with some of her children to McMinnville, Warren County, Tennesee. She and Bennett Solomon were the parents of 10 children. Only two of their children remained in Montgomery (Stanly side) County, while the other migrated to Tennesee. I descend from their oldest son, William S. Solomon, who like his father and grandfather, was a Baptist minister. Ava passed away in 1857 and was buried at Irving College, among several of her brothers, a few who were also Baptist Ministers. Their mother is supposed to be Sarah Flowers, but that's more of a theory than a proven fact.
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| Headstone of Ava McGregor at Smyrna Church, Irving College, Warren County, Tennesee |
30) James Marks and Catherine Gunter James Marks was born around 1780 in Warren County, North Carolina, the son of William Marks Sr. and Temperance Wright. His family had roots in Richmond, Virginia and he spent most of his life in Chatham County. James and family arrived to the Uwharrie area in the 1820's and settled near the Pee Dee River on the Western Side, between Morrow Mountain and Swift Island. James had married Catherine Gunter, daughter of Isham Gunter and Hester Pilkinton, some time in the late 1700's or early 1800's. Caty, as she was called, was born in Chatham County about 1784. The Gunter name could have Scandinavian or German origins. There were multiple marriages between the Marks and Gunter families in Chatham, including Catherines' sister, Mary, who married James' brother, John.
James time along the Pee Dee River wasn't long. He passed away before 1830, probably more around 1826. The general location of the grave is known, but no stone remains. Caty is seen as a widow in 1830, and passed away at an unknown date before 1850. She is not seen in the 1840 census, but could have been living with a child. This couple were the parents of 6 or 7 children. I descend from their daughter Tabitha, who married Rev. William Solomon.
31) Aaron Russel and Lisza Aaron Russell was born in 1770 in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. He's supposedly the son of Willaim Russell and Sarah Harris. The Russells are a very old and populous family in the areas of Stanly, Montgomery and Randolph Counties, NC. He recieved a land grant on Clark's Creek in Montgomery County, NC in 1813. I don't know a great deal about Aaron and less about his wife. Her name was Lisza, perhaps short for Elizabeth. She was born mayber around 1765 and died befor 1850, thought to have been around 1845. Her maiden name is unknown.
| Name | Aaron Rupell |
|---|---|
| Residence Date | 1840 |
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State) | West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 60 thru 69 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14 | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 70 thru 79 | 1 |
| Persons Employed in Agriculture | 1 |
| No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20 | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons | 4 |
| Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves | 4 |
Their last census was in 1840, and Lisza is represented as a woman in her 70's, with Aaron in his 60's. They were living in West Pee Dee, or the Stanly County side of the river. Aaron died in 1844, leaving probate records. Aaron and Lisza were the parents of 7 known children. I descend from thier son, Eli Henry Russell.
32) James O. Mauldin and Mary "Polly" Smith Does this couple look familiar? They should. If not, just scroll up to numbers 25 and 26. Yes, my maternal Grandmother had only 10 second Great Grandparents, while most people have 16. In this case, James O. and Polly Smith Maulding also had a daughter named Elizabeth Mauldin, who married Eli Henry Russell. For a very long time I trusted "the book" and had assumed she was a Morris, because others had said so, daughter of an Elias Morris and Mary West. After doing my own research, I discovered this was incorrect. In Book 5, Page 98, in the Stanly County, NC Register of Deeds, that a transaction between Parham Mauldin and Henry Russell and his wife, Elizabeth, that Elizabeth and Parham were siblings and surviving children of James O. Mauldin. Add to that the corroborating information from their children's records, such as the 1883 marriage of their daughter, Mary Elizabeth Russell to James Edward Burris, son of David Wright Burris, where she names her mother by maiden name as "Elizabeth Malden" and the 1935 death certificate of youngest son, William I. Russell, where he also named his mother as Elizabeth Mauldin. Yes, I would have liked for a thrush of new genes to have been revealed, but that's not what I got. I'm very thoroughly a Mauldin.
So as four of my Paternal Grandfathers 2nd Great Grandparents were siblings, three of my Maternal Grandmothers 2nd Great Grandparents were the one and the same couple. Good news for my Paternal Grandfather and Maternal Grandmother, that both married someone they were not related to, and most fortunate for us, their children and grandchildren and so on.
And that, folks, in my wrangled twisted tree, is my list of 4th Great Grandparents. Research, as always, is ongoing and forever fluid. I'm a good old European British Isle pie with lots of added German, Swiss, Finnish and French and a goodly seasoning of deep, past Indigenous and African dashes. I'm an American Girl.
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