Laura and Grace

At one point I looked at the estate of Thomas Cates, the possible father-in-law of Nimrod Lewis, and noted that the two slaves he owned were not accounted for in the estate settlement.   In the 7 March 1843 Macon Messenger, there is a notice that the young girls Larey (Laura), age 9, and Grace, age 7, had been levied on as the property of Thomas Cates to satisfy several Fi Fas issued by the court in favor of H. B. Troutman. 

1837 Bridge petition, Crawford County

Found in the loose records in the Georgia State archives, Morrow.

To the Honorable the Superior Court of Crawford County We the undersigned citizens of the county aforesaid humbly sheweth to your Honour that we labour und[er] a serious inconvenience for want of a Bridge across Spring Creek where the road leading from Knoxville to Travelersrest crosses said creek this is a road of great publick utility as well as to those living in the lower part of this county Your petitioners therefore humbly hope your honors will grant an order for building said Bridge and appoint commissioners for that purpose and your petitioners will ever pray.  Jany 31st 1837.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Buzbee                            Jacob Fudg Senr
Jesse Harper                        James Spires
R. H. ?Harper?                    John Spires
Jacob Slppy                        Henry Wells
David Wells                        Daniel Goodman
George Lowman                 Luke Goodman
William Grey                      Jacob Spizey
William A. Slappy              Wm W Whittiker
Henry Slppy                        Eml. W. Whittiker
Saml Clark                          Isaac Free
? Crouch                              Joseph Powel
Casper Parham                    W. B. Carr
James Gray                          F. Bacon
Thomas Gray                       N. Horne
Jonathan Ross                      Daniel Culpeper
Green Duke                         Jacob Weaver
Luke Johnson                      ?Micael? Welch
E.M. Dennis                        S. N. Slattery
? Walker                              S. W. Hicks
?I? McGarity                       L. B. Ogburn
William D. Tucker              John Tidwell
Ken Delland                       G.F. Matthews
Enoch Shivey                     John Andrews
J.S. Harman                        Alfred Coleman
Thos Livingstone               Luke Roberts
John Walpole

William D. Fountain bigamy claim

On 17 January 1842, William D. Fountain married Francis Dies in Crawford County, Georgia.  However, on 6 August of that same year, John Dies, presumably Francis' father or brother, brought charges against Fountain claiming that he committed bigamy.   This record was found in the Crawford county loose records at the Georgia archives.  More work needs to be done to determine what happened next.

Georgia
Wilkinson County]  Be it remembered that on the sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & forty two John Dies of Crawford County & State aforesaid by his lawful attorny and Sam Beall ..... [gap in original] personally came before me Saml J. Bush a justice of the peace and acknowledged themselves to owe to his Excellency the governor of said State and his successors in office the sum of five hundred dollars, current money of the said state, to be levied of their goods & chattels, lands & tenements to the use of the said State, if he the said John Dies shall fail in the condition underwritten.
         //signed// S.J. Bush J.P.                                    //signed// John Dies  //seal//
The condition of the above written recognizance is such, whereas one William D. Fountain was this present day brought before the justice within mentioned at the instance of the above bounden John Dies and was by him charged with commiting the offence of bigamy knowingly and wilfully on the seventeenth day of January last past, in the county of Crawford & state aforesaid, and thereupon was bound in a bond on recognizance for his personal appearance at the next Superior Court to be held for the County of Crawford & State aforesaid //insert// on the third monday in the present month August.  If therefore the said John Dies shall & do at the next Inferior Court to be held for the county of Crawford on the third monday in the present month August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fortytwo, prepare or cause to be prepared one bill of indictment of the said felony, against the said William D. Fountain, & shall then also give evidence there concerning the same, as well to the jurors that shall their inquire of the said felony, as also to them that shall pass upon the trial of the said William D. Fountain; that there the said recognizance to be void or else to remain in full force for the said State.

Deed of Trust from Abselia Morris to John Perry

Experimenting with ArchiveGrid, I found a document in the Alabama archives where Apselia (Abselia) Morris, widow of Benjamin Morris, executed a deed of trust to John Perry, trustee of her grandson Michael W. Rabun.   While not proof of anything, it does add to my speculation that there is some sort of connection between Perry and Abselia or her husband.  Names have been spelled as they appear.  Interestingly, Absela Morris also included Ned in her will to go to Michael.  However, since her will was written in 1848 but not executed until 1865, that of course did not happen. The witness Columbus Perry is John Perry's son. 

The original deed can be seen on the Alabama State Archives website. 


Georgia, Crawford County}}  Know all men by these presents that I Absela Morris for and in consideration of the sum of five dollars cash in hand paid by John Perry of said county as well as the love and affection which I have for my grandson Michael Rabun of Alabama, have bargained sold & delivered and by these presents do bargain sell and deliver unto the said John Perry a negro man by the name of Ned about twenty eight years, forever in fee simple. To have and to hold upon the following uses & trusts that I, the said Absela am to have the use control hire and benefit of the labor of the said Ned during my life, then the said trustee, the said John Perry is to convey and deliver the said negro man to the said Michael W. Rabun his heirs and assigns forever in fee simple.  In testimony whereof I have set my hand and affixed my seal this the twenty seventh day of January eighteen hundred & fifty five.

                                     Apselia X Morris
                                             her mark

In presence of
G C Hancock
Columbus Perry
G C Culverhouse J.J.C.


I hereby acknowledge the delivery and reception of the within bill of sale and the property therein conveyed & accept the trust therein ?confided? to me.  January 27th 1855.  John Perry

Recorded the 8th day of February 1855  James I Ray, clerk

Ahnentafel #14 James Edward Wade and #15 Carrie Horne

James Edward (Ed) Wade was born on 19 January 1870 in Houston County (now Peach County), GA.   He was the oldest of the 14 children of Moses Thomas Wade and Irene Moore.  Fort Valley is right on the Crawford-Houston border and as a result, he grew up living variously in Houston and Crawford Counties, appearing with his parents in Houston County in 1870 and 1880.  In 1870, he is 4 months old.  In 1880 he was not listed as attending school at the time, but neither is anyone else on that page, so the census taker may just not have noted it.  His name has led to some speculation in the family.  His next youngest brother (William Thomas) is named after their paternal grandfather and father, the third brother (Robert Lee) is named after the general and the 5th brother (John Henderson) is named after his maternal grandfather and has his paternal grandfather's middle name.  The fourth son is another whose name origin (George H.) is unknown.  Some family stories indicate that James Edward was named after an officer his father served under in the Civil War, but this has not been verified.

Carrie Frances Horne was born on 23 January 1880 in Crawford County Georgia to Washington William Buchanan Horne and Mary Ann Morris.  She was the youngest child and only surviving daughter.   She lived her entire life in Crawford County, where she appears with her parents in the 1880 census.   Her father was committed to the State asylum the month before she was born and died there just before her 5th birthday, so she was essentially raised just by her mother.  Without their father's income, the family was extremely poor, just scraping by.

Ed and Carrie were married by a Justice of the Peace in Crawford County on 14 February 1897, shortly after her 17th birthday.  Ed was 27.  Throughout their married life, they farmed in Crawford County. 

Their first son, Hiram Alvin Wade, was born on 18 July 1897 but sadly died at 8 months old.  By the 1900 census, they are living next door to Carrie's mother and brother, with their 8 month old second son Homer and have been married 3 years.  Carrie reports that she had had two children, of whom one was living.  They rent their farm and both of them can read and write.  For some reason, in this census Ed (as James) is also listed in his father's household, also in Crawford County, as the same age but single and working as a farm laborer.

The 1910 Crawford County census was badly water damaged and so far Ed and Carrie have not been found in the surviving portion.  It seems probable that they lost at least one child between Homer (1899) and Bessie (1905), but without the 1910 numbers, it is difficult to know.   By 1920, they owned a farm on the Macon-Columbus road.   Son Homer had left home already, but daughters Bessie, Viola, Lillie and Clyde, as well as son Louis were still at home.  Bessie, Viola and Louis were attending school, but Lillie and Clyde were still too young.  Their youngest child, James Edward Jr, was born a few months after the census was taken.

 The 1930 census is a mess as far as this family is concerned.  Ed (listed here as Edd) still owned the farm and Carrie is listed as a housekeeper.  Their ages are correct, but their ages at first marriage are given as 15 and 25, rather than 17 and 27.   Ed generally listed his father as born in North Carolina, even though it was probably Virginia and he does so here.   But Carrie generally correctly listed her parents as born in South Carolina and Alabama.  In this census, however, her father is listed as Alabama and her mother in Mississippi.   The oldest daughter Bessie is listed as Bessie Wade, widowed.  She shows a "first married" age of 16, but it is crossed out.  In fact at this point she was Bessie Griffin and divorced, back living with her parents.  She was 14 (and 9 months) when she married.  The youngest son is listed as John instead of James, but the other children are correct.  In this census, Clyde, 13,  and James, 9,  are the only two children in school.  Bessie's 7-year old son Leroy Griffin is also living with them and is also in school.

By 1940, the children had all left (or left again), except for James Jr.  Even though he's only 19, he is married to  Lillian, age 16, and they are living with Ed and Carrie.  Ed, Carrie and James are living in the same house they were in in 1935, which they own and which is worth $500.  Lillian, who was presumably not married in 1935, was living in Peach County at that time.  Ed claims to have finished 7th grade and Carrie 6th grade.  James and Lillian both did 2 years of high school.  Both Ed and James said they had worked 52 weeks the previous year even though both listed their income for that period as $0.  Both of them also worked the week of 24-30 March 1940, with Ed doing 40 hours and James 50, both of them on the farm. 

Ed died on 18 April 1946 and was buried in Macon Memorial Park, Macon, Georgia.  Carrie in turn died on 8 June 1960 and was buried next to him.

The children of Ed and Carrie Wade:
 

• Hiram Alvin Wade, 1897-1898
• Homer Leonard Wade, 1899-1964.  Married Gladys Pullen and lived most of his married life in Florida. 
• Bessie Florence Wade, 1905-1988.  Married 1) Alfonso Clay Griffin, 2) James Wesley Childers, 3) Unknown Smith and 4) Charles Dennard Wood.  
• Viola Elizabeth Wade , 1907-2000, married Frank Becham
• Ira Louis Wade, 1910-1977.  Married Thelma Ola Pope. 
• Lillie Maude Wade, 1913-1988.  Married Chester Payton somewhat late in life.  
• Caroline Clyde Wade, 1916-2006.  Married John Allen Green.  They eventually settled in Mount Pleasant, SC.  She was a nurse.   She claimed that she was originally named Carrie Clyde Wade, after her mother, but that she thought Caroline sounded better. 
• James Edward, Jr, 1921-1993.   He was married first to Lillian, then Matilda.  Neither of their surnames have been identified.

Freedmen's talk

From the loose Crawford County records at the Georgia Archives:

Notice:  Two coloured speakers will address the freedmen of Crawford County at Knoxville on Friday night 25th instant on the political ideas of the day.   This 18th September 1868.

Note that while this date could be read as either 1848 or 1868, it is only in 1868 that Sep 25th falls on a Friday.

Not cancer after all?

My family never talked much about Great-uncle Edgar Becham and I did not in fact know he existed until the census records.  On being asked, Aunt Louise talked about his widow and the fact that he died "young" of cancer.  The Georgia Death index gave me 1936 for his death, making him 28 or 29 when he died.  With the recent addition of Georgia death certificates 1930-1938 on familysearch.org, I finally looked him up.   According to his death certificate, he died on 29 Sep 1936 in Macon at the Oglethorpe infirmary where he had been treated for a week.  The official cause of death was listed as extensive ulcerative colitis, cause undetermined, with alcoholism as a contributing factor.  An autopsy had apparently been done to verify that cause.  He was listed as married but without his wife named and the informant was his brother Frank.  He was buried in Roberta City cemetery although he does not have a tombstone there. 

The alcoholism part certainly explains the family (Methodist and Primitive Baptist) reluctance to talk about him and possibly even the fact that they never gave him a tombstone, although that could have also been because he died during the depression.  The ulcerative colitis of unknown origin is even more interesting since his niece, Gladys, had major but undiagnosed stomach problems throughout her life and his great niece has been diagnosed with a condition that matches this description exactly.  The cause for hers is also unknown but it looks now like it may have been an unlucky draw in the gene pool. 

Ahnentafel #12 Franklin Lafayette Becham and #13 Sarah Lodelia Mathews

Franklin Lafayette (Fate) Becham was born in September 1871 in Crawford County, Georgia to Washington Becham and Ann Catherine Perry.   He was generally called Fate (short for Lafayette) but occasionally appears in the records as Frank.  He lived his entire life in the county and appears with his parents in the 1880 census. 

Sarah Lodelia (Delia) Mathews was born 26 February 1870 in Brooks County,  Georgia to Thomas Franklin Mathews and Susan Catherine Peterman.  The family had moved back to Crawford County, GA by the time she was 10, since she appears there in the 1880 census.  She is with her parents in both the 1870 and 1880 censuses.

Fate and Delia married on 22 December 1895 in Crawford County, Georgia, where he followed in his father's footsteps as a farmer and potter.  Fate's pottery has developed some reknown in Georgia and in fact an example of it is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  

 

This photo is of his great-great-

Granddaughter looking at the jug in the Smithsonian. It is the one on the far right.










 In 1900, Frank and Lodelia are renting a farm near Roberta, with their two oldest children Frank and Washington (generally known as W.P.).   This particular census is the first one I ever looked up as a genealogist, back when the only way to find one was at the Archives.  The magic of seeing my grandfather as a young child hooked me totally and I've never looked back.   In this one, they duly note that they've been married 5 years, and have had two children, both of whom were living.

In 1910, they are still on the farm, but the family is now up to 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl.  Another child has apparently died since Delia states that she has had 7 children but 6 were living.  Their youngest child, another boy Walker, was born two months after this census was taking.   By 1920 they own their farm, although they do have a mortgage on it.  In this census, Frank and his 3 oldest sons were all listed as house carpenters.  The youngest 3 boys were in school and daughter Lucile was married.

About this time, Frank was apparently very involved with the Methodist church, since this is when he had the photo taken of himself and his sons, in the church group. Delia had been noted joining Old Bethel Methodist church in 1897. Fate may have already been a member there since that is where his father is buried. 

By 1930, all the children had left home except W.P., who continued to live there until his death in 1974.   Their son Frank was widowed by this time and had returned home with 4 of his 5 children.  The baby, Sarah, was living with her aunt Lucile.   Fate was listed as a farmer and W.P. was described as a laborer on his father's farm.  Frank was still working as a carpenter.   Fate owned the farm but no value was given for it.

In 1931, Fate and his son Frank went to a family reunion hosted by his sister Ophelia (Mrs. J.W.) Thomason, in Dry Branch GA, celebrating his brother-in-law's 71st birthday.  Also from Roberta were Fate's sisters Mrs Bill (Addie) Smith and Mrs. Virginia Smith.

In 1940, Fate, Delia and Washington are living on the farm they own, now valued at $4700.  Their son Henry lived next door.  Fate was listed as a brick mason laying brick, but not working and he had not worked the census week of 24-30 March 1940.  He had worked 10 weeks in 1939, for which he earned $50.

Fate died on 14 June 1958 age 86 and was buried in the Roberta City Cemetery.  His will left $300 to his wife with the remainder going to his son W.P. with the request that W.P. look after his mother.  The will added that this was just a request, not a stipulation, but W.P. did in fact look after his mother until her death.  Delia in turn died on 15 June 1965, age 95.  I was taken to see her a few weeks before she died and she was the only one of the great grandparents that I was aware of meeting.

Fate and Delia had the following children:

1.  Frank Jones Becham, 1897-1985, married 1) Ola Pauline Bryant and 2) Viola Elizabeth Wade.  
2.  Washington Perry (W.P.) Becham, 1899-1974, never married
3.  Henry Lafayette Becham, 1901-1989, married Edith Williamson.  Remained in Crawford County.
4.  Lucile Delia Becham, 1901-1994, married Robert Edward Hortman.
5.  James Alfred Becham, 1904-1971, married Cecile Laing while serving in the navy in California.  Eventually returned to Roberta after he and Cecile divorced.
6.  Edgar P. Becham, 1908-1936.  Married Verlin Hutto but died of cancer shortly after the marriage.
7.  Walker M. Becham, 1910-1987, married Gladys Johnston.

Fate and Delia Becham and some of their descendents, probably early 1950s.

Harriet, Anderson and other lost stories in the records

The Friend of Friends post that I did last Friday was particularly interesting to me because of the series of posts showing the changing fates of six slaves belonging to the estate (minor children) of Jonathon McClendon.  I presume there was an issue about how the estate was handled, since I can't think of any other reason that the annual accountings from 1825 to 1832 would appear in together in the Crawford county records of 1834, especially when they were originally recorded in Jasper County.   Three of the slaves were adults - Bill, Jenny and Milly.  Jenny had a daughter Harriet and eventually Milly had an unknown child.  Bill was originally the most valuable and could be hired out each year for the most money, but by 1832, when they were sold, the two women went for more.  In Milly's case this could be because her child was sold with her, but its also possible that Bill was simply getting old.   Milly was probably a teenager, since she is sometimes described as a girl and sometimes as a woman, as opposed to Jenny who is always called a woman.  There were also three children - Ben, Anderson and Harriet.   Ben grows up during these years, where he is first hired out for less than the women, but by 1829 is bringing in nearly as much as Bill and by 1832 is sold for more than any of the others.  Every year his hire increased significantly, as he got older.   Anderson must have been quite young when this first started, since he is hired for $1.   Old enough to do some work but not as productive as a man or even a teen.  Again, we watch him grow up and become more valuable, although not to the extent Ben does.  Based on the relative amounts received for hiring him out, the appearance is that he went from being a young boy to possibly a young teen.  There is no indication in the record as to who his mother was, either because he had already been separated from her or because he was not young enough when the records started to be listed with her.  It is possible that Jenny was his mother and he was old enough to be accounted for separately, that his mother was one of the two female slaves that went to the widow (Viny and Betsy), or that his mother was dead.  Harriet is definitely Jenny's daughter and is obviously quite young when these records started.   She is at first just grouped with her mother, then "hired" basically for the cost of keeping her.  She is definitely separated from her mother by 1829, when they are hired out to separate families and in 1832, when the slaves are sold, they both go permanently to different families.  Even assuming she was 7 or 8 when the records start (and she was probably much younger), this would have meant a permanent separation from her mother definitely by the time she was 15 and possibly as young as 10.  In fact, all 3 of the youngest named slaves were sold away from the adults they had grown up with, whether those adults were their parents or not.  The only child not to be sold separately was Milly's unnamed child, who was probably an infant since she/he had not been mentioned before. 

Unlikely to Pay?

While going through the Crawford County probate records, I found this entry on the inventory of the estate of Daniel Hicks.  His estate, one of the wealthiest in the county, showed a number of accounts owed to him, including this one:

Since those doing the estate inventory were presumably copying from Hick's records, this is apparently what he wrote.  So unless someone used this as a nickname, it looks like Hicks didn't actually expect to get his money back. 

Friend of Friends Friday, Crawford County GA part 4

As before, these are from the Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990, Crawford County, Inventories and appraisements 1833-1913, familysearch.org

Image 67, page 122
An inventory of the goods and chattels of Alexander B. Taylor, 8 Nov 1834
Negro man John $600
Negro woman Silvy $450
Negro woman Dorcas $450
Negro boy Isaac $350
Negro boy Aaron $275
Negro boy Doctor $250
Negro boy Charles $200

Image 69, page 126
December 1834, auction of the goods of Alexander Taylor

Lewis Mobley - negro John
James Roberts - negro woman Dorcas
Mary Taylor [wife] - negro woman Silvy
James M. Taylor - negro Isaac
Wm McMurray - negro Aaron
[Doctor and Charles are not mentioned in the sales records]

Image 73, page 134
Jasper County, Georgia, 30 Dec 1825 (No reason given for it being recorded in Crawford County 10 years later)

Valuation and partition of the negros of Jonathon McLendon
Lot nr one was assigned to Edna McClendon, widow of said deceased negros Viny, Betsy and Reuben valued at $950
Lot nr two was drawn by Elitha Ann McClendon one of the minors of said dec'd, negroes Ben, Haritta and Jinny valued at $825
Lot nr 3 was drawn by Jonathon McClendon the other minor of said deceased negros Billy, Milly and Anderson, valued at $900.

Image 74, page 135
1826
The negros belonging to the orphans of Jonathan McClendon hired on 30 Dec 1826 to the highest bidder
viz Bill a negro man to Wm Cleavland  $77
Jenny and child Harriett $25
Milla a girl $30
Ben a boy $17
Anderson a boy $1
[signed] Wm C Cleavland guardian in right of his wife

Image 74, page 136
1828
Hire of negros of said deceased for 1828
Bill a man hired to Wm C Cleavland for $50
Jinny and Haratt         "               "     for $35.50
Milly a woman to Allen McClendon for $25.50
Ben a boy to Wm C Cleavland for $41
Anderson a boy to T Hood $5

Image 75, page 137
(McClendon estate continued)
For the hire of negros for 1829
Bill a man to Lewellin Morgan $50
Ben a boy to Thophilus Truman (or Freeman) $26
Anderson a boy to Allen McClendon $5
Milly a girl to          "            "      $22
Jenny a woman to   "            "      $35
Harett a girl to Wm C Cleavland for victuals and clothes

The hiring of the property belonging to the minors of Jonathan McClendon, 28 Dec 1829
Billy a man [to] Allen McClendon $40
Jenny a woman    "          "            $21
Milly a girl         "           "            $25
Anderson a boy  "          "            $8.56
Benjamin a boy to Wm C Cleavland $37.25
Harett a girl to Isaac George    $5.56

Account of the sale of the negros belonging to the minors and orphans of  Jonathan McClendon sold 3 Jan 1832 and 25 Dec 1832
Negro man Bill to Allen McClendon $219
Negro woman named Jenny to "    $306
   "           "      Milly and child to A. McClendon $427
Negro boy named Ben to Henry Sills $577

Image 75, page 138
(continued from previous page)
Anderson [to] Jeremiah McClendon  $365
girl Harett to W.C. Cleavland $350

[Note that this is earlier than the previous sale record] The hiring of the negros belonging to the orphans of Jonathan McClendon for the year 1831

Bill a man to Allen McClendon $55
Jinny a woman to Hiram B. Jones $40
Milly a woman to Cleavland $20
Ben a boy to John True $35
Anderson a boy to [unreadable] McGhee  $24
Harat a girl to Elijah Williams $12

Another Lesson learned

Yesterday I posted about the Sullivan/Daniel deed selling land to the Perrys.  I started doing some research on the people involved to determine what, if any, connection there was between the families.  I found information which indicated that Mary Sullivan was originally Mary Shanley/Shunley/Shurley possibly the daughter of Aaron.  Went back and looked at the deeds and sure enough, the one before the sale to M.F. Perry is a deed between Berry Sullivan and Aaron Shurley.  However, since at the time I was photographing these I was only interested in the Perry ones, it never occurred to me to look at the deeds around them.  Therefore, I only have the very end of the previous deed and will need to go back to Crawford County to see the rest. 

Questions about some land

In April 1884, Mary Sullivan, widow of L. B. [Little Berry] Sullivan and her daughter Almyra Sullivan Daniel sold 101 1/4 acres of land in Crawford County, Georgia to Mattie Hatcher and Sallie B. Perry, for $300.  Mary and Almyra were described as the only heirs to the estate of  L. B. Sullivan, of Webster county, while Mattie and Sallie were described as the daughters of M.F. [Mark Franklin] Perry.   The deed was witnessed by John Daniel and Almyra's husband Alex Daniel.   There are several points of interest here.  First, M.F. Perry and his wife were still living, so it seems unusual that the property was sold to their daughters.  Secondly, Mattie was grown and married, age 22, but Sallie was only 13.  Mattie's husband was not mentioned.   Also, 1890 tax records duly show Mrs. Mattie Hatcher and Miss Blanch Perry paying taxes on 50 acres of land each, but also show their mother Mrs. Sarah Perry as having 200 acres in that same section.   M.F. Perry does not pay taxes on any real estate although he shows some personal property. 

Three years later, Mary Sullivan and Almyra Daniel sold a nearby lot to M.F. Perry.  In this deed they are again described as the sole heirs of L.B. Sullivan and the land being sold is described as "the land formerly owned by L.B. Sullivan in Crawford County".  Alex Daniel again witnesses the transaction. M.F. Perry promptly took out a mortgage on the land, which he paid off a few years later.

Finally, in 1893, S. Blanch Perry (Sallie) sold her 50 acres of the land above to her sister Martha Hatcher for $100.

Mary Johns and the Mathews

In 1840, Mary E. Johns of Washington County, Georgia signed a deed with James Mathews of Crawford County, Georgia and John Mathews of Sumter County, Alabama in which she gave two slaves to her daughter Amanda E. Mathews.  The two slaves were Buck, a man of about 38 years of age, and Harriet, a girl about 20 years old.   As long as Amanda resided in Georgia, the slaves were to be managed by James Mathews.  If Amanda chose to move to Alabama, the slaves would be managed by John Mathews.  In either case, the slaves were to be subject to Amanda's control and could be disposed of by her by hire, sale or exchange for land.   Mary apparently signed the deed herself and it was witnessed by H.P. Harman and J.A. McNair.  There is a copy of the deed in Crawford county.   Amanda's location was not given other than "Georgia".   There was no provision for what would happen to these slaves if Amanda married. 

 A Mary E. Johns appears in the 1840 Washington County census as a head of household, age 30-39.  If this is the correct Mary Johns, a question arises as to why she is gifting slaves to Amanda only, when there are 8 other children (not necessarily hers) in the census.   She does own a number of slaves, so giving some away is plausible.  There is also a Mary E. Johns head of household in Jefferson County in 1830.  The ages and number of the children are close enough that this might be the same Mary.  However, she is also 30-40 in 1830, meaning she is either exactly 30 in the first (40 in the second) or she fudged her age in the second one.  Again, she has a significant number of slaves.  In 1832, an Amanda E. Johns in Jefferson County married Daniel Matthews. 

There is a John Mathews in Sumter County, AL in 1840 with 3 adult males in the household, two who are 20-30 and one who is 40-50, probably but not necessarily the head of household.  In 1850, the only John Mathews in the county is age 58, married to Keziah, born in South Carolina, which is where many of the Mathews in Crawford County are also from.  In 1840, there are two James Mathews heading households in Crawford County, one age 40-50 and one age 50-60.    In 1850, the only James Mathews who might have been an adult in 1840 is one born in 1794 in South Carolina.  John born in 1792 and James born in 1794, both in South Carolina, are tempting to look at as brothers, but more information would be needed.  Amanda does not appear in 1840.  There is no Amanda Mathews in 1850.  There was an Amanda Mathis who married Hopewell Adams in Washington county, Georgia in 1843.  Mathis is the common pronunciation in Georgia of the name Mathews, but her family appears to have been literate and so less likely to use this phonetic spelling.  If this is the correct Amanda, she was born about 1825 making it impossible for her to be the Amanda who married Daniel in 1832.  
So, this leads to questions about the relationships between these people.  The only one that is certain is that Mary E. Johns is the mother of Amanda E. Mathews. 
  Possible scenarios:

A.  Amanda Johns the daughter of Mary E. Johns married Daniel Mathews and therefore the John and James Mathews are her in-laws.  With this scenario, I would assume Daniel is dead although I have not yet found an estate settlement or will for him.  If he were alive but had deserted Amanda, it is less likely that his family would be given management of her assets.  If he were alive and still married to Amanda, it would have made more sense to give him control rather than his relatives, if Mary wanted a man to be managing the slaves.  This scenario also does not take into account what happens if Amanda remarries, but perhaps that was just an oversight on Mary's part.   This also assumes that the two Mary E. Johns in the census are the same person.

 B.  James, John and Amanda are siblings, all Mary's children from a marriage before Johns.  This  explains Amanda's relative autonomy (she gets to decide what happens to the slaves and whether she lives in Alabama or Georgia) while still coming under some nominal male control.   In this scenario, based on the ages of the only James and Johns available, Amanda would probably be somewhat older and therefore unlikely to marry, explaining the lack of a provision for this contingency.  This scenario eliminates both Daniel's wife and Amanda Mathis Adams as the correct Amanda.  This also means that both Mary Johns from the censuses are not their mother but rather that she is in someone else's household. 

  C. James and John are Mary's brothers and Amanda was an illigitimate daughter born before her marriage to Johns.  Close second to the above theory with the same considerations as to why these men would have say over Amanda's life.   In this case, though, Amanda would probably be somewhat younger, so unless she had some handicap that made marriage unlikely, this option would not explain the apparent assumption that she will not marry.  This would, however, make the Amanda Adams born in 1825, possible as Mary's daughter. 

Friend of Friends Friday, Crawford County, Georgia part 3

As before, these are from the Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990, Crawford County, Inventories and appraisements 1833-1913, familysearch.org

Page 93, Image 53
Property of Chesley B. Marshall, dec'd, sold 2 Dec 1834:
Andrew McVeal - one negro man named Davy
John Mathews - one negro man named Billy

Page 96, Image 55
Samuel Wilson, Admr of the estate of J.M. Williams
 The hire of Allen, 1 month $10.00
 The hire of Caroline, 1 month $6.00
 Hire of Allen 10 months for widow $60.00
 Hire of George 10 months J.D. Wilson - $90.00
 Hire of Caroline 10 months John Ross - $70.00
 Aggy, Nelson, Pompey, Mary and Henry - 10 months victuals and clothing (no amount listed)

Page 102, image 58
Division of the slaves belonging to the estate of J.D. Williams, 1835
Asa Mann, as his wife's share, was allotted Allen, valued at 650 dollars, Caroline valued at 500 dollars, Pompey valued at 250 dollars, and Mary valued at 225 dollars.  The remaining slaves were assessed a value but it did not state to whom they would be going.  Those slaves were George valued at 675 dollars, Aggy valued at 400 dollars, Nelson valued at 350 dollars, and Henry 175 dollars.

Page 104, image 59
Rebecca Northern, to the estate of William Northern
To the hire of negroes:
  Rebecca Northern hired Dave $130
           Mariah and children $39
           girl China $20
  Nathaniel Bradford hired Cyrus $120
 Stephen Wright hired boy Lewis $14
  Geo W. Clayton hired girl Mime $13.75
  Henry Crowd hired a woman [not named] and children $33
  To hire of negro girl Sally $6

Page 106, image 60
The orphans of R. B. Mason to John Ricks, guardian, 1835:
Hire of a negro man Abram to T. Garrett $75
Hire of a negro man Philip to S. Barden $35
The hire of two boys Redic and Peter to Wm Faircloth at $30 each
One negro woman and three children to Wm Faircloth for their victuals and clothes.

Page 107, image 60
An inventory of the estate of Daniel Hicks
Lettice a negro woman valued at $250
Brister a negro man $500
Morris a negro man $600
Rachel $350
Dennis $600
Luke $650
Clary $400
Jinny $450
Cate $400
Ann $450
Simon $650
Tilmon $500
Virgil $500
Jerry $450
Rhody $300
Charlotte $375
Pris $275
Crawford $300
Jorden $200
Clinton $175
Agnes $150
Mary $150
Caroline $150
Ned $150
Morgan $100
Prince $100
Winney $75

The Electrifying Machine

As I was going through Crawford county probate records recently, my attention was drawn to an item in the estate inventory of Dr. James Williams:  an electrifying machine and apparatus (worth $35).  Since this was 1832, I was fairly certain it wasn't some type of generator and felt compelled to look it up.

According to several sources on the web, especially the Fort Williams Historical Park, this was basically a machine that created static electricity and was used to treat patients for "general disability", to extract disease, and to stimulate nerves and muscle.  It was in fact a very mild form of electro-shock therapy.  Benjamin Franklin reportedly used the device to treat paralytics.  One of the first important advocates of this treatment was John Wesley, the founder of the modern Methodist church, and he even published tracts on the benefits of the "therapeutic uses of electricity." 

Apparently Dr Williams was quite up-to-date on the treatments he had available for his patients. 

Friend of Friends Friday - Crawford County, Georgia, part 1

I just learned of the "Friend of Friends Friday" daily prompt and, since I'm going through Crawford county probate records right now, it seems a good time to post some of these.  Since all of the original records are available for free on familysearch.org, I'm only putting in the link.  If down the road, the links don't work, these are from the Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990, Crawford County, Inventories and appraisements 1833-1913. I have occasionally shortened the description of the estate but the remainder of the text is as it is written on the page or as close as I can get.

Page 4, Image 9 :  Return of the sale of the negro man named Prince, belonging to Jesse Mills, dec'd.
Cash recd of John Andrews for Prince - $400.00.  Submitted by Bryan Bateman.  4 April 1833

Abel Daniel's accounting of the estate of his wards Berry and Elmyra Sullivan, for the year 1832.
Cash for the hire of Nelson - $70.75
"        "    "      "    "  Abraham - $40.00
"        "    "      "    "  Bid (or Bice) - $41.25
"        "    "      "    "  Peggy - $7.50

Page 8, Image 11:  An account between Caroline E. Jones, minor heir of William H. Jones decd and James S. Jones guardian.
Hire of Daniel - $50.00
Hire of Dave - $54.50
Hire of Henry - $55.00
Hire of Washington - $34.00
Hire of Stephen - $10.00
Hire of Phebe and three children - $20.00
Hire of Sally - $40.00
Hire of Melinda - $40.00
Hire of Epsey - $42.00

Page 16, Image 15 Susan Prosser in a/c with Henry Tarver her guardian for .. 1832.
By hire of her negro woman Jinney - $20.00
 "      "   "     "      "     girl Aley - $10.00

Page 17, Image 15  An account of the hiring of the negroes belonging to James Louisa and Ruth Prosser orphan children of Jesse Prosser decd for 1832
One negro fellow George by Luke Robinson for $65.00
One negro girl ?Thizly? by Martin Patten - $50.00
One negro girl Molly by Wm. Robinson - $25.00

Page 24, Image 19:  Inventory and appraisement of the estate of Richard Bullock, decd, Dec 16, 1833.
Harry a negro man valued at $500
Rachael a woman and her child Hosea $500
Lacey a girl - $450
Tracy a girl - $350
Faithey a girl - $200
Daniel a boy - $200

Page 27, Image 20
From the estate inventory of Chesley B. Marshall, made Jan 13, 1834.
1 negro man Billy - $200
1 negro man Davy - $250

Page 28, Image 21
John Ricks return for 1833 for the orphans of Redmon B. Mason [Susanah and Arthur].
By hire of a negro man Abram to William Exium - $75
"      "     "       "        "    Philip to R. S. Anderson - $35
"      "     "   "  "     woman and five children to Wm Faircloth - $40

Page 36, Image 25
James Jones, guardian, for minor Caroline  E. Jones, 1833
Hire of Negro boy Dave - $70
    "   "      "       "    Henry - $65
     "   "      "       "   Washington - $40
    "   "      "       "   Stephen - $22
    "   "      "     girl Sally - $50
    "   "      "       "   Epsey - $50
    "   "      "       "   Malinda & child - $30
    "   "      "       "   Phebe & three children $10

(continuation on page 37)
 Cash for sale of negro boy Daniel  $400, record 4 Feb 1834

Page 38, image 26
Inventory, appraisement and distribution of estate of Jesse Mills, dec'd. 5 March 1834:

Alexander Mills drew Hagar a negro woman appraised at $375
Susanah Mills drew Joseph a negro boy appraised at $500
Isaac Mills drew Wiggins a negro boy appraised at $325
Nancy Mills drew Michael a negro boy appraised at $400
Moses Mills drew Frank a negro boy appraised at $475

Elenor Mills drew Rency and John a negro girl and boy appraised at $450
Elisha Mills drew Joshua a negro boy appraised at $400
Martha Mills drew Fanny and Sampson a negro girl and boy appraised at $375
Green Lee Mills drew Prince a negro boy appraised at $480 [which would appear to contradict the first entry above where Prince was sold]

Page 39, image 26 
Estate of James M. Williams, appraisal done Feb 1834
One negro man Allen $600
One negro boy George $550
One negro woman Carolina $450
One negro woman Aggy and child Henry $500
One negro boy Nelson $300
One negro boy Pomfrey $550
One negro girl Mary $175

 Page 49, image 31
Appraisement of the estate of William Northern, April 1834
Cyrus a man - $625
Mariah and five children Chana, Mima, Lewis, Bob and Lucretia - $1600
Mary and four children Sally, Joseph, Evelina and Carolina - $1080

Sarah Blanch and Middle Names

I am a middle namer and so are many of the other people in my family.  Nonetheless, I sometimes forget to take that into account when hunting for relatives, particularly since middle namers will sometimes appear in records by the name they use and sometimes by their first name.   This was brought home recently as I was going through some Crawford county deeds.  In one instance, property was sold to Martha Hatcher and Blanch Perry, daughters of Mark Perry.  I had Mark with two daughters but they were Martha and Sarah (from the 1880 census).  Other records with the land had Blanch as S. Blanch Perry, which of course started me looking at Mark's daughter Sarah.  Taking the leap that Sarah Perry, on the census as Mark's daughter, and the Blanch/S. Blanch Perry in this record were the same, I started looking at records for Blanch.  A few years after the land record, Blanch Perry married Ezekiel Atwater.  Looking further in the census, in 1900 Ezekiel and Blanch Atwater had a son Perry.  In 1910, the parents in the family are Ezekiel and Sally Atwater (Sally of course being Sarah), and her tombstone from 1918 has Blanch P. Atwater.  In this case, the use of the middle name makes good sense, since her mother was also Sarah and this would have served to differentiate them.  

The Mystery of Gussie and Julia Lewis

In the Crawford County records at the Georgia State Archives, there is a petition from Zach Lewis to commit Gussie and Julia Lewis to the state asylum as "idiots", dated 23 August 1899.   To do this, the three nearest adult relatives have to sign the petition, which in this case was Zach Lewis and his siblings Mrs. Lizzie Gordon and Joe Lewis.  Zach was the son of Zachariah Lewis, Sr, and his wife Torvesa Nelson.  Lizzie and Joe were his half-siblings, children of Zachariah Lewis Sr and his wife Mary Montcrief.

Zachariah, Sr cannot be the person who brought the petition because he died in 1897.  He was married at least 3 times (possibly 4) and had at least 15 children.   Gussie (male) and Julia, however, do not appear anywhere in that list of children.  They could, of course, have been born after the 1880 census. In that case, though, they would have had to be the children of Sarah Moncreif Lewis who was still alive in 1899.  In that scenario, she would have almost certainly been considered one of the 3 closest adult relatives.  It also seems unlikely that they are Zach's children for the same reason, that in this case their mother would have been one of the three "nearest adult relatives", certainly closer than an aunt or uncle.   So if they were born before 1880, they should have been in that census and if after 1880, their mother should have been included in the paperwork. 

Another oddity (adding to the confusion about their ages)  is that they were committed in August 1899 but do not appear in the 1900 census, either in Crawford County or at the State Asylum at Milledgeville.

As part of the process of commitment, a special jury had to be convened, with at least one medical doctor.  The members of the jury in this case were J.E.L. Johnson MD,  M.P. Riviere, S.J.Spillers, N.P. Spillers, J.H. Irby, E.L. Culverhouse, W.B. Spain, T.J. Stewart, H.C. McAfee, C. F. Hollis, Johnathan Wilder, and J.S. Stephens.   They did find that Gussie and Julia were "idiots" and should be confined in the asylum. 

Thomas Cates' Estate

In a continued effort to learn more about Thomas Cates and his circle of family and friends, I took a look at his estate records and particularly the sales of his property after his death. 

Not unexpectedly, the most prominent purchaser was his wife, Nancy Cates.   She bought a bedstead and furniture; a pine chest, table and stool; table furniture; a coffee mill; one lot of books; two spinning wheels; a club ax; a barrel and tub; a pot and pot hooks; 3 sitting chairs; and a keg.

His son, Turner Cates, was more restrained, just purchasing a tea kettle; a rod and chair; a hatchet (can't read the first word describing it); a man's saddle; and a sorrel horse.

Mary Dies is the only woman besides Nancy to appear on the list of purchasers.  Considering that it was unusual for women outside the immediate family to come to these sales and the type of things that she bought, it is likely that she is connected to the family but how is not known.  In the 1840 census, as Mary Dyes, she is two entries away from Turner and 3 from Thomas, she is aged 30-39 and has 3 young girls (age 5-9)  in the house, indicating she is probably a widower.  She is also probably the woman who in 1844 married Wiley Cates, whose connection to Thomas has also not been established but is probably not a son.    Mary purchased a bed & cot, 2 sitting chairs & frame.

V. Nichols, based on his location, is probably Vincent/Vinson Nichols, married to Eliza McCook. He has an odd 1840 census entry, where his listing includes 125 scholars.  Either he was running a school or the census taker got something wrong.  He was a prominent person in the county and, among other things, donated the land for Old Bethel U.M. Church.  He was also the JP involved with the estate.  He purchased a clock, which must have been a very nice one since it was one of the most expensive items on the inventory at $8.   He also purchased a side-saddle.

Isaac Mills was probably not a near neighbor (per the 1840 census) but he was one of the two men to sign as security on the admin bond.  (The other was Joseph Wilder).  He was married to Elizabeth Dun, or possibly Dies.  He purchased an augur and a hand saw.

Thomas Striplin appears to have been a neighbor.  He purchased a frying pan & streaker, a cow, and a yearling.

Nimrod Lewis, was I believe Thomas' son in law.  He purchased one set of plow gear, a tub of plows and sundries, a cowhide, a bay filly, and 4 head of geese.

John Hancock, a neighbor, purchased a set of plow gear and a halter chain.  John was one of the men who inventoried the estate.

John Perry, not a neighbor but closely associated with John Hancock and Nimrod Lewis, so possibly with the Cates as well.   He purchased a tub of plows and sundries, as well as 2 swingletrees (used for beating flax) and a bridle.  John as also one of the men who did the inventory.

B. Surtivant, not further identified, purchased a reel.

?Saml? Vining bought a pair of cart hubs.

Larry or Lamy Dies (unidentifed, not in the 1840 census) purchased 1 small trunk.

Not accounted for in the sale were the two young slaves listed in the inventory of his estate.   They were Laurah, age 8, valued at $300 and Grace, age 5, valued at $275.  In the 1840 census, Thomas Cates showed 3 slaves, who were the two young girls as well as a female in her 20s, possibly their mother.  The older slave was not listed as part of the estate so presumably had died or been sold by that time.