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. 

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. 

The heirs of Nimrod Lewis

This is one of my favorite documents from the Crawford County records at the Georgia archives, because it provides proof that my ancestor, Martha Lewis Morris, was the daughter of Nimrod Lewis.  I had long assumed she was.  There were two primary Lewis families in the county (probably unrelated).   Martha and her husband lived near Nimrod right after their marriage.  Martha was born in SC, where Nimrod was known to have lived (the other Lewises in the county came from NC) and in 1930, he has a daughter the appropriate age to be Martha.  Most importantly, Martha named her 2nd son and 2nd daughter Nimrod and Pheraby respectively.  All of this made it likely that she was closely related to Nimrod and probably his daughter, but this record makes it conclusive, listing all the children of Nimrod.

 Georgia, Crawford County} The petition of Jonathan Wilder respectfully showeth that Nimrod Lewis late of said County deceased departed this life domiciled in said County intestate that he was possessed at the time of his death of property both real and personal to the amount of five hundred dollars, that his heirs at law are Stephen Morris in right of his [[wife]] Martha Morris, Samuel Smith in right of his wife Almira Smith, Jonathan Wilder in right of his wife Fereby Wilder, Nancy Walker, the children of Thomas Lewis deceased, and Marcena Lewis, that it is necessary for the winding up and distribution of said estate that there should be an administrator on said estate, that your petition hereby tenders a bond in the sum of one thousand dollars with G P Culverhouse & J W Avant as securities.  Wherefore your petition prays that citation may issue in terms of the law for letters of administration on said estate and for the appointment of your petitioner as such administrator & your petition will ever pray & e

Culverhouse & Avant
Petioners [sic] attys
Court of Ordinary at Chambers July 26th 1868

Leaving out Nancy

Turner Cates was born about 1811 in SC and died abt 1870 in Crawford County, GA.  Among his children, he had a daughter Nancy who married first Thomas Lewis and then, after he was killed in the Civil War, David Cumby.   She had 4 children by her marriage with Thomas and another 4 with Cumby.   However, something seems to have gone wrong in her relationship with her father, presumably relating to that second marriage.  His will, dated 24 Sep 1870, divides his estate evenly, except that the portion going to Nancy was to go to her 4 Lewis children and she herself was only to get $5.  No mention was made of the 2 oldest Cumby children who were already born by this time.   Turner had been very close to Thomas Lewis' father Nimrod and in fact was the guardian of the 4 Lewis children for their share of Nimrod's estate, so perhaps he did not want Nancy remarrying, even though that would have been common at the time.  Perhaps there was an issue with the fact that Nancy's new husband David Cumby was probably related to Turner's wife (not Nancy's mother) Matilda Cumby Cates.  It's impossible to tell at this distance why this estrangement, but it adds an interesting twist to the family story.

The Confusion of Family Connections

Almost every line of my mother's family have been in Crawford County, GA since the 1830s.  This of course means that over the years, different members of the family have interacted with each other in good and bad ways.  One of the challenges for me is to remember that these exchanges are not always anything more than neighbors interacting with each other, and that it is purely coincidental that their great-grandchildren married.  On the other hand, sometimes it really does indicate a connection between the families. It's hard when the names are so familiar to you to sometimes recognize the difference.

For example:  In November 1843 - Thomas S. Estis brought a case against John Perry, Abel Daniel & Thomas Stripling.  The verdict was listed as "debt & confession for plaintiff for $94.46".  The defendant (John Perry) being dissatisfied with the confession, paid all costs and demanded a stay of execution & brought Nimrod Lewis & tendered him as security.   John Perry's great grandson Frank Becham married Lewis's great-great-granddaughter Viola Wade.  Since I spend so much time on both men, I had to remind myself that this 1843 connection was that of neighbors, not family. 

On the other hand, In January 1900, M. T. (Moses Thomas) Wade accused Emanuel Horne of stealing $140 from him.  Horne was arrested and offered to return the money if charges were not pressed.  Wade agreed, but the court did not and ordered that the case proceed anyway.  The newspaper did not give the final verdict.   I had at first put this one down to coincidence, but then remembered that Wade's son Ed Wade was married to Horne's sister Carrie.  While this probably didn't affect the original robbery, it may well have been a factor in Wade's willingness to drop the charges.

Possible Parents for Feraby Lewis

In my post on Nimrod Lewis, I noted that I believed that his wife Feraby was the daughter of Thomas Cates of Edgefield, SC.  This is far from proven, but here are the early thoughts.  I have not yet come close to meeting the genealogical proof standard since I have definitely not yet completed a reasonably exhaustive search.

1.  The biggest pointer to the connection is that Nimrod Lewis was one of the estate administrators when Thomas Cates died, in 1842 in Crawford County, GA.  The other two administrators were Thomas' wife Nancy and his son Turner.  Since Nimrod was not a lawyer, the primary reason for having him associated with the estate would be because he was related.

2.  Nimrod lived near the Cates in Edgefield and was continuously associated with them in Crawford County.  His son also married Turner Cates' daughter.

3.  Nimrod named one of his sons Thomas.  The 1830 and 1840 censuses show two boys born 1825-1830, but only one survives to the 1850 census.  Considering the age gap between Martha (1824) and Thomas (1828), it is likely that Thomas was the second son.  While there is no law about children's names, it was common in the family for the second son to be named after his maternal grandfather.  In addition, Nimrod's first three daughters were Martha, Feraby (after her mother) and Nancy, possibly named after her maternal grandmother.

4.  I haven't found Thomas in 1820, but in 1810 he does have a daughter the right age to be Feraby.

5.  In 1840, Nimrod's daughter Martha and her husband were living next door to Thomas in Crawford County.
 

Nimrod Lewis, GA to SC and back to GA

Nimrod Lewis always seemed like he should be really easy to find in the records, just because his name is so unusual.  This is in fact true once he gets to Crawford County GA, but his life before that is still piecemeal and his birthplace and parents are unknown.

In every census, Nimrod gives his birthplace as Georgia, as do his children in the censuses after 1880.   Based on the 1850 and 1860 census, he was probably born about 1786.  He could possibly be the Nimrod Lewis who served in Capt Bowling's militia or the 1st GA regiment in the War of 1812.  If that is the case, he was probably living then in the Greene-Hancock County area. 

He is known to have been in SC for a while, since several of his children were born there.  The 1820 Edgefield county census does have a Nimrod Lewis but the ages of the members of the family do not include anyone likely to be my Nimrod.    He has not been found in Georgia in this census.  However, if he wasn't married yet (quite possible with his first known child born in 1824), then he would be unlikely to show up on it anyway.

In 1830, there is a different Nimrod Lewis family in Edgefield County and this one does seem likely to be the correct one, especially since his neighbor is Turner Cates who was later closely associated with him in Crawford County, GA.    In 1835, he moved to Crawford County, GA, with the date established by a tax record where he claimed to have no liability for 1834 taxes, since he had not yet moved to the county.  He remained in Crawford County for the remainder of his life, dying there in 1868.

The 1850 and 1860 censuses establish Nimrod's wife as Feraby/Pheraby, probably born in SC about 1804.  There is no indication that he was previously married.  I believe that Pheraby may be the daughter of Thomas Cates of Edgefield, SC, who was also the father of Turner Cates.

Nimrod seems to have been fairly public minded, although he never ran for any kind of office.
   --He regularly served on Crawford county juries,
   --He was chosen in 1847 as part of 3-man committee to select delegates to the State gubernatorial convention
   --During the war, he helped at least two Crawford County families unrelated to him with the paperwork when their son or husband was killed.

Fortunately for me, Nimrod died intestate.  His children all signed a petition for an administrator to be appointed, giving me a list of all the children, proving that my ancestor Martha Lewis Morris was one of them, and providing the married names for two of the daughters.  

Military Monday - Vicksburg, Gettysburg and others

150 years ago today, the battle of Gettysburg began and the siege of Vicksburg was in progress.  This seemed like a good time to document my ancestral connections to those and other Civil War battles.

Vicksburg - Pvt Washington W. B. Horne, 57th GA Infantry was wounded during the siege of Vicksburg, losing an arm, and was part of the army that surrendered there on 4 July 1863.  He was paroled and returned to his home in Crawford County, GA.  His brother-in-law James W. Morris served in the same unit and was killed in 1862.  His uncles Thomas and Jeremiah Lewis served in the 45th GA infantry and were killed in 1862 and 1863 respectively. 

Gettysburg - Pvt Moses Thomas Wade served in the 12th NC Infantry at Gettysburg, where he was wounded.  As the army retreated back toward Virginia, he and many others of the wounded were left behind and captured at Williamsport, MD on 14 July 1863.  After a year at the Point Lookout prison camp, he spent the remainder of the war at the Elmyra prison camp in New York. 


Petersburg - Pvt George Washington Hendricks, served in the 64th GA Infantry, company A.  He was listed as absent without leave a few months after the battle.  This was presumably not out of lack of enthusiasm for the cause, since he later named his youngest son John Robert E. Lee Hendricks.

Petersburg - James Gooch, 64th GA Infantry, Company K.  He was captured in July 1864, listed as "a deserter from the enemy."  As such, he took the loyalty oath (to the Union) and was sent to Philadelphia.  A James M. Gooch enlisted in the 11th GA Cavalry in the fall of that year, but it has not been determined if it was the same man or not.  Some family records indicate that he had returned to GA and rejoined the army but this is not verified.

Petersburg and Chancellorsville - Cpl Thomas Franklin Mathews served in the 6th GA Infantry.  He was captured in NC on 8 March 1865 and sent to Pt Lookout MD, where he was released on 29 June 1865.

Stephens Morris

I know the following about Stephens Morris.

Name is uncertain - seen as Stephen, Stephens, and Stevens, but most commonly as Stephens.
Born somewhere in SC about 1814 (census records)
Married Martha Lewis on 1 Feb 1839 in Crawford County, GA (Crawford county marriages)
Was living in Wilcox County, AL by 1841 (Daughter's confederate pension application)
Voted in Allentown, Wilcox Co, in 1847.
Back in Crawford County by 1860 (census) and still there in 1870.
Possibly the Stephens Morris that appeared in the 1880 Russell County, AL census.
According to censuses, had the following children:

• James Washington, b. abt 1840 in GA, d. 1862 in Civil War
• Mary Ann, b. 1841, d. 1911, m. Washington Horne
• Feraby, b. 1848 d. ?
• Nimrod, b. 1850, d. ?
• Barton Solomon b. 1852, d. 1925. md Mollie Mathews
• Jasper M. b. 1856, d. 1944, md Mary McGraw in Dallas County, AL
• (possibly) James b. 1867. He appears in the census, but I think this was actually James Horne, his daughter's son, living next door. There would almost certainly have been children between Mary Ann and Feraby, but they may have died young.

Now for more tenuous connections and areas where research is needed. The Stephens Morris in the 1880 census is the right age - and had the correct birthplace - to be mine. He is a widower, accounting for Martha not being there (or any other census). My grandmother didn't know much about him, but she believed that the Morrises lived on the GA/AL border, which would fit the description for Russell County.

In 1880 he is living with Amanda Sessions, listed as his niece. In 1850, Amanda Sessions is in the Wilcox County, AL census, in the hh (probably daughter) of John B. Sessions and his wife Lydia Bowman. Stephens, although provably in Wilcox County in 1850, does not appear in that census. However, land records show that John B. Sessions and W.G.W. Sessions, purchased land next to Daniel James Morris, in the same year. All of them were born in SC.

In 1823, Sarah Morris in Wilcox Co, gave permission for Sarah Sessions to marry Green Vickers. Need to check what the guardianship rules were there for the time, but would expect a woman guardian to be the mother, that otherwise a man would have been named. Sarah would have been born after 1802 (she was underage) and probably before 1810, to be of reasonable marriage age in 1823. In the 1840 census, W.G.W. Sessions (with a 70-80 year old woman) was in Wilcox. Two hh down was Mrs. S. Vickers, 30-40, and next to her was D. J. Morris.

Various posts claim that John B. Sessions (b 1804 in SC) middle name was Barton. W. G. W. Sessions (possibly John's brother, b 1808 in SC), reportedly gave one of his sons Barton as a middle name. And of course Stephens' third son was named Barton, a sufficiently unusual name to note. Don't know why Stephens' first son was James, but his second known son, Nimrod, was named after Martha's father Nimrod Lewis.

Right now, I am speculating that Sarah Morris, maiden name unknown), was married twice, first to an unknown Sessions and then to a Morris. Both marriages would have occurred in SC or at least they were living there by the time John B. was born. I think that John (1804), Sarah (1806?), W.G.W. (1808), Daniel (1811), and Stephens (1814) may have been her children. This would account for Sarah Sessions Vickers mother being a Morris and for John Sessions' daughter to be Stephens Morris' niece.

Need to get to Wilcox county to see if I can confirm or deny this info.